The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

The coronation ceremony was not a big deal and ended quickly. The newly formed empire seemed to have taken on a bit of Lind's workaholic tendencies. After the formal ceremony, it quickly began to operate. In addition to consolidating the previously acquired Cape territories, it also formally incorporated the Anjou territories and then began to migrate people to the desolate places that had been eroded by the black mist.

These are all major tasks, and taxes in various regions also need to be changed. After all, productivity development is still limited to the area centered on the North. If other places want to develop, they must first heal the wounds caused by the war, and many local policies in Anjou must be abolished first.

The personnel changes alone will keep us very busy.

At this moment, Grey Robe had just finished his meeting with Lind and returned to his room from the former governor's residence.

Sometimes, Grey Robe felt that he might be the boldest person in the empire at present, after all, he had once again refused the emperor's conscription and only signed a temporary worker contract with this emperor.

If he weren't so desperate for money, Grey Robe wouldn't have even signed this temporary employment contract. He was afraid that if he got bogged down in trivial matters, he would actually become a bureaucrat of this new empire and no longer the Grand Tutor of Castile. He didn't care about himself, but what about Princess Rosalind?

After returning to his room, the man in the grey robe opened his diary and wrote: "Your Majesty."

This "Your Majesty" certainly doesn't refer to Lind, since the Grey Robe still belongs to Castile.

"The horrific war I described before is over. Although I have written about this in previous letters, I still want to emphasize again that this war has completely exceeded our imagination, and even the way it ended is still incomprehensible to me."

"The two kingdoms have been unified, and a group of small countries around them have also been brought together. However, on the continent of Solon, even these small countries can now be considered as formal kingdoms."

"And the two great kingdoms, in my opinion, should not be called kingdoms. If these two great kingdoms were on the continent of Solon, they could be called empires. This is not me belittling my homeland, but Castile still has a long way to go compared to these two great kingdoms."

Actually, the Grey Robes arrived too late. If they had arrived on this continent earlier than the Avars, or even before Lind rose to power, they would have found that the two kingdoms were not much ahead of Castile. Only Anjou had some advantages. In a fight, Castile might even have the advantage because it possessed super-level magic.

However, the Grey Robes happened to arrive during the most turbulent period of this continent, and the relocation of the two kingdoms to Sauron certainly qualified them to be called an empire, or directly to become an empire.

"The Land of Firearms is completely different from what we imagined. The so-called Anjou is not the real Land of Firearms. The firearms originated from this emperor of the newly established empire. He is the true inventor of firearms. In this real Land of Firearms, I saw firearms that can even rival dragons. If Castile can master such firearms, at least it will no longer be coerced by evil dragons, right?"

"But unfortunately, I am just a temporary employee of that emperor and have no right to access those top-notch weapons. After all, I cannot betray you, nor can I betray Princess Rosalind."

"Even so, I still benefited greatly from the most basic firearms and cannons here. The basic principles of firearms are not complicated. What is really complicated is the forging materials and various indicators of firearms. But if I were to return to Castile, I believe I could manufacture more powerful firearms for my homeland and no longer need to buy those expensive firearms through smuggling channels."

As he wrote this, the man in the grey robe let out a deep sigh, but that heavy sigh quickly dissipated into the air with the breeze outside the window.

"Firearms are not as expensive as we imagined. In fact, according to that emperor, firearms were originally manufactured for large-scale use by ordinary people. Their use in the land without magic was purely accidental. If possible, Your Majesty, I suggest that Castile reserve some sufficient resources, abandon the struggle in the land without magic, and wait for the emperor of the country of firearms to come and trade with Castile in person."

"This emperor seems very interested in the continent of Solon. He asked me a lot of questions about it and was quite kind and generous. I know he has big ambitions. Once he has some free time, he will probably organize a fleet to Solon. But he is much easier to talk to than the Avars. He even had a peaceful handover with both kingdoms. If you have enough resources, he will be happy to trade firearms with you at a price lower than smuggling."

Grey Robe knew that His Majesty the King of Castile would most likely never see his diary. Although members of the Castilian delegation had volunteered to bring letters and valuable goods back to Castile, the sea routes were completely occupied by dragons and Avars at the time. Without escort, returning to Sauron from Mu was nothing short of a pipe dream. Grey Robe had no hope of it either. This was more like Grey Robe summarizing his thoughts, or, to some extent, expressing his homesickness.

Afterwards, the gray-robed man began to describe what he had seen and heard in the imperial city recently, as well as the different customs and culture of the Mu Continent compared to the Soren Continent. After writing about the new edict recently issued by His Majesty the Emperor, the gray-robed man for some reason thought of the state of his homeland before he left.

"Your Majesty, how is Castile now? The Avars were utterly defeated by that emperor on the continent of Mu, and have basically lost their ability to resist. Is Castile's situation much better than before?"

"Has the issue of the kingdom's heir been resolved? Are you feeling better?"

Grey Robe also wanted to ask if the princes and princesses were still fighting amongst themselves like before. But Grey Robe still held onto a sliver of hope that his diaries, or rather, the letters he wrote to the King of Castile, might actually reach His Majesty. Or perhaps they could actually reach Castile? If His Majesty were to pass away, or if these letters didn't reach him directly, wouldn't writing them only make the situation in Castile even more chaotic?

"As for Princess Rosalind, she is doing very well. The emperor is very kind, and she doesn't have to worry about daily expenses. It may sound strange, but Princess Rosalind is probably doing better now than she did in Castile."

"However, in order to persuade and get close to the nobles and generals of the empire, Your Highness has to attend various gatherings among the noblewomen of the empire or social balls among the nobles every day. This is quite common in Castile, and Your Highness is becoming more and more like a real princess."

"But even if that emperor is benevolent, he cannot afford to pay for Princess Rosalind's attendance at these parties and balls. In order to ensure that Princess Rosalind does not tarnish Castile's glory, our expenses are also quite high. In addition to the entire delegation working in the capital, I, as I said at the beginning, have to serve as a temporary official in this country to help Princess Rosalind gain a foothold among the nobles."

"Your Highness has also worked very hard. In order to get closer to those noble ladies, Your Highness's academic attainments in the field of mechanical principles have even surpassed mine. I am not trying to prove anything for Your Highness, but Your Majesty, if Your Highness really returns to Castile one day, believe me, she will be better than most craftsmen at making firearms and tools. I have mentioned this more than once, but Your Majesty, I hope you will not find me long-winded. The era of mages wielding their staffs and traditional knights charging into battle is over on this continent."

Although he kept emphasizing that he hoped His Majesty wouldn't find him long-winded, the gray-robed man kept writing more and more. Before he knew it, the sun outside was gradually setting. The gray-robed man lit the magical lamp beside him, and the whole room was instantly brightly lit.

Staring at these lamps, the gray-robed man was lost in thought again. This set of lamps was not particularly outstanding in Castile. The homes of the top nobles even had professionals who specialized in lighting, and they could achieve the same effect as this set of lamps, or even better. However, this kind of magical lamp was ubiquitous in the major cities of the empire, and even some commoners could use similar things.

The man in the gray robe instantly lost his mood, closed the window, and turned off the lights with a sigh.