While Ash was worrying about the Holy Sword, dealing with the drunkard (Milli), treating his injuries, reorganizing the defenses of the imperial capital, the imperial city, and the imperial palace, and handling repairs and cleanup for the latter two systems, the news of the imperial city being attacked had already spread through the entire capital like a storm right after Ash attacked the guards at the city gate.
Fern, who had gotten up early and was moving through the market planning to buy ingredients, initially only paused and frowned a little when she felt the tremors coming from the direction of the imperial city from time to time.
But as the people around her began discussing things in panic, and noisy voices filled the whole market, she finally heard clearly what they were talking about.
Although she felt it probably had nothing to do with her... she really couldn't think of anyone besides Ash who could charge into the imperial city alone.
That made her unease continue to grow even though she couldn't confirm who had done it. The tremors coming from the imperial city every so often also made her restless, and before she knew it, she was already heading toward the imperial city.
Frieren, who had also gone out shopping while Fern was away, noticed the abnormal disturbance too, causing a ripple to appear in her calm eyes.
She slightly raised her head, listened to the discussions around her, and quietly thought things over.
Of course... she also thought of Ash. With his personality and strength, he really could do something like this.
But she couldn't be certain either. Still, to be safe, she silently headed toward the imperial city as well.
Compared to the two of them thinking things through and directly heading to the scene... when Ubel heard the news from Sense that the imperial city had been attacked while she was reading, she said without hesitation, "It's definitely Ash. There's nothing that guy wouldn't dare do."
"Lord Ash really does act recklessly, but going to the imperial city alone... this... even Lord Ash probably... maybe wouldn't do that, right?", Sense found it too unbelievable to accept, or rather, she hoped it wasn't true.
Even if it was a fortress city, she believed Ash could easily break through it alone, but the imperial city of the Thousand-Year Empire, there was almost nowhere in the world more dangerous than that.
Although it sounded absurd, Ubel put down her book and walked outside on her own.
"I don't have proof, but I feel like that's what happened."
"Aren't you an idiot?"
"Because I'm an idiot, I rely on instinct more," Ubel looked back and smiled, but her answer left Sense speechless.
Although it felt a little strange, it somehow sounded convincing, so Sense unconsciously followed behind her and asked expressionlessly, "Where are you going?"
"Don't you already know?", Ubel looked at the girl following her with a playful smile.
"Then you should also know our identities are dangerous, especially since you're a wanted criminal."
"It's fine. Right now, the entire imperial capital's army and security forces are definitely rushing toward the imperial city."
Although Sense was still uneasy, Ubel carried on toward the imperial city with confidence. After hesitating for a moment, Sense gave up trying to stop her.
Even though the area around the imperial city had to be extremely dangerous right now... just like Ubel said, all the defensive forces in the capital would gather there. The road there would be safe for them, but once they arrived, wouldn't they just be walking into a trap?
But she didn't want to give up so easily either, so halfway there, she already started preparing for battle.
———
[Inside the Imperial City]
After briefly rebandaging himself, Ash looked through a huge pile of documents while having people report the current situation. At the same time, he directly used magic to repair the damage he caused in the imperial city and also adjusted the Empire's structure.
He greatly raised the status of the Holy Wand Court, and to win over the intelligence unit, he adjusted their status as well. Otherwise the rank of their ordinary members was honestly too low.
And during this work process, Ash not only restored the vegetation in the courtyard and along the roads, but also restored the corpses by the roadside to the condition they were in before death.
Unfortunately, while the bodies could be restored, life itself couldn't be reversed. But it wasn't a big issue, at least they got complete corpses back, and the magical equipment on them could be used again.
While he repaired things, thought about future strategies, and dealt with the documents ministers handed him from time to time, giving directions for the Empire's next actions and staying too busy to stop for a moment, Ash also didn't forget to have someone go inform the people at the base that he was safe.
Even though he was injured and still busy nonstop, Milli stayed beside him looking entertained while doing nothing at all, just quietly drinking.
Although she really was only quietly drinking and watching, it somehow irritated Ash a little, making him want to dump all the work on her.
Unfortunately, Milli was a standard elf.
She wouldn't care even if her own race died out. At most, if it happened right in front of her, she might stop it for a bit. Even if the race truly vanished and only she remained, she would only sigh a little... and that was all.
Naturally, she cared even less about whether the Empire lived or died. After all, she only came here to fish in troubled waters. It was just that before she realized it, she somehow became the leader of the Holy Wand Court.
Because the people above her accidentally all died, and with her qualifications and strength undeniably being the highest, she felt like she had only blanked out for a moment before becoming the top figure.
