Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 533: Coronation
Nearly a month after the winter celebrations and military parades ended, the coronation ceremony for the new king of the Principality of Saint Valen and the Northern Wastes finally kicked off in the coldest winter of the year.

Spark City had been quietly preparing for this unprecedented ceremony all winter. The Lord's Castle area, where Harvey lived, had been officially designated the Central Royal Palace area after nearly half a year of renovations by the Ministry of Construction... Although the castle had not been renovated or expanded at His Majesty's strong request, the King's Square in front of it had already been completely renovated, enough to accommodate thousands of people attending the ceremony at the same time.

The central palace area was also fully open during the celebration. A large number of patrol police and mechanical guards were responsible for maintaining order and guiding the flow of people in the palace area. Thousands of indigenous people from the pioneer territory holding "first-generation identity cards" were lucky enough to have the honor of attending the ceremony in person. Many people came in their best clothes before dawn and gathered in King's Square, looking forward to the coronation ceremony.

For the people of the wasteland, this was the first king to appear on the bitter and cold land where they had lived for thousands of years... no, it was an emperor. The vast wasteland north of the Divine Ridge Mountains was so vast that no powerful country in the south could match it in terms of land area. A king who had the strength to expand the territory and protect the people in such a wild land was naturally different from those royal families in the south who relied on blood marriage and inheritance to continue their rule.

Only the title of "Emperor" held by the Pope of the Holy City of Goris, who is said to have spread his glory throughout the land and rule over all nations on behalf of the gods, can match the identity of the great monarch in their minds.

As a result, petitions requesting Harvey to be crowned emperor at the coronation ceremony poured into the castle office study like snowflakes, and the city hall received countless letters. Many officials of wasteland origin openly expressed their political stance without any hesitation - compared to the throne of Grand Duke Saint Valen, the title of Emperor of the North should be given priority.

Although the intelligence agencies were secretly fanning the flames, the enthusiastic response from the public was indeed somewhat unexpected... Even many people originally from the Southern Territory privately believed that it was reasonable and logical, as if they had completely forgotten that since the development and growth of the Faith of Light, the human race in the Southern Territory has only had one "Emperor" in the Holy City of Goris.

……

The sky was still covered with heavy snowflakes. Long black flags with gold edges were hung on the towering castle walls. Several thick steel cables pulled more than ten airships into the air. The surface of the airships' huge airbags was also painted with the silhouette of the castle and the emblem of a spear and a golden star. Even in the snowy day, it was extremely eye-catching and could be clearly seen by almost everyone in the city.

The castle terrace, where Harvey usually gave public speeches, was now decorated with countless greenhouse flowers from the botanical garden. Two alchemical beast guards, each more than three meters tall, were specially painted gold and stood solemnly on both sides of the terrace. There was no doubt... everyone knew that their Majesty would complete the coronation ceremony here.

"Your Majesty? Your Majesty..." Captain Tommy urged quietly, "Are you ready? Reiner and Mr. Asdalen are waiting at the end of the corridor. Officials, ministers, and foreign guests are also gathered in the meeting hall on the first floor, waiting for you to come."

"Okay, I understand." Harvey responded softly, walked to the dressing mirror and looked at his clothes again. He was still wearing the same outfit with strong local style that he wore on the day of the founding of Spark City, but in his hands he had a short scepter and a three-dimensional square golden seal the size of a palm.

According to Asdalen, Arturo and others who were originally from aristocratic wizard families... a Grand Duke or King who was crowned by the Pope only needs to wear a crown during the coronation ceremony, but if it is the Pope himself who is crowned, he must also hold a royal seal that symbolizes the rule of all countries in order to reflect the difference in status between the "Emperor" and the secular king.

But considering that Harvey was born a spellcaster, he neither cared about being recognized by the Church nor had the blessing of royal blood. In order to demonstrate his equally noble status as a spellcaster, he naturally needed an additional "Scepter of Truth" to symbolize his wise image of pursuing truth and controlling magic.

