Unaware of what had transpired after he had left the Celestial Palace, Thane appeared within yet another palace. As per his request, this was the palace of the queen of Hanbei, Yuki Saruko. His arrival was accompanied by a burst of golden light, a spiritual fog spreading around his body.

Naturally, the guards of the palace would not take kindly to an intruder appearing suddenly in front of them. Before he could utter a word, he was locked down on by many different waves of ki, each more powerful than himself. While he was indeed someone classified as a ‘saint’ in his past life, that did not make him powerful.

Even when he was alive, he was only considered mediocre in terms of strength. Now, as time had passed and the strength of the world rose even further, it was no wonder that the palace guards were far superior to him in power.

However, none of that mattered to him. He could feel his hands, his feet, his shaking legs. These were no longer merely spiritual forms that he created, but rather a true body of flesh and blood. That was enough to bolster his courage, circulating his ki to briefly resist the pressure and call out.

“My name is Thane Lorient!” He shouted, knowing that the queen of this country would be familiar with him. He had chosen this place for a number of reasons. First and foremost was the hardships that its people were suffering through, but also because he had been watching them, wanting to see how they would treat their people.

While the queen had been unable to properly help them in the way that they needed, he saw her commenting in private about himself, wishing to have someone like him at her side. “I have returned from the Celestial Palace, the Realm of Eternity, through the method of Heroic Descent!”

There was a pulse of energy that spread through the throne room, and Thane felt himself able to stand on his own two feet without difficulty only a moment later. Straightening his back, he saw the blue-robed queen in all her glory.

Yuki was a woman that appeared cold on the outside, but that was merely a guise to give her people a sense of assurance. He knew that beneath her icy exterior, she was nervous, always wondering if she was doing the right thing. Asking herself if there was more that she could do for her people. She remained the strongest figure in the country, shouldering its defense against foreign powers and disasters with the weight of her name and the strength of her fist.

She was a martyr, through and through. And she saw nothing wrong with this decision, only that she wasn’t able to help more people.

“You claim to be Sir Lorient?” The queen asked, staring down at him from her throne, to which he nodded his head. “I assume you have some measure of proof to back this claim?”

“Call your inquisitor.” Thane declared boldly. “I will swear by my words in no uncertain terms. I have been watching this kingdom for over twenty years from the Celestial Palace. Ever since you took the throne, I have had my eye on this place. Bring forward any means you wish to verify my identity.”

There was a murmur through the guards, some asking who he was while others muttering how such a thing should not be possible. However, all of these voices were silenced with a raising of the queen’s hand. “I have merely one question. If you can answer it properly, I will consider you to be speaking the truth. If you cannot, I will have you return to wherever it is that you came from by force.”

Thane gave a firm nod, preparing for her question. She took only a moment to think of what she wanted to ask. “When you were contacted by my mother, who sought to form a friendly relationship with your company, why did you refuse?”

Thane smiled at that, having expected something of the sort. “Because the relationship she sought with me was not truly as friendly as others believed. Her goal was to acquire my company through the guise of friendship, and attempted to manipulate me into joining her in her bed.”

“If you know of me, you know that I left behind no heirs in life. She ‘kindly offered’ to provide me one, saying that there would be many things that we could do for one another if we worked together. I pride myself on being able to judge a person’s character, and I knew that she did not wish for my company to stand in the way of her ambitions. Ambitions that I am glad to say were not passed down to her daughter.”

Yuki hesitated when she heard that, it not being the answer she expected. When she heard the story from her mother, she was simply told that he had disgraced her and said that she did not ay him enough to form the relationship. A rather laughable joke when one considers the nature of the two individuals.

One was the queen of a human nation, and the other… Yuki knew that Thane was truly a businessman, but one of the extremely rare forthright ones. His company had the potential to lead the field of alchemy, being far ahead of its time. But, instead of developing new potions or growing new medical herbs, he went in a different direction.

Thane turned his research not into creating better and better medicine, but in simplifying what was already there. He aimed to provide the best care at the cheapest cost. For years, he dominated the market simply because he was able to provide potions at a fraction of the cost of anyone else.

When other companies began to demand that he raise his prices in an attempt to bully him, he did what any research institute would have found unthinkable. He published the exact formula he used for his potions freely on the internet. Once he did that, the other companies could no longer try to push him around in an attempt to extract the formula for their own profit. Everyone had equal claim to that potion… but it was by no means the end.

After he had stunned the market once, he quickly did so again. This time, it was a replica of one of the potions provided by Cicily of Learning. This recipe was so hard for others to reproduce because it required specific plants grown by the sylvans themselves. At least, until Thane cracked the formula and modified it to produce the same results with more commonly available materials.

This potion was one to help pregnant women successfully give birth to a child, regardless of the strength of their physical bodies. Previously, there was a higher risk of failure the stronger the body of the mother, due to the child’s own body not being able to cope with the pressure during birth. When Thane created this potion and released it to the public, it triggered another uproar.

