A knight rode into the royal capital on horseback, lying along the saddle.
In the Outer District, no one dared to stop this knight charging through the royal capital, and once he reached the Inner City, the nobles were even more hesitant.
The fluttering of the knight’s cloak and the banner he held aloft signified that this was an urgent military report. Not to mention the people in the Outer District deserved any injuries they incurred, even the nobles in the Inner City would have to take responsibility for stopping him, especially in this highly tense environment.
When the knight arrived at the royal palace, he had already lost his strength and was almost dragged by the guards to meet Lilith.
“Your Majesty, great victory! Great news! All three fronts have achieved victory!”
Although he had been riding day and night, exhausting several horses in the process, after delivering his message, the knight was left dry-throated, gagging in the palace. However, Lilith and those around her paid no mind to this, instead urging the guards to take the knight to rest quickly and to reward him.
There indeed exist some magical means of long-distance communication, but the transmission involves several relay stations along the way and may suffer from distortions. Lilith had already received this good news from the court mage, but only when the southwestern allied knights appeared before her did she finally feel relieved.
In addition to new equipment, Judith also volunteered to leave the royal capital to oversee the front lines, ultimately defeating An Zhu’s professional military corps in a field battle.
To understand, starting from Augustus III, the four corners were not allowed to leave the royal capital unless absolutely necessary. However, this rule was not absolute and largely depended on the king’s personal will, which is why Lilith agreed to this request.
Even though Lilith recognized that this report contained much exaggeration, not losing was considered a victory at this point. Not only did the Cape Kingdom need this victory, but so did Lilith.
The moment the victory report was confirmed, the entire royal capital erupted in fervor. Lilith punched An Zhu, who was teasing her, squarely in the face, venting her anger.
In an instant, all rumors vanished overnight as if they had never existed, and the nobles who had originally criticized the Duke of Southwest Borders raised their glasses in celebration, some shamelessly stepping forward to take credit.
It was mainly because of their encouragement that the Duke of Southwest Borders could achieve such a great victory this time, and they were analyzing the situation thoroughly.
Even Claire came to congratulate Lilith on behalf of the royal family.
However, when Lilith received the specific battle reports later, she quickly regained her composure.
In fact, two of the three fronts had not seen any real combat, and the only line that could be considered a win was merely one that held out until the opponent retreated, with a duke personally overseeing from the rear.
From the current situation, the pressure on the Cape southwestern allied forces when facing their opponents’ professional corps was still significant, due to an overwhelming numerical disadvantage in professionals, compounded by issues of firearm accuracy, leaving them mostly on the receiving end of the assault.
If Judith hadn’t gone personally to oversee the situation, and if the commanders of the three battle lines hadn’t managed to hold under pressure, it’s very likely they would have been crushed by the opposing long-range firepower and cavalry assaults.
Moreover, the outcome of the battle was still uncertain; the initiative was firmly in the opponent’s hands.
If An Zhu was a solidly trained magic knight with exceptional skills in both magic and combat, then the Cape forces were merely inflated knights relying on temporarily taken drugs, risking half their wealth to purchase an arsenal of equipment.
While seemingly impressive, they lacked subsequent combat effectiveness.
This was also the reason why the southwestern borders pulled back immediately after winning—there was a need to retreat back into the city to continue fortification.
The nobility in the royal capital was well aware of this.
Winning was winning; no one would blame the victor, nor would anyone question how it was achieved. They had originally only hoped to win one battle but ended up securing all three.
Even if the victories were quite ugly.
“Your Majesty…”
Nora placed a report on Lilith’s desk.
“This is the bill for the procurement of weapons and military supplies sent over from Graywhite Territory.”
Lilith sighed deeply as she looked at the thick bill. Firearms and miracles were not free; even if they were helping the southwestern borders procure supplies, the royal capital would still have to pay.
Of course, Lilith could choose to shirk the bill and simply hand it over to Judith and Scott, but that would mean these firearms would likely target the royal capital.
Lilith had expended great effort to make the southwestern allied forces aware that they were loyal not only to two dukes but also to her, their queen, so she needed to solidify this impression now.
“Do we still have money?”
Seeing Nora’s pained expression, Lilith already knew the answer.
Currently, the budget in the royal palace was often overspent, quite frequently.
After reviewing the bill, Lilith said, “I looked carefully; if we use raw materials to settle debts, it would be much more cost-effective. Since our plans are difficult to realize in the short term, why not use all raw materials to settle the debts?”
Upon looking over these raw materials, Lilith found that in the materials requested by Graythorn Territory, the materials for firearms only accounted for a small portion. Most materials were not usable for firearms, such as gravel.
This was used in the railway system to support the tracks, primarily for drainage and to align the railway.
Materials for magic waterproofing and the raw materials for ties had no direct connection to producing firearms and were more akin to laying railway tracks.
When asked why Lilith, not a railway expert, was so familiar with this, it was because one of her objectives in reclaiming these industries was to lay down railway tracks. For this purpose, she started collecting these industries and materials early on during the laying of the tracks; most of the reclaimed industries during the reform were related to this.
Of course, Lilith had tried boiling water but, after finding it unfeasible, she still planned to lay down the railway.
Although she could not produce steam trains, horse-drawn carriages would suffice.
This was not Lilith planning to emulate a certain old witch from her past life; the ridiculous aspect wasn’t in the pulling but in the fact that it was a train being pulled.
Horse-drawn railcars had already appeared as early as the 10th century and had been running steadily for at least half a century, laying the groundwork for later train tracks.
In fact, during the early development of trains, some cars could be directly replaced with horses in case of mechanical failure.
The idea of horse-drawn railcars was entirely feasible, but now, the materials Lilith had painstakingly accumulated would all be taken away by Graythorn Territory.
These were the last of Lilith’s resources. Originally, these raw materials were to be used for the industries she had reclaimed, but now it seemed that the railway project would have to be pushed aside.
“Your Majesty…”
Nora had also read the bill and understood that the governor from Graythorn Territory was likely considering establishing railway systems.
When Nora first heard Lilith propose it, it was not just astonishing; it could also be said to have been enlightening. A railcar could transport nearly double the number of personnel and cargo, and the production factories were gradually being reclaimed by Lilith, with a considerable amount of raw materials accumulated.
As long as the horse-drawn railcar could be successfully launched, the royal capital might very well see a resurgence of past prosperity.
But little did she expect the governor of Graythorn Territory was actually aligned with Her Majesty’s thoughts.
Now, it really felt like fruits of labor were being harvested by others; Nora was increasingly unsettled.
“If we think about it positively, at least it could save us a significant amount of money, right?”
Hearing Lilith say this, Nora wanted to argue that compared to the benefits once the horse-drawn railcar was laid out, it was not worth mentioning.
But seeing Lilith’s forced smile, Nora immediately realized that their queen was trying to comfort herself, leaving her with mixed feelings.
Indeed, even if raw materials were not used for payment now and currency was forcibly used, there would be no money left for laying out the horse-drawn railcar in the future, not to mention the long return cycle of the project.
Looking at it this way, it was better to hand over the raw materials to Graythorn Territory directly.
Thinking that these plans should have originally been her responsibility, Nora nodded and said, “I understand, Your Majesty. I will arrange it.”
Turning back, Nora quietly wiped away her tears, determined to dedicate her life to protect Her Majesty.
