As the city of Finklan came into view, Erwin couldn't help but be impressed by its majesty. It was truly a glorious city to behold, but then again, any city that had managed to stand the test of time for several centuries had to be special in its own way. To the north of the city was a cluster of mountain ranges, while bodies of water flowed along the terrain to the city's west. There were mountains and rivers that made it difficult for enemy armies to invade the city, but also flatlands and the same aforementioned bodies of water that made for convenient transport. One truly had to commend the intelligence of the first emperor for choosing such an ideal site upon which to build his capital city.

Aside from his amazement at how grand and majestic the city was, there were also emotions of hope and anxiety swirling around within his heart. From Sarus to Finklan, he was once again at the center of power, but on a different continent on this occasion, so he was naturally feeling quite anxious. He didn't know if what was going to happen during the imperial conference would take away everything that he had worked so hard to create. As for hope and anticipation, those were feelings that would naturally arise within someone as ambitious as Erwin when approaching a central hub of power like this one. From the moment he was born, he had been destined to be in this type of setting, there was no doubt about it.

Erwin stood up in the horse-drawn carriage before stretching lazily, and a faint smile appeared on his face as his gaze roamed over the city of Finklan.

He then took a glance at Onean, who was standing beside him, and she just so happened to be looking at him as well. The two of them exchanged a smile, and there was no need for any verbal communication.

"Mr. Erwin! Mr. Erwin!" Before they had even entered the city, Erwin heard someone call out his name, and he found that to be rather strange.

He turned to discover the Farody Brothers and their entourages.

Erwin's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he thought to himself, What are these two doing here? The imperial summons is only released to the rulers of the dukedoms. I'm sure the imperial envoy sent out by the emperor wouldn't have gone to Tellier, so why have these two come here?

His theory was that Mackney had sent his two sons to Finklan to see if they could forge any alliances with the elite crowd here. Even though Erwin was very much in disapproval of what Mackney was trying to do, he couldn't confront Mackney about it at a time like this. He was already facing a formidable foe in the form of the Delair Dukedom, if Mackney were to turn on him as well, then the consequences would be truly catastrophic.

Erwin knew that Mackney was feeling a little panicked after seeing Erwin take over Newfando without a fight. Thus, the benefits that he had given to Mackney were no longer enough to satisfy him and keep him settled. A businessman was always on the lookout for the best deal, and that often entailed shopping around, but in doing so, he had completely irked Erwin.

However, Erwin naturally wasn't going to make his dissatisfaction obvious to the two Farody Brothers. Instead, he emerged from his carriage with a warm smile before giving them an enthusiastic greeting. At the same time, he already had an idea of how he was going to put Shane to use in Tellier.

After that, Onean, Theresa, and Faya also emerged from the carriage, and John and Lucidy were quite taken aback to see this. At the same time, they were feeling both envious and slightly resentful toward Erwin. It seemed that whenever they met with Erwin, he was always surrounded by beautiful women, and there were three on this occasion, no less. Even though Faya wasn't exactly a striking beauty, she had her own unique charm with her shy and reserved demeanor. Most importantly, Lucidy and Farody knew all three of these beauties to a certain extent. Setting Onean aside, Theresa was Duke Eru's only daughter, while Faya was Count Onen's youngest daughter. Not only had the territories of those two men been taken over by Erwin, even their daughters were completely devoted to Erwin, much to the two brothers' envy and chagrin.

Erwin paid no heed to the envious looks in the two brothers' eyes as he was already accustomed to receiving such looks.

Theresa had naturally met the Farody Brothers as well, and she was regarding them with a cold expression. As for Faya, she was hiding behind Erwin, unwilling to make any contact with the two men. Duke Eru and Count Onen were well aware of Mackney's habit of insulting the nobility, and there was inevitably going to be some friction between the offspring of those opposing parties.

Onean was still her usual proud and unapproachable self, not bothering to speak to the two brothers.

Thus, as the group entered the city, Erwin was the only one making any attempt at conversation with the Farody Brothers, while the three women all seemed to be stoically ignoring them. In fact, Theresa was already displaying open contempt toward the two brothers. She didn't come to Finklan very often, and she was hoping to make a romantic tour of the city with Erwin, only for these two accursed meddlers to get in the way. Hence, she was giving the two brothers a thorough dressing down in her heart.

...

The city of Finklan was split up into two parts, north and south, by the Fulnon River. The northern part of the city was renowned for accommodating the imperial palace, all of the imperial organizations, and the churches of the Universal Church, whereas the southern part of the city was a paradise for artists and young people. Most of the churches of the New Light Church were situated southward of the Fulnon River, alongside many renowned art galleries and theaters. Erwin had been informed of all of this by Yuho and Turan. Turan was a longtime local resident of the city up until recently, while Yuho often visited Finklan during his travels, so they naturally adopted the role of tour guide.

Erwin didn't have much interest in the solemn churches of the Universal Church, so they only made a brief tour of the city's northern part. Even so, by the time everyone arrived at the bridge that connected the two parts of the city, it was already close to noon. The gentle breeze blowing in from the Fulnon River struck one with a sense of drowziness, and even though spring hadn't arrived yet, the weather was already beginning to warm up. After walking around for so long, everyone was feeling quite hungry.

