Chapter Twenty-Two: The Imperial Main Questline

The Daughter of the True Dragon was currently kneading Ryan’s shoulders and pounding his back.

Ryan was still young and suffered from no such ailments as back pain or sore muscles; he simply gave his personal maid, Daia, something to keep her occupied so she would not spend her days in excessive leisure, fretting constantly about the state of the war on the Rainforest Peninsula.

Due to the heavy winds and rain in recent days, venturing out to sea was dangerous, so the trip to Salt Island had been temporarily postponed.

Elina was reading historical manuscripts from the Fahrl family collection.

According to human historians, the destruction of the Ancestral Elf Empire was due to the cruel and tyrannical exploitation of human slaves, which led to endless armed slave uprisings in the latter days of the empire, gradually dismantling the foundations of the Ancestral Elves' rule.

Elina believed this explanation was inaccurate.

As an ancient hero from that era, she knew the overall situation of the Elf Empire better than anyone. Years of relying on slaves for production had led to a massive degradation of knowledge and skills within the elven class.

Farm owners did not know how to farm, for there were serfs to wield the hoe for them; blacksmiths did not know how to smith, for there were iron-slaves to swing the hammer for them. The grassroots production processes were entirely occupied by human slaves, and the elves, lounging in positions of exploitation, had gradually become incompetent wastrels who knew nothing.

Once the armed slaves launched an uprising, even if they were eventually suppressed, the production activities had already been thoroughly destroyed. The rebellious slaves were slaughtered, and the slave owners stood helpless before empty fields and desolate shops. The seemingly mighty and peerless Elf Empire was, in its essence, utterly ridiculous.

It should have been destroyed long ago.

Elina tucked the "History of the Human Empire" back onto the shelf and pulled out a volume titled "Biography of the Rose Queen."

She did not like Bessalia.

Unlike the whitewashing and flattery found in the "Biography of the Rose Queen," the real Bessalia was a wretched and evil woman.

Of course, it was not the arrogant, in-your-face evil that Ryan possessed, but rather that insidious, subtle kind of malice where, the moment she opened her mouth, you knew she was brewing a bellyful of treachery.

Or, to put it in the words of the Hand of Nature, "All the undesirable traits unique to the dark elf race were concentrated in Bessalia."

In fact, Elina recalled one other matter: the Hand of Nature—the young leader of the Wood Elf army, a hero skilled in swordsmanship—had ultimately sacrificed himself under mysterious circumstances.

Some suspected he had been plotted against by Bessalia, though unfortunately, there was no evidence.

Bessalia, if it was indeed you who struck at your companion back then, I would not mind sending you to hell once more.

Elina closed her eyes, smoothing out the surging emotions, and returned to her mask of utter composure.

She was ready to welcome Bessalia.

***

Summer precipitation in Riverbend Province was quite abundant, but it never reached the level of catastrophic flooding seen on the Rainforest Peninsula. The rain, which had persisted for several days, finally stopped.

Ryan began preparing for his departure to Salt Island, but at that moment, news arrived from the Fahrl family:

Miss Mashan from the Malon family would soon arrive at Sea Rock City for a visit.

Duke Malon was the lord ruling over the entire Riverbend Province and the liege lord of Marquis Fahrl.

His daughter, Mashan Malon, was the Duke's most beloved youngest daughter. Marquis Fahrl had once wanted to arrange a marriage between her and Ryan, but unfortunately, he could never find Ryan to facilitate the proposal.

She had announced her engagement last year and was now visiting with her new husband.

The reason for the visit was quite formal, claiming that Duke Malon had heard that the long-missing Ryan Fahrl had finally returned to the family and had been enfeoffed with Salt Island, so he had sent his daughter to meet the son of his vassal on his behalf.

Of course, anyone with a bit of sense could see that the reality was likely that Mashan, a woman obsessed with appearances, had heard that Ryan was born with an exceptionally handsome face—a stark contrast to the generally ugly Fahrls—and had pestered her father to send her over out of curiosity.

Upon learning of the upcoming visit, a new plan began to take shape in Ryan’s ever-active mind.

It could not be helped; people with sharp minds were always like this, finding fleeting opportunities in the surrounding clues. However, the specific details of the plan required careful and prudent consideration.

I’ve heard that Bessalia, the Dark Elf Queen, was an old fox highly adept at playing power politics back in the day. Now that she is resurrected, I imagine she will be able to provide value to me in this regard as well.

Thinking this, Ryan changed into his formal attire under Daia’s assistance and proceeded to the reception room to meet Mashan and her husband.

Mashan Malon was a short, plump noblewoman with a face covered in freckles.

