my armed maid

Chapter 98 95: The impending conspiracy

After the New Year, Linfeng City spent a peaceful and stable half month.

All the villages outside the city have been rebuilt, the alchemy factories have begun operation, and the mining of new mineral veins is also being carried out secretly.

Linfeng City has gradually recovered from its post-war weakness.

Unlike Linfeng City, which was developing silently on the border, a major incident occurred in the Roland Empire at this time, which completely detonated the chaotic political structure in the empire:

Since the death of Roland I, the eldest prince Robert and the second prince Roderick have been fighting for the throne for a year.

Roland I did not leave a will when he died, nor did he clearly designate an heir. Originally, according to convention, it was natural for the eldest prince to inherit the throne.

It is a pity that the eldest prince Robert has mediocre qualifications in terms of both cultivation talent and governance ability. On the other hand, the second prince Roderick is very talented.

Not only had he been promoted to a ninth-level mage a few years ago, but he also maintained close ties with all forces in the empire.

Roderick was better than Robert in every way.

In fact, Roland I also had high praise for Roderick before he was alive. There were rumors in the imperial capital that Roland I was likely to let Roderick inherit the throne.

But until Roland I died, Roland I did not publicly establish his successor.

This allowed the eldest prince Robert to seize the opportunity. According to the custom of inheritance by the eldest son, he is now the legitimate successor to the throne.

Roderick believed that Robert deliberately destroyed the will and evidence against him.

Roland I died suddenly. Robert was in the imperial capital at that time, but he happened to be outside, leaving ample "time to commit crimes."

Therefore, he relied on the reputation he had accumulated over the years to win over various forces in the empire and openly competed with his brother for the throne.

In this way, in the political center located in the middle of the empire, the forces of various cities began to take sides, and were eventually divided into the Robert faction and the Roderick faction.

The two sides competed with each other to install the prince they supported on the throne. As the conflict intensified, finally in early January, a military conflict broke out in the imperial capital with the intention of murdering the eldest prince Robert.

The Robertians called this conflict a rebellion against the empire, while the Roderickians called it a glorious battle against the false king.

Of course, it doesn't matter what the two sides say. The conflict ended with the conflict being suppressed and Robert surviving.

In the northern imperial capital, after all, the majority of conservatives adhere to tradition and support the eldest prince.

Later, Robert held a coronation ceremony in the imperial capital, calling himself Roland II, and listed Roderick as a traitor who betrayed the empire. His former brother has now become his biggest enemy.

On the same day, Roderick also held a coronation ceremony in the southern city of Simmel, also proclaiming himself Roland II.

Moreover, he really won the support and response from most of the surrounding cities.

In this way, in January of the 78th year of the Roland Calendar, the northern and southern Roland Empires divided the territory of the old Roland Empire into two, entering into a tense confrontation.

……

On this day, Flamel City.

City Lord Bach Flamel was meeting with an envoy from the neighboring city Broken Star City at this time.

Due to their geographical relationship, Flamel City and Broken Star City have close business relations.

The Flamel family and the Grimny family, the rulers of Broken Star City, have always been on good terms. At the beginning of the new year, it is also the custom in previous years for the two families to send envoys to visit each other.

Sitting in front of Bach at this time was a middle-aged man named Erich Grimny wearing a green robe. He was the elder of the Grimny family in Broken Star City, and he and Bach were also friends for many years. acquaintance.

After the two exchanged pleasantries, the topic quickly turned to the confrontation between the northern and southern forces.

"...This year is destined to be a year of disaster."

Erich sighed, "In order to prove who is the real emperor and who is the orthodox successor of the Roland Empire, one of the two highnesses is destined to be defeated by the opponent. War is impossible to avoid."

"Then let them fight for it." Bach said without even frowning, "Flamell will not express any opinions on the internal affairs of the empire."

Even in the previous Warring States Period, Flamel was on the side of indifference.

Looking at history, Flamel has always remained neutral. It only focused on the study of alchemy. In the eyes of the outside world, this was a paradise for scholars.

Therefore, even when Roland I came here, he only had a secret conversation with the then Lord of Flamel and then left with his troops.

Afterwards, Roland I conquered all the remaining forces and established the Roland Empire. Flamel also followed the trend and joined the imperial family.

For Flamel, it was a win for the city to enter a new era without suffering the ravages of war.

For Roland I, he finally won the submission of this ancient city without spending a single soldier, which was also a victory.

Because of their previous experience, even if a civil war broke out in the empire this time, they planned to remain neutral and wait for everything to settle.

