Muyaun says "No, at least not yet. He currently only controls the capital and a small area around it. No one believes that he has the ability to reunify the empire."

  "Then who are the contenders for the throne?"

  Muyaun says "Currently, it is the emperor's daughter and the western duke that are the main contenders. The emperor's daughter took a big hit when she lost the support of the church, but now the eastern duke is supporting her, so she still has a chance."

  "Let me guess, the eastern duke has a son close to the emperor's daughter in age?"

  Muyaun says "Yes, you are correct."

  "So, the western duke wants the throne for himself while the eastern duke wants it for his son. The northern duke is going to sit back and wait to see who wins and then either join them, or wipe them out and take over."

  Muyaun says "I believe that is an accurate assessment of the situation."

  "Wasn't the western duke the one I killed? So this must be his replacement, the one who was supporting Pine?"

  Muyaun says "That is correct!"

  "Then he is our enemy and we absolutely cannot allow him to gain the throne. On the other hand, if the two of them fight it out, they will both be weakened and easier to conquer."

  Muyaun says "Is it your goal to conquer the empire?"

  "It is looking more and more like it is going to be. Not right away of course, but eventually I think it will be necessary. They have been involved with the demons for a while now, I just can't trust them any more. I certainly don't want them at my back when I am facing the demons."

  Muyaun says "Should I have my people start removing people who could be troublesome?"

  "There is no need right now. Stay focused on getting rid of the church."

  Muyaun says "Most of them have already been dealt with. The only ones that remain are the ones who are in hiding and they will be dealt with just as soon as they poke their heads out of their holes."

  "That's good! Did your people encounter any demons?"

  Muyaun says "Yes. There were a few hidden among the members of the church, but they were no problem to deal with. They were all weak, lower class demons. They died just as easily as the church members."

  "That's strange. I didn't think that weaker demons would be able to disguise themselves. Any sign of stronger demons?"

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  Muyaun says "We haven't seen any directly, but there are stories going around of demons being ripped apart by mobs when they suddenly appeared."

  "Those won't have been all that strong. A strong demon wouldn't take any damage from a mob of normal people. In fact, it would be more likely for the mob to be torn to pieces."

  Muyaun says "In that case, no there have been no signs of powerful demons."

  "That's odd. I wouldn't expect the demon lords to trust this kind of operation to low level demons. There should be a higher ranking demon to be in charge of them."

  Muyaun says "Then it is either still in hiding or it retreated when you revealed the demons."

  "I would put my money on it being in hiding. Going back and reporting failure to the demon lords isn't a way to live a long time."

  Muyaun says "Understood. I will endeavor to locate this demon leader."

  "I would start with the imperial court. The leader would have wanted to keep a close eye on the politics. However, even if you find it, don't try to kill it yourselves. Even if you go personally, I wouldn't give you good odds. Just locate it and then let me know, I will go deal with it."

  Muyaun says "As you wish. Any other orders for me?"

  "Make sure that the western duke doesn't win any major battles and if Pine is ever vulnerable, bring me his head!"

  Muyaun bows and says "By your command!"

  Once Muyaun leaves, I return to the castle, but the kids still aren't back yet. Thanks to the time difference, it could be several days from my point of view before they return. With that being the case, I gate to the tower to spend some time with Lin.

  Besides, I owe her an apology and I want to see if she is mad about the change in plans. Over the communication amulet she seemed to be fine with it, but I want to be sure. When communicating like that it is not like I can see the expression on her face or hear her tone of voice.

  When I arrive I find that Lin and Bella are currently eating a meal together. Before I can think better of it, they invite me to join them and I can't really refuse. They seem fine as we eat, but I can't help but feel uncomfortable and that I am intruding.

  Luckily, the meal doesn't last too long and Bella excuses herself as soon as it is over. Once Lin and I are alone, I apologize for interrupting and for not talking to her first about the wedding. Here I am being all serious and trying to apologize and Lin just laughs at me.

  "What is so funny?!"

  Lin says "Your face!"

  "What?!"

  Lin says "With your new face, you trying to look serious is hilarious!! You look like a constipated dragon!"

  "What? Really?!"

  Lin laughs and says "No! When did you become so gullible?"

  When I realize that she tricked me, I let out a deep growl and Lin takes off running. Of course, I chase her down, but I don't catch her until we reach the bedroom. She completely set me up and I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.

  It is only later, after our fun, that I realize that it was her way of getting back at me. As far as punishments go, I guess that it could have been much worse. It seems that I am just as dense as I always have been, I haven't gotten any better.

  I am seriously lucky that Lin is willing to put up with me considering how dense I am. Not to mention that Myria also seems to be willing to put up with me, I really am lucky. Thinking those happy thoughts, I fall asleep with Lin curled up in my arms.

  About four hours later, I wake up, but Lin is still sound asleep so I don't move. Instead, I enter meditation, enter the hallway, and start walking down it. It takes me quite a while to walk far enough to see the break the dragon described.

  I am extremely tempted to check out the black door, but I can't since I promised not to. So, I move to the white door, but I don't go through it right away. First, I touch the door and try to figure out how to make it my arrival point.