Luoxia Town was a small mountain hamlet nestled deep within the borders of the Kingdom of Orlt—or rather, according to official documents now, it was designated Sith Empire Occupation Zone No. 351. Of course, for the townsfolk who had lived in this valley for generations, the name change meant little. Their only connection to the Kingdom of Orlt had been paying an annual tax to the large city beyond the mountains, and occasionally seeing armored soldiers—looking imposing and grand—patrolling through their town. To the simple, honest residents of the hamlet, however, these soldiers had served no real purpose. There were no ferocious beasts in the valley, let alone bandits or thieves. They had lived here for generations without ever encountering the slightest trouble.
But in recent days, the townsfolk had noticed a change: the patrolling soldiers had been replaced by a group of strangers they had never seen before. What's more, a man wearing odd clothing had entered the house of the respected old mayor and stayed there for hours, discussing matters with him. Afterward, the old mayor had gathered all the townsfolk, his face etched with confusion and helplessness, and told them that they were now subjects of the Sith Empire.
This sudden shift left the isolated townsfolk stunned, but they soon accepted the change with calm resignation. After all, these newcomers did not bully them like the soldiers of old, threatening to conscript their children into the army or demanding extra grain and property as tribute. In fact, they had even reduced some of the existing demands. Thus, the townsfolk had little reason to complain. Truth be told, even the Kingdom of Orlt had always felt like a distant, abstract concept to them. What they cherished most was this valley, this small town—not some far-off kingdom. Though they had once been its citizens, that title had never held much practical meaning for them.
Even so, many of them had a vague premonition that the peaceful life they had known in the town was about to come to an end.
Now, that premonition seemed to be coming true.
For just as the sun had risen that morning, the townsfolk had watched three strangers walk into their home.
They did not look like the occasional travelers who passed through the area. Instead, they resembled the young noble lords from the city who often came out to hunt wild deer in the woods. The townsfolk still remembered clearly that, long ago, nobles from the city had loved to come here in groups for hunting trips. The villagers had sometimes been able to earn a little money from these excursions—but ever since the territory had changed hands, such things had stopped entirely. What's more, though these three were dressed like nobles, they had no attendants following them, making them seem rather down-and-out.
Odd as they were, however, the kind-hearted townsfolk still welcomed them warmly.
"Greetings, travelers from afar."
The old mayor, his white eyebrows furrowed, offered the young man before him a friendly smile.
"Welcome to our town. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Good day to you, Mr. Mayor."
Facing the elderly man, Blake bowed gracefully.
"As you can see, we are… people from a distant land. To be honest, we were originally merchants from Faris, come to your country to do business. But as you must know, fierce fighting has broken out beyond the mountains these past few months. My two…" Blake glanced down at the two girls standing beside him, who were hanging their heads and clutching the hem of his cloak nervously. He let out a helpless sigh and gently stroked their hair. "We were caught in the crossfire. In that brutal war, our subordinates and loved ones were all killed. We barely managed to escape with our lives. Now, we are homeless wanderers with nowhere to go."
"That is truly a tragic tale."
The old mayor looked at the young man's pained expression, then at the two girls hiding behind him, their faces obscured by their cloaks, faint sobs escaping them. He felt a surge of sympathy. Though they had never experienced war firsthand, seeing a young man reduced to wandering the land with two girls in tow stirred a deep sense of melancholy in the elderly man's heart.
"So, what is it that you wish to do?"
"It is like this, Mr. Mayor."
Blake raised his head and extended his right hand.
"To tell you the truth, we have grown weary of this life on the run. Especially these two girls—surely you can see how young and fragile they are. They simply cannot endure the hardships of traveling long distances. Though I would dearly love to take them back to our homeland, that is now an impossible task for us. Therefore, I have a bold request to make of you: I hope you will allow us to take up residence in this town for a while, just to rest and recuperate. We need a roof over our heads, and we humbly beg for your kindness in granting this request."
"But…"
The old man frowned at Blake's words. While he felt genuine pity for the young man, he still had some doubts.
"Why not seek shelter in the city beyond the mountains? Ours is but a small town, with no inns to speak of. If you are looking for a place to stay, an inn would be far more suitable."
"I will not hide the truth from you, Mr. Mayor."
Blake let out a bitter smile at the old mayor's question.
"To be frank, we have very little money left. The whole country is in chaos right now—we could never afford to stay in an inn in the big city. I will not lie to you: we did consider that option once. But when the innkeepers saw how little wealth we carried, they became greedy. They even tried to kidnap these two innocent children and sell them into slavery! We were fortunate enough to escape in time, but we lost most of our remaining money in the process. We have no desire to set foot in a city ever again."
"By the grace of the Saints!"