Looking across the Fulnon River to the south, one would see many washed-up artists offering portrait-drawing services on the causeway of the southern bank. There were also many traveling poets that were vigorously strumming their stringed instruments in order to busk for money from passersby. It seemed that this was a special sight that could only been seen in the northern part of Finklan.

To the north of the bridge right next to the Fulnon River was a majestic building that was very eye-catching. Upon closer inspection, Erwin discovered that it was a restaurant, and it had to be quite a high-end establishment, given its exceptional construction and its prime location right beside the river.

"That's the Dreambind Pavilion. Apparently, its owner is a certain noble following the New Light Church," Turan introduced.

"Why are those people gathered around the building?" Erwin asked with a curious expression.

"This place has a rule, which is that guests who wish to enter must deliver a poem first. The poem will be recorded by a clerk, and only after the establishment's owner has approved of the poem will one be allowed to enter," Turan explained.

"How interesting," Erwin mused with an intrigued expression. "So if you want to fill your belly there, you have to be a poet?"

"Given your exceptional poetry talents, the owner of the restaurant should offer us a free meal," John Farody said with a smile, making no attempt to hide the fact that he was flattering Erwin.

Lucidy also wanted to offer Erwin his praise, but John had got there before him, leaving him feeling rather displeased. However, he then quickly put on a smile as he chimed in, "Just one free meal would be an insult to Mr. Erwin's poetic talents. If the owner of the restaurant truly appreciates fine poetry, he'd invite us to eat here for free for at least the next few days."

Theresa was only aware that Erwin was an exceptional artist, and she didn't know that Erwin was a fine poet as well. However, her surprise was outweighed by her exasperation at the Farody Brothers' blatant attempts at flattery, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes in disdain.

Turan got up onto the tips of his toes before taking a look forward, upon which a rather perplexed look appeared on his face. "In the past, I recall that the requirement for entry was extremely low. As long as one didn't deliver the most mediocre of poems, they would be granted entry into the restaurant. What's going on today?"

"I know, right?" someone in the crowd immediately chimed in in agreement after hearing what Turan had to say. "They were truly accepting some terrible poems in the past."

"Have you not heard? Their standards have recently changed."

"How so?"

"The assessment process has become far stricter, and most poems are being rejected now."

"Why is that? Are they trying to run the business into the ground?"

"Who knows? I had the exact same thought as you."

The servants from noble families began to discuss the recent changes, while Erwin and the others were listening on the side.

Right at this moment, a certain butler of a noble family turned to another family's butler as he asked, "How did it go?"

The other butler shook his head with a dejected expression as he rejoined the crowd.

"Why have they set the bar so high?"

"Tell me about it! I heard that even a poem delivered by Shaw was thrown out and rejected."

"Even Shaw couldn't get in? This is just getting downright unreasonable now!"

Turan was quite surprised to hear this, not expecting even a poem written by Shaw to have been rejected by the owner of the restaurant. He and Shaw were old acquaintances. Both of them had contributed pieces to an underground lewd publication, so he was aware of Shaw's abilities as a writer, hence his surprise.

Erwin was beginning to develop an understanding of the situation after hearing all of this. It seemed that many nobles didn't dare to submit their own poems for fear of rejection and embarrassment. After all, what poetry acumen could a bunch of snobbish nobles possibly have? Hence, they could only turn to hiring the renowned writers in the city to deliver poems in their stead, thereby allowing them to enter the restaurant. It was truly ironic, considering how the nobles prided themselves on their sophistication, but they were so terrible in the discipline of poetry that they had to hire other people to take their place. It was truly a laughable turn of events.

Right at this moment, a burly man with a thick beard forced his way through the crowd, opening up a path for a man in a tight-fitting robe behind him. "Hey, don't block up the entrance! If you're not going to deliver a poem, then get out of the way! Don't get in my master's way just because you don't have the talent to get in."

Everyone turned to the man in the tight-fitting robe, and many of them were immediately able to identify him.

"Isn't that Duke Tuhar of the Fantiwenross Dukedom? Looks like he's going to try and get into the restaurant as well," someone murmured in a low voice.

"How do you know that's him?"

"Look at that face of his, it's as large as a plate! Who else in this world aside from the members of the Tuhar Family have..." Before the man had a chance to finish, he received a vicious glare from the burly, thick-bearded, and he didn't dare to speak any further. However, all of the people gathered here were servants from extremely important families, so the burly man didn't dare to do anything aside from glare at the people badmouthing his master.

Duke Tuhar paid no heed to the remarks made on his appearance as he turned to everyone with a disdainful expression. "If none of you cowards dare to submit your poems, then you should get out of the way and leave. The people who hired you are too afraid of embarrassment to come here in person, but I have no such qualms."

He then turned to the clerk at the entrance of the restaurant before asking, "What is the topic of the day?"

"The topic for today is 'transition between winter and spring', esteemed guest," the clerk replied.

"Alright." Duke Tuhar nodded in response with a confident expression, then began his poem.

"Ah! Spring, you come so gracefully like a beautiful maiden..."

Erwin and Onean immediately burst into laughter upon hearing Duke Tuhar's exclamation of "ah" to kick off the poem. It was clear that this duke was another poet from the Yuho school of poetry, and Yuho himself was feeling rather embarrassed, trying his best to hold back his laughter.