Chapter 9: Don't Eat Things Strangers Throw at You
Although Joshua did not enjoy playing mind games, his emotional intelligence was not low. The warrior clearly understood that the old mage's invitation to travel together to the Imperial Capital was partly out of genuine willingness to help, but also partly to mark him as belonging to their faction.
The current political situation of the Empire was not overly complicated. Broadly speaking, it consisted of several camps: the central Imperial Royal Family, the local nobles, the Church, and the great merchants. Among them, the Royal Family, due to His Majesty the Emperor's Legendary-rank strength, firmly suppressed the other factions. However, even so, each camp had many smaller factions, some of which would even ally with other camps against their own people for the sake of their own interests.
And such occurrences were not rare.
Nostradamus was His Majesty the Emperor's teacher in his youth, and he himself had once studied under a Ultimate-rank mage of the Kaos Family, a staunch royalist faction. He was one of the leading figures of the unshakably loyal royalist faction. The Radcliffe Family, four hundred years ago, was also one of the royalist factions in the Imperial Capital, and their territory in the Northern Lands was directly granted by the Emperor of that era. Logically, they should still be supporting the central faction now.
However, due to the inability to establish teleportation gates for smooth communication with the outside world over the past four hundred years, the entire Moldavia Territory had gradually tilted towards the local noble camp. In fact, before Joshua succeeded to the title, the Radcliffe Family was the absolute ruler of Moldavia. Although their rule was not tyrannical, it was indeed unquestioned — a prime example where the lord's word held more weight than Imperial law.
Joshua traveling to the Imperial Capital together with Nostradamus was not a major event in itself, but it was equivalent to sending a signal — a signal that the Radcliffe Family was returning to the royalist faction.
Joshua did not actually mind this, but he knew the future developments. The warrior understood that the Northern Empire's Royal Family would become embroiled in considerable trouble in the future and would have little energy to support him. Rather than appearing so prominently in everyone's sight, it would be better to keep a low profile, silently amassing wealth — that was the best approach.
After all, engaging in political struggles was utterly tiresome. Compared to that, even aimlessly wandering around his territory would be more interesting.
Having ended his conversation with Nostradamus, Joshua pondered for a while longer. Pacing back and forth in the study, he roughly determined his future itinerary.
Since he did not plan to teleport to the Imperial Capital with the old mage, he might as well travel on foot, treating it as a sightseeing trip. Along the way, he could rest his mind and also experience the local customs and culture. Joshua had never seriously observed the humanities of this world. The cities of the Northern Lands, due to the long winters, appeared somewhat monotonous and lifeless. He occasionally wanted to see the scenery of other places.
"Ling, come here."
Having made his decision, he stopped walking, turned around with a serious expression, and spoke to Ling, who was lying on the table seemingly idle. "I have a task for you."
"Yes, Master!"
The lord's wishes naturally had to be carried out. After Joshua issued his orders, the Lord's Manor began preparing the supplies needed for the journey. Ling, as the steward with real authority, was naturally busy with everything, and Ying was not much better off, frequently being dragged to work by her younger brother. Even though the sun had already set, the Lord's Manor was still a scene of bustling activity.
Joshua was not idle either. After finishing his instructions, he used the teleportation array to go to Winterfell Academy on Nissier Snow Mountain, intending to inspect the school.
It was now evening. When he teleported to the academy, he could see countless stars twinkling in the night sky. The twin moons shone, coating the academy halfway up the mountain with a layer of silvery light resembling snow.
Compared to a month ago, the academy had changed enormously. Every time Joshua came here, he felt it was changing with each passing day.
Nostradamus seemed to have truly poured all his heart into this place. Originally, halfway up the mountain, aside from Winterfell Fortress, there was only the unfinished rune factory, surrounded by dense snow pine forests. But now, within several hundred meters around the academy, there was not a single hard snow pine tree left. The rugged ground had been magically shaped to be perfectly flat, no longer as complex and varied as before. Beside the main gate of Winterfell Fortress, ornamental grass and cold-resistant magical flowers had been planted.
This was just the periphery. The interior had changed even more.
The warrior walked into the academy's hall and looked up. He noticed many peculiar decorations had been added. For example, stone carvings inscribed with magical runes that provided area-wide mana recovery, and fountains connected to the Water Elemental Plane, supplying an endless stream of pure water. There were also many seats for resting around. It was evident that this place was usually crowded, but now, probably due to the time, there were not many people — only a few scattered young students walking by in a hurry.
These students did not notice the warrior standing to the side. These teenagers, seemingly only around ten years old, were holding thick notebooks. Although their faces showed some fatigue, it did not make them seem weak; instead, it revealed an inner vitality.
