"Tenth of April, sunny.
Everything that needs to be done has basically been done. Today, the last few decrees have been issued. Next, it's up to Efta to see if he can rely on these to survive.
Father, perhaps you didn't think that this land would change like this, right?
You've always disapproved of giving preferential treatment to the religions. You've always said that religion and politics are the same. I used to think that you were just being alarmist, but now it seems that I agree with you. Especially after looking at this from the perspective of a feudal lord, I feel a chill in my heart. Is this the Rose Cross that I wanted to dedicate my life to?
Many people don't understand the establishment of the cabinet, and the actions of the Rose Cross will probably cause many to misunderstand as well. But just like what Roddy said, at this time, there's no time to analyze the process. The only thing we can focus on is the result … "
The words gradually faded as the ink of the quill was used up. Sally raised her fair fingers lightly. She thought for a moment and didn't draw more ink. Instead, she inserted the quill into the silver pen holder. When the ink gradually dried, she closed the small book and stuffed it into the bookshelf at the side.
After becoming a feudal lord, Sally had the habit of writing a "territory diary." Different from a personal diary, she wrote down her thoughts after every decision she made. This habit was left by her father, Angmar. When Sally was young, she would always see her father take out this kind of book and read it carefully. Now, it had been passed down. Not mentioning its use, it was perhaps a form of mourning for her father.
Speaking of which, as a Duke, Sally was already quite different from the normal nobles. She had delegated a lot of power to the "cabinet." Although this made the "Duke" lose his supreme decision-making power, it greatly increased the efficiency of the territory's policy implementation.
Different from her brother, who had been killed by her own hands, Sally didn't need the sense of achievement of holding power. Because now she had to face threats from all sides, whether it was the suppression of the royal family or the upcoming orc crisis. Her only goal was to make "Efta" continue to exist on the map.
"Sir Duke, the carriage is ready."
Butler John no longer called her "Miss", and Sally was used to it. Right now, her schedule was very tight. Although what she did in the afternoon was just for show, it was still something that she had to do.
"Where are Titus and Uncle Wellington?"
"The two Grand Knights and Knight Sodelor have already sent letters from their respective territories. All plans are being carried out in an orderly fashion."
According to the original custom, when a lord wanted to gather an army, other than recruiting a certain number of soldiers, the other sources of soldiers could only be dealt with by other lords who had received orders. This method was not only inefficient, but the quality of the soldiers was also rarely up to standard. In addition, they had never cooperated with each other before, so when they fought, it was no different from gangsters fighting with each other.
And now, what the Eiffel Cabinet had done was to establish the "Land Forces Command", with Sodelor, Titus, and Wellington as the "Land Forces Commanders". They were specifically in charge of the training, deployment, and combat affairs of the "Conventional Land Forces", completely abandoning the previous practice.
"Military power" was the most important thing to a lord, so the position of "Commander" was not given to anyone else. However, these three commanders each had their own "War Zone", and had the power to recruit and train soldiers in the "War Zone".
This action definitely affected the interests of other lords, but because most of the lords had died in Pacaro City, the removal of the vacant territory's conscription power did not cause much of a stir. After all, the position of "Commander-in-Chief" was still held by Duke Sally herself, which was enough to suppress the voices of backlash.
But the only thing that puzzled Sally and the others was the strange title of "Land Forces" … The southernmost part of Efta was separated from the coastline by a mountain range that stretched for hundreds of miles. There had never been a port in history, and there had never been a "Navy Fleet". They did not know why Roddy had to emphasize "Land Forces" …
"Forget it, this blockhead always has some strange ideas …"
Sally sat in the carriage and pondered for a long time. In the end, she did not have an answer. But when she thought of how Roddy had been presiding over the meeting in the Ducal Palace these days, she felt her heart beat faster. Then she muttered with some annoyance, "We talked in the bedroom until night, and he still had to leave. So annoying …"
She knew that it was difficult for Roddy with Akasha around, but when she thought of him going to Elsen City and not knowing when they would meet again, her heart tightened.
But this mood disappeared when the carriage stopped. Sally sorted out her feelings, got up and picked up a basket of bread prepared by the housekeeper. Yes, the place where the carriage stopped was in the slums, and she was here to distribute bread to the poor commoners.
Now that she was doing these things as a duchess, it was only natural that she was "putting on a show". However, Sally, who was wearing a priest robe, still distributed the bread that she had prepared along the street like many years ago. Then, under the escort of the guards, she turned towards the monastery not far away.
"Sorry to keep the bishops waiting."
As a priest, she naturally dared not let the bishops of the four dioceses wait for her. However, as the Duke of Eiferta, this was a manifestation of the difference in their statuses. Sally had gradually learned how to deal with these details. So when she faced the few elders, including Bishop Benjamin, her smile was calm, but there was a hint of dominance in it.
"Speaking of which, His Excellency the Duke came earlier than expected."
The dean of the monastery quickly came out to greet them, but he was not the main character today. The four regional archbishops behind him were the main people that Sally wanted to talk to.
The following meeting naturally revolved around the issue of Eiffta's preferential treatment for the Rose Cross. To be honest, supporting a religion was not a good choice for a ruler, but if this could break the "barrier" of the royal family's trade blockade, then Sally had nothing to worry about. In particular, the royal family's secret collusion with the Viper Cross had long been something that the Rose Cross could not tolerate. Now that they could use the name of Lord Eiffta to suppress this group of heretics, both sides were naturally happy.
