The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Chapter 129 Musketeers in the Capital

In the capital, the long spring rain had just ended when Queen Lilith led her ministers from the Round Table Conference to the training ground.

Winter has passed, and many officials have changed into lighter clothes. But this is still outdoors, and the spring rains have just ended. The damp air makes these nobles feel somewhat uncomfortable. At this time, they should be lazily staying in their rooms or on their balconies, enjoying a comfortable afternoon tea, admiring their gardens, and discussing the latest anecdotes.

At this moment, many soldiers were running around in the drill ground, seemingly setting up targets.

Some nobles were already yawning, and they were quite impatient, not knowing what important matter Her Majesty the Queen had summoned them for.

Originally, the round table conference was only held when the kingdom made important decisions, but starting with Augustine III, the round table conference gradually became a regular event, and the topics discussed began to cover everything from major to minor matters.

The new queen now holds meetings every three days and a major meeting every seven days, which has become a regular practice. Diligence is a good thing, but this queen is perhaps a little too diligent now.

Chancellor Nora Luce and Ampter Scott, the son of the Duke of the West, stood guard on either side of Lilith.

After all, this is not in the royal palace. Lilith's recent reforms seem to have touched a nerve with some nobles, so they need to be extra careful in the near future.

The opposition to the new policies was growing louder in the palace. Almost every few days, there were examples of families going bankrupt or people being torn apart by the new policies and unable to make ends meet, which were placed on Lilith and Nora's desks.

Lilith dismissed this with disdain. She wished the new policy had such a great influence. In reality, the new policy hadn't even left the capital yet, so where would all these people be displaced because of it? If these nobles kept making up stories, the number of displaced people would soon exceed the population of the capital.

Even with Lilith's tough stance, the opposition remained undeterred, with numerous instances of refusal to comply and a constant stream of conspiracies and schemes.

The opposition's numbers have actually increased despite the fighting.

After all, some nobles didn't understand the new policies, but they did understand that the new king wanted to interfere in their businesses.

Of course, everyone was very polite on the surface, and when they did criticize, they were all criticizing the newly appointed prime minister, never mentioning Lilith.

Lilith could only withstand the pressure and maintain the status quo. There were too many people opposing her, so Lilith couldn't overturn the table. She could only puff up her body with all her might, like a pufferfish, to show how tough and unapproachable she was.

The new and old parties thus maintained a balance for the time being, and everyone was waiting for an opportunity.

An opportunity for a frontline defeat—once such an opportunity arises—will immediately stir up a storm, demanding the resignation of the incompetent prime minister and a request for Her Majesty to halt the new policies and reinstate the old methods used to defend against foreign enemies.

Then Her Majesty the Queen, having lost her foundation, can be manipulated at will.

At this moment, the soldiers finally set up the targets and signaled with flags.

Squads of soldiers arrived at the firing range, but instead of bows in their hands or quivers on their backs, they carried strange fire sticks.

Seeing Lilith nod, Nora clapped her hands and stepped forward to introduce, "Ladies and gentlemen, these are the new weapons Her Majesty the Queen obtained from the North."

Nora took the musket handed to her by a soldier and began to explain its performance in detail.

Because of the formulaic nature of the conversation, the nobles became even more drowsy, while quite a few noble girls stared intently at Nora's face and figure, and began to chat about recent anecdotes.

Looking at these nobles, Nora felt a surge of inexplicable anger. Weapons and military equipment were matters of national importance, yet these people didn't seem to care at all.

Nora could only quickly end the tedious introduction and let the soldiers fire their muskets.

"boom!"

The sound of muskets finally brought some nobles back to their senses, but looking at the target with a hole punched in it in the distance, many nobles started yawning again.

The expressions on the faces of these nobles seemed to say, "Her Majesty the Queen summoned everyone for this little thing?"

These muskets are not as useful as the fireworks set off by the nobles' own professionals.

But Judith stood up astutely and asked, "Is this a magical item? Why can't I sense any magical fluctuations?"

The main members of the new political party are mostly from the southwest region, but the two patriarchs of the southwest region have maintained the tradition of the nobility and have not directly taken sides.

The South and West are relatively moderate observers of the new reforms. A stable and powerful capital can help them resist the Kingdom of Anjou, so the Southwest will provide Her Majesty with some support.

Of course, this also reflects the fact that the next generation in the southwest both regions have a very favorable impression of the new queen.

However, the nobles in the southwest would not allow Her Majesty to really turn against those nobles, because for them, a strong capital is the best, but the most important thing is the stability of the capital, so that they don't end up fighting on the front lines and the crystal explodes.

So Judith isn't a plant, and she wouldn't impulsively shout "Long live the Queen" like her brother would; the entire Southern Territory rests on her shoulders.

"It's not a magical artifact; it's more like a mechanism."

Nora raised her gun, aimed at the target in the distance, and pulled the trigger.

Although the gun has a slightly strong recoil, it's practically negligible for a knight-class professional like Nora.

The distant target fell down in response.

"As you can see, this distance is enough to deal fatal damage to distant enemies even without armor. And even with armor, without enchantments, you will still take damage. However, the specific damage depends on each person's physical attributes and class."

"Tch, this little bit of damage wouldn't even make my knight flinch."

A nobleman from the Old Party stepped forward, his face full of disdain. He had originally thought that the governor of the North had given him some earth-shattering weapon, but now it seemed to be nothing special.

"Then may I ask, sir, what is your knightly rank, and what are your weapons and equipment? How many knights like you are there in your family?"

Although Nora is very tough, even somewhat eccentric, in her administrative style, she is very elegant in her words and actions. At least when they are face to face, everyone will still give her face.

"This... at least it won't be a problem to block your so-called musket."

"What if I had dozens, or even hundreds, of muskets? What if ordinary soldiers could use these muskets after only two or three days of training?"

Then, two guards came over and pulled down a report next to Nora, showing the approximate cost of a musket.

Duke Scott of the West immediately widened his eyes and stared intently at the report, while Judith also fell into deep thought.

"These muskets would be much cheaper if purchased from gray-collar workers."

The nobles in the southwest began to study the report, but Lilith looked at the cheap muskets with a sense of dejection.

That time traveler has even started selling weapons.