The next day, Jasmine and Rickert left the academy early to head to the high-class shopping district. Even though the duo arrived early, they were already met with countless other shoppers who had the same idea same idea as them. The moment the duo entered the shopping distract, many curious glances were cast towards them. It wasn't because they recognized Rickert, but solely due to the armed escort that they had brought.

Rickert wished he did not have to take an armed escort wherever he went, but with his status it was impossible to do so. His privacy solely existed within his own quarters for the moment he entered the outside world, he no longer had any privacy. He had never went out much with his uniform or used his name in public during his time here and as such not a lot of people realized who he was, even though there was not a single citizen in the country who did not know his name.

"Hey, who's that? Why does he have such a large armed escort?" One woman whispered to her husband.

Her husband looked at Rickert and shook his head. "I have no idea. Probably military but he can't be a simple person with such a large armed escort. Judging from their armour, those are elite guards from the military."

"Elite guards of the military? Husband, go strike up a conversation with that man!"

"Woman, do you think a simple noble like me can just go out and talk to a man who has ten elite guards from the military as an escort?" The husband said as he shook his head. "Come, let's continue shopping. He is not someone who mingles with people of our level."

"Husband... " The woman started. "This is why you will never climb the social ladder! Look let me go out and talk to him!"

The woman walked towards Rickert but the moment she got within range one of the guards stepped forward and blocked her.

"Sir, do you know this woman?" The guard asked with his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword.

"I have never seen her before."

nodding slightly, the guard calmly spoke. "Milady, please remove yourself from the vicinity of my lord. My lord has no time for you."

"You!" The woman cried out before shutting her mouth as the guard shot her a dangerous glance.

Her husband quickly took a few steps forward and dragged his wife back. "See! What did I tell you! We cannot just start talking to people of his level! Look at how you embarrassed yourself now!"

Rickert chuckled as he overheard the conversation. In truth, he would not have minded striking up a conversation with the woman's husband as he seemed like a good, honest man, but if he struck up a conversation with that man, then he would have to strike up a conversation with everyone else who would like to do so.

All the other shoppers who had noticed the commotion quickly made way for Rickert and Jasmine. Previously, Jasmine had already mentioned to Rickert that she liked to wear qipaos and as such Rickert was taking her straight to the part of the shopping district that sold them.

The duo walked for a few more minutes before they arrived at a small corner shop that specialized in foreign clothes.

"Welcome! Welcome esteemed guest!" A fat, stocky storekeeper politely welcomed the duo. He had run over the moment he had seen Rickert and his guards walking to his store. If he could convince this guest to buy something, it would undoubtedly be a good thing for his business! "What does the esteemed guest need today?"

Rickert smiled and pointed at Jasmine. "My daughter desires some new clothes. She prefers wearing a qipao. Show her what you have."

"We have a nice selection of qipaos for kids, so please follow me!" The storekeeper led Jasmine and Rickert in the store and quickly showed various brightly colored qipaos to Jasmine, who eagerly tried each and every one of them on, asking Rickert his opinion every time she stepped out of the changing booth.

He had to agree that qipaos fit the small Jasmine very well compared to the regular clothes she was wearing now. The whole vibe he got from Jasmine changed the moment she had put one on. Before, she just gave of the vibe that she was a small, fragile child but with the qipao on, she looked like a small adult.

In the end, Jasmine chose three qipaos that fit her well, each of them having a flowery motif to them.

The two visited a few more stores and ended up buying a total of 10 qipaos with two of them being a bit more fancy, so Jasmine could wear them to formal events. It was almost noon at this point so Rickert took Jasmine and his guards to a restaurant for a small meal.

He had decided on a small restaurant near the center of the town, nothing too fancy yet not all too shabby either. A place where everyone could eat a meal at a decent price. The twelve of them quickly ordered their food.

While they were eating, the captain of the guard asked. "What are your plans for the rest of the day sir?"

Rickert only spoke when his mouth was empty. "We should be going back to the academy soon. There is plenty of work I have to get back to and I have to get Jasmine settled in a little more. However, I would like to make a stop at the square of the gods."

"Very well sir." The captain of the guard nodded and continued eating.

