Whispers of A Dead Empire

Chapter 48

I brought some fresh herbs and some meat in my personal bag of holding. If my father saw me using it for stuff like this, he probably would fit, but he isn't here now. I rifled through the bag and did a mental tally of what was in there. I had this exotic herb in here that was called Soap's bundle. Which I only really brought along cause Alinore and Carter think it's delicious, but I think it tastes exactly like its name. I pulled the bundle of green herbs out, set it on the table, and pulled out another called mint. I wasn't a fan, but everyone else in the party was.

I set the two bundles on the table and pulled out some meat that I brought along with me. I couldn't cook for the life of me, which was why I wasn't above spending a few silver on pre-cooked meals and putting them into my bag. The nutrition bars were hot garbage and not worth my time, and I wouldn't subject my friends to that horror either. I pulled out a small cooked chicken, along with a few cooked shellfish that was still steaming, along with some portions of some vegetables.

I had a small chunk of salt that I kept in here as well, along with some ground pepper. This little guy cost me a fair amount, so we were careful to ration it out. But it went a long way with helping the food taste a bit better. I pulled out the smaller plates that I kept stowed away, along with a few forks. I know that many in the guild would look down on this, seeing it as excessive and pompous, but good food was the way to keep morale up. I set everything up, and just before, I was about to wake Gunther up, who had already passed out. I felt a slight jab in my bladder. With a yawn, I walked towards the front of the cabin, intending to drain my bladder.

When I came back, I glanced over at the food and saw that the herbs looked slightly disturbed and seemed to be missing a few leaves, and my salt block seemed slightly smaller, and the portions of food seemed slightly shifted. Anyone else wouldn't have seen it, but I did. I glanced towards Gunther and saw that he was still passed out. From the back of the cabin came a bunch of giggling from Alinore, which told me that those two were a little too busy to come out here and take stuff. I rubbed my eyes and stared at them for a moment longer. Maybe I was just exhausted and was seeing things. I haven't really slept since the anxiety of visiting this domain kept me awake for a lot longer than it should have.

I shrugged and walked down the back hall, and slammed my fist against the wooden door. "Oi, if you two lovebirds are done, dinner's up. I suggest you come get some."

"Alright, Redrick, we will be out in a bit!" Carter called out, his voice muffled through the door.

I turned away and saw that Gunther was awake and was munching on the part of the chicken he tore off. I pulled off my boots and set them down next to my bag, and reached out for a plate, and took some of the food, and munched on it mindlessly. I was still a bit unnerved by this place. We traveled for well over an hour, yet we haven't seemed to encounter a single mob. I put a small pinch of salt and pepper on the piece of chicken and bit into its tough flesh; it was a little overcooked, but it would do for now, I suppose. I quickly scarfed down my meal and gnawed on a few vegetables.

I laid back on the couch and munched on a carrot as I stared at the ceiling. I wanted to do a bit more exploring before we left in the morning, though I wasn't above making sure this was our H.Q for the duration of our stay. I swallowed the rest of my food and saw that Gunther had passed out once again.

I wasn't surprised. The man could sleep anywhere at the drop of a copper coin. I stood up and grabbed the water skin that I kept on my travel bag and took a deep swig of it before strapping it back into place and meandering into the kitchen. A few large gray pieces of paper were on the table with sprawling texts across its surface with a strange naming structure and a string of numbers. At the very top, each sheet was labeled The Asterian Times.

My eyes skimmed the page, and I realized what I was holding. It was a collection of news on a weekly basis. What kind of empire had its citizens able to read well enough for this to matter? Education was ungodly expensive, and finding someone who was willing to teach you to read for free was nigh impossible. My eyes danced across the top of the paper as I checked the date once more. It was labeled as being made on the 25th of April on a Friday in the year of 2018. I guess this was this empire's dating structure. I had no idea of what the year was currently here, though outside of this place, it was it the year 650 of Aeavonus.

I read through it quickly and saw that it was discussing the assassination of the reigning of Emperor Alexander and the coronation date of his successor, Calixa. I felt my heart twist as I read further on; I felt for Calixa, and I was all too aware of how it felt to have your family torn away from you like that.

I moved onto the following week's paper and saw that Calixa took the crown and was slated to select her chosen. As I read on, I saw more snippets of news that discussed the whispers of war and the growing religion that was taking the empire by storm. The other thing that caught my interest was the discussion of who would take the spot of the chosen. Which was a paladin by the name of Quintas Regullis.

I flicked away to the last sheep of paper. That was labeled for a week later. I could read that there was a massive upset when the Empress took another as her chosen. Instead of Quintas, she took Alessia Veers, a lesser-known knight from the Order of the Blue Rose. I tried to work through why the Empress would choose another. More than likely, it was her establishing her place as her own entity instead of bowing to the nobility. A bold and risky move, but a good power play nonetheless.I read further on and saw that war broke out between Asteria and a neighboring empire of Tyrsenian due to trade and political strife that had been building for a few years. Once I finished, I saw that it was the last one on the table.

As many questions as it had answered, there were still many more. What role did the chosen perform that was so important to the nation that it occurred immediately after the coronation? I had a few ideas, but this realm has yet again defied common knowledge, and I was afraid to make a guess that would be incorrect. In fact, I was starting to think that this wasn't even a domain at all.