Chapter 32

Sitting in his favorite rocking chair, Bolin contemplated the future of his city.

"Tomorrow, perhaps the largest caravan in the last fifty years will come, to be sure, now we are conducting the most active trade in the entire history of this city. Our residents have everything they want. And although they are happy about this, a rich life begins to satiate them. How long has poverty and hunger left our lands, how long has none of the inhabitants died from diseases or wounds. This carefree life makes them naive, weak, and not at all adapted to the real conditions of life in this cruel world. And isolation does not give them a chance to see all that terrible reality in which average people usually live. And no matter how much I try to do in order to reason with them, most still believe that life on the mainland, plus or minus, is the same as theirs. Many cannot even think about all that cruelty, poverty, hunger, diseases that flourish in many countries and cities. Even Hordnok, who got rich on trade with us, lives a dozen times worse. And not because our economy is better, no, just the distribution of wealth per capita there is completely different. An ordinary person, there is only a slave with a certificate of alleged freedom in the form of an identity document, and no more. The main wealth is collected in the hands of several hundred people and their relatives, while the rest are content with leftovers ... "

"But can you explain this to those who are accustomed from birth to the fact that the state takes care of them. Is it possible to explain to the well-fed, the problems of the starving ... But if this continues, sooner or later the ignorance of the population, not accustomed to be afraid, for their lives and wallets, unable to resist even primitive deception, will end in disaster.

Suddenly, interrupting Bolin's thoughts, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

It was quite surprising, because the maid should have been asleep for a long time, and his granddaughter is now visiting relatives. No one could arrive at such a late hour, besides, if this had happened, then from his window overlooking the main gate, he would have definitely seen it.

Squinting his eyes, the former rector of the magical arts of the city academy tried to check whether the unknown person standing outside the door had magical powers, in order to better understand who he was dealing with.

But in place of this, he only further discouraged himself.

Bolin simply did not feel anyone's presence behind the door, as if there was no one at all.

The knock on the door repeated.

"What's happening!"

Gathering his thoughts, and squeezing the instant jump ring, the master of the house finally answered.

- Sign in.

Opening the door, a tall, bald-headed man, about forty, entered, dressed in a floor-length dark robe that covered his body. With a large medallion hanging at chest level.

There was a tattoo on the stranger's forehead, something like a magical seal.

Bolin tensed, he still couldn't feel the presence of this person. For a moment, he even thought that it was an illusion, but, discarding this thought, the head of the city decided not to rush to conclusions.

"Good evening," the man bowed, "sorry to interrupt your holiday, but I need to speak to you urgently, Mr. Bolin, and it takes too much time for an official visit, because of all these stupid bureaucratic delays.

- Well, if this is so, I will certainly listen to you, please sit down at the table, I will wake the maid now and she will prepare tea for us.

Bolin, who was just about to leave the room, was stopped, still the same as before, in a cold, without emotion, voice.

"There is no need to worry so much, I can do without tea.

Not being a fool, the former best magician of Tai-Lon, perfectly understood the hint, which was so casually disguised as politeness.

"He won't let me just walk out of the room, which is to be expected. But who is he? Killer? No, I doubt it, if I wanted to kill, I would have acted completely differently. Perhaps he is a messenger from some force from the mainland who has come to make me an offer that I cannot refuse. Or, if I refuse, it will be the last thing I do. Though it's stupid to send one single person to kill me. On the other hand, I don't know how powerful this stranger is, it costs a lot to get here completely unnoticed. In addition, for the first time I am not able not only to appreciate the strength of a person, but I don't even feel his presence.

Sitting at a small table in the back of the room, the stranger, taking out a small box, presented it to Bolin:

"I am the ambassador and official representative of the Great United Empire, and I want to give you this gift as a token of our gratitude for such a barbaric invasion. Please accept it.

The head of the city was absolutely not interested in some kind of gift, he wanted to understand as quickly as possible who he was dealing with and what they wanted from him. But, remembering perfectly the rules of etiquette and courtesy, he accepted the box with a smile and opened it.

Yes, in any other situation, he would never pick up anything from a stranger, let alone open it. Only now, he decided to do things differently. Bolin was sure of the tremendous power that lurked in the person in front of him, and that this subject could kill him without relying on dirty tricks. The head himself did not fully understand what this terrible confidence in the power of this man lies in, but his intuition simply screamed about it.

Looking into the box, he froze.

It contained ancient alchemical scrolls that were thought to have been lost a long time ago, and that were only mentioned in old books from the main library.

Combining everything he saw together, Bolin accepted three things as a fact:

First, this person is a representative of a certain state, and is a high-level warrior or magician.

Second, most likely these scrolls are originals.

And third, the state he represents, a powerful state, seeking to get something from Tai-Lon.

"Thank you so much, but I can't accept such a big gift, this is unacceptable," the head tried to refuse the gift as politely as possible.

"These are minor things compared to how rudely we broke into you and insisted on negotiations, so I will not accept this gift back, you don't even have to try to insist on the opposite.

Bolin didn't know what to do, seeing the man's determination not to take the box back, so he decided to put the matter aside for later.

"Then, perhaps you could tell me your name and the reason for coming?"

"Of course, I'm Wuzhou, I came to inform you that the Great United Empire announces its coming to the whole world, and wants to immediately outline the boundaries of its territory so that our peoples do not have misunderstandings in the future.

With a sharp movement, unfolding the map of the desert of death that had come from nowhere, the man pointed his finger at it.

"All the territory circled in black, now and forever, now belongs to the United Empire, and of course, any violation of these borders without permission will be punished according to the law. Namely: death for individuals, and war if it is violated by the forces of one state or another.

Bolin, terribly nervous, trying not to show it, began to study the map. And what he saw made his hands shake.

The area marked as the borders of the empire completely included the entire desert of death, the territory of the secret garden and the kingdom of the stone giants.