Law of Space and Time
Chapter 30: Idea

Thus, the subject of the conversation shifted to the City of Freedom.

"What did their declaration of freedom say again? It was something about how everyone needs to have human rights and that the land owned by the nobility has to be distributed among everyone, right?" A disdainful sneer appeared on Prince Xar's face as he spoke. "It's a revolutionary idea, but I think he's biting off far more than he can chew. Having said that, I suppose it's a good thing for young men to have dreams."

Even though Prince Xar was expressing disdain toward the declaration of freedom, he didn't dare to take the concept lightly.

"Perhaps this really is going to be an almighty revolution," Sim said in a quiet voice as he snapped out of his reverie.

"Why do you say that, Senior Sim?" Duba asked as he turned to Sim with a curious expression.

"I just felt like the atmosphere in the room was becoming too tense, so I decided to make a joke to lighten the mood," Sim replied with a smile.

Even though he was brushing off his own statement as a joke, that was far from the truth. It wasn't because he thought the declaration of freedom was exceptionally well-written or anything like that. Instead, his thoughts stemmed purely from the young man against whom he had just played a game of battle chess. If there existed someone capable of destroying the current hierarchy that had been festering for over 1,000 years, then it had to be Erwin.

Deep down, Sim was unable to shake off the unease in his heart. From the moment he first laid eyes on Erwin, he could sense that Erwin was going to be a formidable foe, and that also made him more eager to face Erwin on the battlefield someday. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NøᴠᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"You really do have an interesting sense of humor, Senior Sim," Sanfesa chuckled.

"Has Henry actively made contact with Erwin?" Prince Xar asked as he turned to Duba.

Duba shook his head in response. "I heard that Emma met Erwin briefly in the Dreambind Pavilion, but the two of them only shared a short conversation before parting ways. What's a little worrying is that His Majesty seems to hold Erwin in rather high regard, and he's been full of praise toward Erwin's poem."

"Oh? So that Erwin fellow is a great poet as well?" Prince Xar was rather taken aback to hear this. "His Majesty has always had very high standards when it comes to the arts, so he very rarely praises anyone in these fields."

"I also found that to be rather strange. Judging from the way that he talks and handles himself, he's clearly a noble himself, so why is it that he's suddenly decided to stand up for the common folk?" Sim murmured to himself.

"What a multi-talented young man," Sanfesa mused as her eyes narrowed slightly.

"What do you mean by that?" Prince Xar asked as he turned to Sanfesa.

"Prior to this, I've only heard that he's an outstanding artist, I didn't think that he was also a great poet," Sanfesa explained.

"Can someone like him really be a capable general?" Duba asked with a skeptical expression. "I find it hard to believe."

"If you want to find out the answer to that question, why don't you go to the west and take a look for yourself?" Prince Xar suggested.

"I'm going to the front lines as well?" Duba asked with a surprised expression.

"Why not? This is a perfect opportunity for you to gain some experience," Prince Xar replied. "With Sim and Buu accompanying you, your safety won't come under any threat."

Seeing as Prince Xar was sending his own son to the west to oversee the battle, it was clear to Sanfesa that Prince Xar cared a great deal about maintaining his control over the west, and that gave her further reassurance.

"You have to make sure to stay by my side at all times, Young Master Duba," Sim said with a smile. "If something happens to you, I'll be too ashamed to return to Finklan."

"Don't mollycoddle him," Prince Xar said with a serious expression. "Let him fend for himself. He's spent his entire life living in comfort and luxury here in Finklan. There are some things that he's never going to be able to understand until he's witnessed the brutality of the battlefield."

Sim nodded in response.

"You should be aware of the responsibility on your shoulders," Prince Xar said as he turned to Duba with a serious expression. "Our Xar Family will be relying on your leadership in the future."

Duba finally understood why his father was sending him to the front lines, and a myriad of emotions welled up in his heart. There was anticipation for the future, but also a sense of fear and unease that was intermingled with sorrow and grief. If his elder brother and younger sister were still alive, then he wouldn't have been forced to carry such a heavy burden on his own.

"You just said that His Majesty was very impressed by Erwin's poem, right?" Prince Xar asked as he turned to his son.

"I did. The two of them had a long chat at the top of the Dreambind Pavilion, but I haven't been able to find out exactly what they talked about with one another," Duba replied.

