Law of Space and Time

Chapter 17: Imperial Summons

Shortly after Renjay took his final breath, Stinkbag wiped away the last of her tears, then hoisted Renjay onto her shoulder before climbing down the mountain, paying no heed to the people around her.

At this point, it had begun snowing again in Fort Breeze.

The master and disciple duo had trudged through the snow to get her, and now, they were departing with snow falling all around them.

Following their departure, Erwin began to examine the wooden box that had been left behind by Renjay. Just as Renjay had said, the box contained a portable arcuballista that could be folded down in a matter of seconds, as well as several books holding all of Renjay's knowledge and expertise in martial arts.

"How did you manage to cripple that arm of his last time?" Erwin suddenly asked.

It was no wonder that Erwin was wondering about this. Given the power that Renjay had displayed here, it didn't make sense that Onean was able to cripple his arm so easily last time.

"It was a matter of mindset. Last time, I was determined to kill him, even if it meant sacrificing myself." Onean turned her face to the side as she spoke, pretending to look at the snow rather than Erwin. However, the blush that had appeared on her face was not something that could be concealed by the falling snow.

Erwin naturally spotted the blush on her face, and he was quite pleased to see that she cared so much for him, but he didn't embarrass her by calling her out. Instead, he pretended not to have noticed as he analyzed, "Last time, he would've already expended a lot of power firing that arrow at me, so his first thought would've been to try and get away from you. However, this time, he's here for the final battle of his life, so he definitely wouldn't have held back. It seems that mindset and conviction are just as important as skills in killing for an assassin. What do you think of these books he left behind? Are they of any value?"

Erwin passed the books to Onean as he spoke. Included among them were titles such as "13 Godkiller Blade Techniques", "Game of Swords and Shields", "Advanced Archery Essentials", "The Art of Concealment and Assassination", and "Divine Dawn Finger Techniques".

Onean quickly flipped through all of them, and her eyes lit up as she remarked, "I'm not an expert in martial arts by any stretch of the imagination, but even I can tell that the information in these books can be extremely useful for the right people."

Erwin nodded in response. Even though he had no use for these books, they were definitely going to be invaluable resources for Georgina, Sherry, and the others. Thus, he arranged for "13 Godkiller Blade Techniques" and "The Art of the Concealment and Assination" to be sent to Georgina in Ogtan, "Game of Swords and Shields" to be sent to Sherry and Shiba, while "Divine Dawn Finger Techniques" was reserved for Yuho. Yuho was far from a competent martial artist, but he was extremely dedicated and earnest, so Erwin had decided to keep Yuho as one of his personal guards. However, at his current level, he would only be weighing down Erwin rather than providing him with any assistance. Hence, Erwin had given him this book, which described how finger techniques could be used in hand-to-hand combat, so that he could develop some useful skills. As for "Advanced Archery Essentials", Erwin didn't really have any suitable candidate to give the book to at the moment.

...

For Erwin, this winter was quite a difficult period of time to endure. Even though Onean and Theresa had covered virtually the entirety of Fort Breeze in magic arrays so that it was nice and warm everywhere he went, his cough still wasn't getting any better. Whenever he saw the concern on the faces of Theresa and Onean as they accompanied him out of his room, he would console them by telling them that he had always been physically frail, so there was no need for them to worry. At the same time, he couldn't help but think back to the days that he had spent in Sarus, where his circle of friends had often teased and berated him for his weak physical constitution. It was also because of his lackluster physical condition that he had been unable to attend the martial arts division of Teedus Academy with Kaiba, Chase, and Larwood. He had always thought this was simply due to the fact that he had ended up with the short end of the stick when it came to the genetic lottery, but ever since he learned that his mother was also a time and space magician, he had developed the suspicion that perhaps there were other reasons for his frail physical constitution.

As an infant in the womb, surely his body would've been affected by frequently traversing through space and time. However, he had always been too afraid to think too deep about this notion due to the potential implications involved. In any case, this was definitely something that he was going to ask his mother if he could find her someday.

With the thought of his group of friends crossing his mind, Erwin couldn't help but wonder what the situation in Fooz was like. Given how ruthless Prince Lazaar was, Erwin was almost certain that there was no way he would allow Gwen to build up any significant resistance against the Atlas Empire in Fooz. Hence, Erwin presumed that Prince Lazaar would've quickly raised an army to stamp out the forces of Fooz. As he was departing from Tewadedan, he had already bid farewell to Kaiba in his heart because he knew that it was very likely that they would never meet again. As it turned out, his assumptions were correct. Christine had already received news from the Lodais Organization that both Kaiba and Gwen had met their demise on the battlefield, and that Aiden Lazaar had taken over Fooz.

After hearing this news from Christine, Erwin hadn't displayed any reaction, neither expressing any surprise nor grief. It was as if he had already anticipated all of this. Unbeknownst to everyone, he had spent the rest of the day in his room, looking out at the sky toward the south.

