"Master, this is a letter from the lady." A beautiful maid handed a messy letter to a tough middle-aged man sitting on the chair, then lowered her head and retreated, leaving him alone in the room.

inside.

This is a study room. The most eye-catching thing when you enter is the picture of thousands of beauties on the wall. There are thousands of flowers in the painting, with different postures and colorful colors, peach, willow and green, red and white. Just looking at it seems to smell the fragrance.

The creator of this painting is so skilled that it is no wonder that a nobleman is willing to hang this painting in his study room.

The middle-aged man sitting inside is Duke Walder. Not long ago, the new manor has been renovated. The biggest loss is actually the manor's magic array and warehouse. As for the

There are two rows of bookshelves next to the study room, but the books on them are only numbered. They are placed one by one according to the number. There are no titles, so I don't know what is written in them.

There is a large wooden table in the middle of the study room. The Duke is sitting on a chair, reading the tattered letter in his hand.

He read the letter sent back by Sid, grinned unconsciously, and murmured to himself: "This girl... went out for a trip, and Paladins, sea monsters, celestial apostles, everything came here."

Sid has been away for a long time. She left alone. Unlike most nobles, she told Duke Walder that she was going to pursue her own path.

Of course, the Duke gave his full support and was very happy. He just agreed with his daughter to write a letter and send back his adventure story every once in a while. This was the happiest time for him.

"Dong dong dong." There was a knock on the door outside the study.

Duke Walder put the letter away, the smile on his lips disappeared, his serious expression returned, and he said: "Come in, what's the matter?"

A very steady-looking man came in at the door. He was about thirty years old. His collar and shoes were neatly taken care of. He had a handsome appearance, soft features, and was polite.

Wearing one-sided gold-rimmed glasses and exuding a faint fragrance, he seems to have an indescribable attraction.

He walked into the door, took a report, and said to Duke Walder: "Father, the preliminary prospecting for Skarlade has been completed. I have compiled the information and will ask you to review it later. However, the people in the Hall of Glow have no idea about us.

They are very dissatisfied with intervening in the exploration and excavation of minerals. They plan to block our business in the western part of the empire. At present, some stores have been hit and there have been casualties. Do you think?" A nice calm voice, as if you can directly hear this person's voice

Gentle character.

Duke Walder waved his hand, frowned and said, "I won't read the information. I will leave it all to you. Luerte, you have grown up and I am old. You can decide these things yourself."

Lute was silent for a moment and replied: "Father... you are still very healthy. I cannot take your place."

Duke Walder showed an expression of dissatisfaction, but still sighed and continued: "Do you know about Bolan?"

Luerte below heard the name of Braun, his eyes showed impatience, but it passed in a blink of an eye. He respectfully said to his father in front of him: "Isn't Braun pardoned recently? He was freed from the sea.

He came out and went to the coastal area to work for Marshal Slyer. What he learned can help others instead of always causing trouble. It is really a joyful thing."

Duke Walder looked at his eldest son in front of him and sighed: "Luert, you are Braun's brother. As an elder brother, you must understand that your brother does not appear to compete with you for anything. I know that you are asking for help."

The emperor recommended Braun, but I don’t want to pursue this matter."

"But you have to understand that my position is yours after all. Braun is your beloved brother, not your enemy."

"I hope you can think clearly and don't do anything stupid."

Lute's back was soaked with cold sweat, but his face remained humble: "I understand, father, I didn't let my brother go to the coast because I hate him, I just want to temper him."

"I know that if I misunderstood, you wouldn't see me here." Duke Walder waved his hand, indicating that Luerte could go out.

Lute slowly backed out, and the moment he closed the door, he showed disappointment.

Why! Why does my father always protect that bastard, a loser who only relies on his family!

Lute walked angrily in the corridor. He really couldn't understand why Braun received his father's favor. He had helped his father solve problems since he was a child, and now he has become the de facto second-in-command of the Wald family.

