# Chapter 10: A Familiar Scent
In the spring of Starfall 833, the year that would be named the Dragon Calamity Year, many events worthy of being recorded in history occurred.
First, there was the Northern Empire's victory celebration in the Awakening Moon.
This celebration, held to commemorate the victory over the orc war, lasted for a week and two days. Many nations and major powers sent envoys to offer congratulations. Even the Far South Kingdom, which was currently resisting the dragon calamity, and the Church of the Seven Gods specially dispatched a team of envoys bearing generous gifts to pay homage to the Imperial Emperor.
Ordinary citizens reveled in the streets, drinking fine wine, but the envoys from multiple nations had no time for banquets. They held several important meetings at the Morlai Palace in the Imperial Capital. Through the detailed information brought by the Far South Kingdom and the Church of the Seven Gods, the ambassadors from other nations that had not yet been invaded by the mad dragons understood the gravity of the situation.
In brief, if it weren't for the dense jungles in the southern continent and the many scattered elven tribes that acted like fortresses, slowing the mad dragons' advance, they might have already crossed the [Nake Mountains] and formally entered the territories of the western mountain nations. The human settlements in the west, which had enjoyed peace for many years, did not have the ability to quickly assemble an army capable of resisting the dragon calamity. The mad dragons' attacks would cause hundreds of thousands, even millions, of casualties.
In fact, the mad dragons were already doing this. Behind these mindless, frenzied magical beasts seemed to be a commander, gathering forces and advancing northwest, preparing to bring plague and death to other regions. Due to a lack of supplies, the Nake Mountains fortress complex in the Far South Kingdom was on the verge of collapse and urgently needed reinforcements. The Far South Kingdom's envoy had come precisely for this reason. Their central defensive line could hold on its own, but it absolutely could not cover the fortresses in other directions.
Fortunately, the main force of flying mad dragons was ambushed at the Far Sea by the Church of the Seven Gods' [Gleden Choir]. This elite force, composed of a hundred ascetics at the Silver Peak level and over a dozen Gold High-rank archmages, perfectly completed its mission. The heavenly punishment holy light that illuminated the sky shattered the flying dragons' formation, and the leading demon dragon was slain. Otherwise, the current situation would be ten times more severe.
Second, there was the discovery made by the major power of the Eastern Plains, the Sky-Piercing White Tower—the largest spellcaster organization on the Mycroft Continent—in the Central Black Forest.
The entire Mycroft Continent is roughly divided into five parts by jungles, mountains, canyons, and rivers. They are the four large human settlement areas in the east, south, west, and north, and the Central Black Forest, which occupies more than half of the continent's area.
For everyone, it is a true demonic realm. The environment there is extremely dangerous, filled with strange poisonous mists and miasmas. The creatures living there are more dangerous than the last—one must know that the Central Black Forest is the only place on the entire continent confirmed to be inhabited by multiple legendary magical beasts and ancient dragons. Its danger level even surpasses that of Hell and the Abyss. At least powerful sorcerers can live in the Abyss for a long time, but not one of them dares to guarantee they can survive in the depths of the Central Black Forest for a week.
It's like how humans on Earth can explore the Moon and Mars but know little about the deep sea and the Earth's interior. The Central Black Forest is exactly that kind of existence. However, when an elite mage team from the Sky-Piercing White Tower was exploring it, they unexpectedly discovered a huge city ruin within.
The scope of this ruin was beyond everyone's imagination. The entire eastern basin, nearly two hundred square kilometers of forest underground, was the ruin of this city. It seemed to have been struck by a huge meteorite and smashed entirely into the ground.
The mage team from the Sky-Piercing White Tower immediately realized that this was a discovery shocking enough to shake the entire world. The materials excavated from it would surely answer many questions for historians worldwide—for example, how the flourishing civilization of the legendary previous era, a thousand years ago, was destroyed. What exactly happened during the lost three hundred years that caused its ruins to become such a vast black forest?
*Snap.* The sound of paper closing came.
"It is indeed this time," Joshua nodded slightly, putting down the newspaper in his hand, and muttered to himself, "It's a pity this report only came out yesterday, so there's only general information. I don't know what those mages actually found in the ruins."
"After all, without the help of adventurer players in this life, I really don't know if those guys with their noses in the air got the Star Crystal Furnace design like in the previous life."
