City of Sin

Book 8, 97

Back To The Resting Orchid

One day later, Richard and Senma arrived at the Resting Orchid Plane. The place was cramped as always, the environment basically unchanged. The people themselves had gotten used to Archeron rule, however, and while there were still some plotting to eliminate the invaders that number had fallen to an insignificant level.

The Archerons and the local king of the Resting Orchid Plane had opposed each other for years before Richard conquered the plane, with the kingdom spending exorbitant amounts of money just to maintain its army. There was a soldier for every five commoners, including elderly and children, and with their lack of resources they had slowly been pushed back.

From his experience at the Godnest, Richard knew that this entire plane was only a fragment of what it was in the past, the former complete plane having been destroyed in an enormous battle. A large section of its population were happy just not starving to death, with just forty years of age being considered a long life. However, Richard had solved that problem once he took control. Even now, as he and Senma stepped through the portal, they were joined by a large caravan of 300 carriages that were each filled with ten tonnes of food rations.

Watching the food being taken away, Richard suddenly turned to the Blood Paladin and asked, “If you were an ordinary citizen of this plane, what would your stance on the Archerons be right now? Would you rather return to the old times, or continue living as my subject?”

Senma shot him a confused look, “Of course I’d follow you. As for reasons... I can think of two. First, I’d be fed well. Second, I can criticise you and you still won’t do anything unless I take it too far. There isn’t a need for a third reason, is there?”

“Sigh. There are still people who miss the old kingdom, aren’t there?”

“We’ll just kill all those bastards!”

“Nope, killing them isn’t the solution.”

“Why not? My Dearest Lord, you’re acting strange today. Is some soul mage controlling you?”

Richard chuckled, “Nevermind, I’m just overthinking things.”

Senma snorted, “Of course there’s going to be dissidents, people who want to bring back the old kingdom. If not for the act that we send a hundred thousand tonnes of food every year, many people would starve to death. They have to choose, they can either eat our meat or curse us, they can’t get both. I’d rather all the entitled brats be dead.”

“That’s...” he sighed again, “If I were them, I’d ideally want both too.”

“How could life be so good?” her eyes went wide.

“I know it’s difficult, but we can try to make it work, right?”

The Resting Orchid Plane was quite a peaceful place. Although there were people who wanted to drive the Archerons out, such rebels existed everywhere. Even back in Norland, some of Richard’s vassals dreamed of overthrowing him every night. However, he knew the best way to deal with this was to keep the citizens fed. They would still curse the Archerons, but not as many would be willing to worsen their own lives for their principles.

This didn’t mean violent opposition was to be ignored. Richard had a blanket policy of treating violence with violence, a motto his followers followed so zealously that he himself had to stop them from overdoing it sometimes, but it was better to deal with things in such a way that he didn’t galvanize the entire population of the plane. Right now, that meant dealing with the one symbol of resistance they could gather around.

Stardragon was still in hiding, with no news about him at all. It was as though he had completely vanished, but this was clearly a facade. The spacetime around this shard of a plane warped whenever one got too far from the main continent, especially in the dead ocean. Richard himself wasn’t confident in being able to teleport back if he went too far.,With traps all around the portal leading to Blackrose Castle, it was clear that the warrior hadn’t gone that way either. He was showing a surprising level of patience, remaining in hiding for decades on end.

However, Richard had a deadly trap this time— himself.

Senma had occasionally sensed Stardragon watching her more than once during her stays in the Resting Orchid Plane. Perhaps it was because her equipment was stronger than his own, but Richard believed that wasn’t the case. In his opinion, Stardragon was waiting to strike right at the top. He currently had fifty rune knights dedicated to this plane because of one single threat, and he wanted to free that force for other battles.

......

A shocking announcement passed through the Resting Orchid Plane over the next few days. Richard Archeron, the plane’s ruler and master of the Archeron clan, was going to the Godnest to inspect it. He would be staying over in the imperial city for one day along the way.

Climbing onto a griffon for the first time in a while, Richard accompanied Senma on a more scenic route to the capital city of the plane. Having rebuilt the city, he had chosen an important local noble as a puppet king and continued to use the existing infrastructure of the kingdom with little change. The man had been selected mainly for his astuteness; he knew his position well, and acted so respectful that it was almost sickening. Even now, the King had worked through the night to have the central plaza decorated with a wall of flowers, moving the griffon roost for this purpose. Thousands of youths had been summoned and dressed in lavish clothes, performing a dance of welcome.

Half an hour prior to Richard’s arrival, the King had led any important nobles over to the plaza, spouses and lovers all dressed to impress. All seven of his daughters were lined up in a row behind him, even the youngest that was only ten years old. If Richard fancied even one, his throne would be secure for the rest of his life.

Just as the clock rang out, a roost of a few hundred griffons appeared on the horizon. Richard had brought a truly intimidating guard force this time; outside of Senma herself, his personal guard included a total of 200 rune knights!

It hadn’t been long enough since the conquest for the locals of the Resting Orchid Plane to forget about the absurd power of the rune knights. As they got off their mounts, the crowd that was supposed to cheer fell completely silent instead. The imposing auras from the 200 warriors caused left even veterans quivering in their boots, subconsciously making an effort to keep silent.

Despite that hiccup, Richard seemed to be happy with the respect the nobles were showing him. He even landed directly before the King, conveniently handing the leash of the griffon to him. The King immediately took the leash and bowed, following him into the palace. This was a significant scene, showing that even the most powerful man on this plane was still Richard’s servant.

The nobles parted to open up a path to the palace, forming a welcome party on both sides. Richard looked like a general inspecting his troops as he passed them, remaining completely expressionless no matter how seductive some of the women acted. He walked straight to the throne room and took his rightful seat, looking down at the King and all other nobles who stood in a group.

It was only at this point that he opened his mouth, “It looks like things are going well. But I did hear that there has been some instability recently. Has this Wallace not been caught?”

The King’s face changed slightly, sweat beading on his forehead, “Only a minor hurdle, any resistance has been crushed immediately. Wallace is... a crafty fellow, but from another perspective he has no impact either. He doesn’t dare to engage the royal army in direct combat, and I’m currently enacting a series of traps to lure him and his allies out so I can deal with them all at once.”