The week passed slowly for Antoine. He would wake up early every morning to train with Lily. She wouldn’t let him stop until he was nearly unable to stand. Only once she saw him heaving and his legs shaking would she let him go. He would return and take a quite dip in the dorm bath, then head off to the main campus for classes. These he would finish just before sunset, when he would return to his dorm to prepare for the next day of class.

In class, he frequently caught his attention straying from the lecture. In such moments, he would find himself invariably immersed in the story the old man had told him in the park. He would slap himself gently on the cheek when no one was looking, and attempt – in vain – to pay attention to the lecture once more.

The day did finally come along, however, that he and the old man had arranged. The lecturer had barely announced the end of the final class before lunch when Antoine was already dashing out of the hall.

“What’s going on with him?” the lecturer asked as he looked at Lily, puzzled.

Lily could but shrug at the lecturer and sigh as she watched Antoine march, almost anxiously, into the distance.

Antoine soon arrived at the bench in the park where he had met the old man a week prior. He found there, seated exactly as he had been the week before, the old man. His head hung slightly as though he were asleep. Antoine made no attempt to hide his approach, and just as he was a few metres away from the bench, the old man lifted his head. Once he saw who it was that was approaching, he smiled and patted the bench next to him.

“You’re quite punctual,” he said.

Antoine’s cheeks flushed slightly and he wore a bashful smile. He took his seat and waited quietly for the old man to start telling the story. The old man, however, didn’t. He watched Antoine for a few seconds in silence.

“How was your week?” he finally asked.

Antoine didn’t know whether to feel touched that the man was interested in his week, or irritated that the story had yet to begin.

“It’s been busy,” he eventually replied, “I have classes most of the day, and my friend forces me to exercise and practice every morning.”

“Practice is good,” the old man nodded, “This world is too dangerous, one cannot afford to be lax.”

“What do you mean? His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor, has tamed the wilderness. There hasn’t been a true threat to the empire for many years. The dissident factions in the kingdoms were destroyed, the devils and demons and their monster armies have been crushed. They don’t dare to venture outside of the mountain ranges or the black forests that surround them. The empire’s borders stretch from natural barrier to natural barrier, from the Dragonback Mountains in the east to the Night Forest in the west, from the Fire-Wastes in the north to the Eternal Waters in the south. The only ways into the empire are through easily defendable and well-guarded passes in the Dragon Mountain, and a few ports in the south on the coast. Besides that, there lies no comparable, united force outside the empire, nothing can truly threaten it.”

Antoine, like many who lived in the empire, was very proud of the empire’s stability and knew the reasons therefore well. There was no danger to the empire. The villages near the forests suffered occasional incursions by small bands of primitives, but nothing worth any real worry.

“Tell me, have you learned of hard-water in your classes yet?” the old man asked unperturbed.

“I have…”

“What happens when you apply an external force to it?”

“It turned hard as stone,” Antoine answered, slightly confused.

“And what happens when you relieve that pressure?”

“…It become fluid once more and flows all over the place like normal water would.”

The old man smiled profoundly at Antoine, as if he expected him to gleam something from it. Antoine gaped at the man for a few moments before a small light appeared in his eyes.

“You don’t mean-“

“Exactly,” the old man interrupted him, “The empire is like hard-water. When there is an external force, or threat, it unites and become strong to face that threat, but when that threat no longer exists, it becomes fluid. Internal strife causes it to weaken as those within it compete for personal gain. Do not let the relative peace of the empire fool you. When there is no external threat, threats from within will emerge.”

Antoine remained silent for a while as he contemplated the words of the old man.

‘When there is no external threat against which the people can unify, they will begin to bicker and fight among themselves,’ the thought struck him like a divine revelation.

He remembered all the tales of the various kingdoms and empires that had come before the empire. The people of these empires were united when facing adversity, but once things started going well, once there was no true threat to their safety anymore, they became selfish. They would quarrel with their own and fight over glory and riches, and the empires would eventually fall - either struck down by another rising empire, or torn apart by their own citizens.

