Chapter 570: Pain
Chapter 570: Pain
As news traveled around the world, some places got them a little too late. So, Ning had to go around the world and stop them himself.
It was only 2 days later that any semblance of normalcy had returned to this world. However, that was only on the surface level.
On the inside, there were still many problems. On one hand, the kingdoms were angry at the tower for what they did. On the other hand, the tower members weren't satisfied with how they were made to do the dirty work and then asked to stop doing it after they had offended everyone.
Seeing that he was the Lord of the tower now, he would have to go and fix everything.
"Urgh! Goddammit," he thought and opened a portal before disappearing.
The first place he went to was the place that he knew would be open to speaking with him.
The Xandria Empire's Capital. The Royal Palace.
Ning stood in front of the Emperor with Lisa, Reever, and Gilian standing by the Emperor's side.
"Why did this happen, Ning?" Kain asked from the side. Although he hadn't suffered as much as he could have, his people had still fallen into oppression for an entire day.
Not to mention, they started losing hope in the empire's ability to do anything.
It wasn't just in Xandria but all over the world. Both government and emperors alike had lost all hope from the citizens who looked forward to protecting them.
Not to mention the tower itself, which was the one thing that was supposed to protect them.
The information about the tower and nobles making a deal to not let the common people learn about the absorption technique had also come out fully.
At one time, Ning would have rejoiced at this fact. But now that he was responsible for taking care of this mess, he couldn't help but be sad.
'Sigh, if it was only the tower that got caught up in it, that would be nice. But when the nobles and royal families that ruled the country were being made to look like the bad guy, can I even do something?' he thought.
He could.
He knew that himself too, but he was a little reluctant.
Ning looked back at the emperor in front of him and explained what the old man wanted to do.
The Emperor thought for a long time and said. "I can see where he's coming from. In a government where a single person holds power, surely there would be no crime."
"But having no crime doesn't mean the same as having peace. In fact, the terror the common people would face would be too high compared to a normal living situation," the emperor said.
"I know," Ning replied as he sighed.
"What can we do now then? To calm the citizens?" Kain asked. "Also, we need to deal with the tower. Since the tower can be a threat at any time now, letting it stay in the country will be a little bit of a problem."
Ning thought for a moment and asked, "What do you want to do with it?"
"I…" the emperor thought for a moment and looked to the side. "Do you guys have any idea?"
"I don't think the tower itself should exist, father," Gilian said.
"But there should be an existence like the tower, right? One that people could rely on. I don't know how it would be possible though," Reever said.
"I agree. We need something like that," Lisa said as she turned toward Ning. "What do you think? Do you have any idea yourself"
"I… did think of something before I came here," Ning said.
"Oh, let's hear it then," Kain said.
"From what I can see, you don't like the concept of the Tower remaining in the empire any longer. So, I will disband the Xandria branch of the tower," Ning said. "Henceforth, there will be no tower in this country."
"Oh," Kain was surprised by the straightforwardness of the situation.
"You want to disband the tower here? What about the people? I believe most of them are our citizens," the Emperor said.
"I leave that choice to you, your highness. If you want to raise a bunch of Aether fighters of your own, you can give them some job."
"If not, I freely welcome anyone who you don't want."
"Also, as compensation for what has happened, I will give you a bunch of teaching materials on Aether itself as well as how to use it."
"Combined with the various other things, you should be able to teach your own aether artists in the future and won't have to rely on any organization like the tower," Ning said.
"I see," the Emperor said. "That's not a bad idea. But we are already suffering from quite the problem, you know."
"The citizens already hate most of us because of the deal. Do you have any idea for that?" Kain expectantly asked.
"I…" Ning froze. He really didn't want to do this as it would set him back nearly 12 thousand days, or close to 80 some years of this planet.
However, he saw no other choice at all.
So, with a sigh, Ning took the loss and gave the order.
"Do it!"
<confirmed>
Ning sighed once again and looked back at the emperor. "I hope all your troubles have been met too," Ning said.
"Uh, no, I…" the emperor tried to say something, but he couldn't remember what.
"Hmm… is there anything else?" he looked to his children for confirmation.
"I don't believe there is anything major left to deal with," Gilian said. "Also, brother Ning likely has places to go throughout today. Let's not keep him here for long."
"Thank you, your highness," Ning said to them. "Then I'll see you guys later."
With that, Ning left the palace and went to the other empires to have similar talks.
However, it did become a little easier, since not a single person could henceforth ever remember or find information about the deal the nobles made with the tower.
Never.