Inside the car, Lanqi leaned back against the supple leather seat, settling in for the drive to Saint Creti Monastery.
"If possible, Professor Landry, please keep your contact with the military to a minimum during your tenure at Saint Creti Monastery. You are a talent handpicked by the headmaster. If you get sucked into the military apparatus, it won't be good for you or the school."
Secretary Naila glanced at him in the rearview mirror, speaking in a low murmur.
Headmaster Violet was already swamped with her duties in the capital; having to negotiate with the supreme commander of the military, First War God Hyacinthus, over an issue involving a subordinate would be immense trouble.
"Don't worry. Section Chief Nikolai merely had some misunderstandings about me at first. I expect that once he investigates the causes and effects of the incident, he will clear them up very quickly."
Lanqi nodded nonchalantly, drew a thick copy of History of the Creti Empire from his briefcase, and laid it open across his lap.
"Though, Miss Naila, why are you so repulsed by the Secret Service Section? I can tell that your aversion goes beyond official duty—you seem to loathe them on a personal level as well."
He inquired after a moment's thought.
During his upcoming stay at Saint Creti Monastery, he would likely be dealing with this headmaster's secretary for many affairs whenever Headmaster Violet was unavailable.
"Do you like the dogs kept by the capital aristocrats?" Naila let out a cold snort and countered with a question of her own.
"Ahem... Miss Naila, is it really appropriate to say that?"
Lanqi cleared his throat, not expecting the seemingly dignified and courteous headmaster's secretary to speak so bluntly.
"There is nothing wrong with it. At Saint Creti Monastery, you may speak your mind freely. Since ancient times, this place has always been a sanctuary." Naila smiled faintly.
"To me, small animals are just small animals, regardless of whether they're wild, domesticated, or whom they belong to," Lanqi ultimately replied to Secretary Naila's earlier question.
"It seems Professor Landry is a centrist," Naila concluded, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.
"Shouldn't that be the normal stance?"
Back in Lanqi's homeland, the disparity between aristocrats and commoners wasn't so vast. Beyond having more money, nobles had few special privileges; even a duke's daughter faced discrimination day in and day out.
In his current guise as Landry, a noble from a remote frontier, he wouldn't necessarily understand the capital, Brierda—after all, this was Landry's first time visiting from the borderlands, so being himself would suffice.
"Once you arrive at Saint Creti Monastery, Professor Landry, you will understand just how distinct the factions are. The vast majority of people who appear neutral actually hold opinions in their hearts; they simply don't show them readily."
Naila tapped her fingers against the steering wheel and said lightly, "I truly despise those powerful nobles in the capital, and I despise the fellows who act as their lapdogs even more. Of course, Professor Landry, that doesn't include you, as you don't carry that worldly stench."
She spoke relatively directly, which also improved her working efficiency.
As an impoverished noble from the Empire's remote borders, Landry was eligible to join either faction; it mostly depended on where he considered himself to belong.
Lanqi smiled without answering, turning another page of the book on his lap.
As the headmaster's secretary, Naila was supposed to be a neutral, yet because she voiced her thoughts openly, it actually put the headmaster at ease, allowing her to keep Naila by her side.
Outside the car window, this ancient capital with a millennium of history shone with the radiance of days gone by in the descending evening sun.
"Lanqi, why is there such deep hostility between nobles and commoners here in the Empire?"
The queen card, Talia, seemed to have taken a brief nap. Waking up now, she piped up in Lanqi's mind whenever curiosity struck.
After arriving in the Creti Empire, she didn't need to show her face or maintain an identity; most of the time, she remained Lanqi's magic card and summon. As such, she hadn't needed to do much homework. Back when Lanqi had spent every day reviewing documents in the Kingdom of Posen, she had lounged on the sofa snacking on treats, occasionally dozing off.
Now that they had actually reached the Creti Empire and heard about its internal affairs, her curiosity was piqued once again.
Originally, Lanqi wouldn't have been dragged into the capital's noble-commoner issues so quickly—his original assumed identity, Lovia, had been a northern frontier commoner with no defined stance.
Yet the identity of Landry was rather delicate.
Once he arrived at Saint Creti Monastery, avoiding this issue would likely prove impossible.
To help Hyperion rescue Mikhail, they would have to find the subterranean city of the Blood Clan beneath the Creti capital of Brierda, which Lanqi had spoken of: Blood Moon City.
And to obtain the exact coordinates of Blood Moon City, they had to start by uncovering those within the Empire tied to the Blood Clan. In the process, mingling with influential imperial figures would be unavoidable—and among them, there could be members of the aristocratic faction as well as the populist faction.
