Arthur Ryan, the founding emperor, lived past a hundred, but his actual reign was not particularly long.
When the Ryan Empire was officially founded, he was already in his forties, and several years had passed since he slew the demonic dragon.
According to historical records, Arthur Ryan spent those years primarily dealing with the remnants of dragonkind and the Cult of the Dragon.
After putting down two large-scale counteroffensives from the dragons, the dragons finally yielded. Every last one of them departed the continent, migrating across the distant sea.
The Cult of the Dragon collapsed completely; most of its scriptures were lost, and its believers rapidly dwindled.
By the time the Ryan Empire was formally established, there were no dragons or Cult of the Dragon left on the continent.
Later, the dwarves' Golden Kingdom of Salokma, the orcs' Mountain Kingdom, the druids' Emerald Dream Forest... these nations were founded one after another, all with the assistance of Ryan.
During his reign, Arthur Ryan treated every race well, generously aiding them in establishing their own realms.
In that era, relations among the intelligent races across the continent were harmonious, truly worthy of being called brother nations.
Among Heji Stone's materials, Anbaixiu even found a record of a drought in Ryan: druids had rushed through the night to summon rain, the Dwarf Kingdom had sent gold, and the orcs had brought grain. Before the disaster could cause much harm, it had already been resolved.
Yet this honeymoon period did not last long, as Arthur Ryan served as emperor for less than thirty years.
Near the age of eighty, Arthur Ryan chose to abdicate.
The exact year was difficult to pin down because the emperor had vanished abruptly, leaving behind only a letter. Ryan had concealed his disappearance for a time, leaving the historical records of other nations inconsistent.
In the Ryan Empire's official history, Arthur Ryan had not gone missing; he had simply abdicated in favor of his son to retire behind the scenes.
Only after consulting countless surviving ancient texts did Heji Stone confirm that turmoil had erupted in the Ryan Empire back then. Cross-referencing military records with investigations from other kingdoms led him to conclude that Arthur Ryan had indeed disappeared.
As to why this holy founding monarch had left, Heji Stone had no idea either. He had scoured the continent's history books without finding the slightest trace of a clue.
And the turning point for the Ryan Empire came at precisely this juncture.
Heji Stone said to Anbaixiu, "Honestly, I don't know whether we should blame the second emperor. Arthur Ryan's disappearance had too enormous an impact; every kingdom was deeply concerned for the holy king's safety. The Ryan people tried to hide it, but a thing like that couldn't be kept quiet forever. It only caused the other realms to suspect the worst."
Anbaixiu nodded. "They would assume someone had murdered Arthur Ryan. Conspiracy theories are an inseparable part of human nature."
Heji Stone agreed wholeheartedly and continued his overview of the past.
"While sifting through the archives, I noticed that during that period, an unusually large number of emissaries were dispatched to Ryan by various nations at an extraordinary frequency. They were all likely investigating Arthur Ryan's disappearance. In turn, this made Ryan feel that these kingdoms were meddling in its internal affairs. It was also during this period that the Ryan Empire enacted many new decrees, placing restrictions on foreign races entering Ryan.
"From envoys to merchants, and from officials to commoners, all were scrutinized like spies. Although no severe violent conflicts were recorded, Ryan suffered an economic downturn during that period, precisely because most foreign merchants left Ryan for one reason or another."
Anbaixiu truly hadn't expected the sudden disappearance of an emperor to trigger such a chain reaction. What seemed absurd on the surface turned out to have an outlandish yet entirely logical explanation when dug into deeply.
"And after that?"
Heji Stone gave a faintly wry smile and continued, "Then Arthur Ryan returned. Nearly twenty years later, he reappeared, only to pass away shortly thereafter. The other kingdoms dispatched high-ranking ministers to attend his funeral. Originally, this was an excellent opportunity for the nations to restore their former closeness.
"After all, they had merely been concerned for Arthur Ryan's safety. Now that it was confirmed no one had murdered the hero, clearing the air and repairing relations shouldn't have been too difficult. Yet an issue arose right at the funeral."
Anbaixiu said with displeasure, "Don't leave me hanging, or I'll cut down the time you get to question Arthur Ryan."
Heji Stone grumbled, "You're a terrible listener, completely uncooperative. Fine, to put it simply: an accident occurred at Arthur Ryan's funeral. Far from easing, relations among the nations grew even more strained.
"As for what specifically happened, no clear records have been found. Only a fable from the elves mentions something resembling it. It says that after the monarch died, demons gathered around his corpse, each wanting to tear off a piece to devour. The monarch's wife sacrificed herself to banish all the demons."
Anbaixiu couldn't help remarking, "What a bizarre tale. It couldn't be that Arthur Ryan's empress died at the funeral, could it? And what does demons fighting over the monarch's corpse even mean—did they want to butcher Arthur Ryan's body, haul it back to their countries, and roast it?"
