Chapter 137: The Veiled Woman

Chapter 137: The Veiled Woman

Uriel looked at the priestess before her and she could tell she has been through alot. She could sense pain, horror and trauma. Catherine was the same but her wounds were old so they only ached but Junie’s wounds were fresher.

“I was just about to head to the temple, could you show me the way?” Uriel asked. She had just finished her conversation with Catherine and she found that the people here do indeed have better lives.

In fact in a form of twisted irony due to the general improvement to the lives of the citizens being a prostitute was now a far less attractive occupation. Most of the citizens now had a lot of hope for social mobility. The entire Empire has been restructured so that if you had a form of talent the state would help you reach your potential. The Empress has a policy of not letting any talent be wasted. So she actively invested to strengthen her Empire in all regards.Findd new stories at novelhall.com

Anyone could find success if they worked hard and smart. So her capital of Averlon has started to be known as the city of opportunity. This was where you went when you wanted to make your mark on the world. With such options available few would want to sell their body.

So now there was actually a shortage of available prostitutes which means what sex workers remained now commanded a high price. Which also inversely made the occupation more financially attractive. It was a way to get rich quick and if you were beautiful then it was a viable way to earn some money for ventures later in life. Plus with only the beautiful woman now entering the sex trade they were now valuable commodities which means they now receive far better treatment. Combine that with new laws and regulations regarding prostitution and legal protections for sex workers in general, the days of the abused miserable whore were long past.

Even the naming conventions have changed to reflect this. Now apparently calling a sex worker a whore or a slut would get you kicked out. So now prostitutes were called dancers, entertainers and in Catherine’s case “stars”.

This style of governance still left a bad taste in her mouth but she couldn’t deny the results. The Empress may not have been able to remove sin but she has somehow managed to tame it to an extent. Even gambling was controlled, apparently families could contact the Ministry of Entertainment to report that their family member was gambling too much. The ministry would then send out a directive to all gambling houses to bar entry to this individual, any establishment that violates this directive will have their operating license removed.

From what Uriel has observed the bureaucracy of this Empire was so efficient that it might even be better than the one heaven possesses. Citizens could expect responses to their queries within a week and resolution within a few weeks. Considering the size of the empire, this was rather impressive. Divonian bureaucracy for instance often required outright bribing for citizens to make the state to even attempt to resolve the issue. The bribe didn’t even guarantee if the problem would be solved. At least here the bureaucracy was functional and problems were resolved. The system even solved some problems automatically so the citizens never even become aware of it.

“Tell me Sister Junie, from what you have told me the state runs rather efficiently. How has this been accomplished?” Uriel asked and Juni just paused as she contemplated how to answer.

“It might be better just to show you honestly. We will walk past a government building on our way to the temple so we can drop by.” Junie replied.

Uriel nodded and they continued on their way. The sun was setting and to Uriel’s surprise the city was still alive with activity. The children were noticeably absent but adults were still out and about on their business. The streets were illuminated with lamp posts powered by magic lights. It must have been rather expensive to cover so much of the city with these lights.

“Are all of the streets illuminated at this hour?” Uriel asked.

“Yes, at least most of them. Some streets are still having them installed but they should all be done in a few months.” Junie replied.

“How do they power all of this?” Uriel asked, most cities she knew couldn’t do this because of two reasons. The first is prohibitive cost and the second is the issue of powering it.

“Oh I heard the Great Beast created this creature that takes excess food and turns it into power. He called it a biofuel power grid.” Junie replied and Uriel paused at those words. It was a clever solution, creatures could generate power passively by absorbing ether from their surroundings. A large diet could also help fuel the body to release more power. If a creature was explicitly designed to be some kind of power generator then it could in theory produce a lot of energy at a relatively affordable cost.

However, this was also an element of concern for Uriel. So much power could also mean there was enough excess energy to power defenses. The Great Beast was no fool, he surely must have considered possible hostilities with heaven. Perhaps this entire city was filled with hidden defenses that could turn the sky into a death trap. Uriel herself was once on the receiving end of such an ambush. A hive once unearthed beneath her and her army, then it unleashed a torrent of attacks. The casualties were immense from that attack and ever since Heaven’s military has come up with many countermeasures to deal with what has been called an “Aerial Saturation Attack”.

“Clever, it seems the creatures of a hive have many applications.” Uriel replied cordially.

“Indeed they do, I like many thought they were only creatures of war but they also make surprisingly good civil servants.” Junie mused right as they stopped at a large building with the sign “Government Branch” plastered above the door. It was almost 8pm and yet the building was still bustling with activity.

“It closes at 10pm if you are wondering. The human workers work in two shifts and the hive just works for the whole day. Even after closing hours the hive is still active within the building in the event of emergencies.” Junie explained as the two of them ascended the stairs.

When Uriel entered the building she was shocked to see this large lounge area where citizens were calmly sitting while reading what looked to be the local newspaper. She could see a small shop in the side of the room that was selling sandwiches and drinks. Then at the end of the room was a row of desks that were marked by numbers. Above the desks was this large magic board with numbers and text running across it. Now the board reads “1860 - Counter 8”.

“Well first things first, I don’t want any prying eyes or ears...” Uriel said as she channeled some of her high level spells.

[Dimensional Lock]

[Divine Cognito Barrier]

[Divine Memetic Barrier]

[Barrier of the Seven Gates]

[Reality Shackle]

[Silent Whispers]

[Soundless Words]

[Timefather’s Dilation]

By the end of it this room was now temporarily and temporally severed from reality. It wouldn’t last long, just an hour or so. She didn’t have the ability to maintain this for longer than that without compromising her combat ability. This room now lies as a piece within the world between worlds. If she were to overstay her welcome she may receive some... unwanted visitors...

Some would say this was overkill but Uriel didn’t want to take any chances. The Syndicate was here, so were the demons and most of all the Great Beast would no doubt have servants watching everyone and everything.

“What is all this...” Junie stammered as she looked around the room. Then she shifted her gaze to the window which was now covered by a black opaque magic barrier.

“There are some things beyond that you would rather not see.” Uriel said as she unfurled her wings and shed her disguise. Junie physically jumped at the sight of an Archangel standing before her.

These powers were not commonplace amongst her kin. She was the only one among the Seraphin who could pull off something like this. That was only due to the time she spent amongst the other races. The Blade was kind of a distant mentor to her, but he always did pay more attention to his apprentice Mahaila. Uriel remembers a time when she was rather jealous of her. Then there was her old friend the Crow Father, they were close once but no longer. But they were once close enough for him to teach her some of the Raven Born’s magic arts. Quite the irony that the Archangel of Mercy would be a master of Shadow Magic.

At the time she was young having no concept of the power of symbols. Now her proficiency in the darker arts was a very well kept secret. However, she did learn many forms of magic. She even knew a little about Daemonology. It has helped her fight the demons but of course her knowledge was spun as just raw experience. No one knew that Uriel actually knew how to summon a demon and conduct a soul contract.

Well mostly no one knew...

The ones that taught her some of these things were still alive afterall...

Well regardless it was time for perhaps the most important conversation of the day.

Uriel turned to face the two slightly pale faced women and spoke.

Come we have much to speak about...