Joseph Salazar, the head of the Pilsen Chamber of Commerce, came all the way from the Kingdom of Thrace and left in a hurry after purchasing a batch of arms worth 50,000 gold nars.

However, this was just a trivial matter for the city of Istalia, where tens of thousands of people came in and out every day, and was not enough to cause any waves.

At best, it would increase Reuven's share and allow the Klauber Military Industrial Group to obtain more orders.

For the local residents, what is more important is the upcoming festival, the most important day in the entire Burning Empire - the Coronation Day.

At noon on March 1786, 1 of the Third Era, Cassius crowned himself on the altar, announcing the establishment of the empire to the world.

Over the years, with the official propaganda, the empire has formed a series of festival customs, and the people also attach great importance to it.

Every March 1st, people would gather in the Emperor's Square, surrounding the huge and majestic red dragon statue, and sing the "Ode to Cassius" together.

In addition, people often gave each other gifts, held banquets, and drank in taverns, shouting "Long live Your Majesty!" "Thank Your Majesty!" and other hymns, and even sang hymns.

The expensive "Gift of the Dragon" was provided free of charge at this time, and was reimbursed by the imperial government.

In addition, all factories and offices are closed on this day, so people can enjoy this carnival time and show their loyalty to His Majesty.

“All nations worship together the great red dragon in the sky!”

"How can I repay this kindness?"

The melodious singing echoed in the square, the sound was more passionate than yesterday's rehearsal, and everyone's face was filled with enthusiasm.

"Long live the Empire!"

"Long live His Majesty Cassius!"

“Everything is 40% off to celebrate Coronation Day!”

Citizens of all kinds gathered here. They sat on chairs next to the tavern, raised their glasses or even barrels, and drank happily together.

"Pay attention to order!"

"Ogre over there! Put down the satyr next to your mouth!"

However, the tieflings of the security team were still maintaining order. They patrolled back and forth with rifles in hand - to prevent those huge drunks from revealing their true nature and doing something out of line.

Human, orc, tiefling, hobgoblin, lizardman, ogre, satyr, wyvern.
Regardless of race, identity, or status, as long as they are citizens of the empire, they are enjoying this rare carnival day and venting the stress of work.

There are some exceptions, though - enemies of the Empire, for example.

The "human" in a gray robe was silently looking at the celebrating crowd in the corner, with endless resentment in his eyes.

His former name was Asher Kale, also a northern nobleman with noble blood that had been passed down for hundreds of years and lived a wealthy life.

However, the arrival of the Red Dragon completely destroyed everything. All his family members lost their heads in the "Great Trial", and he was waiting for death in prison.

At this moment, the extremely strong hatred in Asher's heart attracted the attention of the "demon of vengeance", and the bottomless abyss opened a hideous and terrifying door for him.

Several years later, he returned to the Northland again. Under his human skin was the ugly and deformed body of a demon.

"These damn humans"

"They have forgotten the kindness of their ancestors so quickly and pledged allegiance to the evil dragon. They should be torn into pieces."

Asher gritted his teeth and said that in order to fight the evil dragon, he would not hesitate to transform himself into a demon.

But these despicable northern people changed their beliefs in just a few years and even pledged allegiance to the evil dragon!
This is simply unforgivable!

Asher's mission was to incite hatred against the red dragon, destroy the social order of the empire, and collect more nutrients for the cultivation of demons. But at this moment, among the tens of thousands of people in the square, not a single person had the red light representing hatred on his body.

Even most of them revealed a golden light representing loyalty and faith, which made Asher unable to open his eyes.

He cried out hoarsely from his throat: "This is impossible!"

This is simply unbelievable!

They clearly live under the brutal rule of the evil dragon, so how can they have no hatred towards it?
You know, even during the rule of the Northern Kingdom, there were still many stupid mobs who intended to rebel.

Why is it that when the evil dragon rules, the people become free of hatred?

This is not common sense at all!
Asher lowered his head and muttered to himself, "What a bunch of despicable humans! If this continues, how can we complete the mission assigned by Lord Jezalslak?"

"The flames are your majesty's robe, the sky is your majesty's veil, the darkness, the storm, and the rain follow your majesty's path"

"How can I forget this kindness?"

The melodious hymns coming from afar made Asher more and more irritated.

"Damn."

If he hadn't taken into account that this was within the empire, he would probably have revealed his true form as a demon and crushed the humans who were chanting hymns into minced meat on the spot.

"No, don't be impatient. There are hundreds of thousands of people in this city, and there will always be people who hate the dragon."

"As long as we find one of them, we can implicate a group that hates dragons."

Thinking of this, he decided to walk around the square and try his luck.

Asher wandered around the square, shuttling between taverns, controlling the human body and making a "joyful" expression.

In the vast expanse of loyal golden light, he finally found a white figure in the corner of the tavern - it was a human.

White symbolizes neither hatred nor support.

But this is already extremely precious in the vast golden light. For Asher, that human being at least has room for fight.

"It seems that this evil dragon has not yet bewitched everyone. There are still some wise humans out there."

Thinking of this, Asher stepped forward and said:

"Friend, are you in a bad mood?

This is a day of national celebration, why are you so depressed? "

The man was startled. He straightened his back and said tremblingly: "Long live His Majesty Cassius! I just encountered some troubles, and I have no opinion on Your Majesty!
Are you from Nocturne?"

It seems like there is hope!

Asher's eyes suddenly lit up, and he replied with a smile: "Of course not, relax, I'm just a stranger."

The man then let out a long sigh of relief.

Then, Asher continued to ask: "Friend, what is your name? Are you in trouble?"

The man looked sad. He raised his glass high, raised his chin, and drank the wine in the glass.

The wine flowed from his lips and wet his collar. He wiped the corners of his mouth with his hand nonchalantly, and then said: "My name is Raj, and I am a worker at Factory 13." (End of this chapter)