Who inherits the throne really doesn't matter to them.

"In my opinion, if you want to remain neutral this time... I'm afraid it will be a little difficult."

Eric shook his head. "The two princes divided the northern and southern lands of the empire, and Flamel is at the junction of the two forces. This geographical location is quite sensitive."

"It doesn't matter." Bach snorted softly, "I would like to see who plans to attack Flamel."

Just like the neutral Alchemy Society, Flamel has always been a neutral city. I believe that no force would be willing to attack it.

The first one is unnecessary. If you bully a neutral city, what if it is cornered and turns to your opponent?

The second is that there is no spare power. After all, Flamel is an ancient city with thousands of years of history. Once it is fought, it is still unknown how much effort it will take to eat it.

The third is the pressure of public opinion. Even before the most evil forces take action, they must symbolically raise the banner of righteousness to convince the world.

But attacking a neutral city, a city of scholars, really doesn't hold up in the name of morality.

It was precisely because of this that Bach remained calm and composed even during this special period.

"Is Flamel really neutral now?"

Erich narrowed his eyes, "It nominally belongs to the Roland Empire. If His Highness Robert orders Flamel to provide support for his Northern Roland Empire in the name of the emperor, will you obey?"

"As long as it is a reasonable request, why not comply?" Bach replied.

Erich added: "Then, if His Highness Roderick asks Flamel to provide the same support to his Southern Roland Empire, will you agree?

"If you don't agree, then Flamel is not truly neutral. But if you agree, in the eyes of His Highness Robert, you are committing adultery with a traitor!"

Maintaining neutrality is not that simple. Roland I had the courage to tolerate Flamel's neutrality because he believed that he would be able to unify the human realm.

But now...his two sons must not have this courage and margin.

"I see." Bach glanced at him, "It seems that Broken Star City is planning to side with His Highness."

If they were from the Robert faction, there would be no such thing as the Northern and Southern Roland Empires. There would only be the Great Roland Empire ruled by Robert, and the south would be nothing more than an evil force composed of rebels.

Since Bach made the point, Erich also said bluntly: "You have had contact with both princes, and you should understand that His Highness Roderick's talent is much higher than that of His Highness Robert.

"From the perspective of considering the future of the Roland Empire, it is better to support His Highness Roderick in taking the throne."

"When did Broken Star City care so much about the future of the empire?" Bach smiled.

In his heart, he was not surprised by this result, because Broken Star City was ruled by the minority "Wind Whisper Tribe". Over the past year, one of the policies that the Rodrik faction has vigorously promoted is preferential treatment for ethnic minorities.

"Don't you think the original empire exploited various cities too seriously?"

Erich asked rhetorically, "Take Flamel as an example. You have the largest vein of magic crystal raw ore in the empire, and you could have lived a more prosperous life relying on this vein.

"But under the harsh policies of the empire, you have no choice but to transport magic crystals to the imperial capital and other cities at extremely low prices, and you have to pay high commercial taxes every year.

"Furthermore, the empire itself does not pay much attention to alchemists... I deeply regret this. If it were His Highness Roderick, he would definitely improve the unfair treatment of Flamel by the empire."

He continued: "His Royal Highness Roderick believes in the free market. As long as Flamel supports His Highness in taking office, His Highness will promise to relax price controls on magic crystals and reduce Flamel's taxes.

“In fact, it is His Highness’s consistent policy to reduce taxes and grant full autonomy to all city-states in the territory.

"If Flamel desires freedom, independence, and change, then supporting His Highness Roderick is the most correct choice."

Alchemy is essentially an applied discipline. Whether it is alchemical potions or alchemical weapons, they must be sold as commodities to reflect their value.

The same goes for magic crystals, but due to the price control of the empire, they cannot gain much benefit from this item. This is indeed one of Flamel's pain points.

And now, the Roderick faction has made a promise to them, saying that it will change the status quo that they are dissatisfied with the empire...

However, although this promise sounded good, Bach was not naive enough to believe in a blank check.

The situation is still unclear. Once you get on the wrong team, let alone improving Flamel's situation, the entire leadership of the City Lord's Mansion will be taken to the Imperial Capital to be beheaded!

"Flamell really doesn't have the energy to engage in this fight at the moment."

Bach said slowly, "We are conducting a major alchemical research. Before this alchemical research yields results, we have no interest in getting involved with other things."

The alchemical research in this naturally refers to the cracking of the new rune system.

