Lily's lips curled into a smile, "I will tell you if you tell me about that hammer. How can it create flame without using any crystal?"
"Forget it then," Alex replied in a flat tone, then changed the topic, "Your city is really flourishing; I thought it was just a small village."
"Of course not; we now have more than five million people living here at Feloria."
"Feloria?"
"Yes, it's our kingdom name. Our place is led by the King and The High Counselor."
"Didn't you say something about the Sentinel before? Is that just an honorary title for the oldest? I thought he had some authority here."
"The Sentinel holds absolute authority, but he never involves himself with governing the citizens; his whole focus is on the sacred grove.
The governing is taken care of by the king and the high counselor."
"They also called you princess before. Does that mean you are related to the royal family, too?"
"The current royal family is descended from the Sentinel family, which is why people accept and respect them. It's not wrong that they call me princess, but this is more of a tradition now.
Any major decision needs to be agreed by the counselor and king before it can take form."
"Since the king is one descendant, is the high counselor elected by the people?"
"Yes, we have a few political parties here. Something I hate," Lily said with a tone of spite.
Seeing that, Alex let out a chuckle.
"What are you laughing at now?" Lily asked with a frown. She felt somehow insulted by Alex's reaction.
"Ah, sorry, I don't mean it that way. I am not boasting, but back in my world, I also have some status. This makes many people approach me with personal goals, and often, it's for politics." S~eaʀᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"Tell me about it, I really hate them. I honestly wonder if they never get tired of living like that?
Always thinking of some benefit when interacting with someone, using masks everywhere, their talk always coated with honey, while in reality, it's filled with poison.
Just why do they think I work hard to become a guardian?
In the first place, they should know they cannot get anything from me since we cannot intervene in politics."
"Well, if they can get cooperation from you in any form, that is already enough benefit for them."
"Why would they benefit from it?" Lily asked since she really didn't understand it.
Asking for her hand in marriage is impossible since guardians cannot get married as long as they serve; they need to relinquish their position to get married.
Without their position, a guardian is just a normal civilian, and as for Lily, she will just become a normal princess.
Although the title looks fancy, there are many princesses in Feldoria.
In her opinion, it would benefit them more to make connections to other princesses than to her, who never cares about politics.
"To gain more approval from the populace. You may think it's not related, but aren't guardians respected by the masses?"
"Well, that is true, but not everyone thinks like that. Many think we are just parasites that serve no real use. Just wasting taxpayer money to live in luxury."
"Is that true?"
"Of course not! Even though I admit, other than you, we never have any intruders in the grove, that doesn't mean we just laze around.
Every day, we need to train to make sure we are the strongest. We all earned this position with hard work."
"Does that mean everyone can become a Guardian?"
"Yes, every year, we have a tournament. The top 20 winners can then challenge the guardian position. If the challenger wins, they will take our position. If we win, we can hold our title."
"How many guardians exist?"
"Well, it's not a big secret. You can easily find this information. In total, there are 12 guardians and only women can become one."
"Why only women?"
"That I don't know, it's the Sentinel's decision. Some also feel this is unfair, but no one can question the Sentinel. His power is absolute here."
"Hmm... And now we are on the way to meet him?"
"Yes, are you afraid now?"
Alex laughed. It would be a lie if he didn't feel wary now. A man who has absolute control over a whole race for God knows how long is not something he can underestimate.
There is no way people let him on the top, only out of respect. Greed knows no bounds.
Even though the reason they entered here was to escape from invaders, with generations of prosperity, Alex was sure everyone had already forgotten about this.
If anything, some of them now think to get back to their place or even to take over the seat of power.
Then a thought surfaced in his mind, 'Wait, they say this place was invaded by humans, and now the planet has become a dungeon. Does both of these related?
If yes, that means the one who created the dungeon is human. Does that mean humans from another realm are the ones making problems with mine, or do they already have some deal with the higher-ups?
Vesa also said every progenitor leads their race, and my planet is just far below their level, so they don't even know the progenitor exists. Or maybe only the world leader knows about it.' Alex thinks to himself while his eyes enjoy the scenery of the city around him.
While Alex was making his way to meet the Sentinel in the Cultivation world, Mingyue was lying on the ground looking at the sky.
She was now in the secret realm.
Minghao had just finished his daily practice. He was covered with sweat. Looking at his sister looking dazedly at the sky made Minghao frown.
The last time she was like this was when she got berated by Uncle Jianfeng despite getting first in the family tournament.
He thought for a moment, then sat beside Mingyue, "Sis, why are you in a daze like that? Are you thinking of a man? Did someone break your heart? Tell me who it is, and I will give him a lesson," Minghao said in an exaggerated manner.