Chapter 26 The Substitute
Chapter 26: The Substitute
At the Imperial Temple, Troye was kneeling before the Seraph statue, head bowed and silent.
“Enough. I hope you won’t do these presumptuous things like he did,” Claude said, helping him up with heartfelt words.
“I will not fail my mission.”
Troye wore heavy armor with shocking scars that showed he too had been through many battles. Unfortunately, even such finely crafted alloy armor couldn’t completely block all damage.
The sword scar on his right cheek extended down to his neck, suggesting the blow had nearly taken his life.
Looking beyond the deep palace gardens, the prosperous industrial city was nothing like the tranquility of Rose Cathedral. Here, it was always bustling with people.
The streets were crowded with vehicles and horses, with cart drivers urging their steeds forward and vendors soliciting customers everywhere. Around the canal, porters on the dock were busy carrying heavy wooden crates, sweat mixing with the hot air.
Lan wore a veil, making her way through the dense crowd. The holy emblem pinned to her chest kept the ruffians who coveted her beauty at bay.
Since Baili had been declared dead in battle, everything related to him had been hastily covered up. Lan wanted to uncover the reasons behind it, only to realize how powerless she was.
“Let’s wait a while. Baili must have left some things behind, but they’ve all been sealed off,” Soren had told her before. “Someone wants to see you in a few days. He says he has some useful information to tell you.”
…
“Miss Lan, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.” When she reached a small alley, the man she had arranged to meet was already there. He wore a black cloak, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
The man removed his black cloak, revealing an aged face.
“Ah, it’s you…”
“Using my own creation against me, little one, are you sure?” The signature star-patterned short dagger blocked Shiyu. Lan immediately realized who he was—the mysterious bladesmith wanted by the Empire.
“I reached out to you through Soren’s connections. Baili must be a very important person to you, right?”
Lan nodded and released her grip on Shiyu.
The bladesmith slowly recounted everything he knew.
“Both the named blade Shiyu in your hand and Baili’s Frost Moon were forged by me. When reforging Frost Moon, Claude brought iron essence and high-purity ice crystals, saying they were specially prepared.”
Indeed, at that time, Claude was only a prince. As for how he rose to power, Lan knew very well.
A fratricidal usurper, but unfortunately, no one discovered his ambition beforehand.
“I was worried about finding ice crystals, and he delivered them. Baili’s Templar Knight investiture ceremony was imminent, and I didn’t have time to check for anything suspicious.”
The bladesmith continued, “Don’t you think he changed a lot after the investiture?”
Lan remembered that indeed, this was the case. Baili killed without burden, as casually as eating or drinking.
Every time after a battle, when she took Baili’s scarf, the thick bloodstains always took a long time to wash away. He also gradually became taciturn.
“Claude wanted to use him. You know, Baili was raised by him from childhood,” the bladesmith cleared his throat. “This was his long-standing scheme.”
This piqued Lan’s curiosity. What kind of scheme required such long planning?
“According to my understanding, Claude was secretly implementing the ‘Fallen Angel’ plan.”
Imperial Templar Knights would receive the Seraph’s legacy, but this power was limited. The Seraph was the guardian deity of the Empire, but Claude was not satisfied with just this inheritance.
Only by completely controlling this world-destroying power could Claude’s ambition be satisfied. To fully steal the Seraph’s power, he decided to artificially cultivate a vessel to seal it.
And this vessel, Claude initially chose Baili. The cultivation from childhood was meant to erase his emotions, but he kept going off track.
The “Fallen Angel” plan was also Claude’s means to consolidate his power completely. Now, most of the Empire’s wealth was controlled by the nobility. Even Claude himself was constrained on all sides. To break this situation, he needed to forge a blade that would obey without question.
Vivian could tell at a glance that his “Frost Moon” indeed had fragments of a fallen angel’s soul attached to it, which would be used to suppress the Seraph.
If the vessel itself grew strong enough, combined with Claude’s secret techniques, it could seal the Seraph for his own use. Correspondingly, the vessel’s self-awareness would perish along with the Seraph.
At that point, a terrifying yet absolutely obedient empty shell would be born. As for methods to control him, Claude, as the mastermind, had many.
The bladesmith’s account ended there. He tidied his messy hair. After Baili was framed, Claude had no choice but to find a replacement.
And as one of the few people who knew the truth, he was naturally also a target for Claude to silence.
After hearing all this, Lan was completely stunned. She never imagined that the most important person in her heart was just a discarded pawn.
“…”
The bladesmith put his cloak back on. “I’ve told you everything I needed to. I have to run now too.” Claude’s spies were everywhere, and coming to tell her this now was also a risk.
“Thank you for telling me all this, but why did you choose to do this?”
The bladesmith didn’t respond, disappearing around the corner.
Lan reached out to stop him but grabbed only a shadow. She couldn’t track his movements—clearly, he was a powerful individual.
Leaving the alleyway, the streets were still as prosperous as ever, but the darkness hidden beneath had always been unknown to most.
She had seen the account books in Soren’s possession. Taxes and levies were increasing. Chris controlled the canal taxes, and the more frequent the trade, the more money he collected.
As for why everyone used the canals, it was partly because they were convenient, and partly because bandits that he encouraged surrounded the other routes. If you didn’t want to be robbed and killed, you could only take the routes he specified.
As for how much he charged, it was entirely up to his mood.
Lan stood by the canal. The sunlight was dazzling, but she couldn’t feel happy in such fine weather.
…
Only at the monastery, with innocent children, could she feel relaxed.
“Abbot Nashville, I’ve returned,” Lan greeted politely.
“Sister Lan, look, my paper airplane can fly so far!”
She turned to look. The paper airplane soared with the wind, flying out the window, gradually disappearing on the horizon.
“Who taught you to fold it? It looks really great.”
“It was that masked brother who used to come. Despite his always stern face, he was so good to us. He even secretly brought us candy.”
…