A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 474 You Dare to Refuse Me

The Emperor extended an invitation to Richard: "I want you to become the chief military mage."

Richard, of course, shook his head and refused: "Your Majesty, my abilities and qualifications are insufficient for this task."

"Isn't saving the empire enough for the emperor? Besides, you are the disciple of the former chief and have an illustrious background." The new emperor did not expect to be rejected by his minister so quickly, and his right hand involuntarily went to his left arm again.

Richard wanted to tell His Majesty the Emperor that none of his points meant anything to other spellcasters.

After the chaos in the capital, Wilhelm II, the biggest beneficiary, began to distrust the existing imperial factions: he seriously doubted the lower ranks of the Imperial Army, and harbored a deep-seated aversion to the civil officials since his youth. As for the politicians from various states and regions, the emperor secretly wished to tell the people who set fire to the Imperial Household Department that they had done a good job.

So who did he trust? Given Richard and Libs' performances, and the influence of his friend Helmut, he now relied more on the once-fallen noble families. In his first audience, the Emperor summoned the younger generation of other prominent nobles, earnestly entrusting them with the responsibility of emulating Richard and Helmut, to shoulder the duties of the new era, and to achieve the great revival of the imperial nobility.

However, the role model now directly rejected his offer of important responsibilities. Somewhat displeased, the young emperor spoke up: "Fine, youngest son of the Dahlberg family, what kind of reward do you want from me? How about I be your and Miss Libs's witness at your wedding?"

"Your Majesty, you misunderstand. Right now, we are only friends." Richard's resolute answer left Libs, who was listening in, speechless. Oblivious to her surprise, he continued, "The country is not at peace yet, and I have no intention of considering personal matters."

"Then forget it." William suddenly felt a sense of loss. "Colonel Richard, since you are so loyal to the country, you should return to the front lines as soon as possible. I heard you are still recuperating, but judging from your performance last night, you should have recovered almost completely."

After the emperor gave the signal, the attendant brought out two almost identical medals, one to be returned to Hench and the other to Richard, along with a brand-new set of military uniform, in which the rank indicated a major general.

However, Wilhelm II withheld the new uniform: "It was originally prepared to match the chief mage, but you refused it."

"Yes, I was recently promoted to colonel, and such a rapid promotion would be difficult to justify."

Seeing that Richard remained unmoved, the emperor cursed him inwardly as a "die-hard" and released the two men from the palace.

Inside the carriage, the blindfolded girl was curious as to why Richard had refused almost all of the emperor's rewards.

"Compared to most generals, I am indeed not qualified to receive the rank of general at present, nor do I have more troops to lead. Rashly accepting an honorary title will only increase criticism." As for the position of chief, it is like an iron chair on a fire. He is definitely not able to sit still unless he is a great mage. Those troublesome accompanying mages will definitely cause more and bigger trouble.

As for the reward, Richard was not worried. Based on his experience, the emperor would surely grant his family some kind of honor in lieu of his own promotion.

"And another thing..." He hesitated for a moment, but finally chose to be honest with the girl about his thoughts, but he used the [Communication] spell: "His Majesty's inclination is to reinstate the old nobles, hoping to check and balance the civil service group led by the former prime minister, the imperial army dominated by the minor nobles, and the local forces."

"But will this solve the empire's problems? Will it dispel the resentment and discontent of junior officers, ordinary soldiers, and even the general public? The future represented by those mutinous troops is certainly terrible, but the current situation, and the emperor's and former prime minister's attempts to patch up and maintain the status quo, may not necessarily be any better."

"You're too pessimistic, Richard." Libs leaned back. "As long as the Empire can still win battles and the people still have bread to eat, there's no reason for it to fall apart like the Kingdom."

"Perhaps you are right. Is it a prophecy?"

No, right now I only see you. It's true, in this state I can only see your fate.

"What is it?"

"I'm not saying anything more. Anyway, you and I only have a superficial friendship." The girl turned her head away unhappily.

The Dahlberg family estate suddenly saw a surge of uninvited guests, some representing other families to present gifts, others being personally visited by the lady of the house to offer her condolences.

What kind of condolence was this? Richard's parents were initially quite confused.

From the few words the visitor uttered, the mother nearly fainted. She thought Richard had simply skipped the ball in a huff last night to go off and have some fun, never expecting him to cause such a commotion.

Bad news: a large-scale riot broke out in the capital last night, initiated by imperial soldiers, with Colonel Richard involved.

Good news! Both Colonels Richard played a key role in quelling the unrest and are pillars of the empire. The young nobleman also turned the tide and protected the emperor.

The bad news is that Richard has somehow been labeled as a member of the Crown Prince's faction.

Good news! His Highness the Crown Prince has ascended the throne ahead of schedule! He is now His Majesty King Wilhelm II.

Richard's father nearly drew his sword and killed the guest who was talking so heavily. The good news for his mother was that the girls who had come to the ball the night before were even more eager, constantly asking when young master Richard would return.

The bad news is that the wild girl, the "barbarian chieftain's" daughter, is missing. The servants say she rode off to chase after the young master last night.

When the two emerged from the luxurious carriage sent by the emperor, and saw her son supporting Libus, the old mother could only accept this reality. Then she noticed that the girl who was the prime suspect, her daughter-in-law, was dressed in hunting attire, highlighting the personal talents that the loose bohemian clothes she wore the night before had not shown.

Just when his mother was about to convince herself, Richard announced that the two were just friends and that as a soldier, he had to return to the front lines immediately.

Mrs. Dahlberg fainted for the second time, and even the smelling salts didn't help much.

Rorschach thought it was just another ordinary summer morning and planned to start his day with a glass of concentrated, chilled energy potion. His secretary had already thoughtfully prepared the morning paper.

"Why is the Empire's newspaper on top today? Pfft—"

"What's wrong?" Caroline was seeing Rorschach use the "water spray" skill on the newspaper for the first time, and the effect was remarkable.

"Ahem. It's nothing, your student has made something of himself."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Is there anyone who would boast like that?" She thought for a moment. "You were in the Empire's newspaper?"

"It wasn't me, it was Richard. See for yourself." Rorschach handed over the wet newspaper, only to be met with a harsh scorn. Caroline picked up the second newspaper delivered by the Imperial Guild herself, her eyes widening in surprise.

Rorschach was pondering: Didn't I accidentally reset Richard to factory settings? How come he's become Zhao Zilong of the capital? Rorschach thought about it and came up with only one reason: it must be because his "magic cloud" was too powerful. Listen up, old folks, this is the era of "scientific ninja tools"!

"The Imperial Parliament building was burned down. The new emperor delivered an important speech at the reconstruction groundbreaking ceremony, calling for the acceleration of the reform of the electoral district system, while also carrying forward the fine traditions of the imperial nobility. He proposed to establish an Imperial Council above the Imperial Parliament, similar to that of Istani, so that the traditional nobles could serve as the ballast stone of the empire in the new situation."

"The new emperor is young. If he really wants to speed things up, then we have to speed things up too." All Rorschach wanted to say to the Byrne royal family was: This might be a bit rough, so please bear with me.

(End of this chapter)