Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1838, Section 1810: Investigation
"The Flame Watchers' pursuit team has long since come down from the snow-capped mountains."

Sir Eldest, with a leisurely pace, tapped the sphere at the top of his scepter lightly with the fingers that held it.

"Their theft report first reached Mount Gemir, on the desk of the demigod [Judge] Lakad."

"Of course, as a venerable demigod, he has the authority to make this decision, given his duties. The Flame Watchers descended from the Lord Elevator north of the royal city through official channels and began their manhunt. But the problem now is..."

As he spoke, Bai Zhi's dark expression, hidden beneath his helmet, was directed at Lan En, giving off a rather profound feeling.

"More and more Flame Watchers are coming down, and to this day, they continue to arrive."

"Many people are starting to worry about this. Do they really just want to catch the thief who stole the prayers, or... do they have some other purpose?"

"However, since their actions were approved by Lord Lakad, it's not appropriate for people to question them too much. After all, he's a demigod."

At this point, Lan En couldn't help but frown.

He issued a confirmation: "The magistrate of the Volcano Palace, Lakad, personally approved the Flame Watchers' actions?"

Gideon Ofnier confirmed, "In person, yes."

The judiciary Lakad is also one of the three siblings who were granted the title of demigod within the Golden Dynasty, born from the marriage between the "King's Consort" Radagan and Caria.

In the Golden Dynasty, demigod was a title of nobility, while judicial officer was undoubtedly a powerful official position.

The term 'judge' easily leads one to believe that this demigod's real power and responsibilities are limited to judicial matters. However, the Golden Dynasty was not a nation that had developed to the point where the powers of each position were clearly defined and definite.

As a judicial officer, Laqad not only controlled the judiciary of the Golden Dynasty, but also the use of torture and punishment, and even a portion of the armed defense.

The Volcano Mansion features an automated machine resembling a large Iron Maiden. Its solid shell, four to five meters in height, and terrifying attack methods make it a formidable opponent for enemies.

Within the royal city of Rodel, there are iron virgin dolls made from volcanoes.

Or to put it more directly, in the backyard of the Round Table Hall, there is an Iron Maiden doll that tirelessly rolls its wheels day and night, patrolling along a prescribed route.

To discerning observers, this was not only the defensive force of the royal city, but also a manifestation of the real influence of the Lakad magistrate of the Volcano Palace.

To be honest, the Golden Dynasty's stance on this matter also puzzled Lan En.

Of the three demigods who were related to the emperor through marriage, Lakad was the judge of Mount Gmir on the Altan Plateau, holding a high position and great power.

General Ratan, the "Shattered Star General," is a border general who guards the Galid region east of Nymgford.

However, there seems to be little information about Lani, the "Moon Princess".

Queen Marika and the First King Gavri had only one child, [Gold] Godwin.

His duty seemed to be guarding the royal city; he didn't seem to display any talent in other places outside the city.

Queen Marika's two demigod children, born after her marriage to Radagan, seem to have health problems for some unknown reason.

Michaela, the older brother, never grows up, while his younger sister Malenia suffers from a special disease known in the borderlands as the "Corruption Disease," which is said to be incurable even by the Golden Law.

In order to find a way to cure his sister's illness, the brother even decided to look for other methods beyond the Golden Law, which had proven ineffective.

The brother and sister left Rodel and are said to have started a sacred tree in the north.

The two may have some influence outside the Golden Dynasty, but within the Golden Dynasty, they only enjoy the honor of demigods.

From this perspective, isn't the power of the maternal relatives in the Golden Dynasty a bit too strong?

Lan En's keen sense and keen intuition led him to subconsciously consider the current internal situation of the Golden Dynasty.

This might be a consequence of his recent plans for Sintra's future.

But this did not affect his communication with Sir Hundred.

“You said ‘many people are starting to worry about this,’” Lann looked at him. “Does that include the Two Fingers of the Round Table Service?”

"If I remember correctly, the Round Table Faded Ones only obeyed orders to leave behind our two fingers. They didn't care about anything else."

The two fingers now in the Round Table Hall should be the same two fingers that chose Queen Marika as a divine being and eventually succeeded in becoming a god.

He would certainly support the Golden Law. But this is only support and agreement on the general direction. In the details, whether the faded members of the Round Table are more obedient to the Two Fingers or Queen Marika's Golden Dynasty is not so easy to say openly.

But Sir Hundred remained completely unmoved by this sensitive issue.

“Everyone is a little worried.” He emphasized the word “everyone,” “but the Flame Watchers have all the necessary paperwork and their requests are reasonable. Plus, Lord Lakard has given his permission…”

"To bring up such a 'minor doubt' for no reason is a great disrespect to a demigod. Who can clean up the mess if things get out of hand? Therefore, we are needed."

