Death... and me

That same day, Mia called Droman over. Droman had gone to the capital before to present the Electrical Communication System to the Imperial Family. After thinking about what Tuve and Weren said, she thought it would be good to confirm the situation there.

"Sorry for the delay, Sect Master. I was in a nearby city working on the Router Formations."

Mia nodded, not minding it much.

"Rean and Roan had just come back."

Droman's interest was immediately piqued. He had been using the Router Formation during this time that Rean was out. They were working as planned, but there were several things that he noticed that can be improved. He was just waiting for Rean to come back so that he could go over the ideas with him.

"That's good! Did they enter the Vermilion Pools?"

Mia smiled after hearing the question.

"Yes, all five of them and even that bird was able to use it. In the end, Rean's Light Element was also able to get rid of the Decaying Fog. I felt like the Anti-Decaying Energy Pills I had prepared for them was quite useless because of that."

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Right after, Rean and Roan entered the room. Before they left the build earlier that day, Mia sent them a Spiritual Sense message, asking them to see her later when Droman arrived.

"Good. You are here. Droman had gone to the capital recently to meet the Imperial Family. That princess had given a Pendant to Malaka, so I thought that you might be able to talk about something."

Rean and Roan didn't mind, but they still decided to ask.

"In that case, isn't it better to call Malaka, Weren, and Tuve as well?"

Mia shook her head in response.

"There is no need. Malaka isn't the type who likes to scheme around... yet."

"As for Weren and Tuve, different from your group who really interacted with that princess, they only got to bump into that event. They probably don't know much more than that."

Mia then glanced deeply at Roan before continuing.

"Of course, that is considering what Weren and Tuve told me was what really happened and not what 'someone' asked them to say."

Roan narrowed his eyes.

'This woman is really sharp.'

Mia didn't try to pursue the matter, though. She then looked at Droman and told him everything that Rean and Weren said before.

"And that's what happened. You had been to the capital before to show the Communication System. Did you notice anything different happening there?"

Droman narrowed his eyes as he looked at Rean and Roan. How could he not understand what Mia meant with that 'someone' asking Weren and Tuve to say something else? Still, since Mia herself let it go, he wouldn't press the issue either. Droman then pondered a bit about his travel to the capital and began to speak.

"Although the Imperial Family and the nine clans are trying to keep it outside people's line of sight, I did find a few things indeed. However, all I know is that it seemed to be at most a few changes in the powers around there. What happened in the Profound Abyss might really be related to it."

Rean and Roan weren't surprised. That was already part of what Calina told them. The Princes and Princesses were fighting to see who will ascend the throne. Obviously, shifts of power would be common events.

Droman continued.

"Of course, I did not try to pry any further. Our sect is small and located in the corner of the Empire. So I did not dare look into it too deep. As soon as all the arrangements about the communication system were over, I left straight away."

Mia nodded.

"Are you sure nothing else caught your attention? Any small detail might help."

Droman pondered a bit when suddenly, something came into his mind.

"I don't know if this counts as suspicious. But once I finished explaining how the electrical communication system worked, the Imperial Family people seemed to get a lot more excited than I thought they would. I mean, a lot for real! At that time, I didn't mind it too much, thinking that they simply liked the new system a lot."

For Mia and Droman, that information didn't seem to have much use. But for Rean and Roan, that was like a bomb dropped on their heads.

'Shit!'

Rean looked at Roan and asked through the Soul Connection.

'Are you thinking about the same thing as me?'

Roan nodded.

'Yes. The most powerful weapon in war, communication! I can already see those Princes and Princesses opening all doors to have the communication system implemented as soon as possible.'

Rean agreed with Roan.

'Exactly! Now that I think about it, I believe we would have bumped into some of the Soul Gem System's hidden quests regardless. The only difference is that it probably would have nothing to do with Calina if we had taken that path.'

Although there was no guarantee, Roan also thought that the chances of Rean's communication system activating a 'Chrole War-Related' hidden quest was indeed very high. Otherwise, it wouldn't have opened one with Calina.

'Chances are that the hidden quest would be very different as well if we haven't saved Calina. Who knows? The quest that we would activate might have been something like 'Help the Empire win the war with the communication system,' or something like that. Your communication system might, in fact, have accelerated the process by several times.'

Rean sighed and nodded his head.

'If we didn't need to stop the war, we probably would get many Destiny Points from the communication system during the war. Well, I still prefer to not have a war, though.'

Roan didn't care about it and gave up thinking about what 'could' have happened. They already got a quest to help Calina become the empress, after all.

'No, wait. The quest never said that a war can not happen. Its only objective was to put Calina on the throne. That was all. This war brewing behind the scenes might still occur even if we succeed.'

Rean was taken aback for a second. Indeed. Although the quest description seemed to point to a peaceful resolution, the objective really had nothing saying about no wars.

'Do you think I should stop the development of the Router Formation? This will give us more time before the emperor is forced to make a decision.'

Roan shook his head in response.

'It's too late. Even if there was no router formation, the Empire would still work with the most common communication type. That alone is already a huge advantage. In fact, you should try to implement this much more complicated Router Formation into the projects of the Empire regardless. After all, it will take a lot longer to build a system with the Router Formations than it would without it, right?'

Rean immediately nodded.

'That's true. In that case, I will continue to develop this idea.'

As always, their soul link communication just took a few seconds, so Mia and Droman didn't notice anything wrong.

Mia then looked at Rean and especially Roan.

"Do you have anything to add?"

Roan pondered a bit before saying.

"Sect Master should be prepared for a few sudden changes in the future. The fact that the people who received Rean's communication looked so excited doesn't feel like a good thing."

"Why?"

Roan then asked a question that anyone with a little knowledge about history on earth would be able to answer.

"Sect Master, what do you think is the greatest advantage in a large scale battle?"

Mia pondered a bit, but just as she was about to answer, Droman intervene.

"Communication. Although the Electrical Communication System is not ready yet, we still have communication talismans. Of course, they are a lot more expensive and are single-time use things. Nonetheless, they are of imperative importance during those times. Our Dalamu Sect had gone to war in the past, so we know very well how important communication is."

Mia agreed with Droman. If he hadn't said that, she would definitely do so.

Roan nodded.

"I hope I'm wrong, but these pieces of information about the princess being attacked and the situation in the capital seems ominous. Especially after Droman noticed how excited they are with the Electrical Communication System. If Droman and Sect Master can understand this principle, then let alone the Imperial Family and its subordinate powers."

Of course. Roan knew very well that a war was coming. That was a fact after what the Soul Gem System and Calina said. However, it would be weird if Roan affirmed it straight at Droman and Mia's face. That being said, he had to pretend that he was only putting a hypothesis on the table, not a fact.

Mia couldn't help but comment after hearing all of that.

"A war, the communication system, the skirmishes in the capital, an attack against a princess that had nothing to do with the Profound Abyss event itself. I don't like it. I don't like it at all."

Rean added.

"Well, this is all a theory Roan came up with. Who knows, it might not happen at all."

Rean wasn't lying. There was really a good chance that such a thing would not happen if they are successful in putting Calina on the throne.

Mia nodded once again.

"Alright, I just wanted to get a picture of the situation anyway. It's still too early to decide anything. You guys can go back and do whatever you were doing before. I'll let you know if something really appears."

Rean, Roan, and Droman nodded. Right after, they bowed to Mia before leaving the building.

A few moments later, a person covered in black clothes appeared in her room.

"Send a few people to monitor the situation in the capital. Let me know if any big change happens as soon as possible. Nothing should happen anytime soon, but better be safe than sorry."

"Yes, Sect Master."

Soon after, that person disappeared.