Intelligence department? Aurora was still fine, but Theresa went through it in her heart. The female Warlock immediately began to consider the gains and losses of helping Leon establish an intelligence department. Without a doubt, Aurora and Theresa had now become Magi who needed Leon's protection and resources.
Aurora's eyes lit up when she heard Laing's words. She was most afraid that Laing would say that he didn't need her help at all and return to where she came from. That would be troublesome. On the contrary, if Laing needed her and Teresa's help, then they could naturally rely on Laing's orders and Teresa's identity as a female court official to automatically obtain part of Laing's authority and enter Laing's court. This was very important to her.
Teresa thought for a while and said softly, "But Laing, don't you already have an intelligence department under you?"
Laing gently nodded. Teresa was right.
Laing's forces had their own intelligence department, which was mainly divided into two parts.
The first part was jointly managed by Suria and Laing, relying on the Oliver Merchant's Guild. It was responsible for collecting information and the movements of the major forces in the old world. There wasn't much this department could do. At most, it could collect information and transmit messages, and sometimes provide a place to hide.
The second part was managed by Dark Elf Olica. It was a small team that closely monitored the activities of Chaos, Cultists, Vampires, and Skaven Ratmen in her territory. The Dark Elf specially trained a few maids and established a peripheral structure according to the method of training assassins of Blood Hand God Cain. There weren't many people in this part, and they all listened to Olica's command.
"The Olivier Chamber of Commerce is only capable of collecting information. They can't do anything deeper than that. What I need is not a passive source of information. What I want is an organization that can actively help me collect information in the Kingdom of Brittania. I've thought about it, and I think you're the most suitable. My initial plan is for you to send your subordinates to Bordero and Helenhilde to set up branches first." Laing explained his plan to Teresa and Aurora in detail. "As for houses and shops, you don't have to worry about them. I'll prepare them for you."
Ice witches were indeed a special existence. This kind of magic was a type of Chaos Magic, but it would not mutate. It would only make the spellcaster cold. The earliest Kislöw Queen Tsar Miska had obtained the secrets and tricks of practicing Ice Magic from the remains of the ancient saint. Due to the characteristics of Ice Magic, these witches practiced magic indifferently. They did not like to participate in politics and were not easily corrupted by Chaos. Even if they failed in their practice, they would become ice sculptures and die silently. They would not affect the citizens or cause panic. They were very suitable for hiding in the city or the suburbs. Compared to the panic caused by many wizards who abused magic or caused explosions, Ice Witches were not so troublesome. They were very quiet and liked to do their own things behind closed doors.
The only thing that Ice Witches were extremely disgusted with was male wizards. After the first Kislöw Queen Tsar Miska read the secrets of the ancient saint's remains, she came to the conclusion that men could not practice Ice Magic. Therefore, there were only Ice Witches and no Ice Wizards. Ice Witches were naturally very hostile to other male wizards and were very prone to conflict. In the secrets passed down by the ancient saint, it was clearly stated that excessive proximity or union with a male wizard would cause Ice Magic to gradually weaken until it disappeared forever. Therefore, when a male wizard tried to get close to an Ice Witch, a battle was often unavoidable (this was one of the reasons why Aurora was so afraid of Gert).
In this regard, Brittany had a naturally excellent environment. It was well known that all children with magical potential, if they were not sent to the Royal Empire Academy or the Southern Kingdom Wizard Alliance to study, would be taken away by the Lake God Prophets led by Morgiana. The boys would disappear forever, and the girls would be trained to become the new Lake God Prophets. Therefore, in Brittany, the number of male wizards was extremely small. Only a few great nobles' palaces had male wizards hired or invited from the Royal Empire Academy, which minimized the possibility of conflict to a great extent.
Both Aurora and Theresa nodded in agreement when they heard Ryan's words. Aurora, a Sanctuary Witch and a female elder of the Marvel Blue Council, suddenly felt that there was no point in staying in that dangerous place of the Marvel Blue Council any longer. She had already started thinking about how to move the several female councilors under her command, as well as the hundreds of official witches and apprentices, over to the Marvel Blue Council. However, when she thought about how she would have to give up the connections and adept's tower that she had worked so hard to build over the past few decades, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
While Aurora was still thinking, Teresa had already asked her own question. "Laing, it's not that I don't want to help you, but I want to ask you first. Why don't you ask Suria or Olica?"
