The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Monroe was silenced, but some supporters of negotiating with the demons seemed dissatisfied. Although Monroe had indeed been somewhat disrespectful to Her Majesty the Queen and the common people, they believed that it was time to prepare to intervene and negotiate with the demons. If they didn't step in to counterbalance them now, when would they?

But at that moment, a messenger rushed into the meeting room. Before Claire, who was in charge of the palace guards, could reprimand him, the messenger knelt down beside Lilith in a series of smooth moves and said, "Your Majesty, the latest battle report has arrived."

After the guards inspected the report, Lilith took it and asked, "Is it reliable?"

"It's definitely reliable!"

The messenger said, "This contains not only the latest battle reports from the North that we have collected, but also battle reports from the North that Anjou has collected, which can be cross-referenced."

Upon hearing that the information came from Anru, the nobles at the meeting nodded in agreement. Although the fact that the information about their own northern territory still needed to be verified by Anru next door made the nobles of the capital seem somewhat incompetent, Anru's information was indeed more reliable.

Lilith didn't look at the latest battle reports collected by the capital, but instead looked directly at the northern battle reports from Anjou. After all, Lilith knew that the capital's intelligence system was a complete mess.

After quickly reviewing the report, Lilith's expression grew increasingly grim. Finally, she handed the report to Nora and said, "Read it."

Nora was also a little nervous. What exactly did the battle report say that made His Majesty's face look so grim?

Nora then began reading aloud, word by word, the battle reports she had gathered from Anjou at the roundtable meeting.

It has to be said that Anru's intelligence system is on a completely different level from that of the capital. It is more detailed than all the intelligence collected by all the nobles in the capital combined. But the more detailed it is, the more sweaty these nobles become.

Lilith sighed as she listened. "Ray guns, melting swords, magic cannons—where did all this come from? Is this still an otome game world?"

Upon hearing that the demons had been defeated, almost all the monsters had been wiped out, and that the Grey Collar was already clearing out the remaining monsters, Monroe shouted, "No, this can't be! The information I received was not like this!"

Josephine, who had been temporarily relieved of her duties, couldn't help but clap and cheer. She looked excitedly at her colleagues from the Papacy, only to find that they didn't seem very happy. They seemed to have confirmed something because of the battle report and were frowning.

Claire wasn't too surprised, because Monroe's intelligence was too false. The demons had given Claire intelligence before, but Claire wasn't as fanatical as Monroe, unconditionally believing all of the demons' intelligence. The demons' intelligence was too obviously aimed at getting Lilith to intervene and divide the land, replicating their previous invasion of the Surd region.

However, unlike before, this time the demons lost on the battlefield, so they focused all their energy on these petty tricks.

What concerned Claire even more were the powerful weapons of the Gray and White Collars. They were already a generation ahead of their time. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of a bunch of monsters from the Demon Race who fought the Gray and White Collars to the death, the Gray and White Collars could have unified the Northern Territory without taking any damage. If they had developed for a few more years, they probably wouldn't have had any problem sweeping across the entire continent.

For a moment, Claire even had the idea of ​​joining if she couldn't win.

But Claire quickly abandoned this absurd idea. She could tell from their last meeting that Lind didn't like her very much, and he didn't seem like someone who could be easily fooled. Claire was no mediocre person, and she immediately realized how foolish this plan was.

In the end, Claire decided to stick to her original plan. After all, according to the battle report, the weapons of the Grey Collar were indeed a generation ahead. The weapons of the Royal Capital and Anjou were like child's play in front of the Grey Collar. However, the Grey Collar had also suffered heavy losses in this war with the Demon Clan and it would be difficult for them to make any major moves in the short term.

When Nora read it aloud again, Lilith also noticed a blind spot in the battle report: what exactly was this so-called ancestral potion? And why was it so effective against the demon monsters?

After Lilith raised this question, a member of the Vatican immediately stepped forward and replied, "Regarding this potion, our Vatican has actually made some progress. We would appreciate it if Your Majesty could come and discuss it with His Holiness the Pope after the meeting."

Some nobles were quite dissatisfied. This was tantamount to bypassing them and speaking to Her Majesty the Queen alone. What? Was that potion holy water? Why is your church being so cautious?

Despite their dissatisfaction, the nobles couldn't say anything. Her Majesty the Queen also served as a saintess, and the fact that they had to find a reason to talk to her was already considered a sign of restraint.

However, Lilith noticed something amiss on the faces of the church members. This so-called ancestral potion was probably not simple. But Lilith suppressed her curiosity and decided to discuss it in detail after the meeting.

With the victory of the Gray Collars, the voices of the Royal Capital Council were finally unified. The remaining issue was how to negotiate with the Gray Collars, or rather, the Northern Territory.

Although the Anjou battle report did not mention what happened to Doug after Lind's victory, these nobles knew with their own eyes that Doug's fate was probably not pleasant.

The North now probably only has one governor.

The good news is that this governor's last name is not Lars.

The bad news is that this governor is not only Lars' son-in-law, but also the patriarch of the Lars family, and is practically indistinguishable from Lars' own people.

"The civil war in the North has just ended, and they are at their weakest point. Can we take advantage of this opportunity to conquer the North in one fell swoop?"

A nobleman raised his hand to ask a question.

Nora looked at the nobleman who asked the question with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot, but still explained in her own way: "The idea is good, but our current situation is not optimistic, and it is not suitable to fight on two fronts."

To take over the North in one fell swoop? The King of Anjou must be overjoyed to hear this news. He can launch a pincer attack on the North and the South. You take over the central region and the capital, and I will take over the southwest. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

From another perspective, if this nobleman could truly make the King of Anjou die of joy, he would have accomplished a great feat.

Nora turned to her and said, “Your Majesty, the most urgent thing is to make a statement immediately. We should not only congratulate this governor, but also elevate his title and treatment to where he deserves to be.”

Linde's title has always been Viscount, and his nominal territory is only the small area of ​​Grey and White Collar. It sounds magical that a Viscount can become a Grand Duke directly, but it has happened in history. However, Linde's situation is more special. Linde's actual territory and power are already those of a proper Grand Duke, so the conferment of honors in the capital has become insignificant.

But this matter still had to be done. It wasn't that we expected Lind to abide by the rules of the capital and obediently come to the capital to take charge like Lena's grandfather, but rather that we needed to send a signal to the outside world that the king's authority still existed and that the North had not become independent.

Even if they are de facto independent, they are not nominally so; at least the rulers of the North will still receive honors from the king.

There are plenty of ambitious people waiting for the kingdom to collapse, and the North must not be allowed to set a bad precedent.

Nora also suggested inviting the new master of the North to the capital for an investiture ceremony, but Lilith shook her head. How could a transmigrator possibly come to such an obvious trap?

Regardless, Lilith decided to appease the transmigrator first. Judging from the battle reports, the Northern Territory was also severely weakened, so there was still a lot to discuss with this transmigrator. Even those epoch-making weapons might be negotiable. The capital still had some leverage to negotiate with the other party.

"Please write a letter for me to this new master of the North."

Lilith said to Nora, "The awarding ceremony is necessary, of course. If the governor doesn't accept it, there's no need to force him. But I must talk to him face to face. It can't be the old written form anymore. It has to be a face-to-face exchange. He probably won't come to the capital, but as long as we can talk, I'm willing to go to the North myself."

Lilith had to meet this fellow countryman.