As he spoke, Sir Hundred Wisdom pointed at Lann, then pointed back at himself.

It seems that the group of Faded Ones left behind by Two Fingers at the border were Two Fingers' special operations team.

“Roundtable is short-staffed right now. If you hadn’t suddenly appeared, we might not have been able to investigate this kind of thing.”

Gideon Ofnir explained why he had delegated the task to Lann. The Witcher nodded in understanding, but a question still lingered on his face.

"Are you short-handed?" Lann asked him. "But what's there to be busy with right now? I see Rodel as a prosperous and stable place, the Golden Dynasty at its peak."

"Peaceful? Hmph." From beneath the helmet adorned with ear-shaped decorations, Sir Elgin chuckled meaningfully in a low voice. "You really think so, Wise Lann? The undercurrents beneath this seemingly peaceful surface... Hmph, perhaps you'll find out sooner or later."

His laughter was puzzling, but he didn't seem inclined to elaborate further.

Therefore, Lann had no choice but to return to the mission itself.

“So now,” Lan En waved the scroll in his hand, “what do you want me to do? You know, besides these books of yours, my knowledge is very limited.”

Sir Hundred Wisdom didn't take it to heart: "That's precisely why you should go out and explore, so that the knowledge written on paper can match reality."

“You must go to Lienia. My spies report that Adam, who stole the prayer, has likely fled to that lake region. As evidence, the Flame Watchers have also sent men to Lienia.”

“We need to find out whether they caught the thief or not. Their operation has dragged on for too long and brought too many people down from the snow-capped mountains.”

"We need to find out what happened to Adam if he was caught, and if he wasn't caught, was it intentional?"

"In short, we need to reach a conclusion quickly. We can't let the Flame Watchers go down the mountain again!"

The Flame Watchers are a garrison force stationed in the frontier regions by the Golden Dynasty.

But now, the frontier troops are making a large-scale incursion into the inner regions of the dynasty for a seemingly legitimate reason… The Golden Dynasty is currently in a period of peace. But it is precisely because it is a period of peace that this movement of troops is all the more concerning and unsettling.

"Understood, I will help investigate."

The Witcher nodded, thinking: Surely the prosperous and golden Age of Gods wouldn't be in turmoil so soon after I arrived?

This is a divine dynasty; no matter how chaotic things get, there's always the God of Golden Law and the companion of the gods, the King of Elden, above them all.

If you want to cause trouble, you need to get past a god and a king first.

Out of gratitude for the hospitality he received at the Round Table after arriving in this world, and for the knowledge contained in the books collected by Gideon Ophniel, Lan felt it was only right to help the Round Table with some work.

After explaining everything, Baizhi stayed in another room next to Lan En's room.

What Lan En thought was the library reading room was actually Bai Zhi's room in the Round Table Hall. This guy seemed to never rest; he spent all day hunched over his desk reading.

His posture was very worrying for his cervical spine, and perhaps that's why he looks so hunched over when he's standing.

The faded figures in the Round Table Hall, as can be seen from Bai Zhi, are indeed busy.

He had just returned from a mission, but not to rest; he was there to work as an intelligence analyst.

The meaning of the armor ornaments on Baizhi's body was just as Lann had guessed.

That symbolized both his thirst for knowledge and the nature of his work.

He had many spies whom he sent to various places to gather intelligence, which he then compiled at the Round Table.

His main job was to verify the authenticity of this intelligence, analyze it, and report it to Doublefinger.

The fact that even a civilian official in charge of intelligence is being sent out on missions speaks volumes about the manpower shortage within the Round Table Hall.

Lan En didn't dawdle, even though he was unfamiliar with the area.

But this wasn't his first time traveling to another world.

The festivities sparked by Prince Godwin during the day showed no signs of abating even into the night.

The enormous golden tree, a being that is both matter and energy, emits a constant golden light even under the deep blue night sky, like a dream.

On the streets of Rodel, people sing and dance from day to night.

Their spirit is immortal, and even after physical death, they can be reincarnated as trees, possessing long lifespans. Their concept of time is completely different from that of normal humans.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs, Lan En listened to the festive noise outside the round table hall. He appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was filled with emotion.

The golden age of the divine dynasty, with its beauty and order, almost felt like a dream.

The clanging sound of blacksmithing remained constant.

"Good evening, Xiugu. I'm leaving now."

"We're leaving, meow!"

When passing by the mixed-race blacksmith, Lann greeted him as usual, as did the velvet ball.

It was just a polite remark, but to everyone's surprise, the blacksmith, who had previously ignored them, paused in his hand when he picked up the stone hammer.

After scratching his head, he called out to Lan En and the others who were about to go downstairs.

(End of this chapter)