Chapter 420 - 280: Peace Has Always Been a Luxury (Part 2)

Chapter 420: Chapter 280: Peace Has Always Been a Luxury (Part 2)

However, in reality, he was met with one setback after another. Nearly every production he auditioned for rejected him. The few that did accept him were making terrible films, only wanting to capitalize on his fame.

In a fit of pique, he enrolled in an acting class at the Drama Guild. After a few lessons, his greatest takeaway was the realization that he was a piss-poor acting genius.

He could only play himself.

He was terrible at playing any other type of character.

The success of *Beyond Reach* was purely a fluke where his own nature happened to align with the character’s profile.

After leaving Sir Gordo’s home, he first went to find his younger brother.

He learned that his brother, Little Morris, had not been conscripted, as he wasn’t yet an adult.

Morris believed that even if his brother were conscripted, the Zog Group would find a way to intervene. His brother’s project was too important.

The Zog Group had an internal technical position hierarchy. He couldn’t remember his brother’s exact rank, only that it was ridiculously high and he was constantly getting promoted another level.

Not like him, who was just a minor actor that had worked with the Zog Group on one Shadow of Evil film, and one of the main inventors of a fairly low-tech music player.

He couldn’t be more replaceable.

He explained the situation to his brother, then returned to school to apply for a leave of absence. He had been back in school for less than a year after the Tiefling transformation incident, and now he had to take another leave. He didn’t know if he’d ever get the chance to finish his studies.

He didn’t even hold a farewell party with his friends in Twin Tower City. He just packed his bags alone and boarded a train to Loman.

The email gave him fifteen days to report for duty, but he figured it was best not to wait until the last minute, or he might be singled out for it.

’Why did you wait until the last day to show up?’

’Have you no initiative?’

’Is it because you’re not loyal enough to His Majesty the Emperor?!’

Morris could picture the scene perfectly. It was suffocating.

’Of course, he really *wasn’t* loyal enough to the Emperor, but he could only think that to himself. He wouldn’t dare let it show.’

The train was almost entirely filled with recalled overseas students. There was more than one Tiefling, and some people even asked Morris for his autograph.

Even though he had only acted in one Shadow of Evil film, as long as your signature work reached a certain level of acclaim, your popularity would endure.

Being asked for his autograph did nothing to improve Morris’s mood. In fact, the atmosphere in his train car was dead.

Everyone had a premonition that this recall was probably not for anything good.

If there were any perks, they wouldn’t go to them anyway. The imperial relatives and nobility would get first dibs.

Throughout the journey, Morris felt like a piece of cargo, constantly being transferred from one place to another.

Arrive in Loman, register, get sorted into groups by specialty, board another train to the border, receive training, get re-sorted into new groups based on training performance, board yet another train...

In a daze, Morris lost track of how many days had passed. In a complete blur, he became a member of the Holy Loman Legion.

Throughout the entire process, one concept was drilled into them and reinforced over and over again.

The Emperor’s will is supreme. The Emperor’s orders must not be disobeyed. The Emperor’s life is valued above your own...

Morris knew there was something wrong with these concepts, but he couldn’t resist the constant indoctrination.

’He even suspected the Empire was using some kind of Spirit Control techniques in the process.’

’It was too absurd.’

Fortunately, the necklace from Lady Roline seemed to have the effect of boosting mental resistance, keeping him from falling into the same fanaticism as the others.

Morris couldn’t help but wonder if the imperial system was on the verge of being phased out by the times, just waiting for the right catalyst.

And the Empire now seemed to be in a final, desperate frenzy before that catalyst arrived.

The mechanical turning of the Empire’s gears would not slow for his thoughts. The piece of cargo named Morris had a final destination: the Villain Kingdom.

’The worst-case scenario.’

Because of Repin’s brand, his relatively good results, and the achievement of the music player, Morris was considered a key talent and received a great deal of attention.

Important talents must be put in important places.

So, as a member of the Loman Empire’s military advisory group to Villain, he was dispatched here.

Fortunately, it wasn’t the absolute front line.

The war between the Villain Kingdom and Augustine City was taking place almost entirely on the territory of the City Federation.

Augustine City was not a single city, but a federation of many cities. However, though it was called a federation, the relationships between the various cities were quite loose.

Religious reasons, historical reasons...

A whole host of factors contributed to the strange phenomenon of this federation being united in name but divided in spirit, with each city harboring its own ulterior motives. Even in a state of war, they failed to band together, allowing large swathes of their land to become a weapons testing ground for the Loman Empire.

On the first day of their arrival in the Villain Kingdom, members from the previous batches of the advisory group held a welcome banquet for the newcomers.

The banquet was of a high standard, arranged with all the details of a ducal-level feast.

Only a hundred-odd kilometers from the battlefield, the lavish banquet hall was a scene of magnificent splendor, filled with song and dance as if in peacetime.

This environment made Morris very uncomfortable.

The man who was usually the center of attention at banquets was now huddled in a corner, wishing he could turn invisible.

He stared blankly at the wallpaper, counting the number of prints, hoping this boring evening would pass quickly.

"Quiet, everyone," a magnified voice echoed to every corner of the banquet hall. "Let’s welcome the esteemed head of our advisory group, Brigadier General Douglas, to give a speech."

Applause filled the hall.

"AHEM, AHEM. My apologies for interrupting everyone’s enjoyment of the banquet. I wouldn’t call myself esteemed; I am merely faithfully carrying out the orders of His Majesty the Emperor."

Under everyone’s gaze, a middle-aged man in a military uniform, holding a wine glass, spoke. He had a standard smile on his face, well-defined features, and could even be called handsome.