The old mayor let out a long sigh. Though he had never left his small town in all his years, his advanced age had taught him much about the ways of the world. He looked at the two girls hiding behind Blake with compassion and shook his head. He knew exactly what those vile men had planned for the girls—he had heard countless tales of such cruelty in the taverns of the city when he was a young man.
Thus, when the old mayor looked at Blake again, his gaze was filled with even more kindness.
"You have truly been through so much."
"We are tired," Blake said, shaking his head and sighing. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out several dozen gold coins.
"We do not wish to live here for free, Mr. Mayor. We merely hope you will rent us a small house, so that we may live in peace for a while."
Blake paused, studying the old mayor's expression, then added with a smile:
"Please rest assured—we are not rebels or traitors. We are nothing more than humble merchants. I promise we will not bring you any trouble whatsoever."
"Very well!"
The old mayor finally nodded. He took the few gold coins Blake offered him, thought for a moment, then spoke:
"I will allow you to stay here. But I must warn you: these are uncertain times. As I mentioned earlier, we have received official notice that we are now part of the Sith Empire. And the imperial officials have instructed us that we must report the arrival of any strangers in our town to them. Therefore…"
"I understand. Please do not worry—we will not cause any trouble."
Seeing that Blake's expression remained calm and sincere, the old mayor set aside his concerns. After all, there were indeed a few empty houses in the town that could be cleaned up for these strangers to live in. So, while he arranged a place for Blake and the girls to stay, he sent a messenger to the nearby garrison camp to report their arrival to the newly appointed patrol captain.
"It seems Wester will have a hard time winning this war."
Once they had entered the house and closed the door behind them, seeing the old mayor off, Blake's expression immediately turned grave. The two girls also removed their cloaks, looking at Blake with serious expressions.
"It is clear that the Sith intend to conquer and assimilate the lands they have occupied through gradual, piecemeal means. They are using the most straightforward methods to eliminate hostility and resistance among the inhabitants of the occupied territories in the shortest possible time—a task that should be extremely difficult. Yet judging by what we have seen, they are doing an excellent job of it."
"But this approach is far too time-consuming, brother," Messiah frowned.
"The average human lifespan is barely a few decades. I have heard that the Sith Emperor is already over forty years old, and even the longest-lived humans rarely live past a hundred. It has already taken them so long just to conquer Orlt. As the Sith Empire continues to expand, the time required for each subsequent conquest will only increase. It is true that their pacification policies are highly effective for now, but they have an inherent weakness: their army cannot possibly avoid expanding indefinitely."
"It is most likely because of those four Natural Knights, Father," Semira, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, contradicting her sister.
"I suspect those four Natural Knights are like Sister and me. If that is the case, they have no need to replenish their troops."
"I think so too," Blake nodded in agreement with the sisters' words. Ever since crossing the Red Citadel and entering Orlt's territory, he had been carefully observing the occupied lands, and he had noticed the same inconsistencies. The people were not rebelling—and that meant they were not being oppressed. If they were not being oppressed, it meant the occupiers were not exploiting them for resources. And if they were not in a hurry to extract resources…
It seemed the Sith Empire was playing a very long game indeed.
The sisters' doubts were not unfounded. After all, human lifespans were finite. Even the greatest mages and Natural Knights rarely lived beyond a century—their immense power had not granted them immortality. Sith emperors were no exception. It was clear from their aggressive, expansionist policies that the Sith intended to conquer and unite the entire continent. But how long could such a campaign possibly last? In the past, the Sith had been a small, sparsely populated nation, so it made sense for them to expand outward to survive and acquire more resources—especially after gaining four Natural Knights.
But time was not on their side.
If the Sith Empire continued to expand at its current pace, it would undoubtedly become one of the most powerful nations on the continent by the time the emperor died.
But unifying the entire continent? That was nothing short of a pipe dream.
This was why, throughout history, every nation that had attempted to unite the continent had resorted to rapid conquest and ruthless exploitation of resources to fuel further expansion. Every ruler had hoped to see their nation become the dominant power on the continent during their lifetime. Once they were gone, however, would their successors truly inherit their ambitions? The likelihood was extremely low. After all, humans were inherently fond of comfort and ease. To most people, conquering and ruling the entire continent was an unattainable fantasy. Being able to control a third or even half of the continent and become a regional hegemon was more than enough to satisfy them. Thus, even the most bellicose of empires would inevitably slow down their expansion—or halt it entirely—after conquering vast territories and undergoing a change in leadership.
After all, unifying the continent was a nearly impossible task.
And yet, the Sith Empire was now pursuing this impossible goal at a deliberate, unhurried pace.
"How intriguing," Blake finally commented. He quickly waved a hand, however, clearly dismissing the Sith Empire's schemes from his mind.
