July 22nd, Year 6783 of Brimir, Thursday.
On this day, three mysterious individuals arrived in Albion, the 'Floating Kingdom' located at the center of Halkeginia.
They were: Monkey D. Dragon, Ivankov, and Belo Betty.
In the past three days, Dak had given Dragon a brief overview of the era and the continental structure of the magical world.
After some consideration, Dragon decided to bring these two officers along.
In truth, Dragon's preferred choice was Crow, but Crow was currently participating in the First Coordination Contest, so he wasn't called over.
Ivankov had eaten the Snip-Snip Fruit and possessed the ability to transform into the Scissors Man. He was the former Deputy Commander of the Revolutionary Army's Grand Line Army.
In his male state (with glasses on), Ivankov excelled at infiltration and assassination. In his female state, she was an excellent secretary.
She was the first person Dragon considered bringing along, even having higher priority than Crow.
Belo Betty, on the other hand, was the user of the Encourage Fruit.
She could cause those who were inspired by her to have a continuous surge of strength, giving courage to the oppressed who had previously lacked the bravery to fight back.
In truth, Betty's ability was not particularly suited for this world.
Because the nobles in this world were different from those of the seafaring world.
They generally didn't openly oppress the commoners.
Even the more despicable nobles at most looked down on the commoners.
On the contrary, most nobles valued their people, often visiting their territories, offering benefits, and doing things to win the hearts of the populace.
Therefore, the commoners of this world didn't feel much oppression.
For the most part, they merely sighed over their lack of magical talent or money. There was hardly any 'hatred' toward the nobles; in fact, many nobles were even respected.
Trying to incite the commoners to rebel was basically a ridiculous notion, as they simply had no desire to rebel.
The reason for bringing Betty along was because she could enhance the overall strength of their entire army.
In the current situation, with Dak and Dragon preparing their setup within this nation, her presence was quite suitable.
The three of them were currently waiting in an inconspicuous alley.
For members of the Revolutionary Army, this sort of place was the most reassuring.
Besides, the 2.3-meter-tall Ivankov and the 2-meter-tall Betty were far too conspicuous.
If they weren't wearing cloaks to hide their unique appearances, they would definitely be the most eye-catching people on this street.
"What a bizarre structure. It's amazing that it doesn't fall. It feels just like the islands controlled by the 'Golden Lion' Shiki with his Float-Float Fruit."
Betty looked at the gray-white kingdom before them and couldn't help but marvel.
The three of them didn't feel too out of place upon arriving in this world.
They quickly discovered that many cities in this world were quite similar to the kingdoms of the seafaring world.
However, Albion was rather special.
A long time ago, there was a great explosion at the 'Holy Land' of Halkeginia. The nearby Albion was lifted into the sky, held up by countless shattered Wind Stones, floating hundreds of meters high in the air.
These Wind Stones formed a gray-white continent suspended in the sky, giving Albion the title of the 'Floating Kingdom.'
Destroying this Wind Stone land would naturally cause Albion to fall, but there was no need to explain what kind of disaster would result from such an event.
The Kingdom of Albion was not very large.
Among the Six Kingdoms, it ranked as the third smallest, only slightly larger than the two smaller kingdoms to the west and only half the size of Gallia.
But as a central kingdom of the continent in the past, its population was still in the tens of millions.
If Albion were to fall, it was hard to say how many of those tens of millions would survive, which was why no one dared to mess with the Wind Stone land.
However, perhaps because of its floating state, at least 90% of Albion's noble descendants became 'Wind-type' mages, and many magical species living within Albion's territory gradually evolved the ability to fly.
The people of Albion relied on these magical species and magical airships to communicate with other kingdoms.
"Just as Dak said, this kingdom is in the middle of a civil war. That atmosphere is far too familiar."
Dragon had put on his old dark green hooded cloak and was smiling as he spoke.
During the Great Pirate Era, he had seen far too many countries embroiled in civil wars. So he could tell the situation of Albion at a glance.
Throughout the kingdom, most of the common people continued their daily lives as usual, seemingly living in peace.
However, upon closer inspection, one could notice all sorts of suspicious figures moving through various inconspicuous alleys, clearly keeping an eye on something.
"With their energy not directed outward, it naturally gets turned inward."
Ivankov, who was currently in her female state without glasses, scanned the surroundings with a smile.
Albion's floating state brought both benefits and disadvantages.
The advantage was that they no longer had to deal with wars initiated by Gallia. But the downside was that the nobles, who were now free from external threats, became overly energetic, leading to internal conflicts.