This resulted in a unique coronation ceremony where Harvey was in a "stitched" state with all the buffs stacked up. Since it was unprecedented and no one dared to openly stand up and accuse or oppose him, they were naturally allowed to do whatever they wanted.

……

Pushing open the door of the living room, Harvey slowly walked through the corridor to the end of the stairs going down. Two tall alchemical creatures in a mixture of brass and silver were quietly guarding there. They were Reiner and Asdalen.

The two alchemical creatures he created personally did not say much. With the soul fire in their eyes flickering, they knelt on one knee and saluted Harvey. They each took the Scepter of Truth and the Seal of Imperial Power from Harvey, held them solemnly in their hands, and turned to walk downstairs.

As soon as they walked down the stairs and entered the hall, the spacious hall, which was originally bustling with people, suddenly became quiet. Most people lowered their heads and saluted with one hand on their chest to welcome the arrival of their Majesty.

Only Pierce stood at the entrance of the stairs like a javelin, his head held high, his eyes fixed on Harvey's slowly descending figure, his right hand loosely grasping the commander's sword at his waist, trembling slightly with obvious emotion.

The crowd automatically split into two columns, clearing a path for Harvey. On the left, led by Reiner, were the officials from the Spark City Municipal Office. Below them were the various key departments, including the Alchemy Laboratory, the Academy of Magical Sciences, and the Police Department. On the right, were the military officers. With the exception of Wayne and Dave, who were unable to return from the Isengard expedition, the majority of the senior officers from Pierce on down were present. They included the Northern Army, the Defense Force, the General Staff... Even the naval officers from the "Ice Sea Fleet," a separate organization personally organized by Harvey, were present, dressed in dark blue uniforms.

According to the custom of the southern countries, the king's coronation ceremony was originally a very complicated and tedious process. Many kings and grand dukes even had to go to the Holy City in person to wait for the Pope's approval before they could be considered to have legitimately inherited the throne... But for the North and Saint Valen, Harvey's position as ruler had long been an indisputable fact, and there was no need to seek any other approval, so the entire ceremony process was drastically simplified and improved.

Harvey walked straight through the crowd and walked up the stairs to the throne at the top of the hall. A golden crown was placed on the throne. There was no etiquette officer to guide or assist him, nor was there any church priest to help him.

Harvey bent down, held the crown with both hands, and put it directly on his head. Then he turned around and took the imperial seal and scepter of truth from Reiner and Asdalen.

Pierce stood at the bottom of the stairs, drew his commander's sword with a swish, and shouted loudly, "Long live the Emperor!"

Everyone knelt on one knee, "Long live the Emperor!"

Amid the unanimous cheers of the crowd, Harvey did not sit on the throne directly. Instead, holding the scepter and seal, he walked up to the garden terrace on the second floor of the castle, surrounded by several high-ranking officials.

In the King's Square below the castle, thunderous cheers suddenly broke out!

Dozens of cannons set up in the castle's back garden fired at the right time, and the rumbling sound echoed through the sky.

Harvey raised his hands to signal to the people who came to watch the ceremony, and the people who had been waiting in the square for a long time also vented their excitement.

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Long live His Majesty Harvey!"

"Long live the North!"

"Long live Spark City!"

Cheers mixed with the continuous roar of cannon salutes reached the sky, and the distant mountains trembled and echoed. The cold wind blew snowflakes, carrying the flowers and ribbons decorating the castle terrace to the square, attracting countless people to jump up, as if this would allow them to preserve the blessings and glory of today's celebration forever.

On the majestic city walls that stretched as far as the eye could see, the roar of artillery could be heard at regular intervals. The ceremonial music played in unison by the military band and the bells ringing everywhere in the city square mixed together, and were transmitted through countless alchemical loudspeakers to all parts of this huge city with a population of 100,000.

Officially announced to all the people that the North had its first emperor.

(End of this chapter)