That evening, Roland held a grand banquet in the lord's castle.
This could be regarded as the first active attack launched by the Witch Union against the church. Besides rescuing Spelter Pasi, they also captured a Hermes clergyman.
When the five witches who participated in the battle took the stage, thunderous applause erupted in the hall. Even he, who rarely drank, downed two glasses of Evelyn's specially made chilled fruit wine.
Although it was only a small victory, the long Months of Demons themselves made people's nerves tense, and he hoped to take this opportunity to relax everyone's mood.
When Roland walked into the office the next day, rubbing his slightly dizzy head, Nightingale was already sitting cross-legged on the table, waiting.
"Don't you need to rest more?" he asked with a smile.
Ever since agreeing to her intercepting the envoy, he had never truly let go of his worries—even knowing that once she entered an open area, her Mist ability would make her invincible, he was still worried about accidents. After all, this was not a daily practice, but a real life-and-death struggle. Now, seeing her in high spirits, his mood immediately improved a lot.
Nightingale swallowed a dried fish, "Of course not, I've recovered to my best condition."
As soon as Roland sat back in his seat, she jumped off the table, went behind the chair and hugged him, "If I rest one more day, I'll see you one day less."
The prince was slightly stunned.
"Actually, I wanted to do this in the castle garden yesterday... but it's not much different now," Nightingale whispered in his ear.
……
It wasn't until footsteps sounded outside the office that she withdrew her hands and disappeared into the mist.
"Your Highness," the guard called, "the lord of Fallen Dragon Territory, Marquis Pasi, requests an audience."
"Please let her in." Roland cleared his throat and straightened his posture.
Spelter Pasi walked into the office, placed a hand on her chest to salute, and sat down in front of the table, "I have carefully considered the request you made earlier."
"What do you think?" He poured her a cup of tea.
During the days when Nightingale, Ashes, and others fought the church, he was not idle. In addition to taking the marchioness around the town, he also had many discussions with her. During this time, Roland briefly explained the crisis the kingdom was about to face, the origin of the church, and the threat of the devils, and told her about his plans for the future.
When Spelter heard about the origin of the church and the reason for hunting witches, her eyes almost popped out in surprise. If Tilly and Agatha hadn't testified, she probably wouldn't have believed the claim that witches once ruled the entire wilderness. However, after that, her attitude changed quite a bit.
"Revoking the power of enfeoffment, implementing the same laws and administrative system, not allowing inheritance or buying and selling of positions... I can accept these requirements, but..." She paused, "I'm just curious, are you really planning to extend them to all territories?"
"That's right, if we don't do this, Graycastle will be nothing more than a heap of loose sand." Roland nodded. "Before the final enemy arrives, I must gather as much power as possible."
"By doing this, you are offending all the nobles," Spelter said slowly, "especially with the non-inheritance of positions—if I understand correctly, the lord in charge of a territory is also a position. In this way, your status as a 'rebel king' will be confirmed."
"That's why I never expected them to give in voluntarily," he tapped the table lightly. "Before the Battle of Divine Will that decides fate, the resistance of the nobles is not a key issue to consider. Besides, I'm not driving them all to extinction. As long as these people can integrate into the new system, they can even keep their territories. What they lose is only the power of enfeoffment—I believe they will make a wise choice."
Centralization itself is a system that can only be realized when the central government has absolute power. If the local forces are strong, let alone centralization, even one's own position may be overthrown at any time. Unlike a year ago, the town now has the power to change. When this step is completed, Graycastle will only have one ruler in the true sense, and that is himself.
"It seems you've made up your mind," Spelter sighed, "If I don't accept it, I will be overthrown by your army."
"What I lack most in this plan is manpower," Roland said sincerely, "especially managers with experience in governing a city or territory. As I said, you have not lost your territory, and you can appear in front of the people openly as a witch, no longer threatened by the church."
The marchioness was silent for a moment, "I also have a request."
"Please speak."
"After you help me regain the Fallen Dragon Territory, I hope everything remains unchanged for the time being," she said bluntly, "Unless Tiffeau is overthrown from the throne, I can stand on your side without any worries."
A well-placed answer... Roland thought, neither a straightforward rejection nor a complete commitment, but leaving himself room for maneuver. In simple terms, he had to prove to her that unifying Graycastle was not just empty talk, but that he actually had the strength to do so before she would be willing to join him.
"Then it's settled," he didn't care about the marchioness's little calculations. If the spring offensive goes smoothly, Tiffeau's downfall might even be faster than retaking the Fallen Dragon Territory.
"By the way, Your Highness," Spelter hesitated, "Can I join the witches' class tonight..."
Roland was stunned, "Those are very basic enlightenment education, you shouldn't be able to learn anything from them anymore."
"I think those calculation methods are very interesting," she shook her head, "I have never seen similar content in previous arithmetic."
Is she referring to the multiplication table or algebraic equations? He couldn't help but laugh, "Of course, as long as you are willing to join the Witch Union."
……
After lunch, Iron Axe brought good news.
"He's willing to talk?" Roland was a little surprised, "So soon?"
According to Nightingale, he thought the captured clergyman was a stubborn type.
"Not everyone has an iron will, Your Highness," Iron Axe replied seriously, "The Sand people have some unique interrogation methods that cause very little physical harm but are extremely destructive to the will, even making people feel that death is a relief. He has already surpassed many ordinary people."
That's true, he thought. Professional spies, in addition to having extraordinary willpower, also need to undergo special interrogation resistance training to be able to never open their mouths, and obviously no one in this era could have such experience.
"Take me to see him," Roland nodded, "I happen to have many questions I want to ask clearly."