Isaac stared at the faintly glowing screen in front of him.
"Seer. This person knows who I am."
His mind began working rapidly, thoughts layering over one another instead of colliding.
"Let’s say their name represents one of their main abilities. Seer would be someone who can ’see.’ Maybe see across large distances. Or maybe into the future."
The more he thought about it, the clearer it became.
"This person saw my battle with Catastrophe. And they’re helping me. But they shouldn’t have been able to see the battle due to the Clairvoyance Wards in our City, unless they had a spy in the City."
What a mysterious person... is what Isaac would’ve said normally.
But he already had a guess of Seer’s identity.
Seventh Queen.
She had warned him before. About the destruction of his city. About events that shouldn’t have been possible to predict unless someone had access to information far beyond normal means.
Maybe that warning came from her own ability to see the future. And like Seer, she’s also friendly toward me.
He massaged his chin slowly.
One thing didn’t sit right.
"Seventh Queen is a member of the Florathi Race. She shouldn’t be a Lord. So how can she chat in Lord Chat?"
An answer popped in his head. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure if he had guessed correctly.
Althea would have been the easiest person to ask. But if Seer wasn’t the Seventh Queen, then asking her could reveal that other Lords were secretly supporting him. That was information he didn’t want spreading.
So he chose someone else.
He activated the communication device.
"I need to meet you. There is something important I have to ask," Isaac said.
"...Come to my office in the university," the reply came.
The connection ended.
Isaac didn’t leave immediately.
Leora—more accurately, the Sword Empress’s disguise—was still in the mansion. Leaving before her would be useless.
He waited a few minutes.
Once he felt that presence disappear, Isaac finally stood up and headed out. He borrowed a car from the Calloway mansion and drove toward the university.
"I can’t believe we’re still acting like we don’t know she’s the Sword Empress. Can’t we just reveal that we know?"
A voice came from the empty seat behind him.
"Do you remember how I smacked her ass, and the other teasing I usually do with her, saying she can’t retaliate since she is just a maid?" the voice asked.
"Yes."
"You’ve seen every one of those embarrassing moments."
"Yes."
"All of that is quite shameful for master. She held back her anger because she thinks we see Leora as a normal university student. If she finds out we knew all along, then she will chop us into hundred pieces."
"What do you mean ’us’? I never did anything. It was all you."
Catherine, still invisible, chuckled softly.
She had been taking revenge for all the brutal training sessions she had gone through by embarrassing the Sword Empress whenever possible.
Unfortunately, Isaac had seen all of it, and now he was involved whether he liked it or not.
Soon, the Sanctum of Masters University came into view.
Isaac parked the car and stepped out.
Almost immediately, people began greeting him. Some nodded. Some bowed.
A barely audible whisper reached his ear.
"Those people who are bowing are your religion’s followers. They’re showing respect to you as their God."
Isaac nodded once and continued walking.
He moved through the university grounds and reached the Sword Empress’s office. He knocked once and entered after he got the permission.
The old woman with snow-white hair was sitting behind the desk.
I always feel this but this appearance of hers really makes her look like she has one foot in the grave.
As for her younger appearance?
Isaac recalled that plump and shapely behind—
Focus. Don’t think about useless things.
Isaac greeted her and sat down in front of the desk.
He started by explaining the Legendary weapons he had obtained, along with the Conqueror Trial Tickets. He didn’t hide anything, laying out his choices clearly.
"You chose correctly. Those weapons suit Alice, Celia, and Catherine. As for the Conqueror Trial, I’m preparing training exercise for you, Alice, and Catherine. After I’m done, you three can go through the training, then you should have better chances to complete the Conqueror Trial at the end of the week," the Sword Empress said after listening.
Catherine, still invisible, flinched when she heard the word training.
Her thoughts immediately began racing, searching for any possible excuse to escape whatever that training would involve.
Isaac, who had never personally experienced the Sword Empress’s training, simply nodded calmly.
"There’s one more thing. I wanted to ask about the Seventh Queen. Is she a Lord?"
He then explained everything related to Seer.
The Sword Empress leaned back slightly.
"Hm. This is something that should have been covered in class material. But I suppose I can tell you now," she said.
Isaac listened carefully.
"Fortified Cities have Tiers. Our Fortified City 50 is Tier One. Fortified City 89 is Tier Two."
She continued evenly.
"A higher Tier City has access to better blueprints. Each city can combine with three more cities of the same Tier. Combining cities of the same Tier allows you to increase the number of Main Subjects and designate them as Sub-Lords to rule over portions of the combined city."
She added, "Now, if you’ve combined four cities, you can still combine four more cities of a higher Tier into your city. But you can’t combine more cities of the same Tier."
