Another World: The Failed Magician

Inside a simple room sat two elderly people dressed very differently.

Carl was working on his task with his head down, but when he saw the old man sitting to the side idly sitting with his legs crossed, leisurely drinking tea, he said unhappily, "Charles, if you have nothing to do, come and help me with my work."

Charles waved his hand. "That's your job. I have no right to handle it."

Carl didn't say anything more about this expected answer.

"Aren't you curious why I came to see you? You didn't ask me a single question. Do you really want me to speak first?" Charles said, fiddling with the teacup in his hand.

"To be honest, I'm not really curious. Anyway, you never come to me with anything good."

"Don't say that, after all, we've known each other for decades."

"Alright! So, what brings you here?"

"You're the one who sent White to the Caenlai region, aren't you?"

"Ok!"

"If you send him to the Kahnlai region now, what about the Eastern Dragon Empire? You should know what those people are plotting. If they succeed, do you know what the consequences will be?"

After finishing his last task, Carl put down his pen and made himself a cup of tea. He looked at Charles and said, "Alright. You yourself said we've known each other for decades. You don't need to pretend here. If you had any objections to my arrangements, you would have stopped me long ago. There's no need to come here and question me afterwards. So what exactly do you want to ask me?"

Realizing he had been seen through, Charles dropped his sour expression and said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do. Although it was an emergency and your handling of the situation wasn't wrong, I still have to give an explanation to the parliament."

"After all, the Silver Dragon Empire is eyeing us covetously, and the Kaenlai region is a mess, but we also need to pay attention to the Eastern Dragon Empire. How about this, could you reveal a little bit of your plan to me, so that I can put the people in the council at ease?"

After Charles finished speaking, Carl did not answer his question, and a silence fell over the room.

After a long pause, Charles finally spoke, "It seems this is more serious than I thought."

Carl nodded.

"Although I understand your actions, we've been friends for decades. Don't you even trust me this time?"

“You’re right, but I don’t trust you, and I can’t trust any of the people in the council either.”

“You’re right. After all, even the two deputy commanders of the Burial Party could be traitors. The people in the council, including myself, don’t seem so trustworthy.”

After saying this, Charles stood up and walked towards the door, continuing as he went, "It seems there are no problems on your end. I'll handle the parliament."

After Charles left, the room returned to silence.

At that moment, a dark figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the room, saying in a low voice, "Is it him?"

Karl shook his head and said, "It's not certain yet, but we can only say that he's quite a suspect."

"Should I go with him?"

Karl shook his head, picked up his pen again, and wrote rapidly on the paper, saying as he wrote, "If it really is him, following him now will not only not yield any information, but will also put you in danger."

After hearing Karl's words, the shadowy figure nodded and disappeared back into the shadows of the room. From a distance, it appeared that Karl was the only person in the room.

......

A middle-aged man dressed in a suit and wearing black-rimmed gold glasses walked into a dark underground cave, surrounded by a group of men in black.

The man looked around and saw that it was extremely dark. He could only move forward slowly under the guidance of the man in black.

The leader of the men in black pushed open a dark door, and a dim light shone on the man's face. The man looked around and saw that the empty room contained only a table and two chairs. A candle was lit on the table, and the candlelight was flickering.

Sitting in the chair directly opposite the man was a person dressed in a black mage's robe, wearing a thick hood that obscured their face.

But the man knew that he was the one he was negotiating with.

The man walked to another chair and sat down.

He handed the prepared documents to the other party and said, "I am the representative of the Prince of Zhennan. You can call me Qin Zhen. These are the requirements of the Prince of Zhennan."

Although this wasn't the first time such negotiations had taken place, Qin Zhen still introduced himself in this way.

The other party did not respond, but simply flipped through the documents Qin Zhen had brought.

Qin Zhen was used to this situation. At first, he had some objections, but after a while, he got used to the other party's way of communicating.

After a long time, a black flame flashed, and the data turned into ashes in the other party's hand.

Qin Zhen knew this was a common action taken by the other side after they had finished watching.

Because this matter was of great importance, even the usually composed Qin Zhen couldn't help but ask after seeing the other party's action, "What do you think of this transaction?"

The man in black robes said in a voice that was neither clearly male nor female, "I'm sorry, Mr. Qin Zhen, this collaboration cannot be approved."

"Why? Is it because you think the conditions we offered weren't good enough?"

"No, no, no! The conditions you have offered are extremely favorable."

"Why then?"

"Mr. Qin Zhen, have you reviewed this proposal yourself?"

"Of course I've seen it. I've seen it dozens of times, not just a few."

"Then you should know that the conditions offered by the Prince of Zhennan are practically an invitation for us to divide up the world."

"What's wrong with that? As long as you're willing to get involved and eliminate the enemy in front of you, wouldn't you be able to divide up the world?"

The man in black shook his finger: "Mr. Qin Zhen, if you really have this ability, why are we still negotiating in this dark cave? What are we afraid of? You should know this better than anyone else."

Qin Zhen became anxious upon hearing the other party's words, and he wanted to salvage the negotiation.

The man in black robes stood up and gestured for him to leave, then said, "Mr. Qin Zhen, we will honor our previous contract. As for what you wrote in that contract, let's discuss it again after the Prince of Zhennan has actually sat on the dragon throne, if possible."

……

Inside a magnificent courtyard, a man dressed in a python robe hung up the communication crystal in his hand.

At this moment, two elderly people came over.

If an official from the Eastern Dragon Empire were present at this moment, it would not be difficult to recognize that these two elderly men were the former Grand Preceptor and Left Prime Minister, who were once at the center of power in the Eastern Dragon Empire.

Left Chancellor Qi Huaiguang spoke first, asking, "How did the negotiations go, Your Highness?"