"Years ago, the nobles of the Creti Empire wielded excessive power—enough to cover the heavens with a single hand. Most of the authority, wealth, and even media resources were concentrated in aristocratic hands," Lanqi explained to Talia in his mind, flipping through the book in his hands.
"Aside from oppressing and exploiting the populace, some aristocrats ceased treating commoners as human beings altogether, killing and pillaging as they pleased."
Lanqi did not yet know why Landry had packed a copy of History of the Creti Empire in his luggage, but what was written inside partially matched what he was recounting now—though the history book had glossed over those details with considerable whitewashing.
"Didn't that cause disaster?"
Talia figured that even the demon race didn't go that far. When demons intended to kill, they simply killed; they didn't care about rank or status, only whether the target could be slain.
In a way, that was the demon race's own brand of equality.
"Back then, the most extreme nobles treated human lives like grass, yet constantly evaded punishment, which ultimately ignited public outrage," Lanqi continued. "Speaking of which, Tata, do you know that the conflict between Creti nobles and commoners today is extraordinarily fierce? Supposedly, not only are there commoners who harbor deep hatred for nobles, but there are even nobles who detest commoners."
Lanqi abruptly steered the conversation back to the present and asked her.
"Why is that?"
Talia didn't understand why Lanqi brought up the present conflict halfway through recounting past events.
"Because years ago, a massive riot truly erupted in the Creti Empire's Botswana Province, where many nobles were slaughtered. That day came to be known as 'Bloody Purge Day,'" Lanqi explained.
"Enraged commoners driven to desperation formed armed, organized mobs and stormed noble estates to burn, kill, and pillage. In the fallen aristocratic homes, the men were slain on the spot, and the women suffered fates worse than death.
"The noble scions who were lucky enough to escape and survive inherited their families' estates, but the psychological trauma remained seared into their memories, and they directed that hatred toward every commoner."
Only when the emperor later enacted a charter—constraining the nobility, appeasing the commoners, investigating the culpable nobles, and punishing the rioters—was the fully erupted crisis finally quelled.
For a long time afterward, tensions between the Creti Empire's nobility and commoners improved.
Yet it was merely temporary.
As the deep wounds left behind by Bloody Purge Day slowly festered and the seeds of hatred took root and sprouted, the Creti Empire's internal conflicts had escalated rapidly in recent years.
Lanqi closed the history book, having given Talia the gist of the rift between the aristocratic and populist factions of the Creti Empire today.
"Then wouldn't greater conflict be better for us? After all, we came to wreak havoc inside the Empire," Talia probed, tempting him like a little demon dwelling in his heart.
She believed Lanqi had a real knack for fanning the flames, and with her Demonic Voice and Land of Gentle Slumber, she could assist him splendidly in doing bad deeds.
"That is not the best way to solve the problem."
For once in a long while, Lanqi wore a look of compassionate sorrow.
It was as though he had seen the suffering of the common folk and could not bear to see them suffer further.
"...Then what do you want to do?" Talia asked, bewildered.
"I want to make the Creti Empire great again—a sacred realm that has no need for war," Lanqi pondered for a moment and murmured thoughtfully.
"...What on earth."
Occasionally, Talia couldn't make heads or tails of Lanqi's mutterings.
Still, she couldn't be bothered to dwell on it. For now, she was the Poet of Great Love, accompanying Lanqi on their covert espionage mission in the Empire. Once it was done, she could return triumphantly to the Kingdom. Imagining receiving commendations and honors even brought a smile to her face.
When the car finally slowed down after several tens of minutes of driving, Lanqi knew they had arrived at Saint Creti Monastery.
The setting autumn sun dyed the horizon in brilliant shades of orange and red. Maple leaves danced lightly in the gentle breeze, swaying in dappled shadows. The air carried the crisp, mellow quality characteristic of autumn, laced with the faint scent of sweet osmanthus and earth.
Without realizing it, the car had driven into an expansive estate. Trees lined both sides of the road in neat rows, and gazing into the distance, layered complexes rose like mountain ridges on an immense scale—making it difficult to gauge the school's true size with the naked eye.
What Saint Creti Monastery was most renowned for was its affiliated magic academy, where the elites of the Creti Empire received a comprehensive education—practicing combat, acquiring knowledge, and forging their wills—ultimately growing into pillars of the Empire.
Towering spires pierced the sky above intricate latticed windows, while vibrant Boston ivy climbed the walls, and monks clad in pristine white robes could occasionally be seen standing beside doorways.
Lanqi passed numerous facilities along the way. The monastery itself comprised a cathedral, bishop's hall, knight order garrison, parks, and libraries, while the school campus occupied another sector, featuring multiple clusters of academic buildings, villas, training grounds, dining halls, and auditoriums.
