Volume 4 Chapter 20: The Situation (Part 1)

  "In the cafeteria, it's always radish and potatoes every day, I'm so fed up that my face is going to turn green! Eating meat is still more comfortable!"

  This is what Karl Sasse thought after enjoying the high-class dinner provided by the Chief Administrator.

  "After eating full, should go shopping on the commercial street, unfortunately no one pays the bill!"

  This was her second thought after smelling the aroma of dim sum on the street and touching her flat wallet.

  The female professor, transformed into a big eater, after swallowing a meal enough to burst the stomach of a man-eater at an astonishing speed and with an even more astonishing appetite, still unsatisfied, rubbed her already bulging belly, her eyes occasionally glancing towards the candy stores on both sides of the street, but the astronomical prices on the price tags, which could scare to death any greedy kid, made her make a wise decision.

  "Sweets are the archenemy of a woman's figure. From now on, I've made up my mind to work hard at losing weight, so I can't eat high-calorie foods anymore!"

  Of course, Ganmery and Ilminster standing next to her were absolutely skeptical of this nonsense, the two were staring blankly at Kalsa's petite figure, wondering how she managed to stuff so much into her belly.

  Today, Professor Karsus was like a starving ghost reincarnated, instantly entering a frenzied state under the stimulation of the barbecue aroma, and in just one minute, he swallowed a full 15 pounds of various foods. The ugliness of his eating is not worth mentioning, and he kept reaching over the boundary. Even the great sage Ilminster, no matter how refined, was thoroughly enraged by Karsus's shameless behavior of constantly forking meat from his own plate, almost using magic to stage a legendary food battle on the table. It seems that hunger is indeed a special effect that annihilates all demeanor and elegance!

  For this super luxurious dinner by today's standards, poor Ganmeryll had to pay the waiter a staggering 960 coins, almost equivalent to his entire monthly income. What's worse is that the payer didn't even get to eat anything - not even the cup of red tea that Ganmeryll ordered for himself was spared, as it was poured down his throat by Karsas who was eating too hastily and choked on it.

  Carl Sagan had originally wanted to order a few more desserts, but Gamaliel shook his head and jingled the coins in his pocket, which were now empty. The female professor, who didn't intend to pawn her carriage, immediately made the decision to retreat. After leaving the restaurant, Carl Sagan let the coachman drive the carriage back first, while he followed Gamaliel and Ilminster, planning to stroll around the business district to help with digestion.

  In the imperial capital of winter, the daytime was short-lived. When the three people walked out of the restaurant, the sky had already darkened. A gust of cold wind blew from the icy shadow sea, making the three people who were drowsy from the warm air suddenly refreshed, and their footsteps also seemed to be much lighter.

  The Shadow Sea was not formed naturally. In the distant past, this place was called "Thirsty Sandy Island", a salt alkali belt in the central desert that lacked water extremely. With the return of the Dark Soul City, the great mages who escaped back to the material world used powerful magic at a huge cost to create a lake on the most barren land on the Ferran continent, and then started the long and arduous desert reclamation project around it. Although the surrounding area of the current Shadow Sea is still relatively dry, it has become a vast grassland full of vitality, no longer the tragic scene of thousands of miles of yellow sand in the past.

  The most prosperous streets of the imperial capital unfolded along the Shadow Sea. On one side of the road was a narrow lakeside park, and on the other side were the highest-end shops in the city. At this time, it was already the hour when the magnificent lights first came on, not only did all the magical street lamps standing on both sides of the street light up to their maximum brightness, but also all the shop doors hung colorful magical lanterns that illuminated the entire shopping street. As magicians from all over the world poured in to escape famine, the magical lights of the imperial capital became increasingly cheap, and had already reached a point where they were more cost-effective than oil lamps.

  Under the cold and dark night, the bright lights gave people a kind of dreamy feeling, but it still couldn't hide the harsh reality of wartime. Although most of the shops were still open, the goods they could provide were very limited, with empty shelves everywhere in sight. Anything related to food, such as sweets, liquor, and even candles and lamp oil, was priced at an astronomical price, while magical items were cheap to the point of being almost free. The only bustling place was the pawnshop, where people lined up in long queues despite the frighteningly low prices for pawning goods.

