"I had only heard of it before, but when I saw it with my own eyes, it was truly a spectacular—and expensive—building."
Yuffie held Lin's hand and stood on the edge of Victory Square, looking at the magnificent palace belonging to the Oren Empire in the distance.
The entire palace is a symmetrical concave shape, and the outer walls made of granite appear pale golden in the sunlight - they are alloy sheets made by alchemists that can be tightly attached to the walls. In terms of value alone, they are no worse than gold.
How many. The outer edges of the palace and the recesses of the walls are carefully arranged with carved columns, reliefs, huge arched floor-to-ceiling windows, and statues of humans and magical creatures from myths and legends. In front of the main hall is a spacious garden full of elaborate
The pruned trees, flowers and plants still look green even though winter is already halfway through.
A sturdy two-headed griffin statue stands in the center of the garden. It has a snow-white body and strong golden and black wings. It is equipped with a golden saddle and a heroic knight rides on its back. That is the Oren Empire.
The fifth emperor, Emperor Griffin - legend has it that he accomplished the large-scale domestication of griffins and the uniforming of griffin knights. It is because of him that the current emblem of the imperial family comes.
"Are you nervous?" Lin leaned on her, with a slight smile in her voice, "What we are going to do next is quite unplanned."
"My intuition tells me that this should be okay." Yuffie responded softly, "If there is any accident, for example, Cullen is near the palace-" Her expression became slightly more serious, "Let me hold him back.
, you leave as soon as possible, Cullen will not kill me."
"That's just your guess, right." Lin interrupted her, "Rather than leaving your fate to that kind of person, it's better to believe that your intuition is accurate. Then, let's go."
Yuffie nodded and did not continue the topic. She knew the character of her friend very well, and there was no need for too many words between them. Lin was right, even if this approach was full of risks, everything would be fine if it turned out well.
.
It was planned to go to the palace. They wanted to know whether the initiator of this war was the emperor himself or someone else behind the scenes. After seeing what happened to the Black Crow Knights, she had another guess -
Was the emperor also under some kind of mental control before he made an uncharacteristic decision?
They held hands and walked towards the main entrance of the palace. Under the war situation, there seemed to be more guards around the palace than usual. Two guards wearing golden griffon robes approached them, with sharp halberds lying across the front.
Asked why the two approached the palace.
"We have something important that we need to meet with His Majesty." Yuffie showed the ID card belonging to the "Guild" with no trace of nervousness on his face, "We have obtained the whereabouts of Sean Tambor, the former leader of the Black Crow remnants.
"
"It's not just the whereabouts." Lin answered cheerfully, while taking off a slender package from her back and handing it forward, "We fought with him once and snatched his sword - this is it.
Just one."
The two guards looked at each other, and one of them took the package, ordered them to continue waiting here for notification, and then turned and walked into the palace.
It was indeed Sean's handy weapon, the long sword called 'White Fang' - it had been corroded by Mal's magic and had lost its original sharpness. Lin borrowed it to use as proof of entering the palace.
She promised to find a better sword for him in return when she was free. As for where to find it, according to her words——
"Let Eugene do a favor. Didn't he learn magic forging? Or at worst, he can give it to the Dragon Clan on credit. Uncle Alaxia has a lot of stock."
Not long after, the guards came back, announcing that the emperor had agreed to meet the two of them, and confiscated their weapons. Of course, whether it was Yuffie's invisible long staff, or the long sword and the long sword that Lin wore to make up for it.
Daggers are not the equipment they really use for fighting.
They followed the guards into the palace and walked along the marble-paved corridor. They looked at the surrounding scenery and decorations along the way, seemingly not caring about the dangerous situation they were about to face.
"This place looks really luxurious." Lin glanced at the guard in front and deliberately lowered her voice, "Do you think we can take a small statue back? It can probably be sold for dozens of gold coins, right?"
"Do you think you are the thief Fidel or Modilola?" She poked Lin in a funny way, "You might as well get some pieces of fake gold off the outer wall, maybe you can fool the businessmen who are not smart.
.”
The guard turned a deaf ear to the conversation between the two, and just moved his legs silently. Soon the corridor reached the end, and in front of him was a carved door wrapped in brass, slightly opened inward. The guard stopped and stood on the
On the side, he made a gesture asking the two of them to move forward.
Yuffie - or for now it was Elena - thanked the guard softly and walked through the door first. Lin gave him a playful salute and followed closely behind.
The royal guard wearing armor and holding a gun turned his gaze to the two of them. What they also looked at was the throne at the end. A majestic and fiery gaze could still be felt from a distance of dozens of meters. She and Lin walked together
Go to a position about ten meters away from the throne, bend down and salute.
