Chapter 1338: The Mystery of the Feast (Part 5)

Three days before the banquet date on the invitation, Schiller came to the Xiangong through the teleportation portal of the Sanctum Sanctorum and stayed in the Xiangong guest room under the arrangement of the waiter.

The last time he came here, he was still soaking in the hot spring under the World Tree with Loki and Strange, and he also made a deal with Odin about Valhalla.

Coming to the guest room of the Xiangong again, Schiller's first feeling was that the service here was much better. The last time he stayed here, it could be said that he called heaven and heaven didn't respond. The empty Xiangong didn't have a single service staff. If he wanted a new towel, he had to call Loki.

This time, not only are there guards at the door and butlers in the corridor, but there are also service bells on the bedside table. It seems that Loki's reform of the interior of the Xiangong is very effective.

Thinking this way, Schiller called Loki and Strange, and agreed to soak in the hot spring together in the evening, and chat about the reform of Asgard by the way.

By the evening, the Asgardian royal carriage carried Schiller to the World Tree, but one of the three people who had agreed to come was missing.

Schiller changed into clothes for soaking in the hot spring, walked into the pool, looked at Strange not far away and said: "Where is Loki? Didn't he agree to come?"

"Don't mention it." Strange curled his lips and said: "He had something temporary on his side, so he's not coming today... Same old, Port wine?"

Schiller nodded. Strange opened the wine bottle floating on the hot spring water table. Schiller shook his head and said: "You actually brought your own wine, aren't you afraid Thor will say you are pretentious?"

"I really can't get used to Asgardian wine." Strange pursed his lips and said: "They are all ale here, the taste of grain is too heavy, and the degree is too high. After drinking a glass, I can't concentrate on casting magic."

"That's true." Schiller took the wine glass from Strange's hand and asked: "What's the matter with Loki? It shouldn't be that something went wrong with the wedding ceremony, right?"

"You should know that Asgard is undergoing military reform, right?" Strange asked, but it was a tone of affirmation. Loki had mentioned this to both of them more than once.

There is more than one big triangle among the four-fold lack of virtue, but in general, on matters related to Asgard and the magic world, the relationship between Schiller, Loki, and Strange is very close. They have almost no secrets, and they will refer to each other's opinions on everything.

"Just a week ago, that is, when Asgard had just sent out invitations to the stars, His Majesty Thor dismissed Heimdall's position as the controller of the Rainbow Bridge and let him go home for a gardening holiday."

Schiller widened his eyes slightly and said: "Heimdall was dismissed? What mistake did he make?"

"Thor's statement is that the Rainbow Bridge needs long-term maintenance. He understands that Heimdall has worked diligently for so many years without making any major mistakes, and it is time to go home and rest."

"Isn't this a euphemism for retirement?" Schiller took a sip of wine and said with some surprise: "Thor has really grown up. If it were in the past, he would never have done such a thing. The emperor is ruthless."

"But we all know that he did the right thing. No king of any country can tolerate his brother-in-law holding the nuclear button. Even with Thor's martial power, he is not afraid of the Rainbow Bridge now, this is still quite fatal."

Schiller nodded and analyzed further: "Besides, Heimdall is also an old minister trusted by Odin. To complete the change of royal power completely, dismissing old ministers is an indispensable step, regardless of whether they are loyal to the new king or not."

"The rule of a great monarch has inertia. The more power he holds, the more so. Everyone is accustomed to all orders coming from the All-Father. So when Thor issues certain orders and they are executed by Odin's old ministers, people will still feel that it is Odin who is exerting influence."

"A country cannot have two masters. Once people start to doubt who is ruling them, they will feel confused and hesitant, and will not immediately follow the authority to act. The greatest advantage of a centralized system, powerful execution, will be weakened. This is what every monarch does not want to see."

Strange also took a sip of wine, wiped the sweat on his forehead with a towel, and said: "Especially, Thor has formulated various reform regulations, and now is the best time to push for reform. If Odin's influence is too great, reform will inevitably encounter resistance."

"But her husband not trusting her brother will definitely make the future Queen of Gods feel sad. So Frigga called Sif over to persuade, let Loki persuade Thor, you know, when husband and wife quarrel, aren't they all persuaded like this?"

Schiller showed a knowing expression, then smiled helplessly and shook his head: "Fortunately, Thor stayed on Earth for a short time. You say, what if he fell in love with a human woman and insisted on marrying her?"

"This is nothing instead." Strange shrugged and said: "How long can humans live? At most, give Thor 100 years, just treat it as a romance that ended without a disease."

"Is Heimdall home now?" Schiller asked again.

Strange nodded lightly and said: "The guards of the Xiangong are actually children of the families of various generals. Before I went out, I heard them say that Sif's uncle is not happy and is complaining at home... You say, why is Asgard like this too?"

"Asgard was originally a god system of Earth. How many such dog-eat-dog things are there in Earth's history? As long as it is a country established by intelligent creatures, it will basically follow the historical dynasty development law. It's not surprising."