Everyone had their own goals and agendas, and it was often the case that even the closest of friends would have their paths diverge at some point. Erwin had never blamed any of his friends or thought badly of them, even though he could already guess why Chase and Larwood had chosen to remain in Xeto, and why Kaiba had been so determined to go the front lines with him. Of course, it was impossible to say that he didn't harbor any resentment toward them at all, but some things were better forgiven, even if not forgotten. Furthermore, he had no doubt whatsoever that if those three were to appear before him at this very moment, they would still go out for drinks and happily banter with one another while talking about women. Perhaps this was why people often reminisced fondly about their childhoods. Oftentimes, growing up also entailed growing apart.

Theresa was standing in the doorway of the room, and a hint of sorrow welled up in her heart as she looked at Erwin. She made her way over to the window, then draped the black woolen cape in her hands over his shoulders. She had already been standing there for quite some time, but she didn't want to disturb Erwin as she could tell that he was reminiscing about the past.

"What's going on with you?" Erwin asked as he turned around, and he was rather surprised to see the film of tears over her eyes. He had always been respectful toward her privacy and had never dug into her past against her will, even though she was already his slave.

Theresa shook her head with a smile. "When are you going to stop looking so sad and troubled?"

"It's just an act for me to attract sympathy and attention from women. Is it not working for you?" Erwin asked with a sly grin as he wound his arms around Theresa's waist.

"Can you be serious for just one second?" Theresa rolled her eyes in exasperation as she slapped Erwin on the back of his hand. "We've just received a report that the emperor has released an imperial summons for all of the leaders of the Fulway Empire's dukedoms to travel to Finklan and attend the imperial conference. Assuming nothing goes wrong, an imperial envoy should be arriving at Newfando in the next few days."

"What does that have to do with me? The ultimate objective of our Universal Church Freedom Army is to eradicate the rule of the nobility. Are you telling me that the City of Freedom falls under the flag of the Fulway Empire?" Erwin asked with a perplexed expression.

"If you ask me, the emperor is most likely only aware that there's been a change in the ruler of the Boll Dukedom, but he may not be aware that your objective is to overthrow the nobility."

"So you're saying that we haven't earned ourselves enough of a reputation yet?"

Theresa nodded in response. "You've only managed to conquer the Boll Dukedom. In the context of the entire Fulway Empire, the City of Freedom still doesn't have that much influence yet."

"Fine," Erwin said in a reluctant manner, begrudgingly accepting this reality. "So what exactly is this imperial summons all about?"

Theresa's brows furrowed slightly as she replied, "If I recall correctly, there hasn't been an imperial summons released for over 10 years now. Perhaps the emperor has decided to release an imperial summons as there have been many rebellions popping up all over the empire, and he wants to see how much authority he has left over his territory."

She then turned to Erwin to discover a perplexed look on his face, so she explained, "The imperials summons is a means through which the emperor gathers all of the dukedoms' leaders, and anyone who doesn't heed the imperial summons will immediately be branded a traitor to the empire. Once that happens, the emperor will be able to order all of the dukedom leaders present during the imperial conference to unite as one to wipe out those traitors."josei

Erwin finally understood the situation after hearing this explanation. Essentially, this imperial summons was a device of mutual acknowledgment between the emperor and all of the dukedoms' leaders. By heeding the imperial summons, the rulers of the dukedom acknowledge the emperor's authority, while those who heed the summons will be acknowledged as loyal subjects by the emperor. Splitting the territory of the empire's traitors among these loyal subordinates was an exchange of benefits between the emperor and his subjects.

"Why would I want to attend the imperial conference? I'm a traitor to the empire anyway," Erwin asked with an amused expression.

"But if you don't go, Sanfesa is most likely going to convince all of the rulers who attend to attack you, and you'll also be officially seen as a traitor to the empire by the emperor."

"Are you telling me that Sanfesa will spare me if I go?" Erwin asked.

"Have you forgotten that Sanfesa belongs to Prince Xar's branch? If she tries to convince everyone to attack you during the imperial conference, Prince Xar's political rivals will stand up for you."

"So it sounds like I have no choice but to go," Erwin said with a resigned expression.

"The battle against the Delair Dukedom is already going to be an extremely arduous one. If other dukedoms join her camp as well, our chances of winning will be even further dampened. Besides, we share a border with the ruler's territory in the northeast. If the emperor himself decides to raise an army against you, there's next to no chance we'll be able to hold our own," Theresa analyzed.

"It sounds like I really do have no choice but to make a trip to Finklan," Erwin sighed.

"Not only do you have to go there, you have to go and make a statement so all of the nobles of the other dukedoms can see what our City of Freedom is all about."

"Our City of Freedom? You sure are adjusting to your new role quickly," Erwin jibed. Not long ago, Theresa had been the true ruler of the Boll Dukedom, yet now, she was his slave and secretary. Whenever this thought crossed Erwin's mind, he would immediately be filled with a sense of elation from conquest.

"There you go again!" Theresa complained as she gave the back of Erwin's hand a vicious pinch. She knew that Erwin always like to mock people with these barbed statements, but even though she had become his slave, she wasn't just going to let him walk all over her.