Chapter 832: The Old Emperor Saw Hope

"This is all to better serve Your Majesty."

Duke Taylor smiled obsequiously.

Since it was already destined that they couldn't obtain those two alchemists.

Then naturally, telling everything he knew was the most appropriate course of action.

Or rather, the Old Emperor calling him at this time, with Nikolai and Horn also present at the side, was precisely to ask about the origins of those two, right.

Otherwise, he could have just called that fat boy Arthur over.

There was absolutely no need to call him, the head of the Duke Faction, over.

"Service, huh... nicely said..."

The Old Emperor dragged out his words very long, like the tone of someone who was about to fall asleep and was replying randomly, making it a bit difficult to hear clearly.

"Then tell me, what did that boy from the John Family tell you."

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Even the John Family was brought up.

It seemed Arthur's side had also said quite a lot.

Blame?

He couldn't blame him at all.

After all, the people who could gain any advantage here with the Old Emperor were basically all dead already.

The few who weren't dead were all Title Holders, the kind that absolutely couldn't be touched.

Thus, bowing and scraping, Duke Taylor spilled all the information he had obtained from Adams's letter.

"You're saying... one of them is named Aureolus?"

"Yes, between the two of them, the one wearing the white robe is Aureolus."

Duke Taylor wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded.

It seemed that this explanation had indeed tired him out.

That sweat was like an opened faucet.

"Your Majesty, the one who used the meteor shower magic was the black-robed girl. The one you asked about before, the white-robed one, should be this Aureolus."

After Taylor finished speaking, Nikolai immediately stepped forward.

To be honest.

Let alone the Old Emperor.

Even Nikolai was stunned for a moment when he first heard this news.

Fortunately, his reaction was fast.

He immediately gave a reminder, distinguishing the two from each other.

With this, the Old Emperor finally knew who was who.

"Is that so? So the other one is Aureolus?"

The Old Emperor's tone was somewhat absent-minded.

Aureolus.

On Blue Star, it might just be an average-sized noble family with a thousand years of heritage.

But here, this name represented an entire clan.

A clan not inferior to the Sima Imperial Family.

The predecessor of the Sima Empire was actually composed of two kingdoms.

One was naturally the Sima Kingdom, and the other was the Aureolus Kingdom.

At that time, due to the merger, legally speaking, both royal families had the right to inherit the imperial throne of the Empire.

It was just that during the merger, the Aureolus King at the time, not knowing what crazy fit had come over him.

Suddenly became interested in alchemy.

And so he gave up his right of succession to the throne.

But in exchange, the Sima Royal Family would henceforth have to supply all the alchemical materials and expenses needed by the Aureolus Family.

Regarding this, Sima the First approved from the bottom of his heart.

He even added the clause 'members of the Aureolus Family are equivalent to the Imperial Family' to this condition.

This was considered completely seizing the throne within his own family's hands.

Thus.

The Empire became the 'Sima Empire'.

And the Aureolus Family also became the alchemical family in the Empire holding a status equal to that of the Imperial Family.

Because they were an alchemical family, they basically did not participate in the Empire's policy making.

Nor did they dictate or interfere in any other matters.

This made generations of Emperors prop them up.

To the point that their original fiefdom in the northwest was also granted larger and larger.

After all, the other party exerted influence while standing there, but they wouldn't cause trouble for them.

By treating them favorably, they could even gain a good reputation.

It simply couldn't be a better deal.

As for the so-called alchemical materials and expenses...

Although the expenses were indeed huge every year, it wasn't as if there were no results.

That is to say, although there was investment, there was also output.

The Aureolus Family was only responsible for research and development; the Sima Family still did the realizing and monetizing.

So calculating it inside and out, there was absolutely no loss, and there were even profits to be made.

So up until now, this Aureolus Family still existed.

They had even become an indispensable alchemical family of the Empire.

"Send someone to the Alchemical Workshop and inform the people of the Aureolus Family about this matter."

After thinking about it.

The Old Emperor ultimately decided to leave this matter for the people of the Aureolus Family to handle.

After all, it was their own family's matter.

No matter how he, as the Emperor, handled it, it wouldn't be good for him to intervene.

So regardless of whether the other party was real or fake, right or wrong, and why they would wander to the Selala Mountain Range to become mountain dwellers, he did not want to ask about any of this at all.

Anyway, as long as they didn't bring up things like the right of succession, they could toss and turn however they pleased.

And the several people present didn't say anything more after hearing the Old Emperor say this.

After everyone discussed a bit more about some arrangements for the two of them, they each dispersed.

Leaving only the Old Emperor sitting alone in the dining hall.

Even those maids and attendants who originally served him were chased out by him.

He just wanted some peace and quiet right now.

Although the impact brought by the appearance of two Title Holders was indeed very large.

But as an Emperor, his perspective on looking at problems and his way of thinking about them were worlds apart from others.

Especially so for someone like him who had sat on the throne for almost fifty years.

Therefore.

Among all the things reported by the three, Nikolai, Horn, and Taylor.

Whether it was alchemists, Title Holders, the meteor shower magic, or this last bit about the Aureolus Family's forgotten daughter outside, he wasn't that concerned about any of them.

Or rather, their priority level was not as high as another piece of news.

This piece of news was precisely those Britt Rats that had appeared inside the Wailing Marsh.

Of course.

If it were just purely the appearance of some rats, he naturally wouldn't care too much.

But what if these rats were mutated?

Mutation.

This word was not very common among monsters.

In reality, right here in the Imperial Capital, right in his own gardens, there were quite a few of these mutated monsters.

These monsters all had a common characteristic.

That was having higher potential and growth than others of the same species.

Even their magical skills and traits were significantly higher than the rest of the individuals in their species.

For a long time, he had been thinking about one question.

Since monsters could mutate.

Then why couldn't humans?

But in reality, whether it was the alchemical family, or his own Royal Pharmacist who possessed a title, neither had been able to give him an answer.

But!

Today!

This answer had suddenly appeared in front of him in a way he had completely not anticipated.

It was just that this mutation slightly deviated from the kind he had envisioned.

Originally, what he had envisioned in the past was the kind of mutation that could allow humans to take a step further.

But the facts were telling him that mutation was often not a pleasant thing.

At the very least, he definitely didn't wish for the bones on the back of his head to turn into that kind of long whip.

That... was truly too ugly...

Just thinking about it, the Old Emperor felt it was the kind of ugly that ruined one's appetite...