Schiller took the fruit plate from Strange, then fished over a floating table from the side, put the fruit plate with grapes on it, and then put the wine glass on it, and said: "However, I don't think Thor will just let Heimdall retire like this. Setting aside other things, Heimdall's strength is second to none. Besides him, it is even more unsafe for others to control the Rainbow Bridge."

Strange was a little surprised and said: "Why do you make this inference? If Thor thinks highly of Heimdall, why let him take a gardening holiday? Isn't this a precursor to retirement?"

"Of course not." Schiller took a sip of wine, showed a smile, and said: "Thor's real purpose is to let Sif's family make a decision: is it to exhaust the whole family's strength to keep Heimdall's important position, or let Heimdall step down and other members remain unchanged?"

"Nobles are a problem that every feudal monarch has to face. Although Asgard doesn't have any decent nobles, there are also many old ministers with merits. They fought the world with Odin, their influence is not small, and they sent their children to important positions early. Isn't Sif one of them?"

"There are so many goddesses in Asgard, why are Sif and Thor childhood sweethearts? There are so many brave warriors in Asgard, why do the Warriors Three follow the Crown Prince every day and have a good relationship with him? Is it really just fate?"

Strange shook his head. Anyone with a little intelligence would know that in the upper layers of any society, all encounters are carefully arranged. There are not so many coincidences in the interpersonal relationships of the ruling class, all of which are connections accumulated over generations.

"Sif and Heimdall's relatives will definitely feel that no matter how many low-level positions are, they are not as good as the controller of the Rainbow Bridge. That is Asgard's top weapon. In non-war periods, there are no war merits to be made, so naturally, such positions are more important."

"Frigga will definitely convey this point to Sif, and in the end, Sif's family will definitely compromise and take the initiative to withdraw from those unimportant positions, just to let Heimdall return to a high position."

After listening to Schiller's analysis, Strange also nodded and said: "This move is quite beautiful. It was they themselves who wanted to keep Heimdall's position and applied for transfer, so Thor can't be blamed for not remembering old feelings and dismissing the Queen's family."

"But the problem now is, Thor just dismissed Heimdall, if Sif's family makes concessions, he will let Heimdall go back to work again? Wouldn't this be too childish? Changing orders in the morning and changing them in the evening is very easy to affect authority. Is Thor so confident?"

"Thor definitely needs a legitimate reason." Schiller turned the wine glass in his hand, thinking while saying: "Letting Heimdall go back to vacation is simple. Whether it is Thor or Loki, they can actually deceive Heimdall, disguise the fake appearance of a certain part of the Rainbow Bridge failure, and say that long-term maintenance is needed, naturally, Heimdall can be given a gardening holiday."

"But if you want Heimdall to come back, you can't just say the Rainbow Bridge is repaired. After all, it was said that long-term maintenance is needed. Suddenly it is repaired, which is a bit of treating people as fools."

Schiller slowed down his speech, obviously analyzing Thor's state and psychology, then brought himself into this new king, and then analyzed: "If I were Thor, if things went to this step, I would have to create a reason for Heimdall to return to his post."

"It's best if the situation is urgent, no one else can stand out, and only Heimdall, who knows and is most familiar with the Rainbow Bridge, can turn the tide and operate the Rainbow Bridge, which is not very flexible, to protect Asgard's safety."

Schiller's voice became lighter and lighter, but the fog around the hot spring became thicker and thicker. Accompanied by the light of the World Tree floating in front of his eyes, Schiller, standing in the banquet hall, heard Thor on the opposite side say in a low tone:

"The Queen of the Shi'ar Empire unfortunately died, and the murderer is still in the Xiangong. He dares to do it here, and must have something to rely on. But the primary task now is to ensure the safety of everyone, so that such a tragedy will not happen again."

Most of the civilization leaders around felt a chill behind their backs. They realized that this murderer dared to kill in front of the Asgardian God King, what else would he not dare to do?

If they just went back to their rooms like this, it is hard to say that they would become the next target, so whispers immediately sounded around, and some races with not so high martial power already felt some panic.

"But please don't worry, Asgard will thoroughly investigate the murderer and ensure everyone's safety. Pass my order, Asgard enters a state of comprehensive emergency, all members of the Xiangong Guard are in their positions, and before the state is lifted, no one is allowed to leave their posts without authorization!"

"Sif, I am really sorry, the Queen's death is of great importance. Now the situation is urgent, the murderer has not been found, so I cannot leave here."

"I'm afraid, except for your brother, no one can guard the Rainbow Bridge well. It's a pity, his holiday is over... Summon Heimdall!"

"It doesn't matter, Your Majesty, this is his duty." Sif looked into Thor's eyes sincerely and said: "Heimdall will never let you down... neither will I."

Thor didn't speak again, just blocked his fiancée's shoulder, hugged her into his arms, and then left a light kiss on her forehead. ===== CHAPTER 1339 =====