Without a doubt, the royal capital was a treasure trove.
Although it was quite backward as a city, and those seemingly magnificent buildings were insignificant in Roland's eyes, it was still the most dazzling pearl in the Kingdom of Graycastle.
In terms of population, it had far more nobles than any other city—any noble who had fallen on hard times and lost his fiefdom would first think of coming to the royal capital to seek opportunities. Coupled with the landless knights and squires conferred by the royal family, this proportion was further increased. For example, in the inner city, nobles accounted for nearly 20% of the residents. They usually received elementary education and could write, which made them all worthy of being cultivated as reserve officials for Roland. After all, without land and family property, they would not be too resistant to new policies, and their own good knowledge would enable them to accept new things faster than ordinary civilians.
In terms of industries, the royal capital was also a melting pot of everything. In addition to commercial and artisan guilds, it also had the largest Alchemist Association and the unique Astrologer Society. These talents were all coveted by Roland. Summoning Barov and Camo Streel was also to recruit them as much as possible.
Finally, wealth... The various materials collected in the palace were enough to rival ten Duke Ryans. Gold dragons, jewelry, and gold and silver handicrafts filled several warehouses. Coupled with other important officials who fell with Tyfico, the final statistics would inevitably be an astonishing number. If all their property were confiscated, Neverwinter City would have no worries about food and clothing for the next two or three years. However, Roland did not intend to move them all away. It would take too much time, and taking over the royal capital would also require large expenditures to maintain stability. Money accumulated in the basement and squandered meaninglessly was meaningless. It was right to let it circulate with its own value.
If possible, Roland hoped to spend half a year digesting these gains, but time waits for no one. Compared with the royal capital in the middle, the Dragonfall Ridge and the Far Southern Region, which could be connected with the Western Region as a whole, were more important.
Not long after Iron Axe left, a guard reported, "Your Majesty, there is a merchant outside the palace claiming to be Margaret who wants to see you."
Roland's eyes lit up immediately, "Bring her to me."
When the female merchant walked into the hall, he smiled and stood up from the throne, striding forward to greet her, "We meet again."
"I didn't expect the place we would meet again to be the Graycastle Palace," Margaret lifted the corner of her skirt and curtsied, "You always surprise me, Prince Roland... No, I should call you Your Majesty now."
"It doesn't matter, I haven't held the enthronement ceremony yet, so I'm not a real king," Roland waved his hand.
"You're not in a hurry at all, worthy of the demeanor of a king." Margaret covered her mouth and said, "It seems that the royal capital will be full of business opportunities in the future. For the sake of our old friendship, you have to take care of me more."
"Of course, even if you didn't come to me, I would have gone to you," he laughed heartily, "You may not know, Border Town and Longsong Stronghold have merged into a large city, and the steam engine factory has opened several more production lines, and the output can almost triple. There will be many new products in the future, and I guarantee they are unique treasures in the Four Kingdoms."
"I have fully seen your creativity, we can talk about these things slowly," Margaret nodded, "But I'm not here for this today, but to ask for something else."
"Oh?" Roland said with interest, "Tell me about it."
"Can... Can we talk somewhere else?" She glanced around and asked in a low voice.
Even the wealth of the Chamber of Commerce could not solve it, and she had to avoid being seen. Could it be that the other party really encountered some troublesome dàma troubles? The prince thought for a while, "Then let's go to my room."
……
The room located on the top floor of the Crown Tower originally belonged to Wimbledon III, and it was also the place that the Fourth Prince longed for most when he was a child—only here could he see his taciturn father. And Roland chose this place purely because the terrain was high enough, it was not easy to set up secret passages, and there was only one circular stone staircase leading to the top of the tower, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
"Can you tell me now?"
Only he and Margaret were left in the room, as well as Nightingale, who had hidden her figure.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I was entrusted by someone and can only tell you alone..." She solemnly bowed and said, "Lord Thunder hopes to see you."
"Thunder?" Roland was greatly surprised, "Is that the most outstanding explorer in the Fjords? Wasn't he... already buried in a shipwreck?"
"True explorers, although they believe in the Three Gods, will not easily throw themselves into the arms of the Three Gods," Margaret shook her head, "He doesn't want to reveal his whereabouts, especially not to Lightning. That's why I have to tell you secretly. Lord Thunder originally planned to contact you through Princess Tilly, but he didn't expect you to occupy the royal capital so quickly, so he temporarily changed his decision." The female merchant paused, "He also said that incredible sights have been discovered east of the Shadow Islands, which may be related to the ruins hundreds of years ago. You will definitely be interested in learning about them."
"Wait... he's in the royal capital now?"
"Yes, he just arrived yesterday and made this decision after meeting me."
"You don't seem surprised at all by his resurrection," Roland said strangely, "Did you know about this all along?"
Margaret nodded.
"So, your first trip to Border Town to do business was not because of the guards I sent, but to find Lightning?"
"I'm sorry I didn't explain it to you at the beginning," she stroked her chest and said, "Lightning wears a magic stone, and Lord Thunder used this method to confirm her location. He sent me there just to confirm that she was safe. After learning that Lightning had settled down in your territory, he decided to hide his news and keep his daughter away from the path of an explorer."
I see, Roland immediately understood everything—at that time, he did not ask about Thunder's death in detail, and the other party's answer was all the truth in a sense, so Nightingale did not find anything strange, but determined that she had no hostility towards the witches. It turned out that this "coincidence" was all for a reason. Without Lightning, his steam engine trade would probably not have opened up the business route so quickly.
"The royal capital is still in the vortex, so it is unlikely that I will leave the palace," Roland considered for a moment and replied, "If Thunder wants to see me, lead him to the palace, I can promise not to reveal news about him to Lightning."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty," Margaret looked grateful and bowed again, "I will tell him the answer as soon as possible."
After letting the servants send the female merchant away, Roland had just returned to the hall when he heard the guard report, "Your Majesty, a noble has come outside the palace, claiming to be an old friend of yours, clamoring to rush into the palace."
This news made him feel a little surprised. The small nobles who were not affected by the Spring Offensive would come to inquire about the situation sooner or later, but he did not expect it to be so soon. Logically speaking, they should wait for a while to observe the wind direction. Tyfico has not been executed yet, so they should not take the initiative to come forward at this moment... And he was originally a prince, how could he be so familiar with a small noble? "What is his name?"
"Sir Yokoe, Your Majesty."