"After a war, you rebuild what was lost in the war, stronger and better. After you rebuild stronger and better, it will be high time for another war." - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, first emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.

Five kilometers west of Egren Pass

Eastern section.

Third Elmaiya Empire

5th day, 2st week, 2nd month, year 95 VA.

Crossing the pass itself took most of the day, then the delegation had spent a night resting at the small fort on the empire's side of the pass. Because of that they only continued their journey into the empire proper on the next day instead.

When the delegations left the fort, the soldiers in the fort - a good two hundred of them - followed alongside them as an escort. The actual soldiers who had previously manned the fort had been moved weeks ago, as the ones in the fort were members of the imperial guards awaiting the return of their emperor.

It had not escaped Aideen's notice that while the guards were from a mix of all races - she even noticed some orcs marching proudly amongst them - the majority of them were therians. Larger breeds with ferocious appearances at that, much like Artair and his family. Even the humans amongst them were impressive specimens to behold. On top of that, the well-made gear they wore seemed to make them even bigger and more intimidating.

When she casually asked about it to the emperor as they rested for that night, right around where the new border would be at, the response she got made her chuckle. When the new emperor first selected people for his personal guards, he quite naturally selected the best of the best amongst the soldiers available to him.

As strength was highly valued amongst the therians, quite naturally larger breeds of therians dominated the selected guardsmen. Once they had a core, new members were further selected through tests in which they were pitted against the already chosen guardsmen. Those tests, against burly therians, naturally further leaned towards stronger people, and as a result, the imperial guards ended up as a group of overly large, heavily muscled men and women that looked like they could tackle an ogre barehanded.

Khaer Ul himself admitted that it wasn't intentional at first, but when he noticed the abundance of massive, hulking people amongst his personal guards, he had the armor slated for them changed to the more intimidating one they currently wear. The armor worn by the previous imperial guards tended to be more ornate and decorative, which was an odd look on the current guards.

Where in most nations such a raw display of aggression and strength would be considered uncouth for a monarch's guards, in the now therian-dominated empire it was the image to project. The differing values observed meant that while such guards would be mocked in many other nations, in the current empire they were a fitting show of strength.

Thus escorted by the imperial guards, the delegation proceeded further towards the interior of the empire. The easternmost region which were ceded to Ptolodecca was nearly unpopulated, as the threat of elven raids in the past had ensured that no villages were built too close to the forest, and Fort Asconix and the smaller unnamed fort by Egren pass were the only inhabited areas that far east.

Once they went further west, Aideen saw villages and towns, many of which showed signs of damage from a battle. The villagers and townspeople were busy at work, rebuilding their homes and their lives after the civil war.

One case in particular had them pass by a town, or rather, the remnants of one. Most of the buildings there had been razed to the ground during the war, and apparently the survivors of the town were now trying to rebuild it.

It surprised Aideen when the emperor had the carriages halt by that ruined town, as it was still a few hours before the moon rises, which was when they usually stopped for the night. It was also unexpected that Khaer Ul ordered his guards to help the townspeople with their efforts while they stopped there for the day.

What impressed her the most, however, was how the emperor himself offered his aid to the struggling townspeople. Many of them had injuries, either recent ones from hunting or accidents while rebuilding, or older injuries from the civil war, and to her surprise the emperor personally came to their aid.

Khaer Ul Tessarii was a life affinity mage, a strong and experienced one at that, which was how he had earned some renown as a wandering healer before. Under his ministrations, injuries old and new vanished, unblemished skin where they used to be. His little granddaughter watched curiously by his side while he worked.

As the emperor himself already gave an example, the rest of the delegations joined in the efforts, even the ones from Ptolodecca. Aideen herself worked by Khaer Ul, as she worked her healing alongside him. She saw Mimia and Éirynn help cook meals, while Artair and his family had joined the imperial guards in physically helping to rebuild the town.

Of course, she also noticed how some of the imperial delegation looked affronted at having to work like that, and it did not miss Aideen's notice that the therian woman she saw around the prime minister seemed to be noting them down.

Needless to say, the townspeople were quite baffled at suddenly finding help like that. Help from their own new emperor at that, and it wasn't long before they worked in a frenzy, as their morale soared from the emperor's presence.

When the night fell and everybody rested and had their meals, many of the townspeople came to prostrate themselves before their emperor, only to be invited to dine with him instead. The warm treatment drove the simple townspeople to tears on the spot.

From the side where she watched, Aideen couldn't help but have the thought that Khaer Ul was probably too kind a person to be an emperor, as she noticed that he had genuinely intended to help those townspeople even if only by a little bit while she healed people besides him.

But when she looked at the prime minister, who was in a conversation with Artair's father, she realized that those two men likely took up the slack for the emperor. She had not interacted much with the Elmaiyan prime minister so far, but she knew Artair's father to be a cunning, ruthless man. He seemed to genuinely support Khaer Ul too, which meant that his ruthlessness would have been directed towards enemies of the emperor, ones that he might be too kindhearted to remove properly.

Aideen thought that if Artair's father were to pull up some weeds, he would certainly make sure that no roots were left behind.