Starfall 832, April 16th, afternoon. Northern Empire Imperial Capital, Three Mountains Holy City.
At this time, the Imperial Capital was no different from when Joshua and the others arrived over half a month ago.
The victory celebration had ended. The wreaths and statues originally placed on the streets had been removed. Whether tourists from foreign countries or people living here, they had all returned to their daily ordinary lives.
But even so, as a national capital, the prosperity of the Three Mountains Holy City was still evocative. Walking on the bustling commercial avenue leading to the inner city of the Imperial Capital, Joshua deliberately slowed his pace. The beautifully decorated shops and tall buildings on both sides attracted people's attention. Not far away, the newly erected Monument to the Orc War stood opposite Saint Claire Cathedral, coated in a layer of golden radiance by the warm afternoon sun.
Just now, Joshua had bought a stack of recent spellcaster newspapers from a bookstore affiliated with the Imperial Royal Mage Association to learn about the latest major news.
This newspaper was restricted to sale to nobles and spellcasters, and its information was much more detailed than ordinary public newspapers. The warrior had gained quite a bit of valuable information from it. Combining what he knew from his previous life, Joshua could roughly piece together a picture of the current world in his mind.
As the Northern Empire's war with the orcs ended, the dragon calamity in the Far South intensified, even beginning to spread to other regions. Although the Sky-Piercing White Tower had unexpectedly discovered the ruins of the previous era, they had no time to research those ancient structures. Soon, the army of dragon beasts would spread across the entire world. Only by eliminating them all would the next era, the [Era of Exploration], begin.
—No need to think that far ahead for now.
Shaking his head, Joshua handed the newspaper to Lin beside him, letting him put it away.
At this time, the group had already entered the inner city of the Imperial Capital. The noisy sounds of the commercial district disappeared instantly. On the almost empty King's Avenue leading directly to the Morlai Palace, only scattered pedestrians could be seen walking, and occasionally a few carriages printed with complex and ancient emblems could be seen slowly passing by.
Due to the cultist incident before the celebration, the alert level of the entire Imperial Capital had been raised considerably. The life-loving court nobles showed this even more clearly—unless necessary, they rarely went out. Even if they did, they took carriages. A warrior like this, walking on the street with two attendants on foot, was an outlier among outliers.
Regardless, Joshua and the others arrived at the towering wall entrance of the Morlai Palace.
The guards on duty at the entrance originally wanted to speak, telling the three people who seemed to be just strolling here to leave quickly, but they recognized the warrior's identity, and their reprimand instantly turned into a respectful welcome.
Under Joshua's gaze, these elite guard knights in black armor all felt uneasy.
At first glance from afar, no one noticed that the young man walking on the street was the recently famous dragon-slaying lord in the Imperial Capital. But when the warrior stood before them, the knights understood why the name 'Joshua' had suddenly appeared on the 'Watch List,' which had not added new names for a long time, and why many important figures had specifically instructed them not to offend the Count, who was surely destined for high office in the future.
Because the other party was simply too strong.
A guard knight who had once been fortunate enough to see the commander of one of the Empire's five major legions, the White Horse Legion, was shocked to discover that the pressure Joshua was giving him now was about as heavy as what the legion commander had given him back then.
—Could it be that he had already reached that realm? He wasn't even half the age of that legion commander who had campaigned for many years, yet he had achieved the same accomplishment...
"Good day, Lord Radcliffe."
The warrior's casual gaze made everyone present feel as if all their weaknesses had been seen through. Heavy pressure spread. To break this increasingly stagnant atmosphere, the leading knight couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and spoke: "Have you come to the Morlai Palace to see Master Nostradamus?"
"No... well, you could say that."
Originally, Joshua wanted to say he was going to directly meet His Majesty the Emperor, but thinking carefully, the other party might not have time to see him. And regarding the plague matter, telling the old mage was the same as telling the Emperor. So the warrior directly changed his words: "When can I see Master Nostradamus?"
"Master said he hasn't been able to contact you recently, so he specifically instructed that if you, Count, come to the Morlai Palace, you should go directly to the library of the Black Swan Palace to find him. Master has been organizing ancient texts there recently."
Directly making way, the leading knight looked as if he couldn't wait for Joshua to leave. As time passed, he felt the pressure emanating from the other party growing heavier, as if something was gradually seeping out from the warrior's body.