Her husband was a young noble with a delicate, feminine appearance, hailing from the Tanfry family of Deepwood City. Interestingly, it was said that the men of the Tanfry family were almost all "pretty boys," the complete opposite of the Fahrl family, which seemed to produce only the unsightly.

Ryan exchanged polite greetings with the couple, and they all took their seats on the plush chairs.

Mashan was very satisfied with her first impression of Ryan.

In terms of the refinement and beauty of his features, he was actually slightly lacking compared to her young husband, but Mashan was deeply taken by the free-spirited, dashing aura Ryan possessed.

Driven by intense curiosity, Mashan began to ask about Ryan’s adventures after leaving the family.

Ryan only had to take one look to know what was going on in Mashan’s mind. This kind of noble young lady raised in the seclusion of a boudoir was like a naive middle school girl who couldn't keep her eyes off a delinquent youth with dyed hair.

So, he picked out a few dungeon quests from the games of his past life and recounted them simply to the couple.

The dungeon stories in the games were mostly written to be dramatic and perilous (though the players never actually read them). Mashan and her husband had never heard such interesting and marvelous tales, and for a moment, they felt a yearning for adventure, much like how city office workers have unrealistic fantasies about rural pastoral life.

"What a marvelous journey," Mashan couldn't help but exclaim. "I actually want to have a journey where I just walk away, but my father certainly wouldn't allow it."

"Oh, my dear," her husband said affectionately, "I truly could not rest easy if you went on a trip. With your beauty that rivals the goddesses, there would surely be many men coveting your charms."

Ryan immediately felt a sense of respect, looking at this man in a new light.

He had expected him to be nothing more than a "kept man" raised to be a marriage pawn, but to think he had such astonishing depths of cunning!

In any case, if it were him, he certainly couldn't face a pig-like face and affectionately speak of "your beauty" without fearing he might throw up.

The three of them exchanged a great deal of noble social pleasantries until Mashan asked with a smile:

"By the way, Ryan, I and several other noble ladies are recently holding a fundraiser for the Amazon Commemoration Campaign. Have you considered making a donation?"

Here it comes, Ryan thought.

The reason he was willing to appear and endure all this idle chatter was, in the end, to latch onto this quest chain that ran through the entire main plot of the empire.

Of course, one had to commit to the performance, so Ryan feigned curiosity and asked:

"Amazons? What are those?"

"Let me explain it to you," Mashan immediately began to lecture him. "The Amazons are a primitive tribe located in the south of Longwater Province. They are, in the strictest sense, a matriarchal clan. They often go to other tribes to find mates, and if they bear boys, they abandon them or give them to other tribes; if they bear girls, they keep them in the tribe and raise them to be brave and battle-hardened Amazon warriors."

"At a time when the human empire was divided and the various feudal lords were constantly warring against one another, the population in many noble territories in Longwater Province plummeted due to years of conscription, which severely impacted the interests of the nobles."

"For the sake of their own selfish desires, these nobles openly attacked the Amazon tribes, hoping to use them to replenish their population."

"The Amazon female warriors of that time fought solely with brute force and ferocity. When they encountered imperial soldiers in full armor with sharp weapons, despite their best efforts, they could not defeat the invaders."

"Many of them were captured by the imperial nobles and taken back to their territories, becoming tools for the serfs to vent their lust and for breeding. The rest fled into the forests, eking out a miserable existence in cold caves, weeping bitterly."

Mashan droned on and on about the blood and tears of the Amazon tribe. Beside her, her husband’s gaze was clearly drifting, his expression one of "although I’m not interested, I cannot show it."

Ryan, of course, understood what was happening. As for Mashan’s talk of "we all have Amazon blood flowing in our veins" and "the empire should atone for the persecuted Amazons," he found it incredibly humorous and funny—it was at the level of a stand-up comedy routine.

But then again, the power of the Amazon Commemoration movement lay in the interpersonal network of noble wives and ladies behind it, and these women with overflowing "saintly hearts" were capable of whispering in the ears of high-ranking, powerful noblemen.

"I never imagined the empire had committed such grave sins against the Amazons." Ryan, having prepared long ago, began his performance. His nose tingled, his eyes immediately welled up with tears, and his voice was filled with profound pain. "I feel ashamed of my status as an imperial noble."

"It’s alright," Mashan comforted him softly. "We may not be able to stop the sins of our ancestors, but we can decide whether we want to be good people. The donations will all be used to build an Amazon Memorial in the Imperial Capital, to remind people of this history and prevent it from being forgotten. Of course, it is entirely voluntary."

"I will donate 200 gold crowns," Ryan said, wiping the corner of his eye with feigned grief, then speaking with a solemn expression.

Beside him, Mashan’s husband’s eyes widened immediately, revealing a look of shock that said, "Are you crazy?" or "Do you have too much money to spend?"