  A few shabbily dressed magicians wandered around the entrances of various shops, wearing wooden boards around their necks with the words "Only seeking food and lodging, no salary required" written on them as they looked for work, but nobody came to bother with them, and were even chased away by the door guards or shop assistants. The patrolling security personnel wielded powerful

  They stared at them with a gaze similar to looking at thieves. The austerity of wartime could

  Although it's just the beginning of the night, which is supposed to be the peak of nightlife, there are very few people on the road, and horse-drawn carriages can't even be seen. Even when a few pedestrians occasionally pass by them, they lower their heads and don't talk to each other. The sales clerks in the shops have also become numb to the bleak reality, and not one of them is willing to brave the cold wind to solicit customers, making the three people feel as if they are walking alone in an empty city.

  "We first met on this lake shore, didn't we!" Ilmester said to Ganmeryll, standing under the bright streetlights and gazing out at the dark expanse of the lake. "Back then there were no people around here, it was desolate and wild, with only wolves and snakes roaming about. You lived in a small village nearby, didn't you? It's hard to believe how much everything has changed in less than a century!" He turned to look at the gleaming city behind him, his voice filled with emotion.

  "At that time, I was reckless. As soon as I heard that the Shadow Valley Great Sage was camping here, I got excited and wanted to become your apprentice." Gan Meili rubbed her head with a smile, "I didn't expect you to really accept me."

  "Because you were the first to apprentice yourself to me not for magic." Ilminster smiled benevolently and patted Gameliel's shoulder, "I was truly startled when you said you wanted to learn about national histories and laws from me. Others seek me out for magic and war, but you are different."

  "Because I knew I wasn't cut out for it." Gan Meirill gazed at the frozen lake, as if recalling his youth. "I also attended a magic academy in the city, spending who-knows-how-much of my family's money, but only learned a few zero-level spells that even a bartender would know. From then on, I completely lost interest in magic and just wanted to be an official or scholar, anything to make my family proud of the efforts they made for me... unfortunately, it was too late..." He lowered his head, "A hundred years have passed, and they've all turned to dust, unable to see what I look like now."

  "Do you think you're doing a good job?" Karl Sasse, who had been quietly listening on the side, couldn't help but interrupt, "Since I returned to this world, the Empire was already the number one power in the world, with territory and population far exceeding my time. But now?" She pointed to the desolate shops around her, "Everywhere is plagued by famine, unrest, war, and terrorist attacks. The country is on the verge of collapse, and it's only been a year! In just one year, such a large nation has become like this. Even when Ferlin destroyed the First Empire, it wasn't as fast as this!"

  "Being great also has its difficulties!" Gannemelir shook his head in frustration, "In name, I am the highest leader of the world's number one power, with unlimited glory. But in reality?" He spread his hands, "At most, I can only be considered a maintenance chairman! All I can do is patch up the leaky house that is the Nacelles Empire, so it doesn't collapse, but as for the termites eating away at the house, there's nothing I can do. Take the current war and famine, if the empire were still its size from two hundred years ago, things wouldn't have developed to this point."

  "Why?"

  "Before the mass entry of various dominions, the empire's territory and population were less than half of what they are now, but in terms of stability and cohesion, it was much higher than now," explained Gammell.

  At that time, the only forces with a say in the imperial political arena were: His Excellency Ailasituo, who controlled the original Silver Moon Federation region and indirectly influenced the entire North; Her Excellency Kailuo, who was renowned in the dark realm and influenced all places where the sun did not shine; The great mages who took Yin Soul City as their leader and escaped from the disaster of the fall of the First Empire of Naiselie; And occasionally, the God of Knowledge, Ogma's Church, would intervene with a few words. Apart from that, it was usually just these people participating in national politics. The colonies on the New Continent were always a loose sand, and they rarely made their voices heard. The great mages were not a very united force either. Therefore, as long as His Excellencies Ailasituo and Kailuo could reach a consensus, various policies would generally be implemented smoothly, and there wouldn't be any chaos within the country. He sighed, gazing blankly at the night sky dyed crimson by the setting sun, as if reminiscing about that prosperous and stable era.

  "But that's no longer the case. Do you know how foreign monarchs evaluate our country?" Ganmirel's face showed a mocking smile, and in a strange tone, he recited the famous phrase: "The so-called Nacelle Second Empire is neither Nacelle, nor second, nor an empire!"