Without much ceremony, Joshua nodded and directly walked into the Morlai Palace. As soon as he left, the previously tense guards immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"He feels scarier than a dragon!"
A younger-looking knight frowned, his face showing undisguised fear: "I'm not complaining—but why doesn't the lord restrain his pressure a bit? That shouldn't be difficult!"
"Maybe he already has, and even deliberately weakened it... I just sensed the fluctuation of a magical item."
Another knight nodded thoughtfully. He looked at where Joshua had left, squinting his eyes, and said: "If the lord hadn't restrained his power, maybe you and I would still be lying on the ground right now."
Inside the walls of the Morlai Palace, other patrolling guards had already received notification from the guards at the wall entrance. They knew the identity of Joshua and his group, so they did not approach to disturb them but merely bowed slightly in salute.
Walking all the way until the palace entrance, Joshua raised his hand to signal Ying and Lin to stop. He stood at the entrance and said softly to his divine mechanisms: "Someone will come to welcome us."
Soon, as Joshua had said, a red-haired knight wearing silver-gray armor with the insignia of the Imperial Guard on his shoulders came before them. The warrior noticed the patterns on the other's sword and the color of his waist sash, knowing that he was a direct descendant of a noble family, now serving as a captain of the Imperial Guard in the palace. He didn't know if the other was just gilding his resume or truly pursuing this path, but the other had already saluted him.
"Good day, Lord Radcliffe. It is my honor to meet you."
This captain respectfully saluted Joshua. He seemed to have known Joshua's identity for a long time and was exceptionally enthusiastic: "Are you going to see Master Nostradamus? He is currently presiding over the organization of ancient texts at the Royal Library. Please follow me."
"Thank you for the trouble."
Following the other forward, Joshua was not surprised by the respect. This red-haired captain's strength was close to the Gold Realm. If his perception was sharp enough, he could naturally feel that the warrior's strength could no longer be described by simple Gold Peak. Coupled with Joshua's previous feat of killing a group of greater demons in the Imperial Capital, naturally many people were willing to show him goodwill.
Surface-level respect was the bare minimum.
The Morlai Palace was a large palace complex with intricate and intersecting paths. Without someone familiar to guide them, few could reach their desired destination on their own. The Black Swan Palace seemed to be located relatively deep inside. The red-haired captain led Joshua and the others for about ten minutes without yet arriving.
Along the way, Joshua learned the knight's identity. Coincidentally, the Warner family he belonged to had a kinship relationship with the Kaos family. This knight named Fandal was, by seniority, still Brandon's distant cousin.
The relationships between nobles were roughly like this. Every major family had countless connections with other families. Fortunately, the Radcliffe family had the duty of the gatekeeper, and the divine mechanism lineage was passed down through a single line without so many messy relationships, so Joshua didn't need to memorize those bizarre relative lists.
Just as Fandal said they were about to reach the Black Swan Palace, footsteps came from the other side of the corridor.
Soon, a team of people wearing standard church white robes walked silently from the opposite side of the corridor. Their expressions were solemn, and their steps were hurried, as if they were rushing to handle some matters.
But what truly attracted attention was not these silent monks, but a woman in the center of the team who looked somewhat delicate yet exceptionally beautiful.
Under the somewhat dim light of the palace corridor, this woman wearing a clean and well-fitted white robe and an exquisite crystal crown was strikingly conspicuous. Her eyes were covered by a circle of black blindfold cloth, revealing only her fair and smooth cheeks and chin. Her platinum blonde hair fell naturally like a waterfall to her waist.
No eyes visible—but even so, she could be called beautiful.
Joshua naturally noticed this group, and they noticed him as well—whether it was the black-haired warrior with a young boy and girl or the church monks in the imperial palace, both were so unusual that people couldn't help but pay attention. Joshua's gaze swept over, and then he saw that beautiful woman. She seemed to be pondering some profound question, and walking forward was merely her subconscious movement.
Joshua couldn't help but frown.
"Strange..."
The warrior muttered softly to himself: "A familiar scent."
And that woman with covered eyes slightly paused her steps, and the entire monk team stopped accordingly. This showed that the entire team moved with this platinum blonde-haired woman as the center.
She turned her head, as if sizing up Joshua. Although her eyes were covered, the warrior felt a sense of being scrutinized.
But neither side said much. After observing each other for that instant, the two teams passed by each other, heading towards their respective destinations.