Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 500 The Prince and the Queen

"Why did you call me over? I still have to guard the gate."

"Ahem, how's the situation in the North? How's the support for the Holy See Army going? Is there a plan?"

"It's been there for a while now. Ash should have already taken people there, and we'll have results soon."

Hughes blinked, a bad feeling creeping into his heart: "You didn't actually send the banshees straight to Sladedinburgh, did you?"

Given Nini's personality, it's not like she's incapable of doing such a thing. As for the banshees, they've long wanted to have a good fight.

Rushing over there wouldn't be a bad idea, but it would create a lot of unnecessary trouble.

First, it exposes the existence of a large number of banshees. Hughes did not intend to hide the banshees, but the appearance of so many at once will definitely attract the church, and then the North will be in chaos for a long time.

Secondly, it could easily alert the enemy. If we rush in directly, the resistance might be able to be rescued, but the remaining three Grand Dukes and Count Bazel would have been prepared in advance.

Others might worry about getting into a tough fight or being attacked by the opposing side, but Hughes is different.

He was worried that the other side had run away.
This is a very troublesome matter. If Count Bazel really can abandon everything and choose to run away, Hughes really doesn't have a good solution.

To get to the North, he had to build railway tracks all the way. If Bazel went directly to the Empire, would he have to make a detour and continue building the railway?

When will Nabazel's head be hung in Castel's cathedral?

Hughes's gaze grew increasingly hostile. If Nini really did something so reckless, she could forget about writing reports ever again!

Nini took a few steps back, chuckling awkwardly and wagging her tail: "No, no, of course not. How could we just let everyone go? I just arranged a few more interviews for everyone. I had my mother-in-law contact them first."

"Mother-in-law, is everything alright?"

The North is far from peaceful, with many extraordinary individuals hiding everywhere. The Firemoth's nymphs aren't particularly skilled in combat.
“There’s a problem. She always likes to pick fights with people. I suspect she might delay the trip, so I brought Isaac along too. By the way, Isaac has joined my team and might be going to the front lines with me for interviews.”

There are only a handful of extraordinary individuals among the Firemoths. Richard is a researcher and not good at fighting, not to mention Chloe. Before Isaac returned, his mother always took over.

Cultivating extraordinary individuals is far slower than mass-producing equipment; the Fire-Chasing Moths on Castel's side are just operating at a normal pace.

I heard that they are preparing to train Gaia to become a superhuman, and have been preparing materials for this purpose for more than half a year. The low efficiency makes Hughes feel very uncomfortable.

Nini sighed: "Ever since Grandma got the Dragon Breath Cannon, she's been obsessed with picking fights. She has two Dragon Breath Cannons by herself and has made a name for herself all over the North. Basically, no Investigator will dare to mess with her."

Hughes's eye twitched. His mother-in-law usually had a peaceful and kind appearance; how could he not have seen such a wild heart?
"I hope everything goes well with the resistance."

"Don't worry, my lord, the resistance will be fine. The allied forces of the three dukes have been wiped out by us. There is no force left in the north that can be used against us."

Hughes remained noncommittal. Since he had already sent people to make contact with the resistance, he would just have to wait and see how things developed.

If all goes well, the resistance forces can be brought over directly. If it is inconvenient for them to come over, it won't take long for Castells to lay the railway there.

Now that Castells' railway has reached the North, even the most oblivious nobles should have noticed it after the Allied forces were defeated.

Next, some battles will likely take place around the railway, and the expeditionary force is already prepared.

After Nini left, Hughes looked at the other person who walked into the room with some surprise.

"Alexei, is something the matter?"

This former chief scribe, now the Imperial Archbishop of Truth, has always been very busy. Why did he suddenly come here today? Hughes's expression turned serious. For him to come to him personally, it must be something important.

But there was a rare hesitation in Alexei's expression. After entering the house, he did not come over directly, but turned around and closed the door first, and then looked at the window that had obviously been repaired.

"My lord, over here."

"It's perfectly safe here. This is Castel Cathedral, right next to the Banshee's Guard Room. Are you in trouble?"

"Well, it's not a problem, but something just suddenly came to mind."

Alexei sat down in the chair, his eyes darting around.

"Is it related to Castel?"

"I suppose so. That was a long time ago. Before I even arrived in Castel, I was summoned by the Queen as the top graduate of the Royal Army Academy and received guidance from her knight commander—meaning I was given a chance to challenge him."

Alexei recounted the story slowly as he recalled it.

"Don't laugh at me, but I not only brought my longsword, but I also secretly tucked a musket into my waistband. No one said you can't fight with a musket. After all, I'm a graduate of the Royal Military Academy. Winning with a musket might actually win me the Queen's favor."

"Failed?"

"Yes, he is terrifyingly strong. He can see through any of my movements before I even make them. Every time he makes a counterattack, he can always predict my attack route, making it look as if I deliberately cut into his sword."

Alexei's eyes sparkled.

"I never took out that musket. He had already seen through my thoughts, but he just didn't say anything. He left such a deep impression on me that I can never forget him."

At this point, Alexei let out a long sigh of relief and mustered his courage to speak: "My lord, I feel that there is someone who looks a lot like the Knight Commander."

"Galahad."

After saying the name, he seemed to relax a bit, as if he had unloaded a burden from his heart.

Hughes fell silent.

Of course he knew what this meant.

The extraordinary path of a knight is bound to an oath. A knight can only have one object of loyalty, which can be a family, a bloodline, or an individual.

If Galahad was indeed the former Queen's Knight Commander, then what was he loyal to?

The prince is a descendant of Grand Duke Tiss, and has almost no relation to the royal family.

Then the answer becomes obvious.

"How sure are you?"

"I have no idea, my lord. The two of them have nothing in common, neither in appearance nor in temperament, but I just have a vague feeling about it."

Hughes slowly stood up.

Galahad Knight Prince
The Empress.

(End of this chapter)