But the only one who gets the approval of his father is Bo Laan! Even if he only makes some unrealistic rune machinery or alchemy products, there is no way to compare with the Wald business empire that he controls!

Thinking like this, I didn't notice the maid next to me, and accidentally bumped into the maid, causing the paint she was holding to spill out.

The maid watched in horror as the spilled paint stained the expensive carpet and the other party's clothes. Then she looked at what she had hit. It was Walder's eldest son whom the head maid wanted everyone to remember, Ruart.

Walder was so nervous that he couldn't speak. His legs were trembling and he collapsed on the ground, looking like he was about to cry.

Lute looked at the maid who was about to cry, wiped her clothes, and then helped her up: "Your name is Leer, right? Don't worry, just ask someone to get another basin."

The maid named Leier was frightened: "Master, please spare me your clothes..."

"It's okay. You can change your clothes at any time. Don't be nervous. I will tell Aunt Naxia about this. I bumped into you accidentally. You don't have to blame yourself for this. I have something else to do, so I left first. Be careful.

." After Lu Erte finished speaking, he used a scarf to slightly process the paint on his body, and left the corridor.

The maid named Leier breathed a sigh of relief, but then she remembered,

It has only been less than a week since I arrived at Walder's house, and this is the first time I have met Master Luert. Why can he call me by my name directly?

Still in the room, Duke Walder frowned. To him, the intrigues between his sons were nothing. He still had many years to live, so he just had to deal with it.

What matters now is protecting the entire empire.

Recently, many forces have been eyeing the empire. The kingdoms and the empire are on the same side. Although they are always trying to gain more benefits, their interests are essentially the same as those of the empire.

The real enemies are elves, hell, sea people, and... monsters.

Although the King of Monsters has joined the empire, the entire imperial aristocratic circle has always been suspicious of him.

It's not just a suspicion, but direct hostility. Many nobles regard him as an enemy, especially his vendetta against the Earth Dragon, which makes the military's anger almost uncontrollable.

If the emperor hadn't pointed out the King of Monsters' balance issue with the church, the military might have come to ask Anluo to have a taste of what imperial cavalry is.

However, the emperor urgently called off the civil war. Competition within the rules is allowed, but if iron hoofs are really set foot on the territory of the empire, the problem will be too big.

Especially now, the elves, the sea tribe, and the hells are not opponents of the empire, but they may not be able to join forces. At this time of civil war, even if the king of monsters is only a nominal minister of the empire, it will be a big blow to the empire.

Trouble.

But the good news is, what force can prompt these people to join forces? This is something that needs to be vigilant. The empire is not afraid of scattered enemies.

Besides, if the empire exists in the world, of course it has its own beliefs.

No large organization can last for thousands of years without belief, not even the Empire. For this belief, the Empire can sacrifice everything for it.

It sounds ridiculous to say it, but this belief is actually very simple, that is... to protect the stability of this world.

A long time ago, before the empire was established.

It was a chaotic era, where all lives followed their own will, and the strong were not subject to any restraints. You killed me and I killed him, each according to his own means.

Wind, rain, thunder and lightning are all free, the four seasons are not divided, the heavy rains are endless, the volcanoes are ready to explode, the four seas are roaring, the black wind is blowing, the frozen iron is turned into chips, and the scraped rocks are turned into powder, almost destroying this world into a world of death.

In the end, the battle between the two level 10s almost set the sky on fire, the hot wind tore the entire continent apart, the ocean boiled, and magma gushes out from the core of the world like blood, like a catastrophe coming.

The seawater poured into the wound of the continent and turned into an inland sea in the middle of the continent, which is vividly called the Collapse Sea.

In the end, the result of this battle was that the immortals and the founding emperor of the empire jointly stopped all this. They joined forces to suppress all demons and monsters, and established the only human empire.

The empire must be stable, and there must be no disturbance at all. Any form of circulation will create chaos, and chaos may lead to the situation at the beginning of the establishment of the empire.