But while this woman kept watching the fun unfold, and Ash repaired things along the way to save some money while also thinking about what he should say when he returned later, the two of them suddenly noticed something at the same time and sharply looked upward, a black shadow suddenly flew over the city wall like lightning.
As if launched from outside, the shadow crossed over the wall in an arc, then with a loud "Boom!" landed firmly on the tiles Ash had just repaired.
That impact not only sent dust everywhere, but also smashed six cracked holes into the freshly repaired ground.
"Uh...", Ash stared with his eyes wide open, the corner of his mouth twitching again.
Others might not have been able to see clearly, but he clearly "saw" it, it was Sense carrying Ubel on her back, using her hair like six legs as they descended into the imperial city.
Because the entire imperial city had an anti-flight barrier, Sense directly stabbed her hair into the wall and ran straight upward along the ninety-degree surface, then leapt from outside the wall and successfully cleared it.
The moment they landed, Sense's extended hair slammed into the ground like six spider legs, dispersing the force of the impact.
The two of them looked extremely strange right now. Sense resembled a giant spider, using her hair to suspend her body in midair.
Meanwhile, Ubel, who was clinging to her back, looked full of energy as she looked around everywhere. Once the dust settled, her eyes met Ash's.
Her lips immediately curled up.
"Target found~ My instincts really are accurate~"
"What are you doing?"
Ash silently ignored troublemaking Ubel and instead looked at Sense, who was floating in the air with her hair and seemed ready to attack everyone around them.
The mages of the Holy Wand Court around them also activated their magic one after another, wanting to show themselves off in front of this new ruler.
But at that same moment, Sense moved even faster. She shielded him behind her, and Ubel quickly protected him from the other side too while summoning her staff and watching the nearby Milli with caution as she happily took another drink.
Sense's long hair floated around Ash, clearly preparing to use it to protect him from attacks by the surrounding mages.
Because Milli had chosen the winning side, everyone had been promoted. Seeing this scene, the mages of the Holy Wand Court, who had become Ash's direct faction in the Empire, became nervous and didn't dare act rashly, only surrounding them from nearby.
Although they didn't think Ash would be controlled by these sudden intruders, this was still their chance to perform.
The way events developed always exceeded normal expectations.
Ash originally planned to properly repair the damaged buildings and districts while handling serious matters, but he suddenly ended up being protected in the middle by two different groups, and those two groups didn't know each other and directly treated each other as enemies.
The mages of the Holy Wand Court were all formidable, especially Milli, whose mana was practically no different from Serie's in her hidden state.
That made Sense and Ubel think Ash had just been captured by Milli and the others... after all, he was covered in blood and looked like someone who had been injured and taken prisoner.
"Oh dear, the hostage got stolen away. What should we do?"
Milli spoke with a completely relaxed expression while drinking excitedly. She even stepped behind her subordinates, though the smile on her face carried a strange meaning.
In Ash's eyes, she was clearly just enjoying the chaos and deliberately making things worse.
But from Sense and Ubel's perspective, they thought the other side was mocking them out of confidence in overwhelming strength.
And in the middle of this tense standoff, the two suddenly sensed a wave of mana.
Before they could react, Ash's figure disappeared from behind them and instantly appeared beside Milli. He directly grabbed her face and scolded her, "I'm telling you, I've seriously put up with you for a long time already!"
"Eh, oh my? Did I do something bad?", Milli looked innocent and casually handed him her alcohol, "How about this as an apology?"
"Lord Ash?", Sense cried out, wanting him to be more careful. She even suspected he was trying to capture the leader first, but his actions and the conversation between both sides seemed... kind of strange?
And for some reason, those mages didn't care that their leader was being "attacked." Instead, as though released from restraint, they all gathered mana at the same time and prepared to attack the two of them.
'Huh? Why does this situation feel wrong? We came here to rescue someone, right? So why are we suddenly the ones surrounded by Ash's people instead? Is this an illusion?', The strange situation made Ubel tilt her head sharply.
Sense also looked completely confused and couldn't figure out what exactly was happening anymore.
But just as battle was about to erupt, Ash finally released Milli and raised a hand slightly, causing everyone equally to feel an overwhelming pressure they couldn't ignore. All of them looked at him in confusion.
"You all wait a moment first. These are my people... no, I mean, all of you are my people."
Once he said that, the mages more or less understood, but Sense and Ubel still had trouble understanding, leaving him no choice but to endure a headache and explain the situation to both hostile sides.
In the end, the farce was stopped before anyone died.
After learning the truth, the mages of the Holy Wand Court could only leave somewhat regretfully. When Sense heard he had already captured the Emperor and the others, she looked like she doubted her own ears. In contrast, Ubel accepted this shocking news very naturally, though a bright light appeared in her eyes.