This was only natural — most of the students here were previously commoners, even mountain hunters, or children of farmers with a bit of savings. Because of their talents, they had obtained a chance to change their lives. No one would waste such an opportunity. No matter how hard or tiring it was, no one would give up.
In a place where people could see continuous improvement and hope for progress, no one would become decadent.
"...It's all your fault for forgetting to bring the notebook. We have to go back and get it. Now we'll be late for evening self-study. I wonder how the teacher will scold us..."
"My fault, my fault..."
"Evening self-study? They even have evening self-study here? Nostradamus is indeed very dedicated."
Hearing the conversation between two hurried students, Joshua could not help but chuckle. But then, he realized that some of the educational issues he had discussed with the old mage last time might have been a bit too advanced.
Given Nostradamus's wisdom, now that he had introduced evening self-study, he might even come up with things like "Five Years of Magic, Three Years of Simulation" in the future. After all, the academy now not only had morning and evening self-study but also extracurricular tutoring classes, and so on. Everything that should be there was there, except for the final exam.
Joshua had not interfered at all in the construction and development of Winterfell Academy. After all, it was Nostradamus's school. He was the honorary principal and had the priority recruitment rights for graduates. But aside from the initial investment, the warrior had done nothing regarding the academy's subsequent construction and development. However, it seemed the old mage was doing very well in this regard, and Joshua did not need to worry further. He only needed to sit back and reap the benefits later.
Walking along, Joshua passed many places: the cafeteria, the laboratory, and classrooms where evening self-study was in progress. Joshua nodded in approval as he looked around. Both the diligently studying students and the serious, strict teachers were reassuring.
Turning through several corridors, the warrior arrived at the library, located in the rear part of the academy, within the mountain's interior.
In the library, there were quite a few people, mostly younger students. They were quietly holding books, reading voraciously, absorbing the knowledge within.
He had heard that to fill this vast library, Nostradamus had even copied most of the books from his own personal collection and placed them here. Among them were many extremely rare out-of-print books and his own notes. His students and the hired teachers had also contributed considerably, but all of them together did not match the old mage's contribution alone.
For a mage, books were true wealth. Nostradamus's action was equivalent to donating most of his possessions, showing just how much effort he had invested.
Standing at the library entrance, Joshua swept his gaze across the room. Just as he was about to leave, he caught sight of a familiar figure from the corner of his eye.
A little boy with platinum-blonde hair. The warrior initially found him somewhat familiar, then quickly remembered.
It was the little fellow who had been very interested in his mana armor not long ago. His name was Ivan, and he was very bold — that had left a deep impression on Joshua. But regrettably, during the previous dragon calamity investigation, through the records, the warrior learned that Ivan had lost both parents in the calamity, leaving only him and his sister to be adopted by an old scholar. He had not expected the boy to also enter Winterfell Academy.
The little boy was intently reading a book titled *Detailed Explanation of Guardian Puppet Structures*. It seemed he had chosen the Magical Mechanical Department. Joshua smiled slightly, nodded in satisfaction, and then his figure disappeared into the shadows of the corridor.
Everything at the academy was on track. He no longer needed to worry about it.
Meanwhile, deep within the Great Aias Volcano, in the underground lava pool.
Black was still circling back and forth in the lava pool, thoroughly enjoying itself. Such a comfortable environment was unprecedented for it. Having once been a fire-attribute dragon-blooded warhorse, it had lived in the bitterly cold Northern Lands for over a year — a truly terrible experience. Even after awakening its bloodline and gaining some resistance to the cold, if it wanted to swim, it could only stay in the icy-cold Palm Print Lake on Nissier Snow Mountain.
The lava pool was a perfect domain that matched its bloodline power. If possible, Black truly wished to stay here forever, until its strength reached its limit.
But just as it was pondering, a strange tremor came from above.
A faint blue light continuously emitted ripples like water waves. The spatial gate suspended in midair above the lava pool trembled slightly. From the other end of the spatial rift, some strange sounds came, as if someone was speaking.
Black looked up at the void opening with some confusion. The sounds, as if someone was speaking, continued for a while before stopping.
It did not understand what this situation meant, but since it had stopped, it paid no further attention. Black continued soaking in the lava, feeling the heat of the fire elements.
However, accompanied by a sudden, intense vibration, something was thrown from the other end of the spatial gate. A dark mass passed through the spatial passage, tracing an arc through the air.
The half-dragon had no idea what this thing hurtling toward it was. Instinctively, it opened its mouth, caught the mass, and held it in its jaws.
(To be continued.)