In the house where Bloed, Regina, and Liu Ying were staying–
Bloed, Madeline, Charise, and the others regrouped here after last night's events. Only Sebastian and his men had separated from the group after they left the city hall. Bloed did not know where he was, but to be honest, he did not want to meet him again.
Of the group, Liu Ying was still unconscious after using up all her mana and Kallevang was keeping watch in case someone attacks. The rest of the group was seated in the living room with serious expressions.
"We have been had," Charise said with a depressed sigh.
Madeline and Javelin beside her were equally depressed. They could not help but grit their teeth every time they remembered the new duke and the words he announced this morning.
Bloed could not help but smile wryly when he saw they like that.
Actually, although he was also displeased by the new duke's attitude, he was just mildly annoyed. In the end, Bloed's goal was to kill the Devourer, and the Devourer was killed. Thus, he had accomplished his objective.
Charise and Madeline on the other hand–
"… These bastards! How dare them to slander our churches like that!" Madeline cursed angrily.
Bloed thought for a moment and looked at Charise and Madeline. "What are you going to do?"
Charise sighed.
"Now that the new duke made the church of the sun god Diadel Duchy's official religion, the church of fate will start to retire from the duchy. I think that Moonlight Glow will do the same."
Javelin nodded. "Not only Moonlight Glow, but also most of the beastmen, demons, and elves in Diadel Duchy will leave. The church of the sun god preaches human supremacy, and they are greatly xenophobic. Now that they are the official religion of the duchy, it's just a matter of time before they start to oppress the people of other races."
At that moment, Illina entered the living room.
"Excuse me." Bowing slightly towards the group, Illina walked towards Javelin and whispered something in his ear.
When Javelin heard her words, he was startled. Then, he put on a wry smile.
"It looks like the beastmen countries already learned about the situation here. I received orders from my superiors to leave the duchy as soon as possible and bring the prince back."
"I'm also planning to leave soon," Bloed said. "I guess in the following days."
"Now that you mention it, you are planning to go to Academy City, right Bloed?" Javelin asked.
Bloed nodded. That was his plan.
Academy City was a city governed by a famous powerhouse. A city with the best schools and institutes of learning in the entire continent.
It was said that Academy City experiences advancements in magic and martial arts daily, and the amount of knowledge stored there is unimaginable.
Bloed had two targets going to academy city. The first was to learn as much about magic and mana as he could. Bloed had realized that magic was a very profound science, and the rules that governed it were astounding. Plus, Bloed felt curious about the results of mixing magic with technology.
Of course, Bloed's knowledge and wisdom alone were far from enough to create a magic-technological system, but that was where his second goal came.
Bloed planned to use Academy City as the place pilot to spread the human confederation's technology to this world.
A reason for that was that a scholarly place like Academy City could accept new ideas, such as technology more easily. But that was not the most important reason.
The main reason Bloed chose Academy City as the place to start spreading technology was that he did not want his technology to become a source of disasters.
The power of technology was astonishing. If a country alone gained that power, Bloed was sure that said country would get ambitious, and it will try to use that technology to conquer the continent.
Academy City was completely different. According to the information Bloed had obtained, Academy City was completely neutral, and its ruler was an oddball with zero interest in power and authority. The city had teachers and demigods from every race and country cooperating together to create the best academic ambient.
Of course, Bloed was not so naïve as to believe that only that was enough to stop the ambitions of the people. Even if the stories about Academy City were true, Bloed was sure that eventually, someone would realize the war potential of technology and will try to use it to fuel his ambitions. But by then, Bloed could use Academy City as a springboard to spread his technology to every race at the same time (or at least he could try).
All of that, though, had to wait until Bloed arrived at Academy City. In the end, Bloed's current plan was still very immature, and it was highly likely to fail. He needed a lot more information before he could make his dream reality.
"Hey, Bloed." Javelin spoke at that moment. "What do you think of traveling with us?"
"Huh?" Bloed was startled.
Javelin explained. "You are going to Academy City, right? Well, the country I'm from is in the same direction, you only need to take a very small detour to visit my country. If you want, we can travel together and reach the capital. I'm sure that the king will be happy to meet the person that helped to save his son. What do you think?"
Bloed thought about that proposal. It was not a bad idea. In fact, it was very good.
Having connections with a king could be useful in the future. Plus, he would only lose a bit of time in the worst of the cases. There was not a reason to refuse.
However, he still glanced at Regina to ask for her opinion. Regina smiled softly and nodded.
"I will go wherever you are, master."
Bloed was slightly embarrassed by her words but he quickly hid it and replied to Javelin.
"I still have to ask for Liu Ying's opinion, but I guess that is a good idea."
Javelin grinned. "Great! Don't worry, I assure you I'll be a great host!"
"You better, Javelin," Madeline grumbled before looking at Bloed. "To be honest, I would have liked to travel with you too, but I have to stay here and take care of Moonlight Glow's retreat."
"Well, then I think we will separate here," Charise said with a gentle smile. "But don't worry. I have the feeling we are going to meet again soon. And you should trust the feelings of a saintess of fate."
Bloed did not know how to answer.
To be honest, he felt pretty comfortable around Charise and Madeline, so he did not mind spending more time with them. But he wanted to avoid getting embroiled in another situation like this.
He could only hope that next time they meet, it's in more peaceful circumstances.
After chatting for a bit more, Charise, Javelin, and Madeline left, returning the house to its peaceful normalcy.
A few minutes later, though, Bloed saw Liu Ying walking towards him with a dazed expression.
When she saw Bloed and Regina, Liu Ying put on a face of disbelief.
"Did I breakthrough?"
....
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels