Chapter 419 - 280: Peace Has Always Been a Luxury

Chapter 419: Chapter 280: Peace Has Always Been a Luxury

As a government-sponsored student from the Loman Empire, Morris knew exactly what this email meant.

It was a summons, a recall for him to serve his country.

He’d heard rumors among the other students studying abroad about people being recalled. At first, he thought they were isolated cases, but as more and more students were summoned, he knew it was only a matter of time before he received the same email.

The sender was listed as the Emperor of the Loman Empire, but Morris knew the contents certainly weren’t personally written by the old man himself. It was likely the work of the Minister of Education, sent in the Emperor’s name to lend it an air of gravity.

In the Loman Empire, the prevailing ideology was that all subjects belonged to the Emperor, whose power was absolute.

Morris used to believe this as well—it was what he had been taught his entire life. However, after living in Twin Tower City, he gradually began to question those long-held beliefs.

’A person shouldn’t belong to anyone.’

Perhaps the Empire had realized this as well—that those who studied abroad were often influenced by other ways of thinking. As a result, the conditions for receiving a government scholarship had become increasingly strict.

Morris opened the email.

"Subject of the Emperor, Loman needs you..."

It was just as he’d expected: he was to end his studies early and return to Loman for an important mission. The email, however, did not specify what that mission was.

"What’s in the email?" Sir Gordo asked curiously.

Seeing Morris’s grave expression, he had a feeling the contents were not good news.

"Are you in some kind of trouble? If you need my help, just say the word. I’m a Sir, after all."

"Haha," Morris let out a helpless, bitter laugh. "A Sir from Sutton can’t do much about the affairs of Loman."

"Affairs of Loman?"

"Yes. I’m being recalled."

Morris replied calmly. He could even guess the likely reason for the summons.

Loman was supporting the Villain Kingdom in waging a war. This conflict between a small kingdom and the City Federation hadn’t attracted much attention.

However, rumor had it that the Loman Empire was using the war as an opportunity to test new types of magic weapons in live combat.

This created a need for large numbers of people with extensive knowledge of Magic, and Morris naturally fit the bill.

"Being recalled... I really can’t do anything about that," Sir Gordo said after a moment’s thought. "It’s probably nothing too serious. The war isn’t going to reach Loman’s home soil. If things got that bad, the whole Continent would be in chaos. Don’t worry. You’re a High Level intellectual talent; they wouldn’t be foolish enough to send you to the front lines."

Sir Gordo offered words of comfort.

That was what he said, but as a member of the Craig Clan, he knew more of the inside story.

The largest share of their Mechanical Armor business was in armaments, and they worked closely with Loman. He was well aware that the Loman Imperial Family had become dangerously erratic and was rumored to be obsessed with bizarre experiments.

The entire Empire was rife with internal conflicts that it was powerless to resolve, so it had chosen to fan the flames of external hatred instead. Supporting the Villain Kingdom’s war was likely just the first probing move; he feared there were bigger plans in the works.

Normally, Sir Gordo should have been excited by this situation.

’Capitalists have no country.’

The more chaotic the world, the more the Craigs earned.

Their family had made its fortune on just this kind of dirty money.

But Gordo was actually struggling with it.

Compared to the rest of his family, he might have been born with a bit more of a conscience.

"Yeah, it’s probably nothing too serious,"

Morris repeated.

For a fleeting moment, he actually considered refusing the summons, but he quickly dismissed the absurd idea.

If he refused, he wouldn’t just lose his citizenship in the Loman Empire and become a stateless refugee; he’d also become a wanted man.

He no longer needed the government scholarship to finish his studies. After starring in *Beyond Reach*, while not exactly a tycoon, he was certainly a high-income earner. He could pay back all the aid he’d received, with interest.

But to Loman, this wasn’t about money. Serving the Emperor was the inescapable duty of a government-sponsored student, not a debt that could be settled with repayment.

With this hanging over his head, he was in no mood to play video games.

He stood up to say goodbye to Sir Gordo.

But then Lady Roline walked over and, with her usual cool aloofness, handed him a necklace.

Morris had never taken a course on appraising Magic Items, but from the abundant Magic Power radiating from the necklace, he could easily tell it was incredibly valuable.

"What’s this?"

"A farewell gift," Lady Roline said, her tone as cool as ever.

Morris didn’t try to refuse. He’d heard that Lady Roline held a very high status among the Zor; a gift from her was considered a boon that could not be declined.

But what Morris found strange was that he noticed the corners of Lady Roline’s mouth twitching, as if she were trying her hardest to suppress a smile.

’Is being conscripted back to one’s country some kind of joke in Zor culture?’

’What a bizarre sense of humor.’

"Safe travels," Sir Gordo said finally.

"It’s a real shame. If I weren’t leaving, there’s no way Raul would have landed the lead in *Silence of the Lambs*. Too bad. It was a lucky break for him," Morris said, not forgetting to crack one last joke before he left.

"Heh," Sir Gordo couldn’t help but chuckle. "I won’t see you out, you great thespian."

Morris waved and left the mansion.

In truth, he had submitted his resume to the production team for *Silence of the Lambs*, but he was ruthlessly rejected without even getting an audition.

After *Beyond Reach* became a massive hit, Morris had even fantasized about becoming a Big Star. ’I’m a genius performer!’

’I could have a career in acting. As for being a Mage, anyone who wants the job can have it. A star makes their money just by endorsing a product or attending an event. Isn’t that a thousand times more comfortable than slaving away in a lab from dawn to dusk?’