However… once again, he freely released his formula. He did not try to hoard the materials for it for himself in advance to inflate the prices. He even personally went to hospitals in various countries to deliver free batches. Through his efforts, tens of millions of children had been born that would have otherwise never had the chance to experience the world.

But this was not why Yuki’s mom had sought after him so strongly. While it may have very well earned him his overflowing karma to help so many, it was not the political strength she wanted. Rather, that was his ability to plan around numerous contingencies, to take one look at a person and understand them. He was indeed a manipulator, always saying exactly what he needed to say to get the other person to play according to his script.

Thinking about that, and how her mother still praised him despite his refusal of her offer, Yuki gave a small sigh. “That does sound like her.” Although she said that, she did intend to run smaller tests later, when she believed he would not expect it.

“Well then, Sir Lorient. What is it that you came here to do?” Her curiosity was natural. There had never been a report of this ‘Heroic Descent’ occurring to her knowledge, so she did not know of his purpose here. Clearly, he had not arrived as a warrior, for any of her guards could easily suppress him.

“I’ve come to answer your prayers, Your Highness.” Thane answered, offering a bow. In order to complete his goal, he would employ all the means at his disposal.

Yuki thought about his words for a moment, before she blinked in realization. “Follow me.” She spoke abruptly, rising from her throne. One of the guards moved to follow her, but she stopped him with a glare.

Nodding his head, Thane followed her without question. He knew fully well that he could do nothing against her in a frontal assault, even if he did have such motives. And likely, she knew it as well. She was merely attempting to move the conversation to a more private venue, where she would feel more free to speak and in control of the situation.

She would certainly be more free to speak her mind in a private audience, but… Thane knew that she would not truly control the situation. As soon as he heard from Julian about this arrangement, he had been formulating plans in his mind.

Soon, the two of them arrived in a private meeting room, containing only a long table surrounded by a number of chairs. He could sense the fluctuations of magic and ki alike from the room, and did not doubt that it had a number of protective enchantments that would prevent either of them from attacking the other.

Moving over, Yuki was the first to sit at the table, with Thane moving to sit at the opposite side from her. He did this to showcase their current positions, creating a feeling of distance between them while also making Yuki want to close that distance.

“Why you… why now?” She asked, seeing that they were alone, and she was free to speak without the scrutiny of her guards and advisors.

“I shall be honest with you, Your Highness. I am well aware that there is a truth-detection spell over these chambers, and that you will feel a pulse whenever someone within this room lies, courtesy of the silver bangle you wear on your wrist.”

Yuki flinched slightly at those words, one hand moving instinctively to hide her wrist. But Thane simply continued. “I have my own goals. I feel that the situation within the Celestial Palace is not ideal. But, in order for me to enact the change that I want there, I have to prove myself. From now until the day I die, I must once again accrue enough karmic merit to earn my way through its gates again.”

“In order to do that, I could take any number of paths, from starting my company back up to sharing secrets that I learned from beyond the veil of death. The path that I chose was to find a company ruled by a caring soul, yet was burdened by such hardship due to the misguided nature of that very soul.”

Yuki froze when she heard that, her face becoming cold once again. “You say that I am causing trouble for my country by being caring?”

“Not at all.” Thane smiled amiably. “I am simply saying that you are doing things the wrong way. You seek to stand alone at the highest summit, beneath only the gods and the Keeper. You charge into battle and defeat whatever monster appears, and vanish without ever asking for a word of praise. These are truly admirable qualities.”

Yuki started to relax again, before Thane continued, causing her to stiffen once more. “But they are also foolish. By isolating yourself like you have, you do not hear the hearts of your people. By swiftly leaving after a battle, you abandon your people to the rigors that remain. The plague, the destruction of their homes, while you charge off to fight your next battle.”

“The domain that has begun to form in your heart, the one which you thought so highly of and wanted to strive for in your own ascension… the domain of Sacrifice. What you are sacrificing in your actions is not yourself, but those around you. That is why I chose to come here.”

“A ruler must not stand alone. They must be seen among their people. A ruler is one who laughs the loudest, fights the hardest, and embodies all of the hope of their nation. A ruler trusts their people, guides them, and raises them into a force that could stand with them in any situation. The nation must serve its ruler, and in doing so the ruler quietly sows the seed of ambition into the hearts of their people.”

“Yes, grow, become strong. Become as strong as I am, and you could live as I live. You could be as happy as I am. Anyone could, with the right effort. I am not unique. Through that message, people will cast aside their own self-doubts and strive for something greater. To stand on the same stage as you. When you have reached that point… you will command the most powerful nation in the world. In any world, for that matter.”

As Thane spoke, he could see Yuki shaking, his words hitting her harder than any physical strike. This was why Thane had chosen to come here, to teach Yuki how to truly protect her people without giving up her gentle nature.