"Gift?" Roland raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"The House of Hoth and the House of Lista in the Northland...... Your Majesty, the two counts refused to submit to your rule and tried in vain to collude with the rest of the nobles to rebel, and my father saw through their tricks in advance and gave the two families the punishment they deserved. www.biquge.info"But due to my negligence, I didn't expect you to return to the Westside early, as the skull used as evidence was broken on the way. ”

"Wait, your father directly executed the two counts?"

"Uh," he tilted his head to look at his assistant, "yes." ”

This effect is more intense than I expected...... Taking the heads of the two counts as a nominee meant that it would be difficult for them to gain the support of the nobles of the East, and at least the possibility of uniting against their own realm was greatly reduced. Roland thought to himself, but now that the nightingale was not around, he didn't know if the other party was deceiving him.

He pondered for a moment and whispered to Barov beside him, "Are there these two families in the Northland?"

"Horsehead and Lysta are both families in the North, and their reputations are more prominent than those of the Five Masters in the West, among which Lista's ancestors fought for the Wimbledon family in armor, and the two spears on the family crest are taken from the banner of the Grey Keep Kingdom. Barov stroked his beard and said unhurriedly, "Of course, this was more than two hundred years ago. However, the Kant family is not famous, I remember that it was a family that only appeared in the past 50 years...... I didn't expect Tifeco to choose Calvin Kant as the head of the northern realm, even if it was to contain the other two, it would be difficult for the disparity in strength to play its due role, and it would be easy to cause dissatisfaction among the old families. ”

"So what he said is true?" Roland automatically ignored the nagging that followed the old manager to show off his knowledge.

"Hmm...... It is unlikely to be a lie," Barov whispered, "and this is a matter of nobility and glory, and if you promise to accept their allegiance, and it turns out to be a lie, the Northlands themselves will be in turmoil first." ”

It makes sense to say this, he bowed slightly, and whether it is a lie or not is not a big problem, the key is that his bottom line is already there, if he can accept the relinquishment of fiefdom, everything can be discussed, if he insists on seizing power, then no matter how valuable a gift is, it is meaningless.

Thinking of this, Roland smiled at Cole, "First of all, I have to express my gratitude to the duke, it is the responsibility of every nobleman to maintain the honor of the royal family, and your father has done a good job." Secondly, the two counts deserve it, and the kingdom will not pursue Duke Kant for this move. ”

"Yes, yes, my father would be glad to hear that," Cole breathed a sigh of relief, "he'd always wanted to play for the real king, and now he finally had the opportunity." ”

"Yes, I'm happy to accept the Duke of Northland's allegiance...... The premise is that he can obey the new laws of the Grey Keep. ”

"New law?" he was slightly stunned, "What's that?"

"Regarding the regulations for the revocation of the feudal power of the nobles," Roland looked at the other party's expression, and said word by word, "In the future, there will be no more feudal nobles in the kingdom, you can simply understand that all the territories in the Grey Keep have only one master, and that is the king." ”

"What, Your Majesty, this ......" Cole's expression changed dramatically, and he turned to look at his assistant again.

Is this guy really the second son of the duke? although he looks a little younger, he is not even inferior to his female officer...... At least the latter only opened her mouth slightly, still looking composure - of course, maybe she didn't understand the meaning of her words.

"Don't worry, nobles are still nobles, your privileged life will not change in any way, and you will have the opportunity to climb to a new peak," Roland clapped his hands and asked the squire to hand over the "propaganda brochure" that had been prepared for a long time, "The fortress of Changsong has fully implemented this set of laws, and in the manual, you can see many small stories of change, as well as examples of nobles who have devoted themselves to it - it seems to make the nobles lose some of their privileges, but in fact it also liberates the nobles from their fiefdoms and devotes themselves to the kingdom. and even on the big stage of the entire continent. ”

The other party looked dazed, "But...... I don't know ......."

Cole's performance made Roland a little disappointed, but it was normal to think about it, after all, he was still the second son of adulthood, and it was estimated that this trip was only the responsibility of the microphone, and he could not make a decision.

"It's okay, you can send the news back to Duke Calvin, and until he answers, you can stay in Neverwinter and see the unique scenery - I think you'll love it. ”

Although sending the second son itself represents sincerity, Roland does not intend to waste this sincerity, and will detain it for the time being, as a guarantee to prevent the other party from taking risks.

He thought that this was the end of the meeting, but he did not expect Cole to make another request.

"Your Majesty, may I see how your domain makes paddle steamers and steam engines?"

This was a novel request, and Roland looked at him with interest, "Are you interested in this?"

"Yes, I have heard of this strange ship in the royal capital, and when I came to the West, I found that it abounded, and I wondered how the paddle steamer could travel without sails. Cole stroked his chest.

"I see," he smiled and nodded, "I'll let Chief Barov arrange it." ”

......

After dealing with the envoy from the north, Roland returned to his office, preparing to complete the blueprint in his hand, when he suddenly heard a rapid tapping sound outside the window. He turned around, only to see two unexpected figures.

Lightning was lying on the window edge, and Maisie was crouching above her head pecking at the glass.

Roland's heart suddenly tightened, it was only the third day, the paddle steamer should not come back so soon, could it be that something happened?

"Why did you come back first?" he asked hurriedly as he opened the floor-to-ceiling window, "what about the others?"

"Your Majesty, we've caught the devil!"

"But Anna, Leaf, and Nightingale are all wounded!"

"Fortunately, it's not a big problem!"

"But it still hurts, can you let Miss Nanawa come with us?"

Listening to the two of them scrambling to finish speaking, Roland felt his heart feel like a roller coaster, and he let out a sigh, "Is it really okay?"

"No goo!"

"I'm going to get Nanawa," he said, turning and walking out of the room, "next time I remember to finish something in one sitting!"

......

By the evening of the next day, two paddle steamers finally appeared at the west end of the Chishui River.

In order to avoid panic caused by the sight of the devil, the remaining troops of the First Army had emptied the No. 22 trestle and prepared a large shed carriage. A temporary wooden house has also been erected in the back garden of the castle to serve as a laboratory, and research on the devil and sigils will be carried out under the supervision of the leaves.

Seeing Anna and Nightingale walking off the trestle, Roland was completely relieved, it was only four days from departure to return, but it was as if he hadn't seen him for months. Especially after hearing the news of the two injuries, time passed even more slowly.

"It's been a hard job," he said, raising the corners of his mouth and opening his arms to Anna.

The latter did not reply, but quickly threw himself into his arms and hugged him firmly.

The nightingale sighed, "You said you were waiting for us at the castle...... The docks are not safe, Your Majesty. ”

"You too," Roland laughed, "hard work." ”

"Hmm......" she turned her head uncomfortably, "it's fine, actually." ”

Anna let go of Roland and pulled the nightingale over.

Then Wendy, Leaf......

This time all the witches embraced Roland, and Agatha and Effie were no exception.

Under the reflection of the dark red sunset, the figures of everyone were stretched out.