Isaac processed the information as she spoke.
If your City was Tier 1, then you could conquer three more Tier 1 Cities, and combine them into your City.
After this, you couldn’t combine more tier 1 Cities into your City, but you could still conquer Tier 2 Cities, and combine four of them into your City.
"Because of this rule, most Lords who reach the maximum number of combined cities stop capturing them. They just plunder cities instead."
She looked at him directly.
"However, the Florathi Race is different. You must’ve noticed by now. We don’t call it the Florathi City. We call it the Florathi ’Kingdom’."
Isaac nodded slowly.
That difference in wording had always bothered him, but he had never fully understood why.
"The Florathi Race has one main Lord, known as ’The Emperor.’ He rules the main City. Other than him, there are Nine Queens and Six Generals who are also Lords. They rule different Cities while serving the Emperor."
Isaac blinked.
For a brief moment, he thought he had misheard her.
"Nine Queens, and six Generals. So fifteen more Lords?"
"Yes."
His fingers tightened slightly against the armrest.
"Does all of the Florathi Lords have already combined three Tier One cities into their own cities?"
"Yes," she answered without hesitation. "And while a few of them hadn’t combined four Tier Two cities the last time I visited Florathi territory, by now all of them should have combined four Tier Two cities into their personal cities as well."
Isaac leaned back.
His mind began calculating on its own.
Sixteen Lords in total.
If each of them started with one city, then captured three Tier One cities and four Tier Two cities...
That’s seven additional cities per Lord.
His chest tightened.
So that’s means they have captured...
One hundred and twelve Fortified Cities.
A chill ran down his spine.
Isaac had always known the Florathi were considered war-monger race. It was common knowledge. But he finally understood the weight behind the word "war-monger".
"Now that you know this, there’s one more thing I need to tell you. Be careful of the Florathi," she said.
"...Because they might have sinister intentions toward us?" he asked.
"Yes. Your ability is too precious, Isaac. They may try to make you their subordinate, leave your City and force you to tend to the World Tree," she replied.
She paused, then continued more carefully.
"There is also the fact that, until now, the Florathi were afraid of me because—"
She stopped.
For the first time since he entered the room, she hesitated.
After a moment, she decided to explain her past to Isaac.
"I’m a reincarnator. I was someone strong in the past."
Isaac widened his eyes, making sure his expression matched what she likely expected.
"Reincarnation is possible? Who were you in the past?"
"Yes, reincarnation is possible. I was..."
She hesitated again. A blush rose to her face.
"I was called the Sword Maiden. All you need to know is that I was strong. And well known."
Isaac nodded.
Outwardly, he looked calm.
Inwardly, his thoughts were anything but.
Why does she look embarrassed saying that title?
Wait, Sword Maiden?
Maiden...?
You were single for all your life?
His expression turned weird. His mind immediately went in a direction he knew he shouldn’t pursue.
You are over a hundred years old. And if you were strong and famous, there should’ve been countless suitors.
How the hell did you still manage to stay single? And judging by your expression, it doesn’t look like it was by choice.
Isaac briefly considered asking whether she had actually stayed single for her entire life. The question burned at the edge of his curiosity.
But as someone who wanted to live a long life, he wisely chose silence.
He simply nodded again and waited for her to continue.
"Until now, the Florathi were unaware of my current life’s combat power. They only knew my past life’s identity and feared me because of it. That’s why they didn’t try to be forceful with you. But now—"
"Now they’ve seen your fight the Catastrophe And they can judge your level," Isaac said, finishing her sentence.
She nodded. "Correct. This is why I told you to be careful of the Florathi Race. However, there is good news."
He raised his eyes slightly.
"What is it?"
"The Emperor himself won’t make a move against you. As for the Nine Queens and the Six Generals, while they serve the Emperor, they are not exactly close. They are different factions that compete against each other for power.
"They’ll try to recruit you individually. So instead of working together, they will try to recruit you individually, and gain favor for their faction by presenting you to the Emperor."
Isaac thought about that.
"So they’ll fight among themselves over me. If I handle this properly, I can avoid immediate danger. But are you sure the Emperor himself won’t move?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I can’t answer that."
She shook her head once.
Isaac didn’t push the issue.
The Sword Empress had always been direct with him. If she was withholding something, it meant the reason was either dangerous or personal.
Either way, if she said Emperor would not move, then he wouldn’t
He shifted back to the reason he had come.
"So, since the Seventh Queen is a Lord as well, it’s highly likely she’s the Seer."
"Yes," the Sword Empress said, nodding. "As for your protection, don’t worry too much. I can protect you, and the Water Elemental Spirit is about to wake up soon. With her, the Florathi would not make rash moves."