Chapter 266 : Chapter 266
Chapter 266. Scheme?
The Minister of Finance’s eyelids twitched, and a trace of gloom flashed through his eyes.
For a time, the hall of the Privy Council turned into a noisy marketplace. Several powerful counts from the Southern Territory tried to preserve the last of their fiefs and argued with all their might.
The Minister of Finance continued to drag out royal codes from several hundred years ago, attempting to deprive the Northern Territory of its right to station troops there on legal grounds. Meanwhile, Viscountess Eleanor held the list of soldiers who had died on the front line and attacked furiously from the moral high ground.
This was a meat grinder without smoke, yet it was even bloodier than the front line.
The ancient map of Astrelia on the long table now seemed to have become a piece of roasted meat giving off an irresistible aroma.
These politicians, who usually spoke only of benevolence, morality, and the glory of the kingdom, were now raising invisible knives and forks, cutting and tearing at the map like madmen.
Behind every high-sounding phrase lay millions of Golden Lion Coins, tens of thousands of laborers, and troop deployments powerful enough to overturn royal authority.
In the end, Logaris spoke.
“My lords,” Logaris said, his pale-blue eyes calm as water. “The Royal Capital’s guards and the Southern Territory’s knight orders are naturally brave. I have never doubted that they can defend those lines.”
He gently pushed a prepared battle report to the center of the long table.
“However, according to the Northern Territory General Staff’s projections, if the Northern Territory’s arrays are withdrawn and the defense relies only on traditional methods, then for every day the Southern Territory’s defensive line is maintained, military expenditure will be twice what it is now, and the casualty rate of the soldiers will rise by at least eighty percent. That is still a conservative estimate.”
Logaris’s tone was gentle, yet it struck directly at the vital point. “The kingdom does indeed have deep reserves, but are all of you truly prepared to use piles of Golden Lion Coins from the state treasury, along with the lives of the young men of the southern provinces, to fill the gaps against Rift magical beasts that could originally be dealt with easily by the Northern Territory’s firepower network? Time is precious. Rather than continue debating legal principles, we should discuss how to minimize casualties and expenditure.”
There were no icy threats, nor was there the arrogance of drawing a gun and pointing it at others. There was only cold data.
This was a more concealed, and also more lethal, form of pressure.
First Prince Dorg lowered his eyelids, concealing the surging emotions in the depths of his eyes.
“Since the professor has calculated the accounts so clearly...” Dorg began coughing violently again, as though he might stop breathing at any moment.
“Then we shall compromise. Red Valley City, Flowing Gold City, and the three mines in the south are ‘resource cities’ that concern the kingdom’s economic lifeline. They must remain under the direct jurisdiction of the Royal Capital.”
Dorg paused. He did not look at the Minister of Finance, nor did he look at the aggressive Logaris. Instead, his gaze fell vaguely on the enormous map at the center of the long table.
“In exchange, Scream Fortress, Ironwall Corridor, and the six strategic passes guarding the Magical Beast Mountain Range, along with their supporting urban districts... These ‘military strongholds’ will all be placed under the Northern Theater. The Northern Territory will possess absolute garrison rights and defensive autonomy there.”
The First Prince’s faction had cut away the richest economic cake, yet handed over the most dangerous, and also most crucial, military chokepoints entirely to the Northern Territory.
In the eyes of the Royal Capital nobles, this was a clever calculation that sacrificed the lesser to preserve the greater. Let the Northern Territory fight demons to the death at the front line near the Great Rift, while the Royal Capital enjoyed the economic gains from the rear.
But when Logaris heard this proposal, he could not help but pause.
His pale-blue eyes narrowed slightly as he quietly assessed the sickly royal heir across from him, who looked as though a single gust of wind could knock him over.
It was too precise.
The line drawn by the First Prince was practically cut according to the Northern Territory’s strategic blueprint. The Northern Territory’s current industrial system had already begun to take shape through dumping and reform. Moreover, the Northern Territory itself was rich in mineral resources and did not lack the tax revenue from those few mines and trade routes at all.
What the Northern Territory lacked most right now was precisely a strategic buffer zone in the south, as well as a military stronghold where it could legally expand and station troops.
As long as magitech cannons were set up on those passes, the Southern Territory’s economic lifelines would sooner or later fall within the Northern Territory’s range.
Did the First Prince truly fail to see the Northern Territory’s intentions, and only wanted to rid himself of the financial burden of defending against magical beasts?
Or... did he have some other scheme?
A faint trace of suspicion flashed through Logaris’s heart, but he did not show it. He merely looked deeply at Dorg.
Sylvia, seated not far away, had the same thought as Logaris.
As the governor of the Northern Territory, she understood better than anyone what this proposal of “sacrificing the lesser to preserve the greater” meant for the Northern Territory. This was practically handing her, legally and properly, a sharp blade pressed against the Southern Territory’s throat.
Her eldest brother, Dorg, had been known for his wisdom and depth since childhood. Would he really be foolish enough to completely open the kingdom’s southern gate to the Northern Territory’s steel torrent just for the resources before his eyes?
However, no matter what Dorg was calculating, the current situation was guaranteed profit for the Northern Territory. Whether this First Prince was truly greedy for wealth or merely pretending to be confused, since the meat had already been delivered to their mouths, the Northern Territory had no reason to spit it out.
Logaris and Sylvia exchanged a subtle glance and instantly reached a tacit understanding.
Logaris withdrew his aggressive aura, shrugged, and agreed to this division cleanly.
At that moment, the Minister of Finance’s eyes sharpened, as though he had thought of some brilliant idea.
“Since we are rewarding him, then the reward must be clear.” The Minister of Finance glanced at Viscountess Eleanor sitting opposite him and spoke in a strange, sarcastic tone.
“In this great victory, Professor Logaris can be said to have rendered the greatest service. If such an enormous achievement is simply handed over, would that not turn the professor’s blood and sweat entirely into political capital for certain people far away in the Northern Territory?”
To put it plainly, he was mocking Sylvia for treating another person’s achievement as the collective achievement of her faction, trying to plant a thorn between the two of them.
The atmosphere in the hall instantly became strange. Everyone looked toward Sylvia, waiting to see how this “Iron-Blooded Princess” would react. Would she fly into a rage from embarrassment? Or would she forcibly suppress the matter?
Sylvia picked up her teacup and took a light sip.
Then, she smiled.
Her smile was bright and breathtaking, and she even nodded with a hint of approval.
“The Minister of Finance is absolutely right.”
Sylvia put down her teacup, swept her gaze around the room, and spoke in a clear voice. “Professor Logaris is a pillar of the nation and the hero who saved the kingdom. His merits truly cannot be diluted by the collective concept of the ‘Northern Territory.’”
She paused, her gaze sweeping over stunned face after stunned face, while the smile on her lips grew even deeper.
“We cannot chill a hero’s heart, can we?”
The Minister of Finance was completely stunned. This reaction was not right.
“So I propose,” Sylvia said at an unhurried pace, yet each word landed on everyone’s hearts like a heavy hammer,
“that Logaris West be directly enfeoffed as a hereditary count. Furthermore, Scream Fortress and all the lands of the Southern Territory defensive zone shall be granted to him as his private hereditary fief, to be governed entirely by him personally!”