The unlucky minister interrogated by Alaric was one of the scribal officials under the Egyptian Minister of Finance.
Although it was not an especially high-ranking position, because it belonged to the central bureaucracy, his status was not low, and he had a fairly good understanding of Egypt's political situation.
According to his account, Egypt was an autocratic, highly centralized state.
All power belonged to the Pharaoh, including judicial, administrative, legislative, and religious authority.
Beneath the Pharaoh was a system of governmental institutions, including the royal court and local administrations, which managed all regions of the country in various aspects, quite similar to the Roman Empire's provincial governor system.
The highest official within the court bureaucracy was the Vizier, equivalent to a prime minister.
His authority was second only to the Pharaoh's, yet it was comprehensive in scope, supervising and managing all government departments, legislation, construction, national defense, investigation and distribution of state resources, conscription, state ceremonies, and more.
The Vizier's position was extremely important. In the past, it was generally held by a prince, who could then succeed the throne after the old king's death.
However, during the reign of Pharaoh Pepi, the Pharaoh's weakness allowed this position to fall into the hands of those outside the royal family.
As a result, it began to threaten the Pharaoh's throne and plunged the country into chaos.
Under the Vizier were departments such as the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Military Affairs.
The judicial system was divided into a High Court and local courts.
The Ministry of Finance was headed by the Minister of Finance, who was responsible for state financial matters such as taxation, the treasury, land surveys, and foreign tribute.
As the Vizier's power slipped out of proper control, the Pharaoh's authority was gradually eroded by the ministers.
This situation became even more severe after Pharaoh Pepi's death and the accession of Merenre II.
Having been a prince for many years, Merenre II was deeply dissatisfied with his father's weakness and with the situation in which powerful ministers overshadowed a weak ruler.
Thus, after ascending the throne, he was eager to reclaim his authority.
But having only just taken the throne, his power base was unstable. Naturally, he failed.
Only a few months after his accession, Merenre II was assassinated by the nobility.
Because the interval between his enthronement and death was so short, there was no opportunity at all to establish an heir.
With no successor, fierce disputes erupted at the core of Egypt's power structure.
At that time, his queen, also his younger sister, Nitocris, stepped forward.
She communicated with the various noble factions, and in the end, she gained their trust and was pushed onto the throne, becoming the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt.
In fact, she was effectively the first female Pharaoh in Egyptian history to wield political authority over all of Egypt.
However, because she had been placed on the throne by ministers who already held real power, Nitocris was, in reality, little more than a puppet.
The scribe under the Minister of Finance was especially certain of this point, his superior, Egypt's Minister of Finance, had been one of the conspirators both in the murder of Merenre II and in installing Nitocris as the female Pharaoh.
Led by the Vizier, several of Egypt's most important ministers at the time, together with a few high priests of the Ennead, jointly carved up the true power of Egypt.
The reason Nitocris satisfied them was precisely because she was different from her elderly brother and husband, Merenre II.
Unlike him, she was not so eager to reclaim the Pharaoh's authority, nor did she take any radical actions.
With such an obedient female Pharaoh, how could those ministers be dissatisfied?
Yet, according to history, Alaric knew the ultimate fate of Pharaoh Nitocris, and he also knew of the deep flames of vengeance buried beneath the seemingly stable political situation of the present.
While learning about Egypt's current political state, he also obtained certain information about Pharaoh Nitocris from this minister.
This female Pharaoh was known as the Son of the Sky God Horus, and his incarnation, and she possessed powerful divine thaumaturgical abilities.
One must know that in present-day Egypt, magic lay somewhere between magecraft and divine thaumaturgy.
Here, the earliest form of magic existed as something called "runes", of course, these runes were still within the domain of divine thaumaturgy.
The priests broke divine arts down into runic forms and recorded and stored them.
Through runes, they could better understand the essence of power in various domains, and thus gradually develop magic.
This situation did not exist only in Egypt.
The Norse divine realm was the same, in that land, the earliest magic was runic magic known as "Rune," which also developed from divine arts and shared striking similarities with Egyptian magic.
And Nitocris herself was a queen who had mastered this power. In the field of runic spells, she commanded more knowledge and strength than any priest in Egypt.
Alaric's plan was based precisely on this point.
Nitocris was undoubtedly Alaric's opportunity to gain control of local magical power in Egypt.
And just so happened that this girl harbored a wish that she absolutely had to fulfill.
Wasn't this situation perfectly his chance?
Night soon fell. After concealing himself with "Ultimate Invisibility," Alaric openly strode into the Pharaoh's palace in the city of Memphis.
Egypt truly lived up to its reputation as an ancient nation famed for its grand architecture.
The palace, labyrinthine in its layout, was not only magnificent but far larger than Alaric had imagined.
Somewhat depressed, Alaric thought that even if he wanted to find Nitocris, he had no idea where she might be.
Fortunately, the current Pharaoh was Nitocris herself, otherwise, if he accidentally wandered into some man's chamber, that would be utterly nauseating.
Before long, however, Alaric found the correct target.
It was two young girls carrying flower baskets filled with rose petals.
Listening to their conversation, Alaric learned that they were preparing to attend upon the Pharaoh during her bath.
In the current palace, aside from Nitocris, no one else could enjoy such treatment.
Following the two girls, turning left and right along the way, Alaric soon entered a hall that appeared lavishly decorated.
Mist filled the hall, and the source of the steam was now concealed behind pink curtains.
Nevertheless, Alaric could see that it was a large bathing pool.
Beside the pool were maidservants carrying buckets, adjusting the water temperature, while girls holding flower baskets scattered various petals into the water.
One had to admit, these nobles truly knew how to indulge themselves. Even the Pharaoh's bath was extravagantly elaborate.
However, Nitocris had not yet arrived.
Thus, Alaric directly entered the pool and unceremoniously enjoyed the warm comfort prepared for the Pharaoh.
This was one of the advantages of Ultimate Invisibility, it was not merely concealing one's appearance or presence.
Therefore, even after entering the water, Alaric did not reveal the slightest flaw. Only the sound of water when he first submerged startled the attendants.
Yet, they discovered nothing.
In the end, the maidservants could only attribute it all to auditory hallucinations.