‘It is indeed true that there no such things as a true and lasting peace.’

“It’s good that you’ve noticed,” the old man said.

He smiled with satisfaction.

“So tell me, what are your plans for the future? What do you want to do once you finish your studies here?”

“Uhm… I would like to find someone,” Antoine answered.

“Who?”

“I’m just a plain commoner. I grew up with my parents in a small village far away from any large cities or centres of the empire. By rights I shouldn’t ever have had the chance to come and study here. This place is where the descendants of great nobility come, ordinary nobility’s youths can’t attend here, much less a commoner like me.”

“And yet here you are.”

“Hmm. I don’t know all the details, but apparently a noble took note of me and arranged for me to come study here. I would like to find them to offer them my sincere thanks.”

Antoine’s eyes gleamed with determination as he said the last sentence.

“Tell me, young man, for what reason would someone of the stature capable of arranging for a commoner to study here, give you that chance?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Do you think it would be purely for charity?”

Antoine shook his head, “No. Nobility aren’t very charitable people.”

“But don’t they look after their subjects well?”

“They do,” Antoine nodded, “But not because they particularly want to. There might be a few who are truly good hearted and do so purely because they want to do good by their subjects, but most do so for two reasons.”

“And what would those reasons be?”

“The first is because it is required by law. The emperor, when he founded the empire, enshrined it in law that it is the responsibility of nobility to ensure their subjects are well looked after.”

“And the other reason?”

“Because well looked after subjects are useful. A horse cannot draw a carriage if it is starving, and so a commoner can’t work hard and serve his lord well if he is half-dead from cold, hunger, and thirst.”

The old man smiled, seemingly content with Antoine’s answer.

“You understand the minds of nobility well.”

“I’ve had a few years here at the university to learn.”

“Hmm.”

Antoine, as if only just realising what he had said, quickly looked around him. The park around them was quiet. Neither voices nor footsteps could be heard. None of the other noble students or their servants were around. He sighed slightly, before quickly looking at the old man worriedly.

‘That’s right!’ he thought, ‘This old man was able to write a note to a lecturer on a piece of silkweave paper, and he is even able to move around freely on the academy’s grounds, he has to be someone of great nobility!’

Antoine suddenly felt a cold sweat on his back. The hair on his neck stood on end, and his body felt tingly.

“I must apologise, my lord!”

“What for?” the old man asked.

“Just now I said something inconsiderate and ignorant. I am certain that You Lordship looks after your subjects out of the kindness of your heart!”

This was a very difficult situation Antoine was in now. It was true that the laws the empire had regarding the treatment and governing of the common folk was the most benevolent that had ever existed, but this was still an aristocracy! If a commoner offended a noble, the noble could kill him without a second thought and no one would bat an eye-lid. He had just essentially questioned the motives and righteousness of all of the aristocracy in front of one of them, he could lose his life for this!

The old man, however, did not appear to be offended in the least. He rocked back and forth on the bench as he laughed, holding his stomach. His laughter bellowed like an old church bell and echoed through the park. Antoine swore that if this old man laughed next to a building the windows would rattle in their frames.

The old man finally finished his laughter. He wiped a few tears from his eyes and looked at Antoine, a beaming smile on his face.

“There’s no need for such worry, child. I know all too well what it is you speak of. People will always have their own wishes. People are selfish and think only of themselves. If they must trample over others to get what they want, so be it, for some getting what they want is merely an excuse to trample over others. This is why I say that the empire is like hard-water. Without an external threat, they can afford to let their darker sides out of the closet.”

“Hmm,” Antoine agreed, “The emperor must have known of this side of humanity, and that’s why he made the laws he did.”

“I wouldn’t know,” the old man said, “Anyway, you came here to listen to my stories, didn’t you? I shouldn’t waste any more time. Let me tell you some more.”

Antoine immediately sat up straight. He wore a serious expression on his face as he focused all his attention on the old man. The old man, on the other hand, laid back in the bench. He shifted around a few times until he was comfortable. He lifted his head and gazed into the canopy above him, and began telling his stories once more.