Chapter 187: New Capital

The Kingdom of Aithelin, a crumbling empire, barely qualifies as a kingdom at all.

After all, what kingdom cannot muster even two dozen taxable cities, most of which are merely nominal independent towns?

Its population is primarily drawn from three of the five most common races on the continent; lizardfolk are tolerably numerous, but the crownfolk (birdfolk) dislike the climate, and its true core races are catfolk and hornhoof folk (cattle, horses, sheep, deer)—a mid-to-lower-tier potential race.

There are no dominant rare races within the kingdom, and the more warlike dogfolk are mostly "small dogs."

None of the three main military groups are particularly strong; even the royal house is merely large cats (lionfolk), which usually means the most numerous group in the realm is the low-floor catfolk.

Fifty years ago, it was a third-class minor kingdom on the continent.

Now it's probably fifth-class, on the verge of collapse at any moment.

"We absolutely cannot lose Huiguang City."

The kingdom's new capital is named Xinlinese City; compared to the old Linese City (the former capital), most people simply call it the New Capital, at most adding the prefix "Aithelin New Capital."

Contrary to what many Huiguang residents imagine, the new capital's size and permanent population are only slightly greater than Huiguang City's—and even that margin is limited.

The new capital is nowhere near the level of the legendary metropolis it's rumored to be. In terms of urban vitality and atmosphere, it's far inferior to Huiguang City, which has developed rapidly in recent years.

After all, this city was built the year after the "Great Cataclysm of the Kingdom (Great Dragon Disaster)," forcibly erected by pooling all the kingdom's resources.

Its very existence was meant to unify the kingdom's political will; now, it survives only because of political necessity.

"Maintaining the new capital is too costly—we should have relocated to a more suitable region long ago."

The new capital lies mostly on the outer edge of the "Great Canyon," not far from the old capital, and the surrounding environment is terrible.

Forget industrial development—the agricultural conditions are mediocre at best. The canyon, shaped by the dragon's breath, still produces bizarre monsters and elemental beings, as if that single blow pierced through multiple planes.

Extreme weather is frequent, and strange interdimensional disasters regularly occur—diseases, insect plagues, heatwaves, acid rain, and more.

The old capital, within the dragon's breath zone, has long since slipped from control; nominally still part of the kingdom, its rulers no longer obey the crown.

The city teems with bizarre cultists and criminals; these unstable elements continuously drain the new capital's—and even the kingdom's—strength.

In truth, the kingdom has long debated whether to abandon the old capital region entirely and relocate the royal seat to a more suitable location.

Huiguang City is one of the louder choices.

"The kingdom absolutely cannot move the capital again—this would be the second relocation in twenty years! The royal house and the kingdom's prestige would be utterly destroyed; every city-state would stop paying taxes on time, and we would perish."

"But are we just going to drag this out? Kingdom spies sent to the old capital rarely return—they either turn corrupt and betray us, or are gruesomely hung on the city walls. We should have severed this rotting wound long ago, instead of pouring more resources into this bottomless pit."

"Yes, even if we cleared the old capital's troubles, how would we handle the great fissure? It's still producing magic endlessly—we should have abandoned this region long ago. Be realistic. Embrace the new age."

Beneath the throne, the ministers were already in a uproar.

Yet the queen, clad in a blue-and-white robe, sat upon the throne, watching it all with apparent calm.

But the occasional flicker in her pupils revealed she was no mere ornament.

If Li En were here, he would be astonished to find this queen no longer resembled the portrait at all.

The former girl's soft beauty had become piercing frost; beneath the golden sapphire crown lay a cold face veiled in black.

She remained beautiful, dazzlingly so, but sunlight had turned to ice, the girl into a queen whose eyes held bitter resentment.

Where the portrait once showed gentle eyes, now only authority and hatred remained. Suddenly, she raised her scepter and lightly tapped it against the marble floor of the throne.

"Tap."

Instantly, the noisy throne room fell silent—clear evidence of the queen's authority.

Her phoenix-like gaze swept the room; each minister she looked upon bowed their head. Only then did she speak.

