Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 600: Quarrel between Former Friends

Richard forced a smile in response to Rorschach's "witty remark".

Bart also reacted, showing an incredible expression: "Could it be that you don't want to stay in the alliance?"

"The alliance? It's nothing more than a tool for the rebels and a small group of people to realize their ambitions." Richard shook his head. "Its banner is to end the war, but its means is to start a war. It wants to pursue equality and reform, but the initiators are all descendants of prominent nobles. Even if the alliance succeeds, the nobles are still in control of the overall situation, but they just change direction on some things. So, why is it necessary to let the empire and its people bleed?"

Bart showed an angry look: "Do you know what you are talking about? Do you know who is leading the alliance now?" Then he changed his expression and spread his hands to Richard:

"Rick, you are a general now. If you come to the Alliance, it is not impossible for you to be a marshal and lead all the troops. You should have seen the guys in the Alliance. We have first-class artillery, the best assaulters, and air forces that are much better than airships. The only thing we lack is a good general.

"If you come, we will definitely be invincible. Not to mention the current territory of the empire, even unifying the continent of Ferrolun will not be a problem!"

Richard looked between his two former classmates and said, "Libby and I have experienced the turmoil within the Imperial Army and have seen their misguided efforts. They wanted to overthrow something in the name of justice, but in the end they just blindly created killing and chaos.

"Now, the Empire and Valois have signed an armistice agreement, and the war between the two countries has ended. As for the alliance, I remember the full name is the 'National Salvation Alliance', right? The crisis of the Empire has been resolved, so is there any meaning for this alliance to exist?"

"The crisis and ills of the empire are not only due to external enemies, the real root lies within it! Valois is more advanced than the empire, so we can defeat it against the trend. The Alliance is more advanced than the empire, so we should replace it. We, it's us!" Bart was about to make another eloquent speech, which was a skill he mastered better than casting spells.

However, he was interrupted by Libus: "Who is 'we'? My father and I are definitely not, right? Then, is my brother, the fool who is manipulated by you like a puppet, considered 'we'? As far as I know, the Royal Family of Byrne..."

Hey, little girl, don't say anything careless. You're going to be as insane as the Second Prince. Rorschach stopped the unnecessary quarrel and asked Richard what he thought: "I, Bart and the top leaders of the alliance all hope that you can join the alliance. Whether you continue to be a general or come to the Mage Tower to study magic is your freedom. Now, you are unwilling to join because of your doubts about the alliance, right?"

"It's not that I don't want to join, but I don't want to betray the empire. I'm not serving the emperor, you should understand me."

"If you are willing to devote your life to the glory of the empire and its people, then the stronger the empire, the better?"

"of course."

"Now that you've seen it all, Byrne, is the Special Zone more powerful than the Empire? Do the people living in it live better than in other parts of the Empire?"

"Rorschach, you're taking advantage." Richard pointed out the window. "Everything outside is amazing. You've brought incredible good times to the residents here, but can this be universal? Everywhere I look, there are magic circuits, alchemical equipment, and puppets. There are many more apprentices and spellcasters on the street than anywhere else.
"Can you guarantee that other regions can do the same? If we conquer the whole world as Bart said, and the whole world lives according to the living standards of the residents of the special zone, can the resources of the plane and your economic system afford it?
"If not, then for those citizens of the empire who cannot get a new life, will there be any difference between the rule from here and the rule from the imperial capital?
"If not, why should others go through war again, endure pain and bloodshed again? Just to achieve ambition?"

These words choked Bart and Amelia, and they were speechless for a moment.

Rorschach stepped forward and asked Richard to go out and talk to him alone. He pulled Richard to a door that led to the Lanster Space Center. After pushing the door, they entered a silver-white building. This is another tower. Its antenna part is used to send and receive signals, track and control the entire ladder system. Looking down from the upper floors of the tower, there are three huge circular buildings with a diameter of 40 meters below. They are upright, one-third of which is embedded in the ground. There are complex pipelines around them, facing many tracks, and rows of multiple arches like "ribs".

From time to time, the ring will be briefly activated, and the portal will go in or out. Ground staff are to spacecraft like ants around food that is thousands of times larger than their body, not only pulling these things to move.

"You may have misunderstood Byrne and what I am doing." Rorschach calmly stated, "Rick, you must think that the Special Zone is just an exception. Yes, its nature is somewhat similar to Valuvana and the Imperial City. It is the 'best place' in a region, gathering a large number of resources and talents. The achievements here cannot become a vision that deceives everyone to die for it, because not everyone can be born in Valuvana, the Imperial City, and the Special Zone."

"Until you told me, I didn't know where my suspicion came from, but now that you've said it, it's really what I think. I've studied the Great Revolution, read the books written by the Valois, talked with the prisoners, and finally came to a terrible conclusion:

“The more something needs to be saved and changed, the greater the price you pay, and the less you get in the end.”

"Let's not discuss the past, let's not talk about Valois anymore, let's just talk about the present situation." Rorschach looked at the space center: "There are some things that can't be said directly to Bart, otherwise he will definitely scold me.

"The Alliance will end here. It will coexist with the Empire."

"why?"

"The National Salvation Alliance should have been destroyed. The people who initiated it were too naive, powerless, and inexperienced. The reason it has been able to develop to this day is the support of the Arcane Senate and the Guild. Their dissatisfaction with the empire has accumulated to an irreconcilable point, and they want to overturn the table completely. We don't want the current emperor to abdicate or turn into ashes, which is easy. What we want is an empire that will never produce an emperor again."

Richard had an expression of "as expected". "No wonder Bart would beat you. So this 'we' doesn't include him at all. You are a member of the Senate now, and I am a valuable person who can be used and needs to be won over, right?"

"That's not it. Let's get back to the topic just now. The reason why the Senate changed its mind is because the end of the world is approaching. Various signs indicate that the Mother Goddess is about to awaken. The information disclosed to the outside world now says that He is an evil god, but in fact, good and evil have no meaning to Him, and bringing destruction to us is not based on any moral standpoint.

“In the past, the guild and the church misjudged his threat, thinking he was just an ordinary evil god. Today, when the gods are silent, no god of equal standing can contend with him. But if we unite, we may not be unable to defeat him.

“But with the subsequent worldwide disaster, the Grey Elves handed over their mythological texts to us, and after analyzing the legends of the Tuatha de Danann and many primitive pantheons, the Senate has confirmed His person.

“He has countless incarnations. He is the founder of the ancient pantheon, the creator and terminator of all things. He is the god above all gods, and the existence second only to the creator. After He created all living things, He fell into hibernation. When He wakes up, it will be the end and the beginning of the next cycle. In other words, if He wakes up completely, the destruction of the world will be the destined ending.”

In fact, these mythological compilation works only eliminated the last bit of luck. Through the records of various races and different beliefs, it was proved that the idiots in the underground cult were not bragging.

Richard had never come across such information before. Like most people, he had the same impression of the Earth Mother as an evil spirit among many gods. Now he was still a little bit unbelievable: "Then what's the point of what we do?"

(End of this chapter)