Chapter 559: On Systems

"What do you think?" Edith asked, returning to sit on the edge of the bed.

"About the bathroom?"

"I mean the new laws."

"Uh..." Cole hesitated. "I'll write to Father tomorrow and tell him the conditions the King has set, but I don't think he'll agree."

"Is that so?" Edith said noncommittally.

Seeing that she didn't deny it, Cole grew bolder. "I've read the booklet His Majesty gave us. Leaving aside whether the content is true, the highest-ranking nobleman used as an example is merely a Count's son, but now it's equivalent to a Duke without a fief—honestly, if I were just a knight, I'd definitely make the same choice. But Father is the rightful ruler of the Northern Lands, Duke of Evernight City, whose status and power are far greater than this Honeysuckle eldest son. Agreeing to His Majesty's terms would mean handing over the territory to others. This isn't an elevation; it's a real demotion."

"Well said," Edith smiled and nodded. Before her younger brother could get too pleased, she continued, "But you've overlooked one thing."

"What?"

"That is, we can hold on to these positions and power."

Cole's expression stiffened.

"You've obviously focused on the stories in the back of the handbook, but I'm more interested in the paragraph at the beginning." Edith picked up the promotional booklet from the bedside and opened the cover. "If this is His Majesty's idea... I must say, it's quite interesting."

"The…causes of feudalism?" Cole leaned over to look. "Do you understand what it means?"

"It's just a neologism. You can understand it as our current system, or you can call it the aristocracy."

Her brother looked confused.

Edith shook her head inwardly. These contents seemed quite obscure at first glance, and it seemed inexplicable to put them at the beginning of the promotional booklet, as they weren't as vivid as the examples that followed. However, if one could understand their true meaning, one would realize that this was the basis for Roland Wimbledon's decision to implement the new laws.

It was the first time she had seen such a novel and thorough explanation.

"Have you ever wondered why we divide the land among our knights and vassals?"

"So that they will be loyal to the Kant family," Cole muttered. "And it will attract more brave men to serve."

"What if Father occupied all of the Northern Lands?" Edith continued.

"You mean, everything belongs to the family?" Her brother thought for a moment and shook his head. "Of course not. If we occupied all the territory, the knights would leave the Northern Lands—they would have no property and would definitely look for opportunities elsewhere. The same goes for the lesser nobles. Wouldn't that be like having only the Kant family as nobles in several towns?"

"Wouldn't that be good?"

"Of course not!" Cole blinked, seemingly puzzled as to why his sister would ask such a simple question. "The Northern Lands are so big; how can we manage them all by ourselves? If Cliffbreak City were attacked, it would take the guards from Evernight City about half a week just to get there, and that doesn't include the time it takes to transmit the message. And it's also very troublesome to collect taxes and grain. We can't expect those commoners to voluntarily hand over these things, can we?"

"So, in order to retain our land, we constantly expand our vassals, ultimately due to the needs of war and limited management capabilities—this is also what His Majesty believes to be the main cause of feudalism." Edith gently caressed the page. "However, the situation has now changed. No matter how much we expand our forces, we cannot stop His Majesty's thunderous blow. His army has no match in the entire kingdom. At the same time, His Majesty firmly believes that a strong city hall can manage the affairs of the entire territory, so there is no need to divide the land among the nobles."

"This…" Cole opened his mouth but didn't know how to respond.

"Roland Wimbledon believes that this is the inevitable course of history." She pointed to the last sentence of the introduction. "A fully functional centralized government will inevitably replace the enfeoffed nobles because unified management and planning can better utilize the resources of the entire territory, tap the potential of the people, thereby enabling

the entire kingdom to unleash powerful productivity—and productivity is the determining factor in which side can continue to exist."

"Nonsense," Cole whispered. "What is productivity? Is it about who can grow more crops? Ten farmers can't beat one knight, and managing the whole country…where does he get so many people to handle tax matters? Wouldn't he have to entrust it to the nobles? If those people can actually collect money and grain, what's the difference from now? The commoners don't care who their king is."

"On this point, I'm just as curious as you are," Edith said with a smile. "But a person who can write these words can't possibly implement this new law without any preparation, don't you think?" She paused. "We'll visit him again tomorrow, this time I'll go."

"So soon?" Cole was surprised. "Don't you usually wait until the other party mentions your identity before revealing it?"

"I can't wait that long," Edith shrugged. "Also, don't write to Father yet. You heard what he said before we left, I'm in charge of this mission."

"Could it be…you want to agree to His Majesty?" He gasped. "Father will kill you!"

"Hmm?"

"Uh…no, I mean he'll dislike you," Cole corrected himself. "After all, the main purpose of sending you here is to preserve his title as Duke."

"Don't worry, I'm not so easily persuaded," Edith raised an eyebrow. "Since he has already given the conditions, I have to haggle a bit, right?"

*******************

The next day, one report after another on the damage tests was sent to Roland's desk.

The bodies of devils are not much stronger than those of witches. Both qiangxie and swords can cause fatal wounds, but perhaps due to differences in physiological structure, the effects of toxins are minimal.

For example, chlorine, nitrogen monoxide, and carbon monoxide have no effect on Berserk Devils. Even if there is an effect, it is weakening the effective components of the Red Mist.

The same is true for Dream Water and Berserk Pills. The former cannot make them fall asleep, and the latter cannot cause them to go berserk.

As for the Red Mist, after being decomposed, it turns into several gases and water. After testing by Caimo Strale, it was confirmed that some of it can burn and emit a foul odor, and some of it is nitrogen. The remaining components are unknown. However, these should not be essential for devils to survive. The main thing is the subtle magic power surging in the mist, which is why the Red Mist cannot be stored for a long time.

In addition, when the temperature rises to three hundred degrees, the Red Mist will accelerate decomposition, and when it approaches one hundred degrees, the mist will even burn.

Roland folded the report and put it in the drawer. From what he could see, in addition to conventional thermal weapons, fire was also a good option for dealing with devils. At least in dispelling the Red Mist, the effect of high temperature was very significant. A big fire when attacking the enemy's camp might instantly reverse the situation for the devils fighting on their home turf.