Side Chapter 4 (Some important info)
Six thousand miles away from the Silver Moon Sect lies a sprawling metropolis made using a mix of medieval-era Eastern and Western architecture. Because of the limited materials and the lack of technological knowledge, most of the buildings do not go past three or four floors.
The ones that do have formations written across them and are clearly designed to be places of importance.
In the center of the city is a massive palace surrounded by a citadel to protect it.
This city is the capital city of the empire and the seat of the imperial family. Because of this, the city houses many side branches or representatives of the large forces related to the empire and the imperial family.
This even included some demonic forces that were able to show themselves in public thanks to the debate on what techniques should be considered demonic techniques. The debate itself was started by the current emperor after he ascended the throne along with many others.
This meant that there was a constant stream of people coming in and out of the palace every day. However, today was unique as a previously unseen man wearing black armor with his face half covered ran into the palace without the guards stopping him.
This man ran all the way up to the court steward before almost collapsing to the ground, out of breath and drawing the attention of some of the court attendants.
Upon seeing this man, the steward immediately pulled him off to the side and let him catch his breath before asking him, "What are you doing here? Has something happened to the Silver Moon sect?"
After a few seconds of collecting his thoughts, the man answered, "The sect founder has defied the emperor's orders and come out of her seclusion near the forgotten forest."
The man's words were tinged with a mix of fear and concern, but contrary to this, the steward was completely calm and asked, "Is this your first time watching the silver moon sect?"
Confusion spread on the man's face when he was asked this question, but he still answered truthfully, "Yes, it is."
The steward, expecting this answer, nodded and then asked, "Is this the first mission that you have been assigned to?"
The confusion on the man's face only deepened at his, but he still answered, "Yes, sir."
The steward nodded again in response before asking, "Do you know what Miss Raina did after leaving seclusion? Is she still in the sect?"
These questions caused the man's eyes to go wide before he started to panic.
Seeing this, the steward shook his head and then asked, "Did you only confirm that Raina had come out of seclusion before running to the capital because your contacts were not passing on the information?"
The man went from panicking to being confused again before nodding his head and saying, "Yes, sir."
The steward sighed again after hearing this and said to the man, "I understand the situation. You can go back to the sect to watch the situation and report back any new developments. Just remember that your contacts know more about the situation in that sect than you so if they do not show any concern about something. Then there is nothing to worry about."
With that said, the steward walked away, leaving the man confused.
(Five minutes later, in the east office wing of the palace.)
The steward stopped in front of a large set of double doors engraved with a sun made of gold on one side and a moon made of silver on the other.
Opening the doors, they then step through, revealing a spartan office with only a large desk and a few chairs for guests. Sitting behind the desk was a middle-aged man with short, blazing red hair and a well-defined physique wearing a black robe embroidered with gold threads in the patterns of dragons and phoenixes.
This man was none other than the emperor himself, Tenariphis Lockheart.
Looking up from his desk and locking eyes with the steward, he asked, "Why are you here?"
The steward, unfazed by the emperor's break of decorum, looked at him and said, "It seems Raina has finally gotten bored and come out of seclusion."
A man in polished and battle-scared armor appeared out of thin air, sitting in one of the guest chairs, laughing like a madman.
The emperor and the steward were equally unfazed by the sudden appearance of the man, simply waiting for him to calm down. When he did, he suddenly exclaimed, "It seems that I have won a new mansion!"
These words caused lines to form on the steward's forehead as the emperor added, "I told you that you would lose that bet."
The steward got even more upset at this and turned to glare at the man in armor, causing the emperor to start laughing himself.
This went on for a few seconds until the emperor calmed down and asked, "So what is my sister doing now?"
His question caused the room to gain a bit more of a serious tone, even if everyone was still calm.
The steward then answered the question, saying, "We do not have any information about that. We only know that she has come out of her seclusion and that she was last seen in the Sect."
The emperor sat there for a moment, thinking after hearing the steward's words before saying, "That is similar to what I was told. However, I had more information than that."
The look on the steward's face turned to one of annoyance as he asked, "If you were already monitoring the situation, why did you have the intelligence department station someone there?"
The smile that the emperor gave upon hearing this caused the other two people in the room to shudder and pray for the poor souls that screwed up. He then explained, "I had them station trainees there to gain both practical experiences and to test the training methods of the intelligence department. Both of which seem to be lacking."
Giving a second prayer from the poor souls of the intelligence department, the steward then took the chance to ask, "What information do you have on Miss Raina?"
The slightly demonic smile softened at the question as he responded, "Apparently, I have a new niece."
These words caused the mouths of the other two people to fall open in shock as the man in armor exclaimed, "What?!"
The fox-like smile that the emperor had on his face made the others realize what he was doing, causing them to grumble under their breath.
The emperor then explained in more detail, "At first, it was thought that she had fallen victim to a scheme from one of the demonic sects. However, it was later proven that she had adopted a kitsune girl and was either messing around or an accident had occurred during cultivation."
The emperor stopped at that point without clarifying anything, causing the other two to get confused and ask, "What are you talking about?"
The fox-like grin returned as he said, "My sister has somehow gotten turned into a fox-kin."
This left the other two people in shock again as he took the time to clarify, "The Kitsune had come from the forgotten forest and arrived in Raina's little village after falling from the sky. She used a strange device made of cloth to slow down her fall and land in front of Raina's house.
Afterwards, Raina confronted the Kitsune for intruding on forbidden land before changing her stance and letting her help with one of the village's problems. Raina then took the Kitsune to her house and did something to her, but we do not know what it was. However, it is assumed that this is when Raina adopted the girl.
This can be confirmed by the interaction that Raina had with one of the disciples from the Silver Moon sect, who showed up not long after.
Later, when the Kitsune left the village with the disciple, Raina returned to her house to cultivate for a month. But when she walked out of her house again, she somehow became a fox-kin, and we do not know why. However, ever since then she has remained as a fox-kin even after returning to the Sect."
As the emperor finished his explanation, the other two people looked at him in shock for a few minutes before the steward said, "At least the Kitsune can not be mistaken for a member of the royal family."
The emperor gave an uneasy smile after hearing this, causing the steward to get a bad feeling as the emperor said, "About that. She has the same blood-red eyes and hair that signify the most pure imperial heritage, even more than me and my sisters."
The other two people looked at each other with concern evident on their faces as the steward asked, "Does this mean that we need to add her as a candidate in the competition for the throne?"
The emperor shook his head and said, "From my understanding, she would find a way to cause the most destruction to the empire while being fully within the law just to spite us if we did that. On the bright side, I now know where to send my third daughter to train."
The expression of the steward and the man in armor went hard at this, with the man in armor only saying one thing.
"The Blood Moon is going to rise again."