The next morning somewhere in the central region of the Great Golden Empire, there was a luxurious carriage traveling through the dirt road amidst the arid land with a platoon of knights in black armor jogging in lines alongside the moving carriage, as ten of the knights could be seen pulling the carriage in the front instead of a group of horses under the hot, merciless sun that was beating down on them from above while they all also seemed to be generating heat haze from their armored bodies that had been exposed to the sun for so long. It creates quite a cruel picture for any who might see this torturous scene.
But if you look closely, none of the knights seem to be even affected by the heat at all, as they continue to move without slowing down or panting in exhaustion since none of them are normal living creatures to begin with; if they were, they would have already collapsed a long time ago from being cooked alive in their black armor under this 50°C heat of the sun, but fortunately or unfortunately, they are not normal living beings, so they get to experience this inhumane treatment from their very pragmatic summoner that carelessly put them through this torture with a guiltless smile.
Inside the carriage, the temperature is notably cooler and different from the burning heat outside, as the four simple magic runes were engraved on the four corners inside the passenger room by Xin to filter out high heat and freezing cold, a luxury most normies can't enjoy since there's really no magician in the world who will readily offer their service for something so trivial like this, which Zarba thinks is quite unfortunate while also making him feel grateful for the half-elf woman's existence that really makes his life so much easier.
Currently Zarba, who was dressed in an unbuttoned white silk shirt and baggy black pants, is sitting on the seat near the window as he looks at the scenery outside with his arm resting on the window, while Xin, who is dressed in a simple white pajama robe, is lying down on her back with her head resting on his thigh while her hair is tied up in twin tails. In her hands there's a thick brown-covered book she is reading, which is a treasure grimoire of the Zigma dynasty that had records of more than a hundred different spells and rituals through the centuries written on it.
This is the source of Xin's education on the mystery of magic that Zarba decided to give to her when they were young because his dynasty never managed to produce any capable magician, so it has been uselessly gathering dust like most treasure in the vault for a while.
It's also not really difficult when the young Zarba asks for the grimoire from his grandparents since his slave is showing abnormally high talent in magic, and they see no problem with having a magician in their grandson's service either, so the next day the little half-elf girl has her first lesson of magic, which she takes to like a fish in the water.
'It has been twelve years since then, huh?' Zarba thinks back to the past as he glances back to the half-elf woman who is reading the book with a confused frown as she mumbles something to herself beside him, "What even is this Phallica Expanda spell...?"
'Who knew that the murderer psycho bitch from the game last boss was going to become my slave in this timeline…' Zarba smirked slightly as he got really lucky finding Xin before she began her journey of edgy villainess that somehow ended up with her falling in love with the protagonist and then somehow becoming a tragic heroine in the game's main storyline.
It was so cringe when he saw it. He bet that the plotline probably got altered by some random higher-up guy who thought their corny idea was great and forced the devs to do it.
Anyway, now that their lives are in their own hands, Zarba is very happy that they don't have to follow their supposed "roles" any longer. It's also quite ironic that the runaway prince who decided to bail from his destiny actually saved the empire from its greatest calamity, the Witch of War, the Deadend, the Corpse Maker, Xin Xanadura.
'I was really tempted to end her life right there and then when I noticed she was the game's last boss, little girl or not…' But Zarba didn't, as she was not yet the villainess she was in the game, so he could only compromise and take her as his slave instead so she would not have to go through the darkness of the Great Golden Empire's slave life and become the murder-happy psycho she was meant to be.
'Now she grows up to be such a cutie…' Zarba thought with a smile as he reached to play with Xin's long, pointy ear.
"Mmmnhh, my husband, I'm studying right now… but an exception could be made, I suppose," Xin purrs as she looks up at Zarba with a blush on her cheeks, wondering if her husband wants to play some interesting games with her.
"It's still morning…" Zarba smiled wryly as he reached for both of her cheeks next and squeezed them softly as the half-elf just looked at him with a cute pout…
÷×÷×÷
Back at the capital city of the Great Golden Empire, the imperial palace and castle were filled with tension as the mad emperor, clad in golden armor and a regal red cape, stood atop the castle gate with his two brutish slave warriors as he laughed hysterically before he hurled his empty golden cup into the courtyard below, where the imperial knights and levy soldiers gathered with grim faces, awaiting the imperial command reluctantly. They know that they are about to march to war with one of the dukes whose army was the most powerful in the empire for some reason, and that is not even the worst part, as the mad emperor will personally accompany the imperial army, which is the worst news for them.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STANDING AROUND FOR?! MARCH!! TO KARO! FIND THE FUCKING DIAMONDS! BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE BASTARI!!" The emperor shrieked, spit flying from his roaring mouth as he waved his sword around, while below, the soldiers exchanged uneasy glances. Karo was a well-fortified province with a robust natural fortress blocking their path to the city of Karo. It's going to be very costly to take the fortress…
'And what are these diamonds you were talking about?!' They were quite confused but could only salute and start to march out for Karo. This madness of the emperor isn't something new, as many expected he would do something like this for some time now; they're only surprised that it's taking this long for Zarking to actually do it.
While the madman was laughing on top of the gate as the imperial army marched out through the capital city, suddenly, the emperor paused, tilting his head like a confused puppy.
He feels like something is missing…
"Wait... where's my boy? My little sky drifter?" Zarking's bloodshot eyes scanned the courtyard and among the army frantically looking for any sign of his son.
"ZARBA! ZARBA ALTRA ZIGMA! COME WATCH DADDY GO TO WAR!! WHERE ARE YOU?! ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING?!" The mad emperor's very loud voice echoes through the castle as the army below looks at him briefly before they decide to wisely ignore him.
Zarking then continued to make noise for hours, asking for his son, before a servant nervously came up to him and informed him that Zarba is nowhere to be found in the palace, and when they enter his chamber, they see that he had left a letter on his bed that is addressed to the emperor with a red wax seal.
Zarking, of course, does what Zarking the Mad does best and bitch-slaps the servant before he snatches a letter from the trembling servant's hand.
And when the mad emperor takes a look at the letter and reads the letter that has only one paragraph, his eyebrows gradually rise up his forehead until he is stunned speechless by the content.
"Hello, if you see this, then I am probably long gone by now. I think I'll go take a vacation for some time since the weather is nice enough for travel. Sorry if I can't accompany you to war with the Habanero Bastard, but don't worry, I'll always be there with you, my daddy, in spirit. You can fight to your heart's content and make him regret crossing us... by yourself! See you later, Daddy!"
Zarking just stared at the letter in his hands for a long while after he was done reading as the people around him watched him with bated breath, wondering what he was going to do next.
Then suddenly, the emperor crumpled the paper violently in his fist and tore it apart before he threw his head back and let out a wild, screeching laugh that echoed across the castle, startling many people and animals alike.
"HAHAHAHIHIHYAHA—!! Good choice, my son! Good plan! But you think you can escape Daddy?!" His intense eyes darted around frantically, bloodshot and manic. "I know! I know where you are! You're going to the west! To see the biggest, bestest water! Oh, yes! Daddy knows! No vacation for you! I'll go on vacation TOO!!"
"Get the riders and send out the letters; the prince WILL come home! No RUNNING!" Zarking cried out as the servant hurriedly left the scene to inform the other of the emperor's order.
"War can fucking wait; someone go fetch me my sock! I want to rub it on me for good luck!" The mad emperor yelled and then stomped down the gate with the two brutish slaves, who kept quiet all this time, as they learned early that you should not talk when the madman is talking, but even they can't help but raise a question in their minds.
'You're going to do what with the sock, mate...?!'