Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 744: A Gift Too Great III

CH744 A Gift Too Great III

***

Alex let out a long sigh after hearing Saul’s answer.

‘This is complicated,’ the youth thought.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“This probably has something to do with why Emperor Piccard and Duke Cyrindale used the authority of their Ancestral Spirits,” Saul suddenly said.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked, turning around.

“Using the authority of a Deity or Divine Spirit is not easy. Never mind House Patriarchs—even lifelong clergy such as priests and paladins find it difficult to wield Authority as they wish. There is always a price,” Saul revealed.

“The patriarchs are granted a limited number of opportunities each year to freely invoke the authority of their Divine Spirits. As such, they reserve those opportunities for matters of the utmost importance.”

“And investigating the newly emerged claimant of House Skywalker qualifies?” Alex raised an eyebrow.

“It would seem so,” Saul replied.

“Duke Cyrindale said House Skywalker is important to House Piccard. Why is that?” Udara asked.

“I do not know,” Saul admitted. “At best, I can only make an educated guess.”

“What is it?” Alex pressed.

“It traces back to the founding of the Empire. House Skywalker stood beside House Piccard during the creation of the Celahan Empire,” Saul revealed.

After a moment of thought, he added, “In fact, it would not be inaccurate to say that House Skywalker and House Piccard founded the Empire together.”

“Really?” Alex asked.

Saul confirmed with a nod.

“According to the historical records commonly circulated throughout the Empire, the founders of House Piccard and House Skywalker shared the same—or at least a similar—origin.

“The books describe them as two pillars rising from the same foundation.

“However, while the founder of House Piccard leaned more towards politics, diplomacy, and leadership, the founder of House Skywalker was far more militant and heroic in nature. He is often described as the Champion—or even the Guardian—of the Empire during its founding era.”

“So, because of their respective strengths, one took charge of leading the territory they carved out despite the Navi—Deities—while the other commanded its armies and defended it?” Alex inferred.

“Essentially,” Saul nodded. “House Piccard united the individuals who would later become the founders of the Empire’s noble houses, while House Skywalker led them into battle.

“One held the fledgling Empire together through charisma, diplomacy, and leadership, while the other held it together through strength and military might.

“Hence, with the disappearance of House Skywalker, the Empire lost its sword.

“As the guiding crown of the Empire, it makes perfect sense that House Piccard would want House Skywalker to return.”

“To whip the nobles back into line?” Alex raised an eyebrow.

“Arguably,” Saul replied.

Alex returned to his seat and fell silent, quietly musing over everything that had happened during the last few hours.

‘I never thought I would be this wary about being given the power to claim the territory I need.’

He let out a wry inward chuckle.

‘The Emperor doesn’t actually care whether I am truly a descendant of House Skywalker or not. All that matters is that the Skywalker name rises again and becomes a target for the corrupt nobles—or at least the foolish ones amongst them.

‘Making me an Honour Count is merely a way to ensure I have a fighting chance and survive long enough. Time that he—and most likely Duke Cyrindale as well—can use to carry out whatever clean-up they have planned.’

Alex leaned back in his chair and crossed his right leg over his left while rhythmically tapping the armrest.

‘I have little choice in the matter,’ Alex concluded grimly.

‘Whether the Duke and Emperor harbour nefarious intentions or not, I am already a chess piece on the board unless I leave the Empire.

‘But I doubt they would allow me to do that.’

His tapping abruptly stopped.

‘My only option is to rapidly develop whatever territory I claim until House Skywalker either becomes a piece that the players can no longer move or interfere with easily… or I become a player myself.’

A sharp glint flashed through Alex’s eyes.

‘Two years… No, closer to a year and a half.

‘In that time, I need to develop my territory into a place that even the Emperor would approach carefully—regardless of whether his intentions are benign or otherwise.’

Surprisingly, Alex found himself largely unbothered by the realisation.

‘I suppose it helps that I already have far greater challenges hanging over my head. Compared to those, this barely even registers as a problem.’

He inwardly shrugged.

“Well, it looks like this is nothing more than another problem added to the pile of things we already have to deal with,” Alex said with a smile.

Both Udara and Saul were caught off guard by the casual response.

“That’s true,” Udara agreed. “We’ll just have to deal with this alongside everything else.”

Alex chuckled.

“Indeed, we will,” he replied.

—

Although a time limit now loomed over his head, Alex did not immediately rush towards the frontier.

Instead, he secretly returned to the fringes of the Oxborn Duchy using a previously established Space Gate marker. There, he opened another gate and transferred the remainder of his forces from the Wildlands, saving them several weeks of travel.

Afterwards, Alex returned to Qulin City through the same gate, while the rest of his forces continued their journey towards the city on horseback.

The operation was carried out in the dead of night, and no one was any the wiser.

Alex spent the remainder of the week meeting with Olyver Cyrindale for their ongoing research discussions.

Knowing that their meetings would soon come to an end, Alex left Olyver with the same holographic communications box he had previously given Baron Belloc, ostensibly so they could continue communicating regardless of distance.

However, that was not his only reason.

More than anything, it was a ploy to test the security of the device—and, in particular, the Rune-Tech glyphs that formed its foundation.

In addition to the Interplanar Eye research that Alex had nudged the Dark Scholar bearer towards, he was confident that Olyver would also attempt to analyse, and decipher the secrets hidden within the communication device itself.

That was exactly what Alex wanted.

The Rune Phone, Arcane Library, and Coinage Moonstone had already been thrown before Pangea’s greatest minds to challenge.

Alex intended for this communications box to become Verdantis’s equivalent.

Moreover, it was being placed into the hands of arguably one of the smartest individuals on the entire plane.

With such a capable and cost-free tester at his disposal, Alex would have been remiss not to take advantage of the opportunity.

By the end of the week, the rest of the Fortuna Party finally arrived in Oxborn City.

With the Duke’s blessing, Alex led the forest expedition team back to reunite with the main Fortuna force.

Soon afterwards, they departed Oxborn City and set out for the territory that would serve as their staging ground for the campaign to reclaim the Great Berserk Beast Forest.

***