"Suria … is not suitable. She's basically in charge of most of the internal affairs of the territory. When I'm not around, she makes all the decisions. If I let her handle this kind of thing, first, she doesn't have enough energy. Second, she also has to take care of Devonshire. Second, she's not suitable."
"As for Olica … she's too cruel." Laing could not help but smile bitterly. "It's better to let her deal with the Chaos Cultists, Vampires, and other non-human beings. But when it comes to her own people, her methods are too vicious. I don't want that. That's not what I want."
Although the Dark Elf was a soft and fragrant pillow in front of Laing, and liked to act coquettishly and give him ideas, Olica was a harmless maid. The Dark Elf from Nagaros was quite cruel. She often caught her enemies and cut them into pieces with a butcher's hook, letting them bleed until they died. She had also suggested to Laing more than once that they should be captured and used as coolies.
"I don't feel comfortable leaving this kind of internal work to Olica," Laing said frankly, "I'll keep her by my side and watch over her. At least she listens to me."
"Understood." Teresa and Aurora looked at each other. After getting an affirmative look from their mother, Teresa was still a little hesitant. "Laing, we have no problem with your request, and we're willing to help you. But are you sure it's okay for you to leave such an important matter to us?"
"Then who else can I leave it to?" Laing asked. The crown prince of the Knight King Kingdom, Duke Musillon, and the champion of the Lady of the Lake smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Who else can I choose? It's nothing more than choosing from the nobles, the Church, and the wizards. The nobles led by Suria will control the administration, and the Church led by Morgiana will control the legislation and the judiciary. So, it can only be supervised by you wizards. "
At this point, Aurora and Teresa no longer had any objections.
At the end of the night's chat, the servants also boiled the water. Laing first let Aurora and Teresa take a bath. He walked around the small village, walked at the grassroots level, and brought the greetings of the Knight of the Holy Grail to the villagers. At the same time, he took out a few bags of wheat and a few strings of pork from the remaining military provisions to reward the serfs and guards in the village.
Seeing the legendary His Excellency Laing being so generous, the serfs and villagers were moved to tears. However, Laing also noticed that they were not particularly excited. They just expressed their gratitude and kowtowed. After checking the food reserves of the villagers, Laing was relatively satisfied. Most of the villagers still had surplus food for the winter. Laing did not care about the minority. This was not his Duchy.
Most of the lords of the Duchy of Bastogne were Knights of the Holy Grail. This Duchy was famous for its piety and low administrative efficiency. The result of the Knights of the Holy Grail being lords was that they were relatively more sympathetic to the hardships of the people, so they would not oppress the serfs so harshly. At the same time, because the Knights of the Holy Grail spent most of their lives training hard and pursuing virtue, the Duchy of Bastogne was famous for its low administrative efficiency. The typical example was Kalad, a fierce man on the battlefield, an unparalleled fierce general, and a weak chicken in internal affairs.
Therefore, when Laing carried out the reform of changing tithes to fixed taxes, there was almost no obstruction in the Duchy of Bastogne. The Knights of the Holy Grail all thought that since this was in line with the virtues of the Knight's way and would not hurt their interests too much, then so be it. After that, many of Laing's reforms were successfully carried out here. The whole Duchy had become lively again, and the serfs at least had enough to eat and wear.
Laing walked to the street of the village. In the dark night, he exhaled a white breath.
Yes, who else can I use?
As a Duke, his subordinates were nothing more than knights, nobles, the Church, and wizards. After all, they were all the same people.
Did he not know that Suria's family had infiltrated his territory? Did he not know that Aurora's proposal for a bachelor party was also an infiltration of his territory? Even the Lake Goddess Witch Morgiana's building of the Holy Grail Church in Muxilon was also an infiltration. Did he not know that? Did he not know that the tax collection bureaucrats trained by the Church were also infiltrated?
What else could he do? Other than these people, who else could Laing use? In this kingdom, who had been educated? Who had received an orthodox education? It was still these people. If they were not knights, nobles, wizards, or the Church. After all, there were only these three kinds of people.
The Old Guard? For the time being, the Old Guard was only a newborn force. This army was born with military achievements and received a low level of education. At most, they could only recognize a few hundred words and could read and write. It was impossible for them to change to politics, at least not now. These soldiers who were born as serfs were not suitable to immediately change to become bureaucrats. There would be very serious consequences. As for what the consequences would be, you know.