But internal war was not solely caused by this.
The most critical reason was that the Tudor royal family now had less than three people left.
For now, it didn't seem like a big deal, but the couple within the Tudor family had no interest in managing Albion.
Instead, they spent their days busy trying to produce more heirs, hoping to expand the dwindling royal family.
Meanwhile, Prince Wales knew nothing about this as he continued his studies at the Albion Magic Academy.
Under such circumstances, Albion was slowly declining. It even began to experience the occasional famine, something that had never happened before.
This was something the other nobles could not tolerate, and they began to feel dissatisfied with the royal family.
Coincidentally, Duke Rekon Guesta was an ambitious man who directly raised the banner of rebellion and united the other nobles to overthrow the rule of the Tudor royal family.
And thus, Albion's civil war began.
The war had only been ongoing for a year, yet the Tudor royal family had been nearly wiped out, leaving only one prince. The number of supporters for the royal family was dwindling by the day.
According to the original story's development, Wales would eventually be killed, and Louise and the others would fail to arrive in time to rescue him.
But things were different now.
Dak had his eyes on this prince, and he wasn't about to let him die.
Not to mention that this young man was the last of the Tudor royal family, possessing one of the most 'noble' bloodlines in the magical world.
Moreover, Wales had a marriage contract with Princess Henrietta of Tristain.
Their engagement wasn't merely a political alliance between kingdoms. The two were genuinely in love, making it one of the rare, beautiful love stories in this world.
Of course, the most important thing was that this prince's character was nothing like his parents, who only seemed to care about producing heirs.
Wales was a man of ideals and principles.
Even when surrounded by enemies on all sides, he never intended to give up on restoring the Tudor royal family. Even when cornered in a church with only a few loyalists left, he refused to surrender or plead for mercy, fighting until his last breath before being assassinated.
After his death, his body was manipulated by the masterminds behind the scenes, who intended to use Wales to kill Henrietta.
Louise arrived just in time and used Void Magic to dispel the 'Corpse Manipulation' magic controlling Wales. Yet, even then, the man did not immediately turn into a lifeless corpse.
By sheer force of will, he held on a bit longer, forcing Henrietta to promise him she would forget about him and fall in love with another man.
For such a prince, Dak felt that he was worth saving.
In terms of status, bloodline, and character, Wales was a fitting candidate for the throne of the new faction.
If this prince could be recruited, then the nobles of both Albion and Tristain would be more or less resolved.
After that, they could focus their attention on the remaining four major kingdoms.
"When do we take action?"
Betty looked at Dragon beside her.
Although Dak had already given them the general direction, he hadn't intended to interfere with the specifics of the plan or its execution.
Dragon was, after all, the real mastermind, and it was only right for him to decide the specifics.
"According to what Dak said, this prince is already on the verge of running out of supplies. We'll show up with reinforcements when that happens. Right now, it's not the right time."
Dragon thought for a moment and decided not to act immediately. "Ivankov, send our people out to gather information."
"Got it."
Ivankov nodded, put on her glasses, and then vanished from the trio.
"If we step in now, the prince won't refuse our help, right?"
"No. But Dak's intention is for me to take him as a disciple. So, I need to observe him a bit more."
"A disciple?!"
"Yes. Ever since Dak made contact with the ninja world, he's begun to feel that taking on disciples is a necessary thing. Probably influenced by Madara and the others."
Dragon nodded solemnly.
He had never intended to take on a disciple before; his family's younger generation was already more than enough to deal with.
"Are you really going to take him as a disciple?"
"Yes. I can't rest easy letting an outsider manage such a large world."
Dragon originally had no intention of taking on disciples, but now he wasn't against the idea.
"Then we'll wait a bit longer."
"Let's go. We still know far too little about this world. We need to observe those nobles and see what kind of people they truly are."
"Fine by me. Honestly, I'm quite curious about their magic. Just now, I even saw someone flying over my head."
…
Tristain Magic Academy.
From Monday to Saturday, Dak theoretically should have had plenty of free time.
But that was not how things actually turned out.
Ever since Monday, when the students spread the news that he and his familiar came from another world, he had not had a single day of peace.
Basically, whenever he had free time, students or even teachers would come to him to inquire about the other world.
Naturally, Dak selectively shared only the good parts, while also asking the teachers about various magical systems.
He planned to, within the next few days, create a complete 'Ice' Magic System curriculum.
(End of Chapter)
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