The Situation Took a Sudden Turn for the Worse
In the Royal Capital of Antir, seven days had passed since the war that determined Antir's future, and Theodore no longer wore the joyful expression he had before.
His hand continued to rub the throne, but after a couple of rubs, he stopped impatiently; he was already tired of living there.
The territory to which the Royal Capital belongs is naturally quite special, and even the position of King of Antir has a special use in the system of Territory Knight.
Otherwise, why would Antir have established a kingdom in the first place? Wouldn't it have been much simpler to just have a hierarchy of great and lesser lords?
Why establish a completely different nobility system from the lordship system, with dukes and Marquis? What's the point of all that trouble?
Furthermore, back then, the Prince of Antir was able to stand Theodore Theodore even though Theodore had occupied most of Antir. He was only relying on the lord of White Flower Territory.
This is because, in the position of king, there is a peculiar power that can help second-tier lords advance further.
Below the king, all titles are unimportant; what matters is distinguishing the king from everyone else.
The Third Order Professional from Antir was able to reach that Order because of the king's position.
Even in the Kingdom of Lorinvik, Third Order Professional must use a method similar to a king's declaration to become Third Order Professional.
Now it's time for Theodore to steal this blessing from the throne.
As mentioned before, as long as he spends some time, truly sits on the throne, and keeps his territory unchanged for ten years, then he will be the next Third Order Professional.
However, this clearly only mentions the advantages and not the disadvantages.
To firmly hold onto the throne, he must spend a considerable amount of time in the Royal Capital Royal Palace, only occasionally leaving the Royal Palace and never leaving the Royal Capital.
This period is estimated to be three months. During these three months, he, as a Second Order Profession User and a key combatant of Antir, cannot go anywhere.
This would greatly weaken his control over his territory. After all, when those lords knew that Grand Duke Theodore would not be able to leave the Royal Capital for a long time, one can imagine how rampant they would become.
However, these lords may not have known that it would take so long to consolidate the king's position. Duke Theodore was more concerned about something else: the lords of other countries.
As mentioned before, while lords of other countries may not be able to acquire what they need most—territory—they can acquire other things they need from their territory.
Food, weapons, and manpower are all things these lords need, and they are motivated to do this. If the knights they send out cannot defeat the local lords, wouldn't they send more men or unite with several lords?
If Duke Theodore went to great lengths to obtain the throne, then isn't the throne itself now a test of Duke Theodore's abilities?
The position of king is not as easy as that of an ordinary lord. Throughout the entire territory, if there is a problem, one can personally take action to solve most of the issues.
It's just that while the lord is busy traveling, some people might seize the opportunity to get some supplies.
However, the king cannot defend against foreign attacks in this way. Every inch of land needs to be considered by the king, and Duke Theodore needs to be responsible for every piece of land now.
Antir was vast, and communication in feudal society was very slow. Even a Second Order Profession User, or even Third Order Professional, might not be able to completely prevent the enemy from exploiting any loopholes on their own.
At this point, Theodore's ability to control those lords will be tested, and whether he can maintain stability in Antir without taking action himself.
Duke Theodore had no concerns at first, but two pieces of news in quick succession made him almost unable to sit still on his throne.
The first major event was the departure of Count Ian, who had already gone to Horn Pass and had no intention of negotiating with Darian. He originally possessed second-tier strength.
With Order overwhelming superiority, getting Lorinvik to pay a ransom and redeploy the defenses of Horn Pass should be a very easy task.
Duke Theodore was even fantasizing about traveling all over Antir after Count Ian finished dealing with things there, helping him resolve most of his troubles.
But a strange thing happened: Count Ian's Order began to decline, and he sensed that something was wrong with the White Flower Territory.
However, at this critical moment, there was absolutely no news from White Flower Territory, and then news of an accident in River Valley Territory followed.
What's strange is that Ian learned about the incidents in both places from his own experience.
The two towns involved in this matter did not send a single messenger, and the messengers they sent out were completely out of contact due to the distance.
Having reached this point, Ian, who originally wanted to take Horn Pass before his Order fell, had to give up, because his Order had already fallen and he was completely unable to take Horn Pass unscathed on his own.
