The reason for this was the cost.
The first issue of 'Cullen's Era' had a limited circulation. All the newspapers were printed on parchment paper, and the cost was very high. If it wasn't for the Orcs' attack on Eiffta, Roddy would not have been able to find enough materials to print the first issue.
Thus, the first issue that Milnor saw was bought by the butler from somewhere else. There were only 30 or 40 copies in the entire city.
This made Milnor furious. He realized that he could not be so passive. So, a week ago, he found someone to publish a similar newspaper using the same method. It was called 'Royal Weekly'.
The content was basically refuting the contents of the first issue of 'Cullen's Era'. At the same time, it also praised the great achievements of Charles II. This naturally pleased the Emperor and earned him many rewards.
However, Milnor also forked out nearly 1,000 gold coins for the publishing fee. The 2,000 pieces of parchment paper and a large number of people to copy the content of the newspaper were not a small sum. It was easy to find strong labor in this era, but it was extremely difficult to find someone who could write. Hiring a group of nobles to copy the newspaper was definitely not a cheap job …
However, he did not expect that the second issue of 'Cullen's Era' would have a different material. The butler only needed to walk around and he would be able to see traces of this kind of thin and uniform newspaper from the residents and nobles who could read.
In contrast, due to the difficulty of copying, the second issue of 'Royal Weekly' had only been produced 500 copies. Compared to the circulation of more than 5,000 copies of 'Cullen', it was on a completely different order of magnitude.
In less than three days, when the third issue of 'Cullen's Era' was announced, the butler finally realized that something had changed from quantity to quality.
Almost everyone on the street was holding a brand new copy of 'Cullen's Era'. Although most of them were using it to wipe their butts, it was undeniable that the popularity of this newspaper had far exceeded everyone's expectations!
There were more than 10,000 copies of this newspaper in the Bergen Territory alone. This was not counting the other regions of the kingdom. However, based on previous experience, it was a fact that the total circulation of this newspaper would exceed 30,000 copies.
Milnor had been the one who paid for the publication of 'Royal Weekly'. He wanted to minimize the influence of this newspaper on the nobles. To put it bluntly, his primary goal was to let the nobles read it. It was not that he did not care about the commoners, but he did not have enough resources to produce so many newspapers.
But now? The newspapers from Eiffta were poured into the various territories of the kingdom as if they were free. The effect was that even if one took a dump in a cowshed, one could hear the farmers talking about how tall the walls of Eiffta were and how thick the armors of the soldiers were.
Milnor felt that thousands of gold coins had gone to waste. What he couldn't accept the most was the difference in the content of the newspaper.
Although the [Royal Weekly Journal] had written as many articles as they could to whitewash the peace, the content was simply too flowery, and there was very little real substance. At a glance, it was a sea of densely packed words, but the truly useful content added up to less than three sentences. Most of the other articles were just bragging about the Emperor. There wasn't even any real substance, only a bunch of adjectives.
On the other hand, every issue and every article in Cullen's Era had a clear point of view and theme, and it was accompanied by data that seemed authentic and even had sources. Even if one was not interested in the article, a simple glance would allow one to obtain a lot of information that one did not know.
Half a month had passed, and the influence of 'Age of Cullen' had begun to show among the people. More than seven nobles in Milnor's team had chosen to quit. Milnor's army was already lacking, and he had almost become a general without an army!
Five days ago, he had announced that the army would depart, but the other nobles in the army had used all sorts of reasons to delay their departure. It had been delayed until today, and there were signs that the army was about to collapse!
How could Milnor not be angry? How could he have known that a newspaper full of words would have such a huge influence?
At least the Viper Cross is still on my side …
He tried to calm his breathing and said to the butler, "Prepare my luggage and bring all the soldiers that can be brought along. It seems that they will not move a single step if I don't appear in front of them."
Milnor didn't realize how stupid his behavior was as a layman. He continued to ask casually, "The war has already been determined as a war of conquest. Naturally, the Magisters have the obligation to participate in the war. When will the mages that I've contacted be in position?"
This question made the butler stop in his tracks. He lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Master … I've contacted all the Magisters, but they … said that they will not participate in the war."
Milnor frowned and turned around. "They can choose not to come, but can't they send a dozen apprentices to help?"
"Master, they mean that … all the mages will not participate in this war. I asked them for the reason, and they said that they had just signed some kind of agreement with Efta, and they must abide by it —"
"Bullsh * t!"
Milnor slammed the door and left. With a pale face, he ordered the carriage to go to the Imperial City. He didn't believe that these bullsh * t mages, who signed an agreement with the enemy, had the right to refuse to serve the country!
*****
"Quick! Record the data! "
Magister Crohn no longer had his usual serious expression. His eyes were fixed on the ice crystals that were emitting white smoke from the magic array in front of him. He cast a spell while ordering the assistants around him.
A mage who was focused would not care about the passage of time. His experiment had been going on for 18 hours, and he only drank a few mouthfuls of water and stuffed two mouthfuls of bread from the beginning to the end. He was so focused that he forgot to eat and sleep because the experiment was progressing so quickly that even he did not expect it to be so smooth …
The biggest contributor to this was naturally the "Charged Crystals" that had just been transported from Efta.
"Mentor, the recording is complete!"
Velda, who looked tired but did not dare to slack off, finally let Crohn breathe a sigh of satisfaction.
"Phew … Alright, the experiment is going smoothly. Everyone, take a break today."
Crohn turned his head and looked out of the window. Only then did he realize that it was already midnight. He waved his hand and said, "Go to the cafeteria to get more food. You've worked hard today."
Amidst the muffled cheers, Crohn cautiously came to the front of the magic array and personally took out the Charged Crystals that had yet to run out of energy. He looked at them longingly for more before gently putting them back into the box.
"Mentor, those crystals still have energy? According to the standard disposal procedure, shouldn't these be discarded … "
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