Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 743: A Gift Too Great II

CH743 A Gift Too Great II

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Unfortunately for Alex, the surprise had been too great, and the recognition in his eyes did not escape the Duke’s notice before he could conceal it.

The two men looked at each other for a moment.

Then the Duke smiled.

“It seems we have reached an agreement,” he said cryptically before extending his hand.

Alex could not help but stare at the man for a moment before reaching out and shaking it.

“Indeed, we have,” Alex replied with a nod.

Udara looked between the two men in confusion, unable to understand the sudden agreement that had seemingly been reached without words.

Meanwhile, the more experienced Saul stared at them thoughtfully, his thoughts remaining a mystery.

With that, while the Duke attended to his matters, Alex, Saul, and Udara departed Oxborn Castle and returned to the inn where they had been staying.

Once inside his room, Alex walked over to the window and took a deep breath of fresh air before slowly exhaling.

Only then did he begin to calm himself.

He closed the window then turned around to take a nearby seat. He turned his gaze towards Saul Redwald.

Spirit Sight Lv2!

“Can I trust you, Saul?” Alex asked bluntly.

“You can,” Saul replied calmly.

“Okay.”

Alex nodded and cut off the spike of mana flowing into his eyes.

“Then tell me what I’m missing. An Emperor doesn’t simply hand free power to an unknown outsider and tell him to conquer land as he pleases without there being a catch,” Alex voiced his doubts.

“The Duke already answered that question, actually,” Saul said.

“I don’t understand,” Alex admitted.

“Through no fault of your own. Levin has a bad habit of making people he likes figure things out for themselves,” Saul said with a smile. “You’re trying to understand this matter from your own perspective when you should instead be looking at it from Emperor Piccard’s and Levin’s point of view.”

“But I am. That’s why it doesn’t make sense,” Alex argued.

“No, you aren’t,” Saul said, shaking his head. “You’re looking at it from the perspective of an Emperor and a Duke. That is very different from what you actually need to do.”

Alex frowned.

“What separates Emperor Piccard and Duke Levin Cyrindale of the Celahan Empire from the Emperors and Dukes of any other empire you’d be familiar with?” Saul asked intently.

‘Empires I am familiar with? Why frame the question like that?’

Alex immediately noticed the intent hidden within Saul’s words.

‘The only empire I’m truly familiar with is…’

Alex froze.

Realisation dawned upon him.

“Ancestral spirit worship.”

However, Udara beat him to the answer, causing him to glance at her in surprise.

She did not notice.

Her attention remained fixed on Saul, who nodded in approval.

“Indeed,” Saul confirmed before turning towards Alex, who had also grasped the true meaning behind the question.

“You were looking at things from the perspective of a typical Emperor or Duke, which caused you to overlook a critical variable. Both Duke Cyrindale and Emperor Piccard are not only the patriarchs of their respective Houses, but are also, for all practical purposes, the popes of their Houses’ ancestral worship.

“And as the ‘pope’, each has greater access to their House’s Ancestral Spirit than anyone else.”

“You’re saying their Houses’ Ancestral Spirits influenced their decisions?” Alex asked.

“Yes, to an extent,” Saul confirmed with a nod.

He continued, “The Ancestral Spirit of House Cyrindale is the Kirin, while the Ancestral Spirit of House Piccard—the Imperial House—is the Celahan Oracle, which manifests in the form of an owl.

“Can you tell me what the forms of the Kirin and the owl represent?” Saul asked.

Alex answered without much thought.

“The Kirin is considered, in many civilisations, to be a beast of fortune, while the owl is a symbol of wisdom and… intuition.”

As he reached the end of his answer, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

He had noticed something.

“A beast of fortune… and an oracle taking the form of a bird associated with wisdom and intuition…” he muttered.

His eyes widened slightly.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Indeed. The Emperor and Duke Cyrindale used the authority of their Houses’ Ancestral Spirits to investigate you,” Saul replied.

Alex’s body shivered instinctively as a wave of horror filled his eyes.

“Do they…?” he asked hesitantly.

“No, they do not know your origins, if that is what worries you,” Saul replied confidently, shaking his head.

‘Right. They wouldn’t be handing me this much power if they did,’ Alex mused.

Saul continued, “Like you told me before, the Ancestral Spirits and Deities of our world are neither omnipotent nor omniscient. They can only discern certain things about a person through the authority they possess.

“The Divine Kirin can only tell that you are someone blessed with great fortune, while the Celahan Oracle can only tell the Emperor that he stands to gain greatly by supporting you—or at the very least, by securing your allegiance.

“Hence, I suspect, the grand gesture from both men.”

“So their Ancestral Spirits informed them that I am a worthwhile prospect, and they have chosen to invest early?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” Saul nodded. “And I expect the anniversary gathering two years from now, give or take, is the timeline they have given you to prove your worth through tangible results.

“Like your instincts told you, they are still an Emperor and a Duke. They will not hand out power so freely without expecting something in return.”

“That means there are likely to be roadblocks placed in my path that they’ll expect me to overcome,” Alex said.

“You are not wrong,” Saul agreed. “The north-eastern region of the Empire is currently controlled by Houses that would have been vassals of House Skywalker had it not fallen a century ago.

“There will be those who do not want—and will actively oppose—House Skywalker’s rise from the ashes. Some out of pride… others out of necessity.”

Alex nodded thoughtfully.

He rose from his seat and walked towards the window, gazing out at the clear evening sky.

“In your opinion, do you think Emperor Piccard is a good ruler?” he asked, looking at Saul’s reflection in the glass.

“Depends,” Saul replied with a shrug, leaning back in his chair. “During the decades of his reign, the standard of living for the Empire’s average citizens has improved significantly. From that perspective, one could argue that he is a good ruler.

“But that prosperity came at the cost of loosening control over the nobility. As a result, it was also under his reign that the rot within the nobility grew into what we see today.

“So, from that perspective, he is not exactly a good ruler either.”

***