Heji Stone shook his head. "That wasn't the case. According to records, the empress died a bit earlier than Arthur Ryan, not even living to a hundred. So she couldn't have appeared at Arthur Ryan's funeral.
"As for the corpse of this monarch, I found no relevant information either. Perhaps we can get answers from the elves. Aren't you rather familiar with them? They should have more detailed records."
Anbaixiu had indeed invited the former Elven King over, though that was originally meant for business. Now his curiosity had been piqued by Heji Stone, and he decided he really ought to ask about it when the time came—hoping that former king wouldn't speak in riddles.
"Go on. What happened after that?" Anbaixiu asked.
"After that, relations between Ryan and the other nations deteriorated further following the funeral. For a long time, tensions were at a breaking point, nearly spilling over into war. It was also from then on that Ryan's attitude toward other races turned even worse. As Ryan grew stronger, decree after decree was proclaimed. Foreign races went from being discriminated against to being treated with open hostility, and eventually to being enslaved. Over the past thousand-plus years, Ryan's policies have grown increasingly extreme.
"By the time of Ryan's eleventh emperor, he established a rule that nearly threw the entire continent into warfare. He declared that all humans were Ryan's compatriots, and that Ryan would tolerate no harm committed against humans. Even if a crime against a human occurred in another kingdom, Ryan would pursue the matter to the bitter end."
Anbaixiu gave a cold laugh. "I know that one. That's where Ryan abandoned all reason."
Even today, there were still humans who refused to join Ryan; not every human could accept Ryan's extreme religious and racial policies. For those who hadn't been indoctrinated in Ryan from childhood, how many would willingly lay down their lives for the empire?
Yet Ryan was just that overbearing, turning all humanity into a pretext to meddle in the internal affairs of foreign nations.
Heji Stone said, "That the Lord of the Dawn would grant blessings to people like that is beyond my comprehension."
Anbaixiu shook his head. "No, you're mistaken. The Lord of the Dawn has never blessed a single Ryan Emperor. Aside from Arthur Ryan, there has never been another God-favored among the imperial family."
This had come up during a casual chat with the Rose of Decay. She had told him that throughout the entirety of Ryan's history, not a single emperor had ever received a divine blessing, nor had any of them ever received a divine oracle.
Of course, the imperial clan had concealed this well; outsiders knew nothing of the details and had no way of investigating.
After all, when it came to things like divine oracles and blessings, unless someone revealed whether they had them, no one else could do more than guess.
Heji Stone countered, "It amounts to the same thing. Ryan has so many paladins—who would believe they don't enjoy the Lord of the Dawn's favor?"
Anbaixiu didn't bother arguing the point, as it was a long-standing debate on the continent.
When a deity blessed an individual, did it mean the deity also blessed the nation that individual belonged to?
Countless people had argued over this debate for over a millennium without reaching a consensus.
Some believed that when Ryan citizens received blessings, it meant the Lord of the Dawn loved the nation of Ryan itself, because ninety-nine percent of those blessed would rise into the nation's upper echelons. A deity could not possibly be ignorant of what that symbolized, nor of the consequences that followed the blessing.
Others argued that Ryan citizens received blessings simply because they themselves were beloved by the Lord of the Dawn. The Lord of the Dawn might very well not care about the nation in the slightest, meaning any symbolic significance or political consequence was entirely fabricated by mortals' imaginations.
No one could ask the deities in person for an answer, so in the end, it always devolved into arguments with each side holding to its own opinion.
Anbaixiu didn't take either side. He disliked unfounded speculation, especially regarding deities. With so many gods, each with a different temperament, some surely favored individual devotees while others favored a collective whole.
What was there to argue about? How could there ever be a single standard?
However, if narrowed down specifically to the Lord of the Dawn, Anbaixiu leaned toward the latter view. The Lord of the Dawn simply favored those who genuinely practiced his tenets, not the Ryan Empire itself. It was just that Ryan had preached truth, goodness, and beauty for so many years that countless youths genuinely possessed those convictions.
Take Alan, for example. Anbaixiu hadn't found a single moral flaw in him. Aside from being somewhat weak and not terribly sharp-witted, he was practically perfect in every other respect.
The ruling elite might use those ideals to hoodwink people, but the youth genuinely believed them and lived them out in action. Thus, even if they had been duped, the Lord of the Dawn would not withhold his blessings from them.
This was merely Anbaixiu's own speculation; all he could say was that the evidence he currently possessed aligned with it, with no contradictions surfacing so far.
If this could be proven, then the Ryan Empire would not be nearly as terrifying as it seemed.
No matter how mighty an empire was, if it began collapsing from within, nothing could save it.
Assuming these conjectures were true, the Ryan Empire's internal troubles had to be extraordinarily grave already, and quite a few people must have noticed by now.
"In all of Ryan, who would be the first to realize this?"
As Anbaixiu pondered, an austere, deadpan, and profoundly stern old face surfaced in his mind.
Chapter 247