At that time, what was the reason for fighting? All levels 9 desperately fought for power and established their own organizations with each other. Some were countries, some were sects, and some were academic factions, but they all had one characteristic. They were all constantly competing for interests.

Fighting for territory and resources may break out at any time. Various organizations fight against each other endlessly, fighting to the death.

This kind of battle became more and more intense. Under such terrible fighting intensity, the level of combat professionals increased rapidly. After a long period of chaos, the digital level 10 was born.

The world can't bear it.

That's why the empire was born.

There are dozens of level 9s in the empire, but there has not been a level 9 head-on battle in the empire for hundreds of years, except of course for the efreeti.

Because of that battle, the Immortal was even alerted and personally came to quell the dispute.

If all high-level forces are allowed to freely exert their power, those level 7, level 8, and level 9, then there will be no living life in this world except their fans.

This is something the empire cannot tolerate. They cannot accept unplanned private fights between powerful people.

"Stability is more important than anything else. The King of Monsters can't stand such stability. Hell seems to be very dissatisfied, let alone the Sea Tribe. They have just had civil strife." Duke Walder thought about the current situation.

"Perhaps, Your Majesty should be asked to make some other preparations. Although the Styx Water Plant should take up the majority of the work now, other possibilities must be eliminated." He stood up and walked towards the door.

A meticulous maid was at the door, standing behind Duke Tara, reporting other unimportant latest information to him in a sweet voice.

"The Bolu Chamber of Commerce is asking for tax reductions and exemptions. Master, they claim that the production capacity cannot be supplied because the supply of prison ice is seriously insufficient."

"Give them half the price. There is nothing we can do about the prison ice. A new water plant is being built," the Duke said.

That is the holder of Maid 9 and Education 4 skills, the head maid Nasha. She has almost recovered, and the damage caused by Kara has completely disappeared.

"Recently, the manpower of the low-level professionals below has become much more expensive. Without the prison ice, everyone is rushing to recruit servants. But please don't worry, the manpower of the maid group is more than enough. We don't use magic tools very much."

"Yes, but let's improve the treatment. There is no need to be stingy." the Duke replied.

While Naxia put on her master's coat, she continued to talk about the information in an orderly manner that might or might not be of any use.

As for whether it is useful, it is of course left to the owner to judge.

She continued, and Duke Walder continued to listen. By the way, he put on an extremely complicated noble dress while being served. Originally, such clothes took at least two hours to put on, but Nasha was extremely familiar with these things.

It took a few minutes to organize everything. His soft and slender fingers roamed the owner's body like playing a piano, tying every medal, ribbon, and button for him.

Soon, they arrived at the door of the Duke's residence, and a carriage was already waiting outside.

The chariot was of course not pulled by a horse, but by a griffin, which was lying on the ground, waiting for the Duke to get on the chariot.

Before getting into the car, Nasha, the perfect maid, was about to follow her, but was stopped by her master who held out a hand.

"Nasha, is the injury okay?" Duke Walder asked.

"Of course, Master, it no longer affects any actions. I can accompany you to the Imperial Capital." Naxia bowed and said.

"Imperial Capital, you don't need to go there. There's no point in going there. Let me deal with those old guys alone." The Duke said.

"Master...but the mistress is no longer here. She is still staying with the Elf Sage. If you go to the imperial capital alone..." Naxia looked very worried.

"There are more important things for you to do. Go to the homes of those monster tribes, find their leaders, and show them this letter." Duke Walder handed over a crystal with the following words engraved on it.

Several runes.

"What's more important? This is it?" Naxia held the rune with doubtful eyes, but did not try to decipher it.

It's not necessary. If it's not something the master ordered, there's no need to do it.

"When you send it over there and he opens it, he will know. This is related to a plan of mine. Give it to him within two months as much as possible." After the Duke finished speaking, he got in the car.
Chapter completed!