"Actually, the Sith's approach works to our advantage."
"Of course it does, brother."
"Of course it does, Father."
If anyone else had heard Blake's cryptic, seemingly illogical words, they would have been confused. But the sisters understood him perfectly. They exchanged a glance, then smiled knowingly.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Blake gestured for the sisters to be on their guard, then took a deep breath and walked over to open it. Standing outside were five soldiers clad in Sith Empire armor, eyeing him with vigilant, stern expressions.
"Are you the strangers who wish to take up residence in this town?"
"Yes," Blake bowed his head and replied softly, meeting the soldiers' gaze.
"Please rest assured, sirs. I only wish to stay here with my relatives for a while. We will not cause any trouble…"
"We have no interest in your excuses."
Blake had been about to say more, but the lead soldier cut him off with an impatient wave of his hand.
"Our captain wishes to see you. Come with us at once!"
"Your captain?"
Blake's expression flickered with feigned unease as he glanced back into the house.
"But I have…."
"The girls are coming too! This is a military order!" the soldier snapped, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword and glaring at Blake with obvious displeasure.
"Now! Immediately!"
"I understand," Blake sighed helplessly, shrugging his shoulders at the soldiers.
"I will comply with your orders."
Soon, Blake and the two girls were escorted out of the town by the Sith soldiers and taken to the patrol garrison camp on the outskirts. The camp was bustling with soldiers training and patrolling. When they saw Blake and the girls being led through the camp by the guards, curious looks crossed their faces. After all, the three of them were dressed like ordinary civilians—or rather, they had never looked like soldiers or warriors of any kind. Being brought to a military camp under guard, they must have committed some kind of offense.
As the soldiers stared at Blake, he studied them in return.
They were not young men. Their movements revealed that they were well-trained veterans—but they lacked the fierce, battle-hardened aura of soldiers who had seen combat. Clearly, they were nothing more than reserve troops, not frontline warriors.
Where exactly were the Sith Empire's main battle legions?
Blake frowned. He had crossed the Red Citadel and entered Orlt's territory, but so far, he had seen no sign of the empire's elite combat forces. According to his intelligence, the main armies of Wind Messenger Karan and Puppeteer Sidvi were supposed to be blockading the Orlt capital. Yet here he was, drawing closer to the capital by the day, and he had not encountered a single main battle legion soldier at any checkpoint or outpost—only reserve troops and aging veterans.
Where on earth had they all gone?
It would not have been difficult for Blake to track them down. With his abilities, all he would have to do was eliminate a few patrol squads in Orlt's territory, and the hidden main battle legions would be forced to reveal themselves. But he could not afford to do that now. After all, Blake had come to Orlt this time to "retrieve someone," not simply to stir up trouble. If he really did manage to draw the main battle legions out into the open, getting that person safely back to the Kingdom of Wester would become an extremely difficult task.
"Hm?"
As Blake was being led through the camp by the soldiers, he casually glanced up at the flagpole standing in the center of the compound—and immediately came to a halt.
Two flags were flying high above the pole. One was the standard of the Sith Empire. The other flag, however, was highly unusual: it had a deep black background, edged with a bright red border that looked like dried blood. In the center of the flag stood a golden scepter, flanked by two coiled vipers with their heads raised, their mouths open in a menacing snarl that exuded an aura of cold, sinister malice.
What surprised Blake even more was that this flag was not rectangular like most military standards—it was a triangular pennant!
"Be on your guard," Blake murmured under his breath, tensing his body. The two girls also adopted calm, alert expressions, their hands tightening around their parasols as they followed closely behind him. Then, under the soldiers' escort, they arrived at a wooden cabin in the center of the camp. The soldiers opened the door and gestured for them to enter.
Facing the soldiers, Blake took a deep breath, then raised his head and stepped inside the cabin.
As soon as he entered, Blake quickly scanned his surroundings. He immediately spotted a man dressed in an ornate military uniform sitting behind a desk, staring at him intently. This was clearly the camp's commander—but contrary to Blake's expectations, the man's face was etched with faint traces of anxiety, an expression that seemed ill-suited to his rank and station. But Blake soon noticed another figure in the room that commanded his full attention.
It was a strange young girl, completely wrapped in a tight-fitting black leather straitjacket, her hands bound tightly behind her back. A wide, black leather blindfold covered her eyes, and thick leather straps wrapped around her torso, extending backward to be fastened securely to four long swords positioned behind her.
The moment Blake stepped into the cabin, the girl turned her head in his direction. Though her eyes were completely obscured by the blindfold, Blake could still feel an aura of cold, venomous menace coiling around him like a pair of invisible snakes.
"So, you are the ones?" the girl asked.