Unedited chapter. It will be edited soon.

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On the other hand, those grimoires seemed to be quite good. Being treasures of the academy that only three people a year had the opportunity to study, Louis was very eager to see them. They would surely be amazing.

He would be very disappointed if they were worse than the ones he bought... although that was unlikely. There were grimoires much more expensive than the ones he had acquired, and he hoped these would be one of them.

The ceremony for the presentation of badges, medals, and other nonsense did not last long, but during that time, Miroc devoted himself to talking nonsense.

More than once, Louis begged him to finally shut up, because he was only talking nonsense. All he did was try to sweet-talk these students with sweet and even manipulative words.

After finishing...

The Emperor finally stood up next to the men beside him.

He flew out of his VIP lounge, followed by powerful people.

He smiled magnanimously at the young people. "I am pleased to see that you, the talented youth of my empire, are so dedicated to improving and winning, to bringing glory to these beautiful lands."

"I came here initially to enjoy a good fight, and I have enjoyed it. Martial artists, swordsmen, magicians, and I have even been able to enjoy the glorious fighting style of two armamentists, and I must say I am surprised."

"Now I must say that it should come as no surprise to anyone that the southern region is so powerful, with so many talented young people. The future is in your hands once again." He smiled.

His smile was charismatic, his words full of praise for this new generation, and his tone of voice, though harsh, accurate, and strong, sounded soft. It was like a waterfall. Powerful, yet beautiful.

Chaotic, yet calm at the same time.

"That is why, this afternoon, with the glorious Red Sun behind us and all the witnesses present, I not only want to congratulate you and express my admiration. I have also come to present you with an award that was not in my plans, but which arose the moment I saw you fight with such splendor."

The Emperor, followed by Lady Loren and the members of the Northern Castles, took four steps forward on the sand to approach the group of 18 students.

Many of them bowed before him, giving him the respect he deserved for his status. A few simply gave them a cordial greeting, out of respect, and quickly returned to their places.

He took a moment to look at them, without speaking. "You may stand up, you don't need to pay such homage to a sudden visit," declared the Emperor, causing those who were kneeling to stand up.

Finally, he spoke again. "Aren't you intrigued to know the reward?" asked the Emperor, smiling slightly.

Although many of them were intrigued and wanted to speak, in this type of ceremony only the first three could do so.

Louis was the first to step forward.

"Go ahead, Emperor. A ruler should not make his subjects feel intrigued by his movements, for then they will not be able to keep up with him," he suddenly declared.

His words... seemed to respect him, but at the same time, weren't they a clear criticism of the Emperor?

Those words seemed more like satire than a show of respect.

Even the emperor was stunned to hear this, although a sudden laugh, which was quickly stifled, was heard from the stands somewhere unknown.

The emperor had no choice but to smile. "Louis, right?" he asked.

He nodded. "Forgive me for being blunt, but I have been taught that wearing masks only serves to deceive people. And that is something I do not like to do," he replied.

"Ha-ha-ha, well. A blunt man is one who will achieve great things," replied the emperor, almost clearing his throat at first, but he had to cover it up with a laugh.

The emperor's subordinates were roaring with rage inside, wanting to put this child in his place for his disrespect, but there were too many powerful people present. This was not the time for them to act.

"Very well." The emperor decided to move on to the main topic. "Our nobles and the navy are currently at their peak, they have flourished beyond measure, but all this power has been concentrated in my castle alone, I don't think that's fair to the other castles."

He looked at the leaders of the castles beside him and also at those above, as if he wanted to do this for them.

At this point, Robert Priestley frowned, but it was not yet his time to come down.

"That is why I have prepared 18 lands with 18 different armies, all donated by me, for each of you. They will be fruitful lands and powerful armies that will belong to you. How about it? Everything will be to strengthen our empire, to make the lands more fruitful, and for you, the great talents of my empire, to grow by leaps and bounds," he declared.

His words, from beginning to end, were shocking even to the distant castles and great nobles.

Granting lands and armies to young people in their early 20s?

This was too tempting for the students, only a few frowned. There was something strange.

Louis and Mark had already noticed it, Laura too. The same with that lazy boy.

The idea of diversifying their forces was a lie, just pretty words to attract young people. What could be better than promising them lots of land and power?

What they wanted was for them to take the bait, which was very easy to do. Once they did, they would have the 18 most outstanding students, practically the student leaders, in their pockets.

They would have power, that's true, because they didn't believe the emperor would break his word. But that power would be heavily influenced by the emperor's ideals. Furthermore, in this way, no matter what the local castles did to defend themselves, it could be seen as the locals not wanting the young people to progress.

It would be a clear attack against their own little toe.

It was something... scandalous that this emperor had just said.

"You may all speak now, the ceremonies are over. So you don't need a representative to do so," said the emperor once more, allowing them to speak.

This time, those who had remained silent and had a certain voice spoke up...

"Great Emperor..."

Just as the first one tried to speak, a noise came from above them, from one of the VIP rooms, interrupting him.

Robert Priestley, Miss Evergreen, Robert Neville, and Hardrial were the first to stand up.

And the first to speak was Hardrial.

"Mr. Emperor, do you want to break the rules of the academy?" Hardrial asked.

"Sir Hardrial, it's been a long time," the Emperor greeted him. "What do you mean?"

Hardrial smiled. "Emperor, it is no secret that the Royal Academy is an independent institution that is not governed by the ideals of any of the castles, although it listens to and respects them. Attempting to grant territories and power to the highest-ranking students is a clear violation of the Learning Convention, signed more than 3,500 years ago. Do you intend to break it, Mr. Emperor?"

The Emperor frowned and sighed. "Sir Hardrial, some rules are useless, despite their existence. If we halt the progress of learning and improvement of 18 such outstanding individuals, we will regret it sooner or later, when neighboring empires decide to grant them what these foolish rules prevent us from granting our own. You are a good teacher; you know very well that if we limit students' resources, we will be limiting their growth."

Hardrial shrugged. "There's a much easier way to support them, without burdening them with the stress of leading a territory and an army, right?" He said and looked at Priestley. "Sir Robert, I think you know more about this than I do."

Robert Priestley smiled.

"Sell me those lands, Lord Emperor. I have recently been investing in land and can do so on behalf of these young people. In return, I will give you 100% more than the market value of what you are selling me. We will then invest all those resources in these 18 students, providing them with real resources that will improve their learning. With this, not only will you give them a great gift, but you will allow me to give you another great gift of equal value."

It was a magnificent solution that only he could offer, thanks to his great wealth.

Now, this made the emperor frown.

Director Miroc approached at that moment.

"The intervention of two castles in the academy is something I cannot allow," he said suddenly. "Our academy has clear rules, as Professor Hardrial has said. We must uphold them in order to set an example for our students."

Robert scoffed, though he said nothing.

"Sigh." The emperor sighed visibly, as did many of the students who suddenly felt their hopes dashed.

They were excited, but none of them dared to say anything.

Still, what the hell was that senseless intervention by the Priestleys and that second-rate professor?

Why the hell were they meddling where no one had called them, interfering with the future wealth they were already beginning to see coming their way?

They were furious, but no one said anything.

And the emperor... smiled after sighing.

"That being the case... then we can take another route," he said suddenly, not allowing anyone else to speak. "All of the top 10 students from all branches of the different academies will participate, right now, in the Battle of the Hierarchies. Those who obtain the top 15 positions will be rewarded with these lands and various other rewards. I already have the approval of the other academies, and I believe I have this one's approval as well," he declared.