Prince Xar fell into deep thought upon hearing this, and the other people in the room didn't dare to say anything for fear of disrupting his train of thought.

"Does Erwin have any weakness that you know of?" Prince Xar suddenly asked. "Surely no one in this world is absolutely perfect."

"I've heard that he's extremely fond of women," Sanfesa immediately replied.

"I was about to say that as well, but Duchess Silon got there before me," Sim said with a smile. "Whenever he goes out, he's always accompanied by several beauties."

As it turned out, Sim had already realized that the two women accompanying Erwin were both women cross-dressing as men, but he didn't expose them.

"Oh? Doesn't that make him a perfect target for you?" Prince Xar asked as he turned to Sanfesa with an amused expression.

"I'm already an old woman. How could I possibly hope to catch the eye of young men like him?" Sanfesa chuckled with a dismissive wave of her hand, but at the same time, she took a subtle glance at Duba.

Duba's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he couldn't help but lower his head at the sight of Sanfesa's seductive gaze. He was a regular at all of Finklan's high-end red light districts, so he shouldn't have been so prone to seduction, but it seemed that Sanfesa possessed some type of special power, and even the slightest gesture of seduction from her was able to send his heart aflutter.

"If we know his weakness, can't we use it against him?" Prince Xar asked as he glanced at everyone in the room.

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy," Sim said with a smile. "That young lad is no ordinary man, he's not just going to fall for anyone. I'm sure Duchess Silon would be able to have him wrapped around her finger, but it would be far too unbecoming of someone of her status to stoop to such lowly tactics."

Sim had framed his words in a way that allowed him to inform Prince Xar of the difficulties behind targeting Erwin's perceived weakness, while also ensuring that Sanfesa wasn't insulted.

Sanfesa was rather amused to hear this. "You're far too kind, Senior Sim. The fact of the matter is that my best days are behind me. I'm not one of those foolish women who spend all day deluding themselves. If I were 20 years younger, I'd have the confidence to take on the task myself, but as I currently am, I can only delegate the task to someone else."

A slightly dejected look appeared on Prince Xar's face as he sighed, "If only Eve were still alive. With her looks, I'm sure she would've been up to the task."

Duba turned his face to the side upon hearing this, and a hint of disdain had surfaced in his eyes. If it weren't for his father's involvement with Even several years ago, his younger sister wouldn't have met such a terrible fate.

As for Sanfesa and Sim, both of them chose wisely not to speak.

...

Meanwhile, Aglea was having a conversation with the guest that she had been waiting for in her hotel room.

"I've finally returned to Finklan after all this time, I have to see if there are any worthy adversaries that have arisen over the past 20 years," Aglea said with a smile.

"How are you planning to lure out all of those adversaries, Senior?" the young man wearing a golden mask asked in a curious voice. "The rulers of all of the dukedoms have already arrived, but I'm not sure if they would allow the powerful warriors and magicians accompanying them to face you in battle."

As it turned out, the guest that Aglea had invited was none other than the mysterious owner of the Dreambind Pavilion.

"You've already forged a reputation as far back as 20 years ago. I don't think there will be many people willing to spar with you if it's a death match," the young man said.

"Now that I think about it, maybe I went a little too far 20 years ago," Aglea mused.

"Going too far is a severe understatement! You almost singlehandedly killed off the future of the empire!" Gower said in a cold voice.

"I was just saying that as an errant thought. Surely you don't think I actually feel guilty for my actions," Aglea scoffed as she took a cold glance at the two.

"You wouldn't be the same senior that I knew if you were capable of feeling guilt," the young man said with a wry smile.

"Speaking of that, you really should be thanking me," Aglea said as she turned her gaze toward the young man. "If I hadn't been so demented 20 years ago, those nobles would be even more arrogant than they are now. Have you thought about what would've happened if all of the people I killed 20 years ago had been spared by me?"

"Oh? What could they possibly have done? Please enlighten me," the young man said in a nonchalant voice.

"At the very least, my actions led to a severe reduction in the number of wars taking place between the dukedoms than what otherwise would've been," Aglea said. "I've indirectly saved the lives of countless soldiers and civilians."

