After the dwarf settlement, the line headed for the northern empire.
As originally planned, we decide to take the carriage and head from the road. The Empire is a powerful country, but there is also free trade in logistics, and adventurers are widely accepted regardless of race or rank.
From Aotearoa's point of view, the image of him attacking the dwarves is strong, and he manages to get the impression that Imperial equals evil.
However, it was a country that was very livable from the point of view of its inhabitants and those who came to the Empire and wanted to visit it again and again.
"That seems to be the general image of the empire. I have an image of evil when it comes to empires, but apparently not."
In the carriage, I was sharing the information I looked into with everyone.
"I didn't have a good image either, but the books you read. The books you read all had a good image written on them. When we just had an empire, it seemed like we felt like an evil empire, as Sota said, but gradually improved over the last few hundred years and now we seem to be at the top of the country we want to live in."
Deena responds to Ethereal Tai's story from the throne.
I was surprised when I found something called Country Rankings, etc. that I wanted to live in, but I actually had those books, which were published every year.
"So it doesn't seem like a bad country. I just have a problem with the general there."
Layla, who heard the two of them, had an unconvincing look on her face somewhere.
"Um, but there are bad people, right? Then I don't think I'm a good country."
Leila remembered that the dwarves had been chased through the settlement, and her anger was appearing on her face.
"That's right, but I don't think you should hate people and hate your country. There will be plenty of good people in the empire, even the dwarves who betrayed their people and passed information on to the empire."
I couldn't hide the surprise because the information was a first for Leila.
"Hey, why, I can't believe I'm selling my family that kind of company! How could that happen!?
Aotearoa spoke a little surprised, but Aotearoa was in turn confused when she saw that she was more surprised than expected, rather than confused.
"... I don't know, I guess they offered something more appealing than that. Money, things, status... or maybe they showed you the ideal."
Leila is also unconvinced by that explanation and stuffs it to Ethereal Tai.
"I can't believe I could betray my family with something like that! How can you do that?
It was a clan equals family for Leila, who lived with the whole clan on one floating island, and the family was something to protect for her, even if she risked her life. I didn't understand the idea of betraying that family for something like that.
Aeta, on the other hand, had seen various human beings before, so there was not a part of them that could be understood.
"For example... if it's a blood connected family, Leila, then that's your grandfather. Suppose you need medication to help you with that."
Even though it was the story of Ethereum, which began abruptly, Leila was listening quietly.
"But there's nothing money can do to get it. It's too rare to get it normally."
That's all I heard. Leila's expression was easily cloudy. It seemed like he was thinking a lot about what his grandfather would do if he was actually going to do the same thing, in his brain.
"A person appeared to give it to me, it was only as a condition of exchange that I offered to teach the Dragon Nation sanctuary. It's conditional, of course, that we don't get our hands on Layla's blood-connected family... what do we do?
Layla was thinking arm in arm.
"... you can't beat him and take his meds."
Seeing Aotea shake her head sideways on the way, Leila moves on to her next thought.
"Hmm, hard. If I told you, they might be after you, except your family, right?
"Right, and find it hard to defeat that opponent, even Leila,"
Leila answered nothing after that, and no, she couldn't answer. I was roaring and thinking, um...
"Lord Sota also says quite mean things"
Atra likes Leila's straightness on her journey so far that she tells her to blame Aeta.
"Well, I've been spending a lot of time on that floating island, and that's like growing up in a boxed garden without a boxed daughter. I happen to have less chance of touching that kind of malice because I'm with me and Deena, but I don't know what tough scene I'm going to come across... it's like a preview for that."
Even though he shrugged his shoulders, Aeta thought of it as his own, and took it as a response to Atra.
'Hmm, sure, because she's very straight, for better or worse. It does worry me, considering when I touch something that is outside my imagination.'
It was a one-off convincing Atra, but she still looked worried about Leila.
"Well, if that's the time, you can help him. There's me now, and there's Deena, because there's you and Kolong. If you're about to go the wrong way, you just have to stop him."
Aotearoa seemed not worried the opposite of Atra. I was still roaring and thinking, Layla, that if she could take the analogy story so seriously, she wouldn't be going the wrong way in the short circuit.
"Because I'm still going to live, even if the Lord dies, I'll keep an eye on Leila for you."
Gu Long said laughingly and pleasantly.
"Because of the offer, I'm still planning to live, too, so I thought it would be okay not to rely on the Gu Long Palace"
Gu Long's smile was stuck to Atra's words. That's all they cared about Leila, and it symbolized being what they wanted to do with their own hands.
There were bees and sparks scattered between the two of them, but I looked smiling at the two of them thinking of my people.
"Now, what is the empire like? Looking forward to seeing for yourself."
"Yes!"
Thousands of years ago, the empire did not exist, so it was also the first place for Aotearoa and he looked forward to it, albeit an enemy land. That was the same with Deena. She had been only her first place so far, but it was a joy for her to be able to share that feeling with Ethereum.