The Empror's Trap-Chapter 87: Ch - The Welcome Banquet

Since Kenji and these military officers didn’t consider each other outsiders, the young men drank very enthusiastically. Two large jars of wine weren’t nearly enough, and eventually Lina had to bring two more jars before they were satisfied.

This was even with the situation that Her Majesty had arranged a welcome banquet for the evening. If there had been no dinner party planned for the night, Kenji felt these fellows could have drunk until the world turned dark and hazy. In the end, the anticipated post-dinner meeting to discuss the results of their exchange program couldn’t be held at all. These guys could barely stand straight after drinking so much, let alone clearly explain what they had learned.

Fortunately, they didn’t force Kenji to drink this time. Presumably like everyone else, they didn’t dare pressure him with Lina sitting nearby. Ultimately, after the meal concluded, everyone left in high spirits. The food was excellent, the Grand Marshal had treated everyone well, and they’d witnessed plenty of romantic moments between the couple. In two words, it was a "sumptuous feast" as Rinas described before leaving. Kenji considered this merely drunken nonsense.

After seeing off Rinas and the others, Kenji turned around, first instructing the housekeeper to help clean up the dishes in Siyue’s room (she was too socially anxious to come out and meet the large group of people), then walked directly to Lina.

"Let’s go. They’ve had their fun drinking, but I still have work to do today," he said helplessly.

"Young Master, you’re so busy every day. Don’t you feel tired?" Lina stood up, helping him carry the box containing the machine.

"Of course I’m tired," Kenji stretched lazily, "but if my exhaustion can make Camelot a little better, then I think this kind of tiredness is worthwhile."

Camelot was not perfect—that was the truth. Although in Kenji’s understanding, the Camelot Central Empire’s productivity surpassed the feudal empires of the world he knew, it was still relatively backward. Even with the existence of spiritual energy in this world, making many impossible things possible, it still couldn’t change Camelot’s overall situation.

However, from what he understood of Camelot’s history and its successive rulers, Kenji had a feeling: the empire’s historical rulers had all been trying to move forward. Their steps were slow, and they often hesitated in place, but they were gradually advancing nonetheless.

He was willing to make attempts for such an empire. There were certainly many problems, but having problems wasn’t frightening—what was frightening was when the leadership wouldn’t try to solve them, and when the common people wouldn’t follow.

He would wait and see. Perhaps in this world, this version of Camelot might turn out better?

"I feel that if Her Majesty could understand even a little of your thoughts, it would be good," Lina said.

She actually had no prejudice against Pluvia, but Pluvia’s suspicion toward Kenji made her quite displeased.

"As emperor, she holds the lifeline of the entire empire in her hands," Kenji stroked the precious redwood chair, "How could she dare to be negligent even slightly? One oversight could potentially destroy both herself and the empire. Her pressure isn’t ordinary. How should I put it—if I’m unhappy with something, I’ll tell her directly, but most of the time, I try to understand her position when I can."

"As long as she doesn’t specifically target us, let her be. I’m not interested in the emperor’s position anyway," Kenji said.

If Pluvia insisted on opposing him, there would be no choice but for Kenji to try his best to protect himself and the people of Anos’s mansion. However, Pluvia wasn’t a fool—she shouldn’t go so far as to truly break relations with him.

…

The news about these talents returning quickly excited many officials within Camelot.

Some officials were excited because these talented individuals might bring valuable experiences and technologies from various fields. Others were excited because most of these people were relatively young, and a large portion had virtually no experience in court politics.

Talented individuals, naturally, would be best if they could be recruited to one’s own faction. Enjoy exclusive chapters from novelbuddy

At that evening’s banquet, apart from the military officers led by Rinas, there were also technical and political talents who had gone to the Western Empire. During the banquet, they all took advantage of the wine to enthusiastically explain to Her Majesty and the ministers, briefly summarizing what they had learned in the Western Empire, while also describing the customs and culture there to the officials.

When it was revealed that the Western Empire had already completed half of its military reforms and was now implementing a policy of military universalization, all the ministers couldn’t help but feel the pressure from this western country.

Yes, the Western Empire was indeed an ally with potential worth developing, but what they were doing now seemed a bit too extreme.

Opposing the church wasn’t something only one country had attempted—but all had ultimately failed. On one hand, the church’s sacred and holy arts had already formed a unique system; magic, though powerful, was difficult to cultivate into a large army of war machines to counter them in a short time. On the other hand, the church’s ideology had permeated the entire human race for ages, with most people revering it as truth.

The Western Empire’s attempt to oppose the church didn’t seem particularly wise at present, but they weren’t doing anything wrong either. After all, if no one took this first step, how could anyone hope to take the subsequent steps?

Although Camelot had not been influenced by the Holy Church at all, that was actually the result of successive emperors constantly suppressing them with the empire’s own powerful military and economic strength. Otherwise, these Holy Church fellows would have likely infiltrated long ago.

The Western Empire’s current large-scale military expansion and enhancement of combat capabilities might inadvertently touch the church’s reverse scale. At that time, whether they could withstand the siege of surrounding church countries would be an unknown.

While the officials present were drinking and enjoying themselves, Kenji quietly called Lina over.

He whispered a few words in Lina’s ear, and she nodded, immediately taking a deep breath. Afterward, she seemed to emit a unique aura. None of those present noticed her departure as she leisurely walked through the crowd to the emperor’s side.

Pluvia was still in her seat, cutting meat with a small knife, when suddenly Lina’s voice came from beside her:

"Your Majesty, Young Master is looking for you."

Pluvia hadn’t noticed Lina approach her side at all. The sudden voice startled her so much that her whole body trembled, nearly dropping the knife in her hand.

Damn it, this person moves without making a sound!

And your young master is looking for me? I’m the emperor, and you’re asking me to go to him?!

"Tell your Young Master that We request his presence," she said, calming her emotions and maintaining a composed appearance.

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