After a brief moment of contemplation, the young man nodded in agreement. If all of the martial artists and magicians who had perished by Aglea's sword had lived to this point, conflicts between the dukedoms of the Fulway Empire would've been far more frequent.

"That is indeed true. Perhaps the rulers of the dukedoms don't care about all that bloodshed, but I do," the young man said in a serious manner.

"You see? Sometimes, killing is not always a bad thing. Instead, it can make many things far simpler," Aglea said with a smile.

"The overall outcome of your actions was positive, but your intentions were anything but kind. You weren't a good person 20 years ago, and you aren't a good person now, so I still can't bring myself to thank you," the young man said.

"There's no need for you to thank me, just do me a favor," Aglea said as she glanced at the young man. "I've thought of a way to gather all of the powerful martial artists and magicians in Finklan in one place."

"What is it?" the young man asked in a curious voice.

"You see that beauty over there?" Aglea asked as she pointed at the red-haired woman who was taking a nap next to her. Even with her eyes closed in slumber, the very sight of her was still enough to set any man's heart aflutter.

"It's not a difficult task to gather everyone for a tournament. If we set her as the prize, I'm sure there will be many people eager to come," Aglea said with a faint smile. "Those dukedom rulers will be desperate to get their hands on her, and they'll send all of their most powerful subordinates to compete in the tournament."

"You're going to use a living person as the prize?" the young man exclaimed.

"As for the justification for holding the tournament, that's something that you'll have to think of. In any case, all you have to do is make it clear to all of the entrants that the final winner of the tournament will get to take her home," Aglea said.

The young man took a glance at the red-haired woman, then asked in a low voice, "Isn't she Erwin's lover? Surely we can't just..."

"It's exactly because she's Erwin's lover that I'm..." Before Aglea had a chance to finish, she was interrupted by an infuriated Lana.

"How dare you, you vile old hag?! I can tolerate all of the insults you throw at me, but I won't allow you to shame me before the entire city!" Lana yelled as she snapped wide awake from her fake nap. "I can't beat you, but I won't let you have your way, even if I have to die to stop you!"

The young man and Gower were stunned to hear the red-haired woman referring to Aglea as an old hag. What was even more surprising to them was that Aglea didn't seem to be bothered by this at all.

She turned to Lana with a faint smile as she asked, "You're not going to pretend to sleep anymore? Why are you getting so worked up? Don't try to throw your life away at every turn. It's not like I'm actually going to hand you over to the winner of the tournament. You want to see that little lover of yours again, don't you?"

"So what if I do?" Lana asked in a cold voice as she crossed her arms and turned her face away.

"Don't you want to see exactly how much you're worth to him?" Aglea asked with an amused expression.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Lana asked as she cast her gaze toward Aglea.

"I just want to see how far Erwin is willing to go for you," Aglea replied in a calm manner. "If he's a little coward who values his own life above your relationship, then I won't allow you to return to his side."

Lana was just about to say that she didn't need Aglea to meddle in her affairs, but she refrained from doing so in the end. She also wanted to know just how important she was to Erwin.

"You just want to have a sparring match with him! Why are you fabricating all of these excuses?" Even though Lana was furious, she was still able to retain her clarity of mind and see right through Aglea's tricks.

"That's right, that's exactly what I want," Aglea admitted without any hesitation. "I just want to see how powerful a time and space magician can be when forced into a corner."

The other three people present were all aware of just how obsessive Aglea was in her pursuit of fighting the most powerful adversaries, so they really weren't surprised that she could come up with something like this.

However, both the young man and Gower exchanged a shocked glance upon hearing mention of the term "time and space magician".

So that Erwin is a time and space magician as well... the young man mused to himself.

"Haven't you always wanted to see who's the superior magician between you and Onean? There's an opportunity presented right before you now, don't you want to capitalize on it?" Aglea asked in a persuasive voice.

Lana was beginning to warm to the idea upon hearing this. Even though she had lost most of her memories, an instinctive sense of enmity still welled up in her heart upon hearing the name "Onean".

The young man was already in approval of the idea, given that it would allow him to see a showdown between Erwin and Aglea, and he was even more interested to see such a clash now that he knew that Erwin was a time and space magician. On top of that, all of the dukedom rulers were also going to be sending their most powerful subordinates to participate in the tournament, and just the mere thought of that was sending shivers of excitement down his spine.

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