Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

As excited as he was, Lucas wasn’t one to neglect his responsibilities, so for the rest of the morning and the early hours of the afternoon, he ran around checking in on his numerous ongoing projects.

Meetings with his Head Manager about sugar and soap production, discussions with the city administrators about resettlement plans, checking in on the refugees, troubleshooting sessions with craftsmen working on the new bathhouse boilers...

Suffice-it-to-say, Lucas kept himself busy, but when a runner came to inform him that the Second Queen was requesting his immediate presence, the young boy quickly wrapped up the debate he was having with a certain old grumpy blacksmith about increasing the tank pressure limit and ran off.

While he wasn’t parkouring his way through the complex, Lucas did run as fast as he could to reach the stables of the Manor.

Upon arriving, though, Lucas was greeted by an unexpected site; there were many more people waiting here than he had originally anticipated, and more were still hurriedly gathering from all corners of the Manor.

Slowing down to catch his breath, Lucas walked over to the obvious lead group who seemed to be engaged in some sort of deep discussion.

Lucas was naturally quite close with Allina and Vanessa, and he was now somewhat acquainted with Second Queen Natasha, but the last two members of this group were decidedly less familiar to him.

Samuel Balfour, Celestina’s fourth son, was a tall, rugged, handsome man with dark brown eyes and flaming-red shoulder-length hair that he always kept neatly tied back.

As a Complete Peak Rank Initiate and the leader of the Balfour Private Guard, he possessed both great strength and authority as one of the family’s Core Elders.

Like his mother, Samuel was a fierce warrior, but unlike Celestina, he almost always maintained a stoic, serious demeanor.

Wearing his custom silver and crimson armour, with his giant great-sword strapped to his back, he was the very picture of a guardian knight.

Gavin Faller, on the other hand, was the complete opposite; a short, slim, scholarly fellow who appeared just a bit past middle-aged. The man also had a slight hunch in his back that was characteristic of someone who spent all his time slumped over a desk.

Many would be shocked to discover that the mayor of the most important border fortress in the Rockwell Kingdom with the Darr Kingdom was actually an orphan from the latter.

Rescued from the ruins of a village by soldiers from the Raging River Legion near the end of the last great war, Gavin and his little brother had faced more than their fair share of suspicion and discrimination growing up, but that never diminished Gavin’s sense of gratitude for those who had saved him and his last living family member.

As for who it was that was responsible for destroying his home in the first place, that much was unclear, the truth lost to history and the fog of war.

Once he was old enough, Gavin learned he only had slightly better than average Innate Talent, so instead of focusing on the path of cultivation, he only trained when he found a spare moment and instead spent most of his time working as an auxiliary staff member on the army base.

Through nothing more than hard work, dedication, and competency in his job, Gavin slowly rose through the ranks of both the military and civilian administration, eventually being appointed mayor by the Balfour Family in recognition of over 50 years of service.

That was 33 years ago, shortly after he had completed his Awakening and broken through to the Spirit Initiate Realm.

Ever since then, Gavin Faller had continued to serve in the highest civilian office of Misty City, with no one questioning his loyalty or capabilities anymore.

The only regrettable thing was that despite being a Spirit Initiate, because he grew up in a time of struggle, had modest talent, and had broken through at such a late age, Gavin’s life expectancy was much lower than his cultivation might suggest.

In all likelihood, he would have to retire within the next few years as his health and stamina began to decline, depriving Misty City of ones of its most competent administrators.

.....

”Ah, Lucas, you’re here,” Queen Natasha spotted the boy first and called out to him.

”Greetings, Your Majesty, Mayor Faller, Commander Crest, Commander Clark, Commander Balfour,” Lucas saluted each of the leaders politely before asking the obvious question, ”Has something happened?”

”Indeed,” Allina nodded, ”A messenger from the Vast Ocean Trading Company arrived less than a quarter-hour ago to inform us that a High-Rank Elder was leading their convoy.”

Lucas’ eyes bulged slightly, unable to contain his surprise when he heard this.

He wasn’t familiar with all the intricacies of the Vast Ocean Trading Company’s internal structure, but a High-Rank Elder would obviously not be a random nobody.

It now made sense why the higher-ups of the city were acting a bit flustered.

Taking a second look at the group of leaders before him, and glancing around at the various soldiers, guards, and bureaucrats who were arriving, Lucas only now noticed that all of them were wearing formalwear or freshly polished armour, like they were preparing for some sort of ceremony.

In fact, that wasn’t far from the truth.

This Vast Ocean Elder was most likely a Spirit Elite, a powerhouse a Mid-Sized Nation like the Rockwell Kingdom would have to show a certain level of deference to upon their arrival.

Pursing his lips slightly, Lucas unconsciously muttered, ”What terrible timing.”

”Indeed,” Allina nodded with a frown, ”It’s not unusual for the General to be out of Misty City as she has a wide range of duties, but for Lord Franklin to also be absent is quite unfortunate.”

Lord Franklin Balfour was the other resident Spirit Adept of Misty City and Celestina’s uncle.

He also happened to be the sole living member of his generation from the Balfour Family.

Officially, Franklin was a Protector Elder of the Balfour Family, the only one, in fact, but after his last living spouse died several decades ago, he became extremely reclusive and no longer participated in anything related to business, politics, or worldly affairs in general.

He so rarely attended mundane events that Lucas had only ever met Lord Franklin once, and that was only for a minute or two, just long enough to introduce himself and receive a few words of encouragement from the greying old man.

No one knew why the old Protector had left a few days ago, but he had, and since the Rockwell Kingdom was currently enjoying a long era of peace with its neighbours, no one had thought Lord Franklin’s absence would be an issue.

Unfortunately, this meant there were no Spirit Adepts at all in Misty City, making it a bit awkward to stage a proper welcoming for a prestigious Spirit Elite.

”Haa... we can only hope whichever Elder has come isn’t one who cares much about formalities,” Mayor Gavin sighed, clearly feeling a bit stressed.

Seeing all the tense expression around her, Natasha offered some comforting words, ”Most of the Elders are more concerned about deals and profits than ceremonies, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Even in the worst case, I, a Queen, am also here, so it’s not like they can claim we haven’t shown enough respect.”

”Let’s hope so,” Allina nodded.

”Is it... normal, for such an important figure to accompany a trade convoy like this?” Lucas asked, still feeling a bit confused about this whole situation.

”It’s not unheard of,” the Second Queen, as the most knowledgeable in these matters, answered, ”but it’s also not common.”

”We’ll just have to make do,” Samuel, the only one to have not spoken so far, declared seriously, ”I will see to it that the Family Guard are arranged properly.”

And with that said, the stoic man saluted politely, turned, and left.

As Samuel Balfour walked off, Lucas couldn’t help noticing his Big Sister Allina’s eyes unconsciously follow him, a relatively minor gaff, but one he had seen her make several times before, causing him to become slightly suspicions.

Well, it’s none of my business, Lucas soon set such trivial thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand, ”Tell me what you need me to do.”