The world is indeed changing, even in the obscure town of Seris! Gullo took off the glasses perched on his nose, rubbed his tired eyes, and let out a long sigh.
He had spent his entire life in the service of the Dragon Tait family, and the moments he made decisions for himself were rare. But now, he was grateful for making the right decision, following the young Desail to witness the arrival of an era.
"This is simply outrageous!" The next moment, he slammed the documents on the table, shouted angrily, startling the few attendants who were reading the documents with him.
"This is not about production at all; it's completely reckless!" Watching the somewhat rough development pattern of Seris City, Gullo, who was familiar with such matters, lamented, "This is total chaos! Utter chaos!"
The elderly man, nearing his sixties, jumped up from his chair and rushed out of the room, running into Desail coming out of Chris's study.
Breathless, he grabbed Desail and exclaimed, "You've hit the jackpot! You've hit the jackpot! As long as I manage it, a year from now, this will be the most fertile place on the continent!"
Seeing the expression of the elderly Gullo, Desail knew that his investment this time was a guaranteed success. So, he smiled, letting go of the thought of blowing up the nursing home in his previous life, and said, "How about it? Does it have potential?"
"You're right! This world will change because of this place! We will become the richest people in the world!" Gullo pinched the data in his hand and said to Desail, "Give me ten days, and I will organize the development plan here..."
"Five days!" Behind Desail, Chris, leaning against the door frame, laughed and extended a hand, saying, "I'll give you only five days! Now, take up the position immediately and become the Minister of Economy for the Principality of Airenhill! Five days later, I want to hear your detailed report."
...
In the brightly lit hall, a general in a gorgeous short shirt, with a sword adorned with gemstones at his waist, frowned as he looked at the Prime Minister Clark, who had just been talking boldly. He asked, "Is it not a bit whimsical to support a principality on the border, Lord Prime Minister?"
His voice was not loud but full of vigor. The whole voice echoed in the hall, rising and falling like music. "Since the Airenhill family has the ability to conquer Mein and the ferry in a short time, they must have their own capital. Your indulgence is sowing seeds of trouble for the empire."
Within the empire, there were very few people who dared to speak to Prime Minister Clark like this, and the current speaker was General Rock Zorn, the queen's brother and the commander-in-chief of the imperial army.
Being both a royal relative and a powerful figure, General Zorn's position was naturally higher than Prime Minister Clark had to handle his opinions carefully most of the time to avoid leaving any handles.
However, as the Prime Minister, Clark was not an easy figure to handle either. He had numerous backers and supporters, and Zorn, in most cases, had to respect his opinions as well.
These two, one in civil matters and the other in military, each held a substantial portion of the empire's power. They were dubbed by the people as the "uncrowned dual kings."
As the "civil king," Prime Minister Clark casually waved his hand, speaking with a cold smile, "General Zorn, you're being too cautious. We have the Holy Magic Empire behind us. Are you afraid that a small principality would dare to oppose the Holy Magic Empire?"
"I heard that the young man from the Airenhill family used a weapon in this war that is comparable to magic..." The so-called "military king," General Zorn, showed no intention of compromise. He questioned, "If they really have such weapons... then we have to be cautious."
"Since General Zorn has mentioned this, let's propose a solution." Clark, still unhurried, as if there were nothing important in the world, continued, "Let the Airenhill family hand over these weapons! Bring back those weapons, and we will study them carefully. If these weapons can truly rival magic, then let them become the weapons of the Empire!"
"No problem. As the commander of the imperial army, you also have control over the forces of the border principality. Order them to send the weapons to the capital, and it's done." Although Clark supported the establishment of the Airenhill Principality, he had no obligation to show favoritism.
He had already pushed the difficult problem to the general, realizing the limit of the two hundred thousand gold coins. So, he directly threw the challenge to the general, adopting an attitude of indifference.
In his view, he had fulfilled his duty, and the remaining matter was the responsibility of the Empire's Grand General, who would criticize Airenhill after all—there was a way to solve it. Just send more gold coins to make him fight for Airenhill.
Hearing the words of the Prime Minister, the Grand General showed a satisfied expression on his face. He nodded and no longer challenged Clark on the issue of Airenhill. Instead, he brought up another matter, "The Empire seems to be strengthening its forces on the southern border."
"The Holy Magic Empire has increased our taxes, demanding more magic ore from us. It seems that the days of the Dosen Empire in the south are not easy either." Clark sighed, saying to General Zorn.
The reason why the Ante Empire could become a powerful human empire was due to the support of the Holy Magic Empire, and that support was built on the foundation of magic ore deposits.
As human empires lacked magical energy and were not suitable for long-term residence of magicians, the Magic Empire did not want to directly rule these human empires. However, these areas without magical energy but with some ore deposits became targets for extortion. In turn, these human countries extorted the surrounding countries with the support of the Magic Empire.
Countless magic ores were mined and transported to the border of the Magic Empire, serving as protection money for humans, paid to many magic empires. Yet, these magic empires did not have to pay any price; all they had to do was accept it.
For these magic empires, humans who could not practice magic were the only reason for their existence—tools to mine ore in non-magic areas. In their eyes, these humans were no different from livestock, expendable goods that could be discarded at will.
In a sense, these humans who could not practice magic were worth even less than magical beasts that could serve as mounts.
The relentless exploitation and plunder, an unchanging law that kept the world running, had become an unbreakable shackle on humans. Countless heroes had tried to shatter this law and break free from the shackles, but they all failed. They all became piles of bones built under the law, and their names were carved on the shackles, turning into terrifying curses.
Every time humans rebelled, rivers of blood flowed. The Dragon Knights of the Magic Empire could easily destroy an entire infantry phalanx, and the combat capabilities of the two sides were not on the same level.
"We both have magic ore mines. If the Dosen Empire declares war on us, the Holy Magic Empire will surely stand idly by..." General Zorn bit his teeth and said, "So I have already mobilized the troops to move south. The Dosen Empire should understand that they won't gain any advantage from us!"
Nodding, Prime Minister Clark breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "For matters of war, we rely entirely on you, Grand General... The Emperor has been unwell recently."
"I know." Waving his hand, General Zorn interrupted Prime Minister Klark, "I know that the Emperor has not been well. Don't trouble him with such trivial matters; we can handle them."
After saying that, he walked towards the door with his sword and, when the conference hall door was closed, lowered his voice to mutter, "I want to see how much longer you can be arrogant! Bastard!"
