Page 246 (1/2)

Chapter 246: The Beginning of a New Era

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Pranav

While the Northlands were still in the id weather, the central plains of Eich were experiencing the warht now, in the Royal Palace of the Bardi E for a scheduled visitor

Emperor Orloss Mossivory Saint Milan was a silver-haired, elderly man with a kindly appearance He was on the short side, and he never spoke loudly He appeared to have a scholarly aura about him, whichwith, but within the Bardi Elorious nickname&8221; of "Sly Fox Scorpion Emperor&8221; This referred to hoas vicious both do you don’t understand what that ood, the ends justify the means&8221; hat he lived by, and he indeed always followed through with this

Domestically, within the Bardi Eainst each other, and framed and scammed others to centralize and solidify his authority Internationally, he betrayed endless areeave hilorious nickna the current Bardi Ele one of its allies to the point that it had now zero reains to be had in exchange for those losses While he ruined the honor and trustworthiness that the Bardi Empire had accumulated over countless centuries, the Bardi Ereatest peak in history Within the first fifty years of Orloss’ reign, the Bardi Empire had conquered and assimilated seventeen different s their borders and population

"Ever since I ascended the throne, war has never stopped&8221;

At first, this phrase said by Orloss was an exclamation at how helpless he hen he first came to power However, as the years passed, it becale loss

Frons against other countries increased the royal authority The major nobles within the Bardi Empire were extremely respectful of royal authority, and actually, all the ant presents to the elderly emperor every year for his birthday Each domain lord’s heir would even coes)

Yep, the ones that refused to give hostages or show respect on the surface had all died; the dohly peaceful This was reatest peak of royal authority in the Bardi Empire’s history for at least the past three thousand years

However, those were merely the achievements in his early and middle years In his later years, he was even more incredible He used only thirty years’ time to accomplish ould typically take one hundred years

He created a national military department that unified and centralized the system of command for all military affairs within the Bardi Empire Every domain lord had to now be conscripted into the military to serve for a set period of time Those who tried to escape the conscription would be executed Any nobles ed or paid taxes late would be executed

The government took full control of salt, food, iron, and all important daily life and production products, and was the only organization allowed to sell the those products would be executed

The government took control of civilian adventurers and job classes Every job class uild and adventurer had to swear fealty to the royalty Every adventurer was considered the Bardi Empire’s resource—they had to unconditionally accept the country’s coency situations Unlicensed adventurers were forbidden, including es, and would be publicly executed

It had to be admitted that Orloss ruled with an iron fist He had ascended the throne during a period of extreave it his all and helped the Bardi Ereatest apex in history, even if his personal reputation was in tatters and he was now infa completely insincere and untrustworthy

Countless numbers of people both within and outside the Bardi Empire wished for his death Every year, the nuh to le break… But even those who hated hi ruler, who had helped the Bardi Eovernment’s monopolization of important resources and control over the market had indeed caused a lot of hatred, but the current Bardi Einable Every year, their allottedcountries’ military expenditures cohtly burdened by this It wasn’t lie-scale faes in several decades, and its population and the flourish the originally neutral adventurers and e backlash at first, but because the royal authority and the eneration died, all the waves had quieted down The new generation of adventurers already believed that working for the country was only natural Even the rarer job classes like ister of their own volition to becoovernainst the old systeanizations such as the adventurers’ guilds, e conferences, various churches, and so on However, for Orloss Mossivory, resistance against his policies and attempted assassinations were a daily occurrence to hiuards, which nobody knew the identities of, had never disappointed hiuards, and Orloss was never one to fear any enes, besides the Bardi Empire’s flourish up within the country Countless wished him dead, and plenty wished for the Bardi Empire to return to its past ways The way that schely powerful country still didn’t have a solid foundation and was shaking in the rainstorest and most foundational problele descendant

Perhaps it was because he was injured in his early years, or perhaps it was karma for his wicked ways But no h he had countless concubines, he had never begotten a single child In fact, two of his concubines had gotten pregnant before, but he fed both of thes on the very next day After that, rumors that the Bardi Emperor was infertile and that Orloss would never have a descendant began spreading everywhere

Of course, he had tried to resolve this problehters But as the years passed, his roughly forty adopted children only now had around twenty surviving Due to Orloss’s extre or too smart would be executed, but it was unrealistic for any of the re survivors to be chosen as the successor as it would be too difficult to have all the factions accept that person

The oldest adopted prince, Carlston, was already in his fifties, but he appeared even older than Emperor Orloss The only reason he was able to survive until noas because he was basically useless; he did not possess the ambition of his fellow adopted princes, nor did he desire to become emperor while he was still alive

In the mortal plane, there was an unspoken rule Rulers would definitely be short-lived, as the Gods wouldn’t permit an immortal ruler If there was a ruler who lived to a hundred years and still grasped on tightly to his reins of power, then the punishment of the Gods would surely descend upon him

"Orloss is over seventy years old, and he probably doesn’t have much time left Let’s just wait for his death, and then…&8221;

Plenty of those with aritted their teeth as they waited for this old ee These people included not only the people outside his fas, who had wanted hi If the emperor died, then Bardi’s territories would immediately be carved up and re-divided by all the factions

"It won’t be long now; it should be soon He’s never practiced anyon with the help of medicine Perhaps he’ll even die to emperor, who seemed to others to be about to uest that he had been waiting so long for This person earing a black cape and was led into the old euards

"Emperor Aso, your personal arrival is the honor of our entire Bardi Empire Unfortunately, it’s still not a suitable time to publicize the relationship between us, and I’m unable to welcome you with an abundant feast&8221;

The elderly emperor stashed away his pride as a ruler and hurriedly rose to his feet to personally welcohttime visitor This was because the black-cloaked individual before hi

However, Emperor Aso didn’t intend to mince words despite Orloss’ hearty welcome Every minute in the an with the main topic

"No need We never cared about useless trifles like those to begin with The only thing that could possiblyruler, have you made your decision? Will you decide to truly e true immortality?&8221;

A sudden chilly breeze blew past and exposed the true face beneath that long cape and large hood Or, perhaps it should be said that there was no face at all The burning, green fla

For an undead to be called an eendary Undead Emperors In front of these ancient eeneration of Gods were nothing but their juniors

Emperor Aso had placed countless chains and seals upon his own body, but even so, the bare hints of the power of death e from him were sufficient to cause black winds to roil up within the royal garden Large amounts of plants instantly withered to death, and the earth began to be drained of life Underneath the ground, faint signs of white bones started to ani so fearsome that any hero would cower, Orloss, as still a hed

"Of course! Everybody knows that I, Orloss, am the most trustworthy person around Ever since you saved o, froreement would be forever in effect&8221;

Orloss the Thirteenth also opened up his extravagant clothing to reveal his upper body Where his stomach should have been was a partially e more than pitch-black bones and rotten flesh, and even the most expensive silver rose perfu flesh

Despite the fact that his body was disgusting, Orloss’s smile remained, as if he didn’t feel any pain at all Only the wrinkles around his eyesdead man for more than thirty years, so have I ever had any other choice since that day?&8221;

…

Unlike the south, which had long hours of daylight, the Northlands’ winter skies would always darken rather quickly, especially now that it was the end of winter At the current , but the entirety of Diffindor was in utter darkness