It has been a month since Flamel convened his alchemy team to study the new magic circle. As the research continues to deepen, they have gradually become convinced of one thing——

The reason why Flamel has not been taken seriously by the empire all this time is essentially because it is an alchemy city.

No matter how advanced alchemy is, before this, alchemists did not have an intuitive channel to transform knowledge into power.

Yes, strength and knowledge are all false. Only genuine strength can make others take a high look.

And now they have discovered that as long as they can fully master this new rune system, they can create a new type of magic weapon that surpasses the old era.

With the help of these new magic tools, Flamel's military strength will be comparable to that of old cities where high-level extraordinary beings gather, and he will become an emerging superpower that the empire must pay attention to!

With real power in hand, even if the conservative His Royal Highness Robert becomes Roland II, Flamel is confident in persuading him to let the empire improve its policies and treatment of Flamel.

At the same time, with the advent of new magic tools, the status of alchemists will inevitably rise.

As the city of alchemy, it is foreseeable that Flamel's reputation and status will rise sharply.

Therefore, Bach, who is a high-level alchemist himself, naturally knows that research is the most important thing for Flamel now than taking sides.

Alchemy is the primary productive force!

"Oh, I know, you seem to be getting very close to Linfeng City recently."

Eric raised his eyebrows, "Linfeng City just won a war recently. I heard that they were about to lose -

"But at the critical moment, they took out a few magical magic cannons from nowhere and changed the situation of the battle, and in turn defeated the Lebus tribe... Is this the support you provided, or is it a weapon they developed themselves? "

Of course Broken Star City knew about that war, because before the war officially started in Linfeng City, the then city lord Ivan wrote to Broken Star City for help.

Originally, the aid treaty was almost ready, and Broken Star City was preparing to march towards Linfeng City in an open and honest manner, but for some reason something unexpected happened.

After Ivan stepped down, Linfeng City chose to confront the Lebus clan alone, and finally won.

When I heard the news at that time, the City Lord's Mansion of Broken Star City was shocked for a long time.

"You still know a lot." Bach said calmly.

"Yes, Linfeng City has an excellent alchemist. We are working with that alchemist to complete an important alchemy research."

He didn't go into detail because he didn't want outsiders to know how important the research was.

Erich was right about one thing: Flamel was not truly neutral.

Out of selfish motives, he hoped that when the world mentioned the new rune system in the future, Bach and Flamel would be the first to think of him, instead of Nolen and Linfeng City.

Even if Nolen's name will eventually go down in history, he hopes that the name will be stained with Flamel's color.

"Since I can receive your praise, I guess he is a pretty good alchemist."

Erich thought thoughtfully, "However, since you are only asking for the alchemist and not Linfeng City, why not just dig him over? Flamel is the holy city of alchemists, right? "

"What exactly do you want to say?" Bach frowned.

He didn't want to continue the topic, and his refusal should have been obvious.

"I want to say that if that alchemist is the culprit who changed the course of the war, I want him to disappear."

Erich said slowly, "The Lebus tribe launched a war against Linfeng City under the instruction of His Highness Roderick. If the plan had gone well, Linfeng City should have been captured by the Lebus tribe at this time, and then completely Just turn to us.

"But the fact is that Linfeng City eliminated them and applied for the Bauhinia Medal from the Imperial Capital. The alchemist's name seems to be on the list of medals awarded.

"This is not just a national war, but a confrontation between two imperial forces. I think the imperial capital is now ready to hype up the victory of this battle to suppress our momentum."

So that’s it, Bach understood, for the Roderick faction, since Nolen will be awarded the Order of Bauhinia by His Royal Highness Robert in the Imperial Capital.

Then, he is a Robertian.

He would become an enemy of the Rodrikites.

"What do you want to do?" Bach asked calmly.

"You want to get his research results, and I want him to disappear. Our goals are actually the same."

Erich leaned forward slightly, "It's not that I have any malice towards him personally. In fact, the most perfect solution is for him to join us. If his talents can be used by us, everyone will be happy.

“But now it seems that he is not interested in our solicitation for the time being. In this case, there is only one way to go——

“Get his research results, and then kill him.

"Flamel monopolizes his achievements and Broken Star City eliminates a potential opponent. This is a good thing for us, isn't it?"

Hearing this, Bach fell silent, seeming to be calculating the feasibility of this road.

Theoretically, as long as Nolen is captured, this plan can succeed.

Because Erich Grimny is a rare soul mage.

And the soul spell he is best at is searching for souls.

(End of this chapter)