"You have fought against Sean, is this true?" Rogman III's rich voice came from the throne, full of energy, "When and where did it happen, what was the result, and where did he go after that?"
"It's about three days' journey north of Winterfell, near Holly Castle. Sean seemed to be following the footsteps of an army. We recognized him who was wanted and had a fight with him." Yuffie recounted before.
She had thought up her words and looked a little regretful, "Nia knocked off his sword, but unfortunately we ignored his spell and let him escape."
"Then from what you see, where can he go?"
"Well... I heard that there were Sean's former subordinates in the army he was following." Lin fiddled with her hair and said with curiosity in her tone, "If he appeared there just for this, he probably wouldn't leave that army.
Is it too far?"
The man on the throne lowered his head, holding his chin and lost in thought. Taking this opportunity, Yuffie raised her head and looked at the face and body of Rogman III.
The king of the empire looks much younger than his actual age, probably only in his thirties. In the eyes of the girl who has mastered the power of Edda, his energy is a bit excessive - even a young man in his twenties or thirties,
It is also impossible to be like the current Rogman III, who seems to be overflowing with all his life force.
She has learned magical techniques that can produce similar effects. When the body is in this state, the person concerned will feel extremely energetic, will not be tired and will hardly get sick, and the injuries suffered will be recovered dozens of times faster. When encountering
This is a very useful spell in times of crisis or strong enemies; but being in this state for a long time may cause damage to body tissues and organs, just as red-hot iron is easier to bend.
This is not the worst possibility. If these extra vitality are not gifted from the magical network, but are forcibly stimulated from the body of the recipient through the function of divine magic, the body functions of the recipient will be difficult to achieve.
It wears out rapidly without realizing it, until the moment it is completely unbearable.
She was thinking about how to convey this to Rogman III tactfully, and how to make him understand that the Edda sect, which was currently spreading rapidly, might be planning a conspiracy that was detrimental to the empire. Before she could think of a suitable explanation, she saw
The man who reached the throne turned his head and spoke to the empty place.
"Do you think what they said is the truth, Mr. Hughes?"
"Well, let me think about it... what should I say? That sword is genuine, and they have seen Sean himself, so these two points must be correct!" A grinning Yit man dressed in black appeared from the right side of the throne.
He stood up and blew a kiss to Lin, "But there's still something not quite right, or in other words, it's not true - what do you think, a little girl who can turn into an ogre?"
Yuffie turned her head and looked at Lin - it was not the worst outcome, but it was not far off. They did not waste much time on the road, and Hughes's appearance here probably indicates one fact - this Itte
The people knew their destination from the beginning and rushed back to the imperial capital before them.
At this point, there was no point in continuing to conceal her identity. She whispered a brief incantation and lifted the transformation spell cast on herself. Lin rubbed her cheeks and returned to her original blond appearance.
"Please let me reintroduce myself. Yuffie Steinmetz and Lin Campbell are both students of Dean Vanka Collens." She casually mentioned the old wizard's name, hoping that
This could make the emperor pay more attention to it, "Let me take the liberty to ask, is this your opinion on this war, or did you listen to someone's advice?"
When she said the last words, she used the secret technique of suggestion, but the surging vitality - or magic power - surrounding Rogman III's body easily shattered her spell.
"Nonsense. Apart from me, who can give orders to the entire empire, and who can guide the future of the empire?" The man on the throne stood up suddenly, looking at the two of them like fire, "Speak out your purpose, otherwise, you will have no choice but to
Let you wait for death in the cell."
"Please calm down, Your Majesty." Yuffie bowed and said, "I came here to visit because I am worried that you are under the control of some medicine or spell. If so, we will try to find a way to restore you. Now
It seems that although it is different from what I expected, your situation is still not very good."
She simply and as tactfully as possible told what she had observed about Rogman III's current physical condition and the possible adverse consequences. As expected, Rogman III did not believe what she said at all and shouted orders
The guards took the two to the cell and interrogated them to find out their 'real purpose' of being here.
This was not the result she expected. Yuffie bit her lip and instantly drew a rune in the air with her index finger. The rune turned into a dazzling blazing sun, blocking the steps of the guards. At the same time, Lin grabbed her
He picked it up, turned around, and ran towards the door at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary people.
"Hey, let me tell you, leaving without saying hello is quite rude!"
Yuffie heard a brisk voice ringing in her ears, and her instinct made her immediately raise her hand, preparing to cast a powerful protective spell——
Before the secret technique was completed, it was dispelled by another just-right magic power. The mixed magic power invaded her body, causing a violent dizziness. Amidst the buzzing in her ears, she felt like she was being placed on the ground,
I could vaguely hear the sound of weapons clashing, as well as the exclamations from my friends.
Her mind became heavier and heavier, and she tried to open her eyes, but eventually fell into sleep.