He could only negotiate hastily with Darian, and the two sides should be in the first round of negotiations now. Theodore didn't know how things were going.
However, he was extremely anxious because Count Ian was his trusted subordinate and was supposed to be doing the most important thing.
The situation at Horn Pass is now a fait accompli. Under these circumstances, he could even send other people to negotiate and gradually secure suitable benefits.
As for Count Ian, it was natural that at this time, as his most trusted person, he would handle the minor matters that were happening throughout Antir.
At this moment, those lords don't care whether you're king or not; they only care about maximizing their profits.
He originally thought that Count Ian, at the second rank, would only need to prepare for a maximum of three days to resolve the matter at Horn Pass, cutting through the mess quickly.
After all, Horn Pass is a very important pass for Antir, and it would be reassuring to have it back in our hands as soon as possible.
After resolving the issue at Horn Pass, Count Ian could then address the lord's matter, making the situation perfectly harmonious.
But things are not like that at all. Now Count Ian is almost caught in negotiations, and under these circumstances, he must send someone to bring Count Ian back.
He sat on the throne and pondered for a long time before finally deciding on a candidate.
There's no other way. Sending people who aren't highly trusted might cause trouble, but the whole of Antir is already in turmoil.
He needs to bring Count Ian back to handle matters in the River Valley Territory and the White Flower Territory, and even the lords of the nearby territories need Count Ian's supervision.
Otherwise, if those lords really cause trouble, then he won't need to be a king anymore; he can just go back to being a great lord.
After giving his orders, Theodore lay on his throne, facing the empty hall, feeling only restlessness.
Fran returned to her Base Camp. Having completed a great deal of work, Fran no longer needed to worry about anything else.
After all, there are so many things to do, she can't manage them all by herself. Sometimes she has to delegate power to her subordinates.
"Let's leave things in White Flower City to Brian for now. Finley can help there, so there shouldn't be any major problems."
"With Anna in charge of River Valley City, there are no plans to build any factories there yet due to the inconvenient transportation. We just need to expand the number of believers, and Anna should be able to keep things stable."
"The apprentices can handle most of the Base Camp matters, and Aila will oversee the matters of principle."
"Everything has been arranged, and it will take them some time to complete it. It's time to get back to my own things."
Now, Fran had an unprecedented amount of free time. In the nearly two months since she came to Antir, this was one of the few times Fran had nothing to do.
Of course, Fran had nothing better to do, so she chose to use this free time to open the door of her workshop and check her mastery of the spells she had.
"The skill level for the spell [Steam Concerto] has reached Mastery, but its potential has not yet been reached."
Fran was referring to the maximum size and number of Steam Engine she could resonate with; the Steam Engine she was currently resonating with were not yet fully constructed.
However, this will happen quickly, because she has already taught the apprentices how to build the Steam Engine needed for the factory. At the current rate of development, it will reach Fran's limit in less than a month.
Next, Fran turned her gaze to another spell on Panel Panel, which had only recently appeared, but Fran had actually possessed it long ago.
[Elemental Regression (Mastery) (0/1000): Based on the elements you have mastered, casting a spell of a certain element and using Elemental Conversion will Elemental Conversion back.]
This spell was the one that appeared on Fran's Panel when she was promoted to Elite Elemental School Mage, and it was filled with question marks.
Fran had only recently mastered the [Elemental Radiance] skill. It was difficult for Fran to quickly improve her proficiency with these second-tier spells, since the cost of casting them once was considerable.
She also mastered the advanced technique of Elemental Conversion from the Elemental School. According to the Panel description, this spell can only be cast after Elemental Conversion has been performed.
If Fran only looked at the spell's structure, she would know that it was related to elements and that the spell only took effect after another spell had finished casting. Therefore, she might have to spend some time experimenting to figure out a spell that required Elemental Conversion.
Furthermore, based on the description above, this spell seems to limit the type of element; it doesn't require affinity with a certain element, but rather mastery of it.
According to this description, Fran should have mastered the three elements of fire, wind, and earth, which are the elements represented by the three spells she used to advance to the Elite Mage.