"Gift?" Roland raised his eyebrows, "What is it?"
"The Hoth family and the Lista family in the north... Your Majesty, the two earls refused to obey your rule, and tried to collude with the rest of the nobles to rebel. Father saw through their tricks in advance and gave the two families the punishment they deserved." Cole said regretfully, "But due to my negligence, I didn't expect you to return to the West Territory earlier. The head used as evidence was broken on the way."
"Wait, your father executed the two earls directly?"
"Uh," he glanced at his assistant, "yes."
This vote is more intense than I expected... Taking the heads of two earls as votes means that it will be difficult for them to get the support of the eastern nobles, at least the possibility of uniting against their own territory is greatly reduced. Roland thought to himself, but now that Nightingale is not around, he doesn't know if the other party is deceiving him.
He pondered for a moment, and whispered to Barov beside him, "Are there two families in the North?"
"Matou Hoth and Shuanggun Lista are both noble families in the North, and their reputation is even more prominent than the five families in the West. Among them, Lista's ancestors fought for the Wimbledon family. The double gun on the family crest is the It was taken from the flag of the Kingdom of Greycastle." Barov stroked his beard and said unhurriedly, "Of course, this all happened more than two hundred years ago. But the Kant family is not very famous, I remember it was nearly fifty years ago. A family that only appeared in 2010... I didn't expect that Tifeko would actually choose Calvin Kant to be in charge of the North. Even if it was to contain the other two, if the strengths were very different, it would be difficult to play its due role, and it would be easy to cause veterans. Family dissatisfaction."
"So what he said is true?" Roland automatically ignored the later nagging of the old manager to show off his extensive knowledge.
"Well... it's unlikely to lie," Barov said in a low voice, "this is about the honor of the nobles. If you promise to accept their allegiance and it turns out that it's a lie, the Northland itself will be in chaos first. ."
It makes sense, he nodded slightly, and it doesn't really matter if it's a lie, the key is that his bottom line is already there. If he can accept giving up his fiefdom, everything can be discussed. Expensive gifts are meaningless.
Thinking of this, Roland smiled at Cole, "First of all, I have to thank the duke. It is the responsibility of every noble to maintain the honor of the royal family. Your father has done a good job. Second, the two earls deserve what they deserve, and the kingdom will not Investigate Duke Kant's actions."
"Yes, yes? Father will be very happy to hear this," Cole seemed relieved. "He has always wanted to play for the real king, and now he finally has a chance."
"Yes, I am also happy to accept the allegiance of the Duke of the North... provided that he can obey the new laws of Greycastle."
"The new law?" He was slightly taken aback, "What is that?"
"Regulations concerning the recovery of the power of the nobility," Roland said, looking at the other party's expression, "in the future, there will be no more nobility in the kingdom. You can simply understand that all the territories in the Graycastle have only one master. , that is the king."
"What? Your Majesty, this..." Cole's expression changed greatly, and he turned to look at his assistant again.
Is this guy really the second son of the Duke? Although she looks a little younger, it's not even worse than his female official... At least the latter just opened her mouth a little, and she still looks calm. Of course, it may be that she can't understand the meaning of her words at all.
"Don't worry, nobles are still nobles, your life will not change in any way, and there is still a chance to reach a new peak," Roland clapped his hands and asked the attendant to hand over the prepared brochure, "Long Song Fortress This set of laws has been fully implemented. In the manual, you can see many small stories of changes, as well as examples of nobles who have devoted themselves to it. It seems that the nobles will lose some of their privileges, but in fact it also liberates the nobles from their fiefs. Come out and devote yourself to the big stage of the kingdom, or even the entire continent."
The other party looked blank, "But... I don't know... "
Roland was a little disappointed by Cole's performance, but it was normal to think about it. After all, he was the second son who had just reached adulthood. It is estimated that this trip was only for the responsibility of passing the microphone, and he could not make a final decision.
"It's okay, you can send the message back to Duke Calvin, and before he replies, you can stay in Neverwinter and visit the unique scenery here. I think you will like it here."
Although sending the second son itself meant sincerity, Roland didn't intend to waste this sincerity, so he kept it for the time being as a guarantee to prevent the other party from taking desperate risks.
He thought the meeting would come to an end, but he didn't expect Cole to make another request.
"Your Majesty, may I see how paddle steamers and steam engines are made in your domain?"
This was a novel request, and Roland looked at him with interest, "Are you interested in this?"
"Yes, I heard about this kind of peculiar ships in the capital, and only after I came to the Western Region did I find that they were everywhere. I'm very curious about how paddle steamers do not rely on sails to travel." Cole said while rubbing his chest.
"That's it," he nodded with a smile, "I'll let Director Barov arrange it."
…
After dealing with the messenger from the north, Roland returned to the office and was about to complete the design drawing in his hand, when he suddenly heard a rapid knocking sound from the window. He turned around and saw two unexpected figures.
Lightning was lying on the window sill, and Maisie was squatting on top of her head and pecking at the glass.
Roland's heart suddenly tightened. It was only the third day. The paddle steamer shouldn't have come back so soon. Did something happen
"Why did you come back first?" He opened the floor-to-ceiling windows and hurriedly asked, "Where are the others?"
"Your Majesty! We have caught the devil!"
"But Anna, Ye Ye, and Nightingale are all hurt!"
"Fortunately, it's not a problem!"
"But it still hurts! Can you let Miss Nana come with us?"
After listening to the two of them scrambling to finish speaking, Roland felt like his heart was riding a roller coaster, and he let out a sigh, "Is it really okay?"
"No goo!"
"I'm going to have someone pick up Nana," he turned and walked out of the room. "Next time, remember to finish it in one breath!"
…
By the evening of the next day, two paddle steamers finally appeared at the west end of the Chishui River.
In order to prevent the crowd from panicking when they see the devil, the left-behind troops of the First Army have emptied the No. 22 trestle bridge and prepared a large carriage. A temporary wooden house was also set up in the back garden of the castle to serve as a laboratory, and research on devils and sigils would be carried out under the supervision of Ye Ye.
Seeing Anna and Nightingale walking off the trestle, Roland was completely relieved. It only took four days from departure to return, but it seemed like they hadn't seen each other for several months. Especially after hearing the news that the two were injured, time passed even more slowly.
"This mission is hard work," he raised the corners of his mouth and opened his arms to Anna.
The latter didn't answer, but rushed into his arms quickly and hugged him tightly.
Nightingale sighed, "You said that waiting for us at the castle... the pier is not safe, Your Majesty."
"You too," Roland laughed. "It's hard work."
"Well..." She turned her head uncomfortably, "actually it's fine."
Anna released Roland and pulled Nightingale over.
Then Wendy, Leaf...
All the witches hugged Roland this time, Agatha and Iffy were no exception.
Under the shadow of the dark red sunset, the figures of everyone were pulled to the point of being long. (., Your support is my biggest motivation.) 17-01-29 05:06:09