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At the moment when Vera and Colin were welcomed into the Phoenix Palace by Queen Midela, Scholar Doan was all alone enroute to the southern region of Dragon City.

As the Holy Mountain and Phoenix Palace are both located in the northern region of Dragon City, nobles with a smidgen of prestige would try their level best to settle in the north. Thus, the south naturally became a populated overlap of common people, with the buildings gradually shabbier as one goes further south.

Despite this, a manor curiously irreconcilable with its surrounding environment exists in the commoner’s gathering area.

Although the location of this manor was not set spaciously, it was quite large, surrounded by trees full of tender sprouts. Several uniquely designed villas were surrounded by a fence with a stable, barracks, warehouse, garden and others, exactly like a noble manor.

Within Dragon City, the only person willing to build such a mansion in a populous locale was the Prime Minister, Baron Heidegger.

This Prime Minister, from commoners’ lineage, always kept his distance from the nobles, a trait which remained unchanged despite his rise in status for over forty years.

Perhaps it’s due to his ties to the downtrodden or his consciousness of their minds, that he was able to steadily improve the governance of the Empire.

But, that being said, this may also be the reason why the Imperial Senate looks down on this “country bumpkin.”

After confirming his identity, Scholar Doan was led into the manor by the butler.

However, the butler did not bring Scholar Doan to places like the study or the lounge, but guided him to a lawn behind the main castle.

There, Scholar Doan saw the Prime Minister squatting ungracefully on the ground roasting a sweet potato.

Baron Heidegger was already over seventy years old, with white hair, but still looked spirited. Wearing a slightly old-fashioned but very tidy casual outfit, he looked like an ordinary elderly commoner and not at all like a head of the executive council of the Empire.

“Mr. Prime Minister!” Scholar Doan sped up, bowed and said hello.

Baron Heidegger was quite familiar with Scholar Doan, he laughed heartily and casually said, pointing at the ground, “Sit, try the sweet potato I roasted.”

“Sure!” Scholar Doan didn’t find himself treated unfairly, he chose a spot on the lawn and sat down. Then he smiled and took the sweet potato from the baron, from the heat he could tell that it was still hot, so he hurriedly started fanning it in his hands.

Baron Heidegger’s eyes had lost their shine from years of toil, they appeared dull and lackluster, but anyone stared at by them would feel uncomfortable. It felt as though he had the power to read every person’s hearts, and no one could hide their dirt and scum from him.

Scholar Doan remained calm and collected under such scrutiny, he carefully peeled the skin off the sweet potato in his hands and started eating with gusto.

Seeing the scholar’s enjoyment, Baron Heidegger’s face showed a hint of a smile, and he asked, “Are there any problems with the food supply in the North Territory this year?”

“Viscount Angler has received a great deal of support from the Half-Elf Kingdom. They should be able to make it through this year, but the commoners will have a tough time.”

Saying this, Scholar Doan lifted his head, looked at Baron Heidegger with hopeful eyes and asked, “If the central empire could supply some food, the situation in the North Territory would be much better.”

However, Baron Heidegger immediately refused, shaking his head, “It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but there might be some issues with the food supply in Crimson Flame Territory this year.”

“What happened?” Scholar Doan seemed puzzled, “There hasn’t been any disaster in the Crimson Flame Territory in the past few years, right?”

Baron Heidegger’s face turned somewhat solemn, “The situation in the Westland is pretty bad. The St. Gregorian family has repeatedly written for help from the central empire.

However, the Queen and the Senate have not agreed to send troops, they only promised to provide food and material support.”

Scholar Doan frowned and asked, “Are the Orcs pressuring them that much?”

“Yes. According to the letter from the St. Gregorian family, a tribe of Orcs called ‘Warsong Tribe’ is rapidly gaining power. The Westland had to send an expeditionary force over the Sky Breaking Mountain Range to intervene militarily, to prevent the Warsong Tribe from expanding further, and perhaps even forming a third Orc Empire!”

“The third Orc Empire?” Exclaimed Scholar Doan, shocked.

The glorious empire built by the humans occupied the richest area in the center of this continent, but was inevitably surrounded by covetous different races.

Apart from the dwarves, goblins, and half-elves who were weak and relied on the glorious empire to survive, only four races posed a real threat to humans—- the Trolls in the north, the Elves in the east, the Naga in the south, and the Orcs in the west.

