Chapter 19: Centralized Power

As the midday sun grew hotter, Dundar left with a face full of perplexity and excitement.

He headed straight for the palace. At the gate, he met with Zimor and Besse, the two Archmages, and collectively reported the negotiation results to Kewell Empire’s eleventh monarch—Kesan, symbolically concluding the authorization process.

Speaking of this, it’s necessary to introduce the political system of the Kewell Empire.

In this country where order is defined by force, nearly all the empire’s power and resources are firmly in the hands of magicians!

The role of the royal family and nobility compared to magicians is like that of professional managers to shareholders.

Of course, in reality, the boundary between the two is quite blurred.

Nobles may produce magicians;

And powerful magicians are also eligible to acquire noble titles and territories.

Nowadays, the royal family is waning. Although they are still called one of the four pillars of the empire, they rely only on special magical items and accumulated heritage, so the empire’s discourse power naturally fell into the hands of the three Archmages.

This is the fundamental reason why Dundar could represent the Kewell Empire in negotiating with Yu Sheng’an.

Now, back to the main topic.

After obtaining the nominal authorization, the magic tower in Willis City lit up once again.

Orders were sent to various cities through the magic tower.

Along with the fluctuations of magic waves, the long-awaited great social transformation finally began!

……

……

In Tuva City, located on the border of the Kewell Empire, within the seven-story magic tower standing in the center of the city, Grand Magician Theodore was reading a joint decree signed by the four pillars of the empire, deeply shaken.

Though he was a magician in charge of this region and far removed from the center of power, he was still aware of the major events happening in Willis City.

Especially regarding the Internet Divine Magic, which had suddenly emerged and become popular in the capital. He had been keeping a close eye on it.

Setting aside his personal opinions, there were only two potential outcomes to this matter in his eyes:

Either the empire would strongly suppress it;

Or they would allow it to spread.

But he never expected that the empire would choose to cooperate with the Internet God!

No, this isn’t just cooperation; this is outright submission to the Internet God!

Although the empire has signed a strict contract with the Internet God, prohibiting the construction of churches, forbidding the use of divine magic to spy on magicians… and so on, contracts can always be renegotiated.

Given the Internet’s powerful publicity, when the Internet God truly captures the hearts of people, there will be no stopping them from forcing the Kewell Empire to re-sign a new contract.

At this thought, Theodore felt a chill run down his spine.

He couldn’t understand why the three Archmages would agree to this cooperation.

But now, it’s too late to say anything.

He knew that the times had changed.

The Internet God would very likely become a force that surpasses the empire itself in the future.

He was just a Grand Magician, neither the most powerful nor the weakest.

He had no say in the fate of the empire, but he could at least choose his own fate—in the tide of the times, if he chose the right direction, he might achieve twice the result with half the effort.

With these complex thoughts in mind, he activated the Internet Divine Magic.

In an instant, the familiar Phantom Scroll unfolded before him.

But this time, a new module was added to the main screen—a prominent emblem of the Kewell Empire: the Circular Magic Tower.

When he clicked on it, a new parchment-like window popped up, leaving him utterly stunned!

Unlike the other functional modules, the homepage of the empire’s official website was divided into countless small and large squares.

The top row of squares displayed various administrative institutions of the empire.

The squares below displayed the latest decrees, news, announcements… and so on.

Among them, the section for the latest decrees clearly showed the two new decrees he had just received.

One, promote Internet Divine Magic.

Two, all administrative units must immediately establish literacy schools.

Theodore felt his scalp tingle as he scrolled through the details of the empire’s website. His thoughts raced.

It was clear that the newly launched website only had a basic framework, with many modules still nearly empty when clicked.

But even so, this main framework alone was enough to make him shiver.

For example: the Judgement Office section, where the imperial code was published in full detail.

It’s foreseeable that once the Internet Divine Magic spreads, everyone will have access to the Internet, greatly limiting the power of officials to interpret the laws.

In other words, this will also curb and monitor their authority.

Furthermore, the section on governmental complaints left him utterly shaken.

In the complaint section of Willis City, he saw a large number of anonymous complaints.

Some were trivial matters, like there being too few wells in the slums, or someone bullying others… and so on.

But there were also matters that seemed minor but could have grave consequences in reality.

For instance, someone accusing the private steward of the noble Lang clan of abusing men and women, and oppressing commoners.

Theodore knew well that the Lang family, though seemingly large, had been in decline ever since Archmagus Langfelo passed away.

In the beginning, they could still rely on the connections Langfelo had left behind.

But as Langfelo’s son, Langer, failed to advance to the Archmagus level, the family’s hoarded resources became the target of envy.

Now, this complaint might very well become the catalyst for the Lang family’s downfall.

Theodore took a deep breath. Although he had long recognized the Internet’s ability to manipulate public opinion, he had seriously underestimated it.

After all, they say all crows under the sun are equally black.

Who could guarantee that they have nothing to hide?

No one can.

Of course, a magician’s power comes from strength. As long as one’s strength is overwhelming, no amount of public opinion can change that.

But public opinion will provide the excuse to wield a knife.

Theodore finally understood why the three Archmages chose to cooperate with the Internet God.

With public opinion brewing among the masses, everyone must choose sides. Otherwise, a little nudge in public opinion would give the higher-ups a reason to act.

In other words, the empire’s power would become more centralized than ever before!

At this realization, a terrifying thought crept into Theodore’s mind as he stared at the complaint feature on the website.

He found that manipulating public opinion wasn’t the most frightening aspect. The most terrifying part was that power could now directly reach the grassroots—this was truly cutting the ground from under their feet.

Before, while everyone respected the Archmages, they were not particularly fearful of them.

One might think that even if public opinion boiled over, as long as there were Grand Archmages entrenched in various regions, for the sake of stability, they would just turn a blind eye to it.

Because the empire still needed people to manage it, and to have people manage it, some concessions had to be made.

But now it was different.

Through Internet Divine Magic, the grassroots could directly reach the highest levels, and the Archmages could directly mobilize grassroots forces with a single order. In other words, the mid-level management became unimportant.

When the supply-demand relationship undergoes fundamental changes, who would still dare to act recklessly?

What?

There are limited numbers of magicians? The Archmages can’t casually punish or kill?

Haha, didn’t you see the basic magic knowledge published by the Internet?

It’s foreseeable that once the Internet Divine Magic spreads, the number of magicians will definitely surge in the coming years.

With many wolves and scarce meat, who would dare to act unscrupulously?

No one!

What a terrifying scheme!

Who came up with this?

A shiver ran through Theodore’s body, and an almost instinctive thought popped into his mind—a title: the Internet God!

No wonder He could convince the three Archmages.

Theodore gazed at the Internet page, lost in a deep silence.

He was pondering his future path.

After some time, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Because he realized that the appearance of the empire’s website would signal the worst era for the traditional nobility.

But for capable commoners, this would also herald the best era!

When information becomes public, will it take long for those with talent to rise?

“Praise be to You, great Internet God!”

Theodore couldn’t help but offer his praise!