It was snowing. The capital of the Istarin empire, the Azure city was bustling as always. Each day countless people entered and exited the city. The influence of the Dragon palace and its location as the Empire's capital has turned the Azure city from a small city with only thousands of inhabitants to one of the biggest cities of the Istarin Empire. Within the span of 8 and half months, Azure city now had a population of 4.5 million and the number was only rapidly growing. Adventurers and merchants both often visited the Istarin empire.
Within the span of eight and half months, the average per capita income of the eastern region people has tripled. This is true, especially for the people of the Istarin empire. The Istarin empire's neighbors that are the Thera Kingdom and the Storm Isle Dynasty also received huge benefits for being the Istarin Empire's allies. The people of both the Thera Kingdom and the Storm Isle Dynasty can freely cross the Istarin Empire's borders.
The outside area of Azure city had more than hundreds of tents set up. Near the tents, there were thousands of carriages waiting outside the city. All of those carriages were full of goods that were brought to the capital. Before the outside area of the capital was covered in trees. But as the city expanded, the trees were cut down to create more empty space.
The Istarin guards were inspecting the carriages and also checking if the merchants has the permit to trade. If the merchant had all the correct papers with stamps and the carriages had nothing suspicious or dangerous in them, then that merchant and his carriages would be allowed to go inside the city.
However, with the ever-growing population, more and more merchants have become interested in starting their businesses in the capital. A merchant usually would have to wait a few hours before the guards could finish with all the inspection work. To escape from the snow and cold, the merchants were allowed to set up tents.
On the other side, there were 5 lines of people. Each of the lines had more than thousands of people standing in them. All of those people want to enter Azure city. Most of the people who were outside had an oil-paper umbrella with them. Among the ten thousand people, there was a certain couple that walked toward the eastern gate without bothering to wait in lines.
No one was able to see the couple's faces as the man was holding a red lotus paper oil umbrella. The umbrella perfectly covered both of their faces. Even being surrounded by more than ten thousand people, there was something about them that attracted the people's attention.
As both couples walked passed the people who stood in lines, they couldn't help but feel as if they had been in the presence of a noble.
The woman was wearing a beautiful pink-red Kimono. She had tied her silver-white hair into a bun which exposed her seductive nape. She wore wooden sandals and wore white socks. Her beautiful face was hidden under a white fox mask. But even without being able to see her face, for some reason, the people felt that she would be extremely beautiful.
The man walking beside her was also very extraordinary. Just like the female, he also wore a white fox mask. His dark blue hair reached down his waist. He wore a black Kimono, white socks, and wooden sandals. He also had a black sword on his waist. The man held the paper oil umbrella. The white snow fell on the umbrella.
"Who are you they?"
"How would I know?"
"But you will have to admit that both look so perfect together."
"A couple made in heaven."
The Aura of nobility around the couple made it hard for anyone to approach. Most commoners even began to assume that both couples are nobles and didn't dare to stand in their way. Also, some cultivators sensed that the woman is a beginner 5th-order cultivator. After sensing this, they also stayed out of the way. No one wants to offend a beginner 5th-order.
"Hehe! I like this. We should go on more dates." Riya couldn't help but giggle slightly hearing what the people were whispering about them. With their heightened senses, it was not difficult for them to hear what the people were whispering among themselves.
Riya was holding Aditya's left arm. From time to time she would purposely press the breast against his arm to tease him. Unfortunately, Aditya didn't fall for it which made the elf princess pout in anger.
"Sure. But why I am carrying a sword on my waist?" Today the Dragon monarch got to see another side of Riya. It turned out the princess was very into role-playing.
"You're carrying that sword to protect me, Silly. For today, you're playing the role of my protector. I am your master and you're my servant. Unfortunately, I have fallen in love with my servant. So today, both of us are secretly going on a date. This is also why we're wearing masks." Aditya couldn't help but roll his eyes. Protect who? A beginner 5th-order cultivator needs no protection from a Mid 3rd-order cultivator.
Sigh!
