Chapter 44: The Imperial Capital and the Homeland

The party bid farewell to the Night Wraith Legion and set out on their journey once again.

Opting not to visit the Malone family, they kept a low profile, boarding a ship from the docks of High Rock to cross the Longwater River.

Standing on the deck and letting the river breeze wash over her, Elrina suddenly found her thoughts drifting back to the events of the previous day.

To eliminate the Legion Commander, the Tribune had gone so far as to collude with heretics, plunging the entire legion into a life-or-death crisis.

The Commander had clearly anticipated this; otherwise, he would not have been able to issue commands so calmly and without a trace of astonishment after Betharia thwarted the Tribune's sneak attack.

Had they not intervened, he would surely have used brute force to get rid of the Tribune himself. Yet, in that case, it would have been a blatant internal conflict within the legion, which could have negatively influenced the high lords of the imperial court regarding his character.

By luring out the heretics and eliminating the traitorous Tribune for him, they had completed the logical chain and causal sequence of the entire incident. This allowed him to maintain his appearance as an innocent victim while reaping the most perfect fruits of victory.

After Ryan saw through this and pointed it out, the Commander had decisively accepted this favor in exchange for their silence, leaving the official explanation to the imperial court entirely up to his own narrative...

Elrina let out a sigh.

Whether in ancient times or the modern era, whether among elves or humans, internal strife remained endlessly ugly and utterly unscrupulous, leaving her with a persistent sense of nausea, as if something sharp was stuck in her throat.

The more filth of adulthood she witnessed, the more she cherished pure and kind little girls like Daya.

The group crossed the Longwater and arrived in the Riverlands.

Because they had been delayed for an extra day at the Night Wraith Legion's encampment, Ryan did not linger. They pushed forward at full speed during the day and camped near the Imperial Highway at night, soon passing through the Riverlands and reaching the northeastern boundary of the Southern March.

From this location, it was only a day's journey to the Imperial Capital, and the terrain was completely flat. They could even catch a glimpse of the Spire silhouetted against the horizon—a wondrous architectural marvel left behind by the Ancestral Elven Empire.

Elrina had been born into the royal family residing at the top of the Spire, and she had spent the majority of her mortal life in the Imperial Capital. Suddenly gazing upon that towering, familiar structure, she was overcome by a sudden reluctance of the homecoming traveler, remaining silent for a long time.

Ryan felt a wave of nostalgia as well. The Southern March...

Anyone who had traveled across the four major provinces of the empire knew that this region was entirely different from the frontier provinces.

With a dense population, abundant resources, and thriving commerce, the region drove a high-speed development of culture. Over seventy percent of the elven artworks smuggled back to the mainland by the Faer family from the Gem Islands were purchased by the nobility of the Four Provinces.

The massive gap in overall strength naturally bred regional discrimination. The capital nobility looked down upon the nobility of the Four Provinces, who in turn looked down upon the frontier nobility. Even an estate like the Faer family's, which was considered part of the frontier even within the Reach, was regarded as countryfolk among countryfolk.

However, that being said.

I have two elven female companions! Do you?

The traveling party followed the Imperial Highway and resumed their journey toward the Imperial Capital.

Upon entering the Southern March, the frequency of passing merchant caravans at least increased tenfold, and it became rare to encounter a completely empty road.

The family knights also relaxed. No matter what, with so many caravans around, they clearly no longer needed to worry about attacks from bandits or magical beasts.

Traveling from morning until dusk, the group finally arrived before the gates of the Imperial Capital.

The Imperial Capital—a megacity with a colossal population, an unrivaled and magnificent metropolis upon this continent and indeed the entire world.

Its outer walls stood approximately twenty meters high, surrounded by canals and artificial lakes. Siege towers, scaling ladders, and battering rams alike were unable to cross the water to approach the ramparts.

Entry into the capital required the use of five grand bridges. Among them, the Nerva Bridge was open exclusively to the nobility; the Trajan Bridge featured a triumphal arch, and only generals returning in triumph from foreign campaigns were permitted to lead their armies through it into the city.

The remaining three bridges placed no restrictions on the status of travelers, making them extremely crowded during peak hours, occasionally resulting in accidents where travelers and their carts were pushed off into the river.

Leading his family caravan, Ryan submitted the Faer family's entry application at the Nerva Bridge, then crossed over into the Western District of the Imperial Capital.

After partaking in dinner, the party settled down for the night at an inn named "The Old Fisherman."

In the dead of night, Elrina draped a light shawl over her shoulders and slipped out of the inn alone.

She found a bench near a nearby public garden and sat down, feeling the chilling, gloomy touch of the night wind as she drifted off into a daze.

"Contemplating how to deal with me?" Ryan's voice sounded from behind her.

As Elrina turned her head, a bottle of mead was pressed against her cheek.

It was warm.

"A complimentary drink from the innkeeper," Ryan said leisurely. "The maid brought it to your room door, only to find you weren't there."

"So you've taken up the duties of a maid," Elrina said indifferently. "It suits you."

"I'd rather be an ordinary human maid than an elven princess of a fallen nation." Seeing that she had accepted the mead, Ryan rested his arm against a nearby tree trunk and chatted casually. "This is the Municipal Garden of the Western District of the Imperial Capital. I've heard that during the Ancestral Elven Empire, this was the private park of Duke Oklang."

"When the capital was captured from within by a human slave uprising, his mansion was torn down to the very last brick. Later, it was rebuilt into a municipal garden by Emperor Nerva for all human citizens of the capital to enjoy free of charge."

Elrina stared blankly at the flagstones beneath her feet until Ryan began sipping his mead, at which point she murmured softly:

"Duke Oklang... His daughter, Mariana, and I grew up together as sisters from childhood."

"Ah—a duke's daughter," Ryan drew out his voice deliberately. "Worthy of the noble status of our royal princess."

"Why did you become a necromancer?" Elrina asked with a frown. "You are clearly the son of a human marquis."

"A marquis has far too many sons," Ryan said with a sneer. "No matter what it is, anything becomes worthless once there is an overabundance of it. Furthermore, to the Wights, a nobleman is no different from a swine—both are merely edible meat."

"Neither being an unfavored noble offspring nor fighting the Wights is a sufficient reason to become a necromancer," Elrina stated coldly.

"Well, actually, it's because I'm a pervert," Ryan said in a nonchalant tone. "I revel in the pleasure of toying with death and the joy of desecrating the dead. I love forcefully resurrecting you from the River Styx and then admiring your expressions of despair, resentment, and utter helplessness. Would you like me to resurrect your dear friend Mariana as well?"

Elrina stared directly into his eyes, completely unfazed by Ryan's sarcastic and mocking retorts.

After a long moment, she stood up against the increasingly biting night wind, shaking the dew from her shawl:

"I am going back."

Watching her retreating figure, Ryan said coldly:

"Remember. If you wish to return to that eternal slumber, you must help me deal with the Wights as quickly as possible."

"Other than that, you have no choice."

Elrina did not look back.

She merely pulled her cloak tighter around herself, took another sip of the warm mead, and walked silently back into the inn.