"You really took down the capital of the Thousand-Year Empire by yourself," Ubel clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward, looking up at him from below. There seemed to be a dangerous glint in her gaze as she licked her lips, "As expected of the man I picked~ I want even more to tie you up and thoroughly study you cleanly. what should I do?"
"You're standing on my territory, right in front of me, talking about committing a crime, and the target is me. Do you really think that's okay?"
"It's just research~", Ubel blinked mischievously.
"Research isn't okay either!"
The drunkard beside him was already troublesome enough, and now another weirdo had appeared. Thinking about the current situation, he reached out and habitually pressed a hand against Ubel's approaching face, trying to push this troublesome girl away.
Meanwhile, Milli, who had been observing the two from the side, walked forward smiling.
"Mm~ So you're... Ash's lover?"
"Do I look like one?"
"In the past, this guy always said he wanted an older woman. The kind with curves. You don't look that old, but your figure should fit his tastes very well," Milli exposed one of his careless remarks from before.
"My, was there really something like that?", Hearing that, Ubel's smile grew even brighter. Looking proudly at Ash, she covered her mouth and laughed softly, "So you've been looking at me that way this whole time? Are you playing hard to get now?"
"No, the kind of older woman I like is the gentle type. The gentle part is very important."
"I'm pretty gentle, you know?", Ubel smiled while pointing at herself, making him ask with a face full of disgust, "How do you even have the nerve to say that?"
"Haven't I been smiling this whole time?"
"People who smile a lot aren't necessarily gentle. They could also just be bad people."
"Like you?"
"No!"
"I'm joking~ Why are you taking it so seriously?", Ubel laughed softly and finally shifted her gaze away from Ash, beginning to look around.
Looking at the artificially crafted streetscape inside the imperial city, she kept nodding.
"Being a noble really is nice. They actually live in a place this good. Even if I worked my whole life, I definitely couldn't buy a house like this. No, wait, you probably can't buy houses here with money in the first place, right?"
"Are you hinting for me to give you one?", He sighed while rubbing his forehead. Ubel turned around in surprise and deliberately looked hopeful.
"Can you?"
"I don't really mind. If you like it, giving you one isn't a problem, but in the future—"
Before he could finish, Ubel interrupted him, "So from now on I'll belong to you. This is an engagement gift, right? Mm, you don't have to say it. I understand that much."
"..."
'This woman is definitely saying it on purpose. If I argue with her any longer, things will only get more confusing, and she will just get more excited the more she talks,' After realizing that, Ash silently looked away from Ubel and pretended to focus on the scenery around him, trying to avoid her burning gaze and teasing words.
But Ubel had no intention of letting him off so easily. She quietly moved closer and stood on tiptoe, breathing lightly beside his ear.
"What's wrong? Are you shy? You sounded so confident just now?"
"Quit it," He flicked Ubel on the forehead with his finger. Although she cried out in pain, she smiled even more proudly.
"Haha~ Are you embarrassed now?"
Ash didn't want to pay attention to her, but Milli watched the two with interest and couldn't help sighing.
"Ash, after all these years, you've become even more charming. To make such a beautiful girl fall for you like this. And you too, you really picked a strange guy."
"Can't be helped. If this gets out, who knows how many rivals I'll have. Of course I need to increase my efforts now~"
"Milli, stop making things worse," Ash let out a tired sigh, glared at Milli, then placed a hand on Ubel's head and said gloomily, "Ubel, I'm even begging you, calm down a little. Don't go too far."
"How have I gone too far? I'm just pursuing the person I like," Ubel replied without caring.
"Did you forget that you originally followed me because of my magic?"
"Mm, I guess there was something like that?", Ubel blinked, finally remembering her original purpose, but then casually waved it off with a crooked smile, "Forget about that for now. Anyway, I want the magic, I want the man, and I want the heart too!"
"You really are greedy."
He only muttered that quietly and didn't plan to respond anymore. He silently turned his face away, hoping that what he couldn't see wouldn't bother him.
While Ubel aggressively launched her attack, Sense, who had been standing nearby the whole time, didn't know how to join the conversation and could only quietly watch.
A trace of disappointment flashed through her eyes. She lowered her head and looked at her unremarkable chest, sighing at herself.
But she didn't know how to express her feelings. Watching Ubel pursue him so boldly, she could only stand silently to the side, at a loss.
Yet as she watched the interaction between Ash and Ubel, the feeling of disappointment in her chest became harder to ignore. She unconsciously bit her lip, then finally gathered the courage to step forward and softly said, "Lord Ash."
"What is it?"
"N-no... it's nothing. Sorry."