Prince Zhao Qushan of Zhennan shook his head: "They did not agree."

The Imperial Advisor, Li Zheng, said, "It seems unrealistic to use them to deal with the Marquis of Zhenbei."

Zhao Qushan nodded and asked the two, "How is the Zhenbei Army doing now?"

Li Zheng replied, "They have already reached the vicinity of Xuannan City, and will arrive at the Southern Border in at most one month."

The Prince of Zhennan turned to the Left Prime Minister: "How's the transfer going on your end?"

Qi Huaiguang responded, "The Zhennan Army has been deployed. If nothing unexpected happens, it should be able to withstand the Zhenbei Army's attack. On the other side, I have deployed about 100,000 troops, a coalition of families and lords who support us, on the other side, just in case."

The Prince of Zhennan nodded in satisfaction and said, "Now, all that's left is forging our weapon."

Upon hearing this, the Imperial Advisor Li Zheng said with some trepidation, "Your Highness, he'll be close too. After absorbing those two geniuses from the Elven race and those people from the Salvation Society, his strength is already infinitely close to that of a Martial King."

Hearing this, Zhao Qushan was not very satisfied: "Martial King? Do you think this meets our initial expectations? If you can only reach the Martial King realm in the end, what consequences will there be for you and your Tai Xuan Sect? I think you know."

The Imperial Advisor assured him with a hint of trepidation, "Your Highness, he has just entered a saturation period after absorbing those powers. Once the saturation period is over, we will feed him the materials we have prepared, and he will definitely reach the level that Your Highness expects."

“Li Zheng, I’m only giving you half a month. If you can’t do it, you and your Tai Xuan Sect will have to pay with your heads.”

"Yes, Your Highness!"

......

Meanwhile, the imperial palace of the Eastern Dragon Empire was bustling with activity. Due to a large-scale reshuffle and the Crown Prince's reforms, the once-strict palace was now teeming with people coming and going.

The young officials shuttled back and forth between the capital and the palace.

Countless memorials were piled up on Crown Prince Zhao Quan's desk.

Zhao Quan's face was etched with exhaustion, but his eyes shone brightly. He kept reviewing the memorials before him, sometimes cursing angrily, sometimes laughing heartily with joy.

Just then, a man dressed as a eunuch walked over.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Zhao Quan dismissed him. Several officials nearby asked, "Uncle Zhao, is there something you need?"

The man whom the Crown Prince addressed as Uncle Zhao nodded: "Your Highness, as you predicted, the person standing behind the Imperial Preceptor and the Left Prime Minister is indeed your uncle, Prince Zhennan, Zhao Qushan."

Zhao Quan nodded after hearing this.

Seeing that Zhao Quan was still reviewing the memorials in his hands, the man continued unhurriedly, "The Marquis of Zhenbei is leading the Zhenbei Army southward as you instructed, and they have now arrived near Xuannan City."

According to intelligence reports, the Zhennan Army is preparing for a decisive battle with the Zhenbei Army near the Yulong River. As for the other armies of the various vassal states, they have also been brought under the control of the Zhennan King, boasting a force of 100,000.

After hearing this information, Zhao Quan's pen continued to move: "Hmm. I understand, Uncle Zhao. Everything remains the same. Proceed according to plan."

"Yes!"

The man should have left, but he couldn't help but stop when he saw the boy he had watched grow up.

Zhao Quan saw that Uncle Zhao, who should have left, was still standing there.

He picked up the memorial in his hand, looked at the middle-aged man, and said, "What's wrong, Uncle Zhao? Is there something you need?"

"Your Highness, isn't it too presumptuous of us to undertake reforms and prepare for war simultaneously?"

"Yes, I know your concerns, but there's nothing I can do, I don't have time."

"Why do you say that?"

Hearing the man's question, Zhao Quan lowered his head again, and while dealing with the memorial in his hands, he said, "This kind of thing is definitely hard to explain now, but you will know when the time comes, Uncle Zhao."

"Your Highness, must you do this? Is it not permissible?"

Zhao Quan looked at the man who had accompanied him as he grew up, put down his pen, and said earnestly, "Uncle Zhao, you should know that my father taught us children how to become an excellent emperor from a young age, and that used to be my only goal."

"To be honest, I was quite desperate during that period after the strongest old Taoist priest of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion said that I was not destined to be the emperor."

"Later, I don't know what I was thinking, but I took the advice of the Left Prime Minister, who was my teacher at the time, and went to the Loca Federation to study."

"To be honest, I never thought my father would agree, but then I thought that when Master Li said I didn't have the destiny of an emperor, he probably stopped hoping for me."

“I met my next teacher there, and I told him about my experience. He didn’t take it seriously. To be honest, he looked down on me at the time.”

"Perhaps out of resentment, I followed him and learned what he was talking about. There I witnessed a group of passionate idealists."

"They are filled with passion and determined to build their ideal country in this cruel world."

"To be honest, the country they envisioned was so beautiful that even someone like me was moved by it."

"Later I returned to Donglong and found that the people there were living in great hardship. I tried to change it, but the effect was minimal."

"And my father also noticed my change. To my surprise, he didn't criticize me. Instead, he made a deal with me. As for the details of the deal, I certainly can't tell you, Uncle Zhao, right now. You'll understand when the time comes."

"So now, I need to seize all this time and change as much as I can."

Upon hearing this, the man's resolute face softened slightly: "Your Highness, is what you're doing really worth it?"

"worth!"

"I particularly like a quote from one of my teachers."

He said that some people are destined to live for their beliefs.

"So even knowing how the story ends, I still want to give it a try."

As the man watched the boy resuming his review of memorials, a wave of melancholy washed over him. It seemed the little boy who used to always cry had secretly grown up without his knowledge.