Chapter 29: Empire

"..." Nio pulls another fish from the water with her fishing rod while thinking a little about how she wishes she had made some friends or at least had another player around right now. It’s not impossible for there to be other players in this world.

But from what she learned about the Theocracy, Nio knows that only people connected to the game world’s Lore can come to this world, and even though it’s not a certainty, Nio’s hope of having other players is extremely low.

"Ahhh... fish, you’re so ugly..." Nio tosses the fish back into the water, just wanting to criticize something.

"I should leave... there are still plenty of NPCs who could find me here... I think I’ll go to another kingdom. The [Faceless One] is handling everything well, learning new things, researching books, and deceiving Stelaria..." Nio receives her copy’s memories daily.

Which is very useful. She knows about all the conversations, everything it saw, and everything that happened around it — a utility she enjoys.

"If my copy is manipulating the Theocracy, I can go to the two main kingdoms, or any other small kingdom... but it won’t be that easy... the Ortyr Kingdom is a complicated monarchy... and the Behe’Tuor Empire is an expansionist-type empire, so they’re greedy lunatics... setting a teleport mark on them would be good... but my appearance..." Nio mutters, pulling another fish from the river — a kind of golden carp with a faint silvery glow, nearly two meters long.

"Hmmm... Maybe I should just dominate the whole world? If I want to discover new things, dominating kingdom by kingdom and controlling the entire world would be the easiest way to deal with Typhon, because I’d block any method Typhon has of easily seeking knowledge." Nio puts away her fishing rod while returning the fish to the river.

"That’s it! I’ll set teleportation circles in various places... so I should go first... to the empire... or not?" Nio grows indecisive. There are so many pros and cons that she doesn’t know what to choose.

"M-Maybe... then I should seek out intelligent monsters? But the world is ruled by humans... humans are easy information, but monsters might have relevant information... demi-humans too... and there are elves... aahhh, why is this so hard!!"

"It’s an entire planet!! There’s so much for me to explore, and I can’t just create a bunch of [Faceless Ones] or it’ll give me mental overload from so much information..." Nio paces back and forth across the grass.

"Nio, why not go to the kingdom?"

"No, I don’t know—" Nio stops talking, looking around. She’s sure she heard someone speaking to her, but when she looks around she doesn’t see anyone, nor does she recognize the voice.

’Am I going crazy?... whatever’

"I think it’s better if I go to the empire after all. They seem bigger, richer, and despite their expansionist attitude, the emperor seems competent as far as one can be while being a conqueror." Nio settles on the next place to visit, ignoring the kingdom option that was discarded for now.

While Nio decides where to go, inside the Behe’Tuor Empire, the internal situation is something quite far removed from what’s told to the public, and the emperor is currently in a meeting.

"Emperor Leon Rubridk Alexandre III, I would like a moment to... present a relevant matter." A bearded man with a restrained expression speaks to the emperor.

The emperor sits on a golden chair. He is a tall and slightly lean man, with a rather slender physique, medium-length hair of a deep black shade, golden eyes, and an unsettling aura around him.

Although he doesn’t appear strong — and he truly isn’t — the mix of his imperial attire blending red and black, and his serious expression, are uncomfortable for everyone in the meeting room, even for those stronger than him in terms of power and level.

"Present whatever it is, and after that we’ll finish this. We’ve already been in this meeting for three hours, and many have already presented their matters," he says, disinterested, as the bearded man opens a scroll on the table.

"H-Here is something our spies discovered. The Theocracy has managed to invent some means of communication cheap enough that it spread as something even commoners can buy."

"Of course, it has restriction magic, so when removed from the Theocracy’s territory, they stop working completely, and just by looking at the object, it’s impossible to figure out how it’s made."

"This stone here allows the use of the [Message] spell multiple times without consequences for the stone, without any magic use from the user, and allows communication at the same distance as the spell." What the man says catches the emperor’s attention.

"Oh? And what do those fanatics of the Saint plan? Will they commercialize it? Or monopolize it?"

"W-We still have no confirmation regarding that. In fact, another matter, still connected to this, is the new Saint who appeared in the Theocracy and who seems to have as much or even more power than Saint Stelaria..."

"...As if that greedy woman wasn’t enough, now another one appears who could cause problems..." The emperor leans back in his chair, dissatisfied with this, but he knows he can’t just attack the Theocracy. Even if such a communication artifact could change the course of a war, the Theocracy is still not something to be messed with carelessly, even more so with two Saints when one alone was already a problem.

"What is this Saint like?" the emperor questions, and the man hands over an image made by magic. The emperor is surprised by what he sees.

"A dragon... and she’s enchanting. Did she emerge from the common folk or the nobility? Although, with her beauty and grooming, it’s impossible for her to have emerged from the commoners. I recognize nobility when I see it, and this girl wouldn’t look like a commoner from a thousand meters away in my eyes."

"We don’t know, Emperor. That is confidential, and our spies can’t infiltrate that deeply into the church’s system." The emperor stares at the girl in the image.

"Her name?"

"Nio."

"Nio... a simple name. Her body looks slightly green, but she would be a suitable wife... do you think the Theocracy would make a trade?" The emperor shows great interest in Nio, not just because she is extremely beautiful and adorable.

But because being a dragon and a Saint opens interesting diplomatic doors with the Theocracy and would naturally produce powerful heirs, with long lifespans and a religiously relevant lineage.

"Well, be that as it may, we can try. Let’s end this meeting here. I have a request to present. We’ll see if the Theocracy values this novice Saint more, or the generous support of the empire." Showing great interest in this, the Emperor ends the meeting, dismissing the various members who participated.

"They say a beautiful woman is a blessing, and an extremely beautiful woman is the downfall of men... I wonder if this girl would be a blessing or a curse," he murmurs, lightly swirling the goblet in his hands.