The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Although she could already imagine the scene of Lilith being attacked by public opinion, Claire's lips even began to twitch.

But Claire knew she couldn't laugh yet; she had to continue playing the role of a patriotic princess and Lilith's best friend.

So when welcoming Lilith, Claire suppressed her emotions and said with a melancholy expression, "Your Majesty, recently someone has been stirring up this wind in the capital, and there are rumors that the Northern Territory is going to cooperate with us."

After all, Claire's intelligence indicated that the talks were not going smoothly.

But Lilith smiled and said, "It's alright. We will indeed be cooperating with the North in the future. The people are happy, and we should support them. I will make the specific terms of the talks public to all the people later."

Claire paused, looking somewhat flustered, mainly because she didn't know what Lilith was planning. She asked, "Your Majesty, isn't this inappropriate? How can such an important matter as the treaty be made public so casually? It will cause chaos."

Claire originally thought Lilith would cover up and hide the true agreement, but she didn't expect Lilith to expose herself directly.

Lilith waved her hand and looked at the nobles who had come to greet her, saying, "Since everyone is here now, let's take this opportunity to go back to the palace and begin the round table meeting."

Lilith had already guessed that someone was up to no good, so she decided to take advantage of the fact that no one was in the right place at the right time and catch the nobles off guard.

Upon hearing that Her Majesty the Queen wanted to hold a meeting immediately, the nobles present, whether from the new or old parties, exchanged bewildered glances. However, they all wanted to know the specific situation in the North, so they did not object and followed Lilith into the palace in a daze.

Many nobles in the capital represent the interests of nobles in the central region. Now, some nobles in the central region are physically caught between the capital and the North. Therefore, these nobles are indeed in a great hurry to confirm the latest policies of the capital and the North.

As the caravan moved along, Claire immediately noticed something was wrong. The knights around Lilith had all changed into new Northern gear, and the North Wind Bear insignia on many of their pieces of equipment had not yet been replaced.

A bad feeling suddenly rose in Claire's heart.

Amidst the unease of the nobles, Lilith sat on that all-too-familiar throne.

After the other nobles had taken their seats, Lilith, unusually, spoke first:

"During this trip to the North, we had friendly and in-depth exchanges with the Governor of the North and reached an important consensus on border security and resource sharing for the kingdom."

"The first thing is weapons assistance, which is of most concern to everyone."

"Sir Judith, would you please demonstrate the Northern Weapon of the Melt-Cut?"

At Lilith's command, Judith rose, drew her sword from her waist, turned it on, and the sword began to emit a faint glow, which then gradually enveloped the blade in an orange-red light.

Judith slowly walked to a relatively open area in the conference room, twirled her molten-slicing sword, and asked, "Anyone want to give it a try?"

Scott immediately stood up and said, "I'll do it!"

Scott and Judith were probably the most concerned about this batch of equipment, so Scott immediately and impatiently drew an ordinary weapon from the waist of a guard next to him and slashed directly at Judith.

With just one strike, the guard's sword broke in two, and wisps of heat were still rising from the broken pieces.

Scott's eyes lit up. The treaty mentioned that the Melting Spear was probably as powerful as the Melting Sword. Knights equipped with these weapons could be considered to have won as long as they charged into the enemy's ranks.

The ray gun was too dangerous, so Lilith didn't plan to demonstrate it in the conference room. But Judith gave Scott a look, and Scott immediately understood the importance of the ray gun.

Claire personally procured all the weapons used by the royal guards, and there was no question of cutting corners. Although he had already learned of the power of the Melting Sword from intelligence, he was still greatly shocked to see it in person. No wonder the Lantern Dream advised him not to be its enemy.

The nobles in the conference room swallowed hard. Although they knew about the battle report of the decisive battle between the North and the Demon Clan, it was only when they saw these weapons with their own eyes that they truly realized how powerful the North was.

So how could the North possibly sell such a powerful weapon to the capital?

It must have come at a considerable cost, right?

Nora looked at the nobles and began to slowly read out the revised arms aid treaty by Lind.

Many people frowned when they heard that people would be exchanged for human lives, especially Marcel, the leader of the Old Party.

A significant part of the Old Party consists of landed lords and nobles in the central region. Is Her Majesty planning to relocate the population from those noble territories?

That won't do. A local noble with land but no people is just a figurehead.

Seeing that some members of the old party were constantly making insinuations, Marcel immediately interrupted, "Your Majesty, these people should come from the southwest. After all, this batch of weapons is to be transported to the southwest border, and it is reasonable for the two grand dukes of the southwest to be in charge."

Scott immediately objected, saying, "But Sir Marcel, our southwestern borders are already short of people due to the war. If Anjou attacks, are you, the nobles of the central region, going to defend them? Moreover, the cost of migrating people from the southwest to the north is much higher. It's simply not worth it."

Scott glanced at Judith, but Judith remained unmoved and showed no intention of speaking up.

Marcel hadn't really intended to send people to the southwestern border, but if Her Majesty the Queen were to do so, Marcel would have to obtain more benefits and compensation from the southwestern border.

"about this."

Nora interrupted Marcel and Scott's argument, saying, "The Governor of the North has also considered this. People who migrate to the northern territories can obtain trade certificates with the North."

Nora then slowly explained the function and details of the trade documents. The more the nobles listened, the wider their mouths opened. Holy crap, the governor of the North was actually planning to cooperate with the capital? Was he really going to take a share of the capital's profits?

These nobles had no concept of productivity and did not want the people in their territories to move away. They only knew that these people could produce food and resources, but what if they could gain more wealth by sending these people away? In that case, these inferior people would immediately become a burden to these nobles.

Farming is nowhere near as lucrative as doing business. Moreover, trade in the North is a sure-fire way to make money. Northern goods are already incredibly expensive in the capital. And if you have the ability to transport these goods to places even further away from the North, the prices can double again.

Claire's eyes widened. What kind of spell had her best friend cast on the Governor of the North? Not only were the terms so generous, but the treaty also clearly stated that the Governor of the North did not care which region the population came from, but the number of trade certificates was limited, and which nobles to issue them to was entirely up to Her Majesty the Queen.

Was that governor really out of his mind?

The situation at the meeting gradually began to spiral out of control.