The Elves had long vanished into the Bright Moon Forest, making the eastern part of the Empire the most stable currently.

The Naga, an amphibious species, would suffer from dehydration and cracked skin if they stayed too far from water bodies for too long. Hence, their threat to the South Border is largely limited to occasional raids, and at most they would occupy some coastal areas, posing not much of a threat.

The Trolls in the north were once a significant threat, but under the strong suppression of the North Territory, they could hardly stir up any trouble. Today, they can only barely survive in the northern Sky Ice Plain.

The Orcs from the west were the perennial high-risk concern of the Glorious Empire, nonetheless.

Among the other three major ethnic groups, none had an absolute military advantage over the humans, but the Orcs were an exception. A regular Orc soldier could easily stand up to three or four human soldiers.

In terms of Professionals, they believe in the God of Destruction and have Skull-shatterer professionals who are far superior to human knights of the same level. They are virtually invincible among their own rank.

Fortunately, while the Orcs excelled in military power, they lagged in intellectual capacity.

Thus, the development of the Orc civilization was clearly the weakest among the five major races. They were still living in loosely connected tribes, fighting each other, making it hard to form a unified force.

However, there have been exceptions. Throughout their history, there have been extraordinary heroes among the Orcs. Under their leadership, there were two brief periods of unification among the Orcs.

These were referred to as the First and Second Orc Empire.

Once unified, the assembled Orc army was the most terrifying force on the continent. After the establishment of the Second Orc Empire, the Orc army swiftly advanced. Within only three months, they broke through the Westland, wiped out the main forces of the Crimson Flame Territory, and encircled Dragon City.

If they hadn’t faced long-lasting resistance at Dragon City, and if the suppressed internal contradictions within the Second Orc Empire hadn’t gradually come to the fore, enabling the humans to break it up, there might be a different dominant race on the continent today.

However, ever since then, the Glorious Empire had been wary of the threat of the Orcs unifying again, or even establishing a Third Empire.

So, when the Warsong Tribe rises strongly showing signs of Orc unification, Westland immediately dispatched an expedition army over the Sky Breaking Mountain Range, in an attempt to intervene and nip the potential danger in the bud.

Scholar Doan prioritized the matter and no longer pursued the request for food. Instead, he asked, “How is the expedition army dispatched by Westland faring now?”

“The expedition army from the St.Gregrian family was dispatched last October, and we have not received any specific good news back yet. Therefore, it’s difficult for me to judge the prevailing situation on the other side of Sky Breaking Mountain Range.”

Subsequently, both of them fell silent, evidently worried.

After a while, Scholar Doan asked again, “Since the St. Gregrian family has requested support from the imperial center multiple times, why hasn’t His Majesty agreed to it yet?”

Baron Heidegger smiled faintly, saying: “For more than a thousand years after the fall of the Second Orc Empire, Westland has submitted hundreds of assistance requests to the imperial center, always stating that this or that tribe is on the rise and showing signs of unifying the Orcs…

In the beginning, the imperial center took it very seriously, almost always sending troops for support. But later they gradually realized that the St. Gregorian family was just exaggerating their predicament to get the imperial center to help deal with their border problems.

Afterward, unless the threat from the Orcs was confirmed, the imperial center would unlikely send troops to Westland again at will.”

Scholar Doan couldn’t help but feel exasperated. It seemed that the imperial center was also tired of Westland’s false alarms.

Baron Heidegger gave Scholar Doan a glance, adding, “Moreover, the chaos in the North Territory had begun to surface at that time. His Majesty might have been considering stepping in himself. However, due to certain circumstances, things didn’t proceed.”

Scholar Doan’s eyes flickered, wondering: Didn’t the military expedition of the Menam family to the North Territory count as intervening?

“Now that the North Territory has been pacified and there is still no good news from the expedition army in Westland, His Majesty should be prepared to send troops to support the St.Gregrian family, right?”

“No.” Baron Heidegger shook his head, looking more worried.

“Why not?” Scholar Doan puzzled. The matter of the Orcs’ unification should be treated as credible until proven otherwise. He could not understand why His Majesty took it so lightly.

Baron Heidegger narrowed his eyes and said with a somber voice:

“Because, someone intends to launch another war!”