Affter their meal, Jasmine and Rickert were quickly escorted to a nearby square. A golden plaque which read 'Square of the Gods' hung over the entrance. Rickert smiled as he saw the square filled to the brim with statues of gods that belonged to many different religions. Over hundred different kind of gods were displayed here and it gave the square a divine aura.

It was not weird to see a square filled with so many different kinds of gods from so many different religions. The empire embraced all customs, cultures and religions. Instead of persecuting, banning or even trying to convert those who did not believe in the same gods or those who did not have the same customs or culture, the empire had just embraced everything. This caused the empire to be an enormous amalgamation of cultures and religions.

Of course not everyone was happy with this. Especially in the beginning many of the empire's original citizens thought it was a disgrace to their own gods that the conquered territories where still allowed to worship their own gods. As the empire grew, the citizens realized that this one move was the smartest thing the empire could possibly have done.

Even though the rulers would change, the peasants would only notice that their taxes were suddenly lower, something they welcomed very much. The reason for the reduced taxes was simple. Upon conquering a nation, the empire would always remove the kings, rulers and leading nobles. They might not even account for less than a thousandth of a percentage in the country, yet the majority of the taxes ended up in their own pockets. With those people gone, it wasn't hard to imagine the effect it would have on the taxes.

Moreover, a smaller kingdom needed a large army if they wanted to defend themselves from the neighboring kingdoms. In comparison, the empire did not need nearly as a normal kingdom to keep their territory, the mere size of their army enough to scare them off. While some smaller kingdoms needed a hundred thousand troops to guard their kingdom, the empire only needed to add an additional thirty to fifty thousand to receive the same effect.

While the empire did disband the armies of conquered nations, they still eagerly accepted any of the soldiers that wanted to fight under their banner, in many cases even retaining their original weapon of choice.

All these small things added together made it hard for the average peasant to revolt. While things did change in some ways, their every day life did not undergo tremendous changes.

What did the small nobles and peasants care if their rulers changed if it brought money to their pockets? The answers was simple. They were more than happy to embrace their new rulers. While small things changed in their town, they were allowed to keep their customs, culture and religion. Thus... with their monetary situation improving and nothing else changing, the peasants and small nobles were not really quick to revolt.

Of course, some of the fanatics and nationalists were hard pressed to accept this change, yet when they realized that they could not gain public support, there was not much what they could do.

Rickert silently prayed in front of the statues of each and every god, Jasmine looking at him strangely as he did this.

When he finished, Jasmine couldn't help but ask. "Why are you praying in front of every statue?"

Rickert's lips curled upwards. "What is the difference between Odin, Ares and Mars, Jasmine?"

"Eh?" She exclaimed. "I... uh... they're all gods of war?"

"Which means?" Rickert probed with a sly smile on his face.

"Uhm... I don't... know? That there is not really a difference?"

"Exactly! In my opinion, since there are not really any huge differences between gods, does that not mean that they all believe in the same thing?"

Jasmine's face scrunched up as she thought long and hard about this. "It makes sense... but... it feels weird? I mean, it does not make sense to worship all these different gods?"

Rickert chuckled. "Jasmine, is the way you believe a battle should be fought, the only way a war can be fought?"

A confused expression settled on Jasmine's face. "What has that to do with believing in gods?"

"Just answer the question." He playfully responded.

"Of course the way I think a battle should be fought is not the only way... What has that to do with gods though?" She still did not understand why Rickert had asked this question.

"Isn't it the same for gods?" Rickert started. "The way I believe in a god may not be the same for you or for anyone else. Hence, be it Odin, Ares or Mars, who is to say that they are not the same god? Maybe people just believe in the same god in another way. At least that is what I think."

"I...I guess?" Jasmine could not really make sense of it but she did feel that it was quite logical from a certain point of view. Still, she could not quite accept it as it did not feel right.

The captain of the guards smiled slightly as he heard this. He had been one of Rickert's guards for most of his life and thus understood his master very well. Seeing that he was actually imparting Jasmine some of his own views to her so eagerly, a warm feeling rose up from within him. It was rare for his master to care for someone and seeing him place so much value on Jasmine already, he couldn't help but smile.

Seeing the smile on the captain's face, Rickert continued. "But of course not everyone thinks like me. Enough dilly dallying though, we should be getting back to the academy."