TYRANNY: HOW TO CREATE A WORLD

No matter what I do, death has its arms open, waiting for me to leap into its embrace!

Dugut Calendar, 738.

Today, the sun was scorching the capital of the empire as if there were a colossal cauldron right within the heart of the city. Imperial officials, meticulously tending to the cobblestone roads, were nearly present on every corner. Dozens of barrels filled with water had been placed at every corner, each attended by an official who poured the water onto the roads.

People seemed to have no desire to do anything today as if they wished to avoid the scorching heat at all costs. They sought out the shadiest spots they could find, often beneath the canopies of densely-leaved trees, and had taken refuge under makeshift leather shelters, resembling small tents.

The interiors of houses and most buildings were still chill because they had been quickly constructed using a newly discovered mud-like substance. They weren't like wooden houses and instead, they absorbed the heat, turning the interiors into chilly lands.

Normally, there should have been thousands of people out on the streets right now, but the heat had convinced them to choose hunger over the risk of dying. Currently, the streets were only populated by healers carrying people who had fainted or even died from the heat, as well as imperial workers watering the roads.

To the east of the imperial capital, where the entertainment district was located, a few people seemed indifferent to the heat outside. In pairs, mixed with both men and women, they were walking along the streets. Occasionally, they would buy some sweets from the street vendors who seemed almost faint from the heat, relishing a few days of leisure like newlyweds enjoying the aftermath of a wedding.

These few couples were spread throughout every corner of the street. Of course, the most striking among them were the couple with the most handsome man and the most beautiful woman. As the pair reached a street vendor, they paused and requested something from the vendor. The street vendor retrieved a red ice ball from among the partially melted ice in a small box and handed it to the couple. After the man took out a few copper coins from his pouch and made the payment, they continued on their way. As they enjoyed their ice balls, it seemed as if the two were completely oblivious to the heat around them. You could even say that there wasn't a single bead of sweat on their foreheads.

The man was a head taller than the woman. He had broad shoulders and kohl-rimmed eyes that would make people look at him with envy. With eyes resembling the color of honey, anyone who saw them would think that no matter how beautiful the woman was, she was fortunate to have found a man like him.

He had a red scarf around his neck, resembling a necktie, and no matter how hard he tried to conceal it, a small protrusion that occasionally peeked out from behind his red cloak indicated that he carried a sword. Moreover, his bulky upper body suggested the possibility of wearing armor underneath.

The woman, with her eyes as dark as the night and the inky black dye of a plant applied to the corners of her eyes, her sun-kissed skin darkened to a shade like wheat by the scorching sun's gentle touch, radiated even more brilliantly than the sun above, next to the man. Even this appearance wasn't her most beautiful aspect, her smile was her true weapon. The two daggers tucked into her belt looked like blunt pieces of iron compared to her smile.

After walking along the wide entertainment street for a while, the couple stopped at a tea house. Tea houses were designed as places for people to relax, unwind, and empty their minds while sipping on soothing and exquisite teas, accompanied by music that touched their souls. There was at least one in every city of the empire.

The woman glanced at the tea house sign and clumsily read the imperial language text on it. "Sky Blue Tea House?" Then the woman turned and, revealing a smile that could bring down empires, asked her partner. "My love, shall we spend some time here? I heard that teas come from the east to the imperial capital. They even have teas from Great Xia," She looked into the eyes of the man across from her with anticipation.

The man, on the other hand, felt as if he were making one of the most important decisions of his life. He thought that he would rather choose to die than upset the woman in front of him in a short time, and he spoke with a smile. "Today is our day. We'll go wherever you want," he said, and without paying any attention to the two imperial guards at the door, he took the woman's hand and walked inside.

Seeing the couple enter, the other couples on the street followed suit, passing by the imperial guards and entering the tea house.

As they entered the tea house, a wave of cold air hit them in the face, reminiscent of the times they had spent on the plains of the north. When the two looked around, they noticed that the tea house was filled with barrels filled with ice, constantly replenished with new ones, placed all around.

In addition to that, there were over a dozen people inside, and half of them were imperial guards. Most of them had cold towels placed on their faces and necks, relieving their bodies from the stifling heat outside as they relaxed with their tea.

The pair furrowed their brows when they saw the imperial guards inside, but they quickly smiled again.

Inside, the sound of the zither playing was even more soothing to them than the ice placed around them, and they sat at the nearest empty table to the zither-playing women, a special area covered with a white veil.

After ordering two refreshing teas from the waitress who came to their table, they began conversing while observing their surroundings.

What caught their attention the most was the two customers in the separate area behind the curtain, right behind the zither-playing woman.

Due to the curtain, their features were not clearly visible, but they could make out that one of them was in civilian attire, while the other was wearing armor that gleamed with a silver light, reflecting the sun's rays that penetrated the tea house and further illuminating the interior.

The man adopted a somewhat contemplative stance in front of this scenery, but he was extremely adept at not showing it to those around him.

The speed at which the teas arrived was directly proportional to the entry of the other couples outside. The service was better than most tea houses in the empire. This was an undeniable fact.

The young man and the woman smiled at the entering couples, sipped their teas, and continued their daily conversation. In the meantime, they could hear the faint laughter coming from the secluded area separated by a curtain.

One of the laughs had an extremely high-pitched and grating sound, while the other sounded remarkably calm, soft as cotton, and as soothing as the towel on a soldier's head.

As the couple continued their conversation, the final pair entering the tea house realized there were no available tables left for them. The remaining male from the couple went to one of the tables where the guards were sitting, leaned over, and whispered something into one of the guard's ears. Then he took out a few pieces of silver from his pouch at his waist and placed them on the table.

"What do you think you're doing?" The guard, trying to relax by sipping his tea at his table, initially couldn't comprehend why this man was doing such a thing. His salary was good enough that a few pieces of silver wouldn't matter, and besides, he wasn't alone at the moment. So, he wasn't willing to stoop low enough to accept these few coins. In fact, he decided it might be amusing to mess with this young man a bit.

"You think you can buy me with a few pieces of silver?" He raised one of his thick eyebrows so high that his friend at the table struggled not to burst into laughter. Nevertheless, just to be safe, one of his hands remained on the hilt of his sword at his waist.

"No, it's just that today seems to be a fortunate day for us, and as you can see, all our friends are here. I merely hoped that a gentleman like yourself might perform a good deed for someone like us commoners." His hooked nose with raised eyebrows and further tightened features had widened. This made his face appear a bit uglier.

"Hahaha!" The imperial guard found it amusing that the well-dressed man in front of him, who seemed somewhat important, was speaking like this. Meanwhile, he noticed the man reaching out and trying to retrieve the few pieces of silver from the table.

With a sound that shook the tea house, he slammed his hand on the table, preventing the man's hand from reaching the silver. In the meantime, the silver coins had already jumped an inch into the air.