"The new capital is the only royal seat, and it always will be." Her calm words were a proclamation and a command. No explanation needed, no debate allowed, no discussion permitted—this was the monarch's will.

"Increase recruitment and military training. Recover the old capital as soon as possible. Involve our interdimensional allies too—offer higher bounties." Beneath this calm declaration lay a new battlefield, and countless losses of gold and lives.

After speaking, she rose and left immediately. Once she stepped through the door, the ministers behind her erupted into chaos again.

But the direction was now fixed—they could only argue within the boundaries the queen had set.

The kingdom had weakened, but the royal house remained the royal house. Though strained, it still possessed what it must.

"How could we possibly abandon it?" The queen walked down the corridor, her clenched red lips betraying she was far from calm.

Even if riddled with holes, the kingdom was still a kingdom; the royal house was still the royal house. To abandon the capital, to abandon the promised land—that would be the kingdom's end.

"Confirmed?"

Behind the open side chamber stood an old wizard; the room, filled with crystal balls and skulls, felt deeply eerie.

Yet this man, even twenty years ago, was the famed seer Daniel Tu of the continent.

"The location of the Hero's Sword remains unlocatable. Laina's side did suddenly react, but the response was strange—extremely strange. We must prepare for the worst." The old wizard sighed. Vast sums of money and magical materials had been poured in, yet they still could not locate the lost Heroic Armaments or the Hero himself—a failure beyond failure.

The most troubling part, however, was their inability to even probe the nature of this event. Past experience suggested such matters often involved the schemes of certain deities.

"Laina showed a reaction a few days ago (when Li En, who protected Laina, left Huiguang City), but now it's gone. We must prepare for war against conspirators aiming to overthrow us."

Who did it? Too many possibilities. A kingdom's fall isn't just a feast for evil gods—the churches of benevolent deities can feast just as well.

On the map on the table, a red knight chess piece marked Huiguang City's location.

To the decision-makers in this room, however, all they smelled was conspiracy and trap. How could it be so coincidental? Laina had shown no reaction for two years, then suddenly reacted—only to vanish again within days.

This must be some conspirator—or even an evil god—fishing. And precisely now, the royal house must bite the hook.

A new Hero can be found, but the Hero's Sword is unique.

"Next Hero selection"

"Candidates exist, but without the Hero's Sword, they're meaningless. Frankly, even if we recovered the Hero, it would only add one more card. We must prepare to face beasts—one, two, even three!"

On the map, two black chess pieces stood: one shaped like an elephant's head, the other like a deer's head.

The deer's head sat beside the red knight symbolizing the Hero—Huiguang City naturally became the epicenter of attention.

The good news: the elephant's head was in another country. The bad news: it was merely a neighboring country, and the sealing line still lay near the border. Considering prior causality, its surge toward that direction was almost certain.

The only silver lining: the neighboring country was even more desperate, currently launching frantic crackdowns and reinforcing the seal—the kingdom likely won't need to commit forces there.

Some things need not be spoken: even if the Hero is found, he will never match the previous one. And that one, who barely sealed one beast, was hailed as the Continent's Hero!

"The third one."

The most troubling, however, was another chess piece on the table—a bird-shaped piece—placed there but not yet settled.

"Its location still hasn't been determined?"

"Merely from the movements of the Beast Cult and the beast hordes, we cannot confirm it's within our borders."

Queen Marianna shook her head.

"I reviewed the records of the First King. He founded the kingdom after slaying multiple monstrous birds. Prepare for the worst."

Relocate? Where to? Unless they abandoned all territory, these awakened ancients would never let this kingdom go.

"I'll go to Huiguang City myself—bolster its defenses, and bring back that runaway fool girl to work. Hmm, perhaps there'll be unexpected gains." Recalling certain legends from the Ancients, Queen Marianna touched her red lips, a flicker of anticipation rising.

". My karmic ties with the Hero are deep. Perhaps I'll find what I seek." For some reason, Marianna felt she would find what she longed for in that city.

(End of Chapter)