Magic World War

"If someone greets you, embrace them warmly. If it’s a woman, compliment her looks. If an unexpected situation arises, just laugh and say: ‘The weather is nice today…’"

Charlotte Mecklenburg kept psyching himself up, trying to appear calm and composed, unhurried and confident.

About ten days ago, Charlotte Mecklenburg was still called Ethan Harrison, a high school math teacher from Earth with a standard university education.

He had no idea how he had "died."

His last memories were hazy, completely fragmented. When he awoke, Ethan Harrison had become Charlotte Mecklenburg, an imperial government employee on vacation.

Charlotte Mecklenburg worked in the Central Government Office as a first-class clerk, ranked forty-one in the empire’s bureaucratic system, responsible for various clerical duties.

He worked for and received a salary from a country called the Fars Empire—a powerful nation that had never existed in Ethan Harrison’s memories.

Charlotte Mecklenburg was a native of the Old Continent, born in the Behemoth Principality (a vassal state of the Fars Empire). He later moved to the Empire for education and, after graduation, secured a well-paying job in the capital, Strasbourg.

During the first few days after his transmigration, he was terrified—anyone in his situation would be.

Fortunately…

Charlotte Mecklenburg had been on vacation.

Alone in a rented cottage by the sea in Sainis, surrounded by strangers, he had ample time and space to calm down.

Ethan Harrison quickly determined that the best course of action was to assume Charlotte Mecklenburg’s identity and live according to his routine.

Upon transmigrating, he inherited most of Charlotte Mecklenburg’s memories and acquired some ancient knowledge, enabling him to integrate seamlessly into this fantastical world with a classical European feel.

Yes, this was a fantasy world.

There were gods, magical creatures, forbidden ancient artifacts, giants, shamans, vampires, magic, battle energy, alchemy, and extraordinary beings wielding supernatural artifacts.

This world was ruled by nine main gods.

In an ancient, indescribable era, these nine deities established a sacred pact, "The Laws of the Gods," agreeing to rule the world in rotating centuries, each era called an Epoch.

The current ruler was the Lady of the Black Moon, in the thirty-fifth year of her reign, marking the fifth epoch of the Fars Empire.

Charlotte Mecklenburg entered the government office with a composed smile, warmly greeting everyone he encountered.

Most of the faces passing by were indistinct in his memory—the original owner had paid little attention to his colleagues' appearances, leaving Charlotte unable to recognize them.

It was similar to how one could recall most acquaintances on sight but struggled to visualize their faces when alone—an inherent flaw in human memory.

He arrived at his designated office, which housed more than twenty clerks. While it wasn’t a private workspace, it was far better than working in the main hall.

As soon as he pushed open the door, a stern middle-aged woman called out, "Mr. Mecklenburg, you’ll be assigned a special task in the coming days."

Charlotte smiled slightly, quickly searching his memory to reconstruct the speaker’s identity.

This middle-aged woman was his direct superior, Mrs. Aldegund, a strict and authoritative senior government official.

"Understood, Mrs. Aldegund. I will do my best to complete the task."

Mrs. Aldegund was slightly surprised. She had expected Charlotte Mecklenburg to refuse—the task was notoriously troublesome, and few were willing to take it on.

However, since he had already agreed, she did not push further and simply said, "Take this identification letter to Kilmainham Prison. You will receive further instructions there."

"Here is one Écu as an allowance for your temporary assignment."

Charlotte smiled as he accepted the envelope, simultaneously recalling his knowledge of Imperial currency.

The Empire used three currency units: Écu, Forr, and Shilling.

One Écu equaled ten Forr; one Forr equaled one hundred Shillings.

Écu, meaning "shield" in the Imperial language, existed only as gold coins, available in one and five Écu denominations. They were extremely valuable, hoarded by the wealthy and nobility, rarely circulated, and more akin to collector’s items.

Forr originally referred to a unit of silver weight—equivalent to a pound of silver. In the third era, silver Forr coins were minted and colloquially called "old Forr." In the fourth era, they were replaced with paper currency, known as "new Forr," issued in denominations of one, five, ten, twenty, and fifty. Silver Forr coins, like Écu, had virtually disappeared from circulation. A single Forr held the purchasing power equivalent to about 1,800–1,900 Chinese yuan.

Shilling coins, available in one, five, ten, twenty, and fifty denominations, remained the only widely circulated hard currency.

One Écu was considered an exceptionally generous bonus—approximately equal to one and a half months of Charlotte’s salary.

Yes, as a first-class clerk of the Empire, Charlotte earned a high salary of one Forr and seventy Shillings per week, along with paid annual leave.

Though he hadn’t worked long enough to accumulate substantial savings or purchase property, he was still considered an outstanding young man among the Empire’s youth.

This was precisely why women at social gatherings occasionally flirted with him—Charlotte Mecklenburg was a prime example of an eligible bachelor with a bright future.

Mrs. Aldegund was a serious woman of few words. Having given her instructions, she returned to her desk.

Charlotte left the office, exited the government building, and casually hailed a public carriage. The driver waited for him to board before setting the horses into a light trot.

Seated in the carriage, Charlotte experienced the bumpy ride while opening the envelope. Inside was a ten-Forr banknote and an official letter of introduction.

The Empire did not issue paper currency for Écu—neither one nor five denominations. Écu existed solely as gold coins.

As a result, the Empire had a peculiar custom: referring to ten-Forr banknotes as "one Écu."

Charlotte placed the ten-Forr note into his wallet, tucked the introduction letter into his coat pocket, and crumpled the envelope, tossing it out of the carriage window. It landed perfectly in a street-side trash bin with remarkable precision.

The Empire’s sixth emperor, Julius, had an extreme obsession with cleanliness. He detested the rampant sewage and garbage littering the streets and launched a citywide sanitation initiative. However, even an emperor had limits—his reforms did not fully succeed, and only Valdevas District retained public waste disposal.

Valdevas District housed the royal palace, the central government offices, the nine great temples, and the Empire’s four most prestigious universities.

The elite enjoyed clean living conditions.

As for the rest of the city—let the wind take care of it.

Kilmainham Prison was in the Maen District, two districts away from Valdevas.

The carriage moved at a slow pace. Charlotte dozed off for a while before the driver carefully reminded him, "Sir, we have arrived at Kilmainham Prison."

Charlotte stepped down, smiling as he bid farewell to the driver, and hurried toward the prison. He handed his introduction letter to the guard, smiling. "This is my identification letter issued by the Central Government Office. I am Charlotte Mecklenburg, an official here to assist with some work."

The guard examined the letter carefully before returning it with a respectful nod. "Mr. Mecklenburg, please proceed straight to the First Office Building and ask for Reception Secretary Mrs. Pascal. She will take you to Miss Menierman."

Charlotte’s smile stiffened slightly as he asked, "I’m to assist Miss Menierman? Which Miss Menierman?"

The guard beamed with pride. "Indeed, the Empire’s First Rose—Miss Menierman."

Charlott