'Well, it's not like I am not having any fun.' Even though Aditya has never been interested in role-playing stuff or in acting, today he was enjoying himself which surprised him.
The masks can also prevent people from finding out their true identities. Aditya won't have to worry about anyone recognizing him. Though, the guards would know who is he by sensing his Aura. These masks were to prevent ordinary people from finding their identity and ruining their date.
"Milady, why are you making me carry a sword when I can just keep it in my storage ring and take it out if any enemy attacks us?" Aditya decided to give it a try.
Hearing Aditya playing along, Riya felt very happy. Under the white fox mask, the elf princess couldn't grin smiling at this moment. "My dear servant, for today you're a samurai. Stop complaining." Riya replied just like how a dominating master would reply.
"Milady, where would you like to go?" Aditya asked while playing along. He had lowered his tone and pretended to be timid.
"Since this city is your hometown, you get to decide where you will be taking me." Riya replied in a dominating tone.
As Aditya and Riya approached the entrance, two guards stopped them.
"Halt, without waiting in lines, you can't wait inside the city." The two guards blocked Aditya and Riya's paths with their iron spears.
It seems the guards have failed to recognize Aditya from his Aura which meant that these guards were new recruits. Both of them looked very young as well so Aditya was sure of it.
"I am a guest of the Istarin Empire. Show them my seal." From Riya's authoritative tone, the guards felt that she was someone a noble or maybe a rich merchant who is visiting the capital. Especially the quality of her clothes and the tone that she used while speaking made them feel this way. Riya spoke to the guards as if she was talking to insignificant beings.
'It looks like she is taking her role very seriously.' Aditya took out a fist size golden coin which had a symbol of a Dragon flying over a city. This gold coin is given to the close allies and close friends of the Istarin Empire. This golden coin can give the owner many benefits. Without needing to stand in lines, one can enter the city just by showing this golden coin. Using this golden coin, one won't have to pay any gold for using the teleportation arrays. The gold coin came with many other benefits.
Seeing the gold coin, both guards instantly bowed their heads to Riya. This left the others who stood in lines completely dumbfounded. "Apologizes for making you wait. You two can go inside." What the guards did was nothing wrong. Both of them were doing their jobs faithfully and Aditya respected that.
"Hmph!" Riya pretended to be dissatisfied. She pulled Aditya inside the city.
Just as Aditya and Riya walked beyond the city gate, the gold coin began to shine. A golden ray of light was shot out from the gold coin. The golden light hit the defensive dome that covered the entire city and then vanished.
"Aditya, what happened? I want an explanation." Riya knew that what happened had something to do with Aditya's rune skills. After becoming a 4-star runemaster, the Dragon King's first replaced the old defensive domes with powerful 4-star defensive domes that are capable of withstanding the attacks of even 4th-order cultivators.
Upgrading the defensive dome meant that the energy required to keep the barrier running would also increase. If it took 100 mana stones per hour to keep a 3-star defensive dome running now it would take 200 mana stones per hour to keep a 4-star defensive dome running. The consumption was worth it as the defense of the capital was the utter most important to the Istarin Empire.
However, there was one problem. Mana stones were like oil and petrol. A non-renewable source of energy. Meaning that the mana stones won't last forever. After a certain point, the mines would run out of the Mana stones when that happens the Istarin Empire would have no choice but to become dependent on other Empires for the supply of Mana stones. Aditya wanted to change that by replacing mana stones with some mana source that will last forever. But for now, these were the things of the far future.
"Milady, this golden light is a signal to the guards. This is a signal that someone has used the gold coin. With the help of this golden light, the Istarin Empire can keep a record of who has used this gold coin and exactly where the gold coin was used." This gold coin and the defensive dome are connected.
"Impressive." Riya was genuinely impressed by Aditya's talent in rune.
"Milady, let's head inside. There are a lot of things that will capture your heart."
"Hmph! You better not lie to me."
"This humble servant would rather die than lie to his own master." At this point, both of them were completely into their roles.
"Milady, let's go to the northern plaza."
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