The meeting went smoothly, the atmosphere was friendly and warm. As it was late after the meeting, Sally had dinner with the bishops. Naturally, the previous topic was no longer continued at the dining table, but turned into idle chatter. The bishops talked about the methods of the heretics and the brutality of the orcs. Bishop Benjamin would occasionally ask about the relationship between Sally and Roddy, and there was more comfort in his tone.
Instead, when Sally heard them talking about the topic of the dead, she suddenly sighed. "After this battle, I realized that the physical defense of necromancy magic seems to be far better than magic and divine arts of the same level."
"This is the effect of using corpses as the material, but their methods are too evil."
"There have been people who wanted to improve divine arts, but obviously, I have not heard of anyone succeeding. In fact, sometimes I have to admit … some evil spells are indeed more effective than divine arts. "
The regional bishops had high standards, so naturally, they would not blindly belittle necromancy. They would admit what should be admitted, but when it came to "improvement", they would sigh. Divine arts had not undergone too many changes since its emergence, unlike magic or necromancy magic, which had been reborn countless times over hundreds and thousands of years.
"Speaking of this, there is a question that I am still quite curious about," Sally casually used the fork to poke at the dessert, and asked casually, "Is it possible for a priest who uses divine arts to master necromancy?"
"That is wishful thinking, it has never happened in history."
Benjamin shook his head, and exchanged glances with the other old bishops. One of the latter added, "The power of necromancy is mostly negative, and repels divine arts. If one were to master these two powers at the same time … I am afraid that the body would not be able to withstand it and would collapse first."
"I see."
Sally smiled and changed the topic, but her eyes narrowed subtly.
*****
"Failed again …"
A flash of white light dimmed after a flash. Because of the subtle mistakes in the incantation and gesture, Akasha's "Bone Spear Spell" was declared a failure as the casting material, "Moist White Bone" shattered.
This kind of failure had occurred more than forty times, so much so that the ground under Akasha's feet was full of white bones. Of course, these casting materials were made by her using rabbit bones, so even if the "Bone Spear Spell" was successfully released, the power would probably not even be able to penetrate leather armor.
Akasha sighed and decided to end today's spell practice. Then she began to carefully record the process of the spell's failure, the phenomenon, and her next step of improvement plan …
Such "experiment records" had already filled up the entire notebook, but for Akasha, who was eager to learn and extremely patient, these were just the tip of the iceberg of "Necromancy". Although she could cast a low-level spell similar to the "Bone Wall Spell" through research and improvement, she always felt that she could not find a direction. Although she had understood some superficial necromancy through the scrolls and books she had cast, it was obvious that this could not give her a complete concept of the "necromancy system", and she could not do in-depth research such as "drawing inferences about other cases from one case".
She was clearly a priest, but she did not reject "necromancy" like the mages in the kingdom's church. Akasha could not tell what kind of mentality she had. Perhaps it was because "necromancy" was more powerful and effective, and combining it with divine spells could improve her control of the battlefield …
Until now, she had not discovered the strange feeling of closeness in her heart towards this kind of spell.
"Help me clean up."
As a priest, "necromancy" was naturally not her "main" profession. So after she finished recording the spell, she called the "High Elf Mage" who had been standing at the door, and the Mage silently came to clean up the bones on the ground. Akasha, on the other hand, went to another room to pray and practice divine spells. After that, she left the magic training ground and walked outside.
The magic training ground was very large, but the construction of the magic school in Elsen City had just started. Many people had a hard time learning how to read, let alone "magic training". So basically no one else could be seen here. But when she walked out of the training ground, the quiet ground echoed with the echoes. Akasha did not need to look to know that it was Naifei practicing magic. She was already used to this, so she just glanced at it and continued to walk forward.
Everyone knew the impact of the war on Naifei, so Akasha was not surprised. Walking along the semicircular corridor, she could always see the towering Pasha Magic Tower in the center of the city.
"That woman … is always troublesome."
Thinking of Camilla who always worked in the Magic Tower, Akasha muttered in a low voice. Obviously, she did not like Camilla's shrewd and capable style of doing things. In her mind, since Roddy was the owner of the city, everyone should obey him unconditionally. But every time Camilla would argue with Roddy on some issues, and sometimes even made Roddy give in. This made the little priest very unhappy. But she just complained in her mind. She also knew that she did not know anything about city construction, so she just had to focus on her own things.
Today, she would go to the tailor's shop in the east of the city to pick up a few sets of clothes for Roddy. Akasha thought. She turned at the crossroad in front of her, passed through the flashing runes of the inner city gate, and waved to the Specter Guards to make way. After confirming the location of the tailor's shop in the outer city, she suddenly heard a buzzing sound behind her. Akasha naturally knew that it was the sound of the building opening, so she continued to walk without looking back.
But after a dozen steps, the sound did not seem to stop. Akasha looked back in confusion, and then she was completely stunned by the scene in front of her.
There were more than ten inconspicuous round buildings around the Pasha Magic Tower. At first, Akasha did not know what they were used for, but when she saw these egg-shaped buildings rising from the ground and floating in the sky, she suddenly realized that the background of the city was far beyond everyone's imagination.
Eighteen "Magic Alert Floating-Space Towers" slowly rose into the sky, and after a few minutes, they stopped in their predetermined positions. The tallest tower was 450 meters above the ground. After the constant "Arcane Eye" magic circle was activated, the blue shadows formed a giant rune eye overlooking the earth. And the farthest floating tower was above the farmland ten kilometers outside the city wall. In other words, the alert range of Elsen City had more than doubled.
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