In truth, it had practically become a self-contained, fully functioning city-state.
Eventually, the vehicle Secretary Naila was driving pulled up before a certain building.
As if to confirm Lanqi's impressions, an academy guard opened the car door.
The serene, tranquil atmosphere unique to the monastery washed over him.
"Professor Landry, we have reached our destination."
Secretary Naila's words turned Lanqi's gaze outward.
The Great Saint Creti Monastery possessed a long history of over a thousand years. Its predecessor was an ancient structure that predated the founding of the Creti Empire—the ruins of the Moon Goddess Temple.
In the shifting history of the Southern Continent, it held immense historical and research value.
Centuries ago, the colossus known as the Creti Empire did not exist in the south of the Southern Continent.
Back then, this land was home to three major territories: the Cyrus Empire, the Elsaya Sanctuary, and the Vence Free Federation.
The Cyrus Empire, named after its founding emperor, Cyrus I, was an ancient, militarily dominant autocratic monarchy that venerated martial prowess and upheld the divine right of kings and the absolute supremacy of imperial power; it was also the predecessor of the Creti Empire.
The Elsaya Sanctuary worshipped the Moon Goddess, Else, believing this land was blessed by her. Hence, its pious people named their realm the Elsaya Holy Kingdom, where royal authority and religious authority were inextricably intertwined.
The Vence Free Federation occupied the fertile, resource-rich Vence region, known as the "granary" of the southern Southern Continent.
To protect their shared interests, the local lords had formed a relatively loose alliance, each governing their own domains.
The Brierda region, where Saint Creti Monastery stood, was situated right at the center of these three powers.
As a neutral holy land, Brierda was both a stage for the nations' rivalries and a crucial counterweight maintaining the balance of power between the three.
The Brierda Moon Goddess Monastery had always remained neutral, abiding by the duties of the Moon Temple priests; regardless of the conflicts between the three powers, this place served as a sanctuary where fighting ceased. Beneath the surface, however, the factions vied to infiltrate it, each scheming to draw it into their sphere of influence.
The Cyrus Empire coveted the monastery's sturdy fortifications and rich resources; the Elsaya Sanctuary hoped to leverage the monastery's religious influence to consolidate its own rule; and the Vence Free Federation, though somewhat weaker in strength, secretly sought to win the monastery over to counterbalance the other two nations.
Ultimately, war erupted regardless.
The flames of war even reached Brierda, yet the priests of the Goddess of Healing and the Silver Moon held fast to their compassion, tirelessly aiding the displaced and homeless.
After an agonizingly long conflict, a hero finally unified the entire south of the continent, bringing an end to the calamity and forging the Creti Empire—the largest empire in the history of the Southern Continent, spanning nearly two-fifths of its total landmass.
Consequently, during the Creti Empire's phase of consolidation and resurgence, many nations in the northern part of the Southern Continent grew fearful of this behemoth, giving rise to the embryonic alliance that became the United Council of Kingdoms.
Fortunately, both the rulers and the people of the Creti Empire remembered the anguish wrought by that prolonged war, actively establishing diplomatic ties with the northern kingdoms, which brought about a century of peace across the Southern Continent.
The Moon Goddess Monastery bore witness to the rise and fall of dynasties, the clashes of heroes, and the dawn of peace.
The protracted conflict among the three powers drew to a close here, opening a brand-new chapter for the Creti Empire. The capital was chosen in the Brierda region where the three former domains converged, thus becoming known as the City of Brierda today.
To commemorate that great war of unification and the purity of the Moon Temple, the Moon Goddess Monastery situated in the new imperial capital was renovated and expanded, becoming Saint Creti Monastery, where it continued to foster talents for the Creti Empire.
Even so, this historical legacy led the Creti Empire's nobility, up to the present day, to split into three ideological camps: the Imperial Faction, which inherited the will of the Cyrus Empire; the Theocratic Faction, which inherited the will of the Elsaya Sanctuary; and the Democratic Faction, which inherited the legacy of the Vence Free Federation.
Saint Creti Monastery was headed by a Grand Priest, a position held across generations by direct descendants of the Grand Priest lineage.
The current Grand Priest and headmaster was Violet, a formidable figure who was also the Empire's Sixth War God, bestowed with the Aquamarine Seat.
"Please follow me. Allow me to give you a brief tour of the monastery's Main Sanctuary before escorting you to see Headmaster Violet."
After stepping out of the car, Secretary Naila placed her hands over her abdomen, returning to her initial posture as she gave a slight bow and spoke.
Lanqi nodded gently, and Secretary Naila turned to lead the way.
Chapter 713