What Laing had done so far was only a small step in the evolution of the whole of Brittany from aristocratic politics to aristocratic politics. He had opened a channel for the rise of the social class, and that was all. The Empire had already taken this step after the reformation of Ludwig the Savior.
"I'm very ashamed. It's just a little work." Laing looked at the spirals of smoke rising from the inside of the village, and his blue eyes gradually became firm. "I can't stop yet. I still have a lot of things to do."
After strolling around the village, Laing returned to the big house. The warm room was already lit with a fire, and the windows were tightly shut to dispel the chill of the winter season. Laing took a bath and changed into light clothes. When he opened the door to the inner room, his eyes immediately lit up.
Teresa was sitting on the bed reading a book. After taking a bath, she had changed out of her black velvet coat and leggings. She had changed into a violet retro gothic palace dress, showing off her beautiful figure. Her standard oval face and shimmering black hair were still a little wet, and it was obvious that she had put on makeup. Her lavender eyeshadow and bright eyelashes were charming and full of moving charm.
Her slender legs were exposed like two jade pillars. Black velvet stockings as thin as a cicada's wings were wrapped around her slender, fair legs. They were sparkling and seductive. Her pink stockings were painted with purple nail polish, and her small feet were wearing a pair of simple fairy slippers. When she saw Leon come in, Theresa looked up from the pages of her magic book. She reached out and adjusted her black-framed purple butterfly patterned glasses. "You're done washing up?"
"Yes, I'm done." Laing smiled and nodded. He walked to Teresa's side and hugged the sorceress. "So comfortable."
The room was filled with the fragrance of lavender. Teresa's face gradually turned red. She reached out and held Laing's hand. "Laing, what do you think if I let mother come here to develop?"
"Lady Aurora?" Laing hugged Teresa and said with a half-smile, "I know her. She's not willing to let go of her decades of accumulation?"
"You sound like you know her better than I do." The sorceress rolled her eyes at Laing and sighed. "You're right. She's still hesitating."
"It's fine. She still has a lot of time to think." Laing shook his head and kissed Teresa's red lips gently. "I promised that I'd welcome you at any time. But since you're in my territory, you'll have to follow my rules. You can't be like a king in Skydome Castle."
"Forget it, let's not talk about this for now. Um … Laing, mother told me to give birth to a child for you. It's best … best if the child can have the surname Trovic. It's our family's surname. It has to be passed down." Teresa leaned on Laing's shoulder. She blushed when she said this, but she was indescribably determined. "What do you think?"
Laing thought to himself, Even if we have a child, it's impossible for your child to have the surname Macado. Only my child with Suria can have the surname Macado.
The man pretended to ponder for a moment. In the end, his expression was not good. He nodded reluctantly. "Okay, if you insist."
"Great, thank you!" Teresa could feel Laing's dilemma. Thinking that Laing still agreed to her, the sorceress felt sweet in her heart. "Then, have you thought of a name for the child?"
"A name …" Laing hugged Teresa's waist with one hand and said with some mischief, "If it's a boy, he'll be called Ziegfeld. If it's a girl, how about Teresa or Karin? Kiana is fine too. "
"What kind of strange names are these?" Teresa obviously did not like these names. "Cecilia sounds better, but I don't like them either. I don't want any of them."
"If you don't like them, we can talk about it later." Laing smirked. "The premise is that we have to have one."
"Well … let's have one."
… I'm now Kiana's time divider …
After a few days, the army passed through the Chalon Forest and came to Laing's territory. Laing and Teresa were in good spirits, but Laing was not in good spirits. She was obviously in a state of anger and dissatisfaction, but Laing always pretended not to see it.
On the way back to the territory, Morgiana, the witch of the Lake Goddess, was already waiting with a team of Grail guards. When she saw Laing and Teresa, Morgiana frowned at first, then unnaturally tidied her long blonde hair. "Laing? You're back? "
"Yes, what happened? Why did you come in person?" Laing asked curiously.
"The kingdom's regent, Duke Lauen, Duke Adahad, Duke Bastogne, Berchemund, Duke Vanford, François, and Duke Bordero, Duke Bodrick, have all arrived. They just stayed in your castle." Morgiana nodded. "They have something to ask you."
"Very good, they're finally here."
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