A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 424 Negotiation

Upon disembarking, Humboldt's first stop was the farmland, where he saw the "large farm implements" tinkered up by Rorschach's men.

During this time, Master Humboldt wanted to take some soil to taste, just like he did elsewhere. Eating soil is one of the methods used by the Forest Tower to investigate soil conditions, but here he was strongly dissuaded by Rorschach and Andrei. After all, the soil had been treated with fertilizer and pesticides during the seedling stage. If ordinary soil is like vodka, then the soil in Kempson is like a "special cocktail" of organic matter and inorganic salts. Even a great mage would be confused by it.

Fertilizer is produced in Lanster, but there's no need to show Master Humboldt the specific production process. He's not an alchemy master himself; we just need to present the finished product and results and ask him to evaluate it from his area of ​​expertise.

The great mage stood on the edge of the field, letting go of his senses of nature, and the condition of the land and the information of the creatures within it were constantly fed back into Humboldt's consciousness.

The soil is very fertile, but it contains toxins. The activity levels of insects and microorganisms are below normal.

Bassf's yields are excellent, as evidenced by Humboldt's tests. However, from a naturalistic perspective, the current ecological environment of the fields is extremely abnormal, a result of the manpower and resources that Rorschach and the farmers have invested—only food crops are allowed to grow well in this area, while other weeds must be pulled out, and all small animals must be poisoned or driven away.

While the druids were still around, the extreme "nature protectors" would likely have condemned this behavior. To them (especially the elves), it was destructive exploitation, relentlessly squeezing nature's bounty. Rorschach's actions were seen as severely disrupting the natural balance.

Humboldt ended his communion with nature and returned his perspective to the people working in the fields, the people coming and going in the distance, and those who were also struggling to survive. Those who remained among the refugees devoted themselves to their new homes, finding immense peace in everything from wheat seedlings to the wages paid by the factory.

Humboldt patted Rorschach on the shoulder with a smile: "That's good."

As they walked and talked, to the Archmage's surprise, Rorschach had also foreseen the potential problems, such as soil acidification and alkalization after fertilization, soil compaction, eutrophication caused by fertilizer flowing into water bodies, and the rate of humus loss exceeding the rate of recovery after the abolition of crop rotation.

Some of Humboldt's ideas were new to him. In any case, Rorschach's ability to consider the consequences of new techniques, rather than just focusing on the positive aspects, surpassed that of many mages.

"We hope to collaborate more with Forest Tower in the future to study the impact of agricultural activities and large-scale metallurgy on nature, as well as explore methods for protecting, managing, and restoring nature."

"Definitely." The two shook hands in the spring fields.

Following biology and agronomy, Forest Tower might add an environmental science major under Rorschach's influence. At that time, Rorschach will definitely suggest renaming it "Forest Pit".

Meanwhile, in the palace, the prime minister Otto finally met the king.

Previously, it was always King Albert of Bain who took the initiative to go to the capital to participate in the social season and meet with a group of imperial dignitaries. The first person he met after the emperor was this prime minister who was in charge of the entire country.

However, the situation seems to have changed today. The Crown Prince, whose relationship with the Prime Minister is not very harmonious, and his supporters are gaining power in the center of power. The Prime Minister's biggest supporter and trustee, and the main source of power—the Emperor—is seriously ill, and the war has been lost. He has no choice but to take on the roles of both Foreign Minister and Minister of State at the same time, and step in to stabilize the international and domestic situation.

Is the Kingdom of Bain considered part of China or abroad? This has become a delicate issue.

"Your Majesty, why did you allow His Highness the Prince to lead the troops back to the kingdom without informing the Empire beforehand?"

The two legions of the Kingdom of Bain made a hasty retreat, seizing the crucial moment when the Imperial Army was retreating and the Imperial Military Headquarters was being replaced. At the time, other frontline troops were also being rotated, and the Military Headquarters had no means to restrain the Kingdom, so it first agreed to the withdrawal of the Bain Legion. It is said that the final approval was signed by the new marshal with a wave of his hand. Not only that, he also wanted the other southern legions to return to their respective homelands for rest and recuperation, so as to reduce logistical and financial pressure.

The prime minister was furious when he learned of this and dissuaded the marshal from taking any further action, but the kingdom's army had already returned.

"The kingdom's legions are simply taking a normal rest after the battle. We border Valois, so returning home is reasonable and approved by the Marshal. Do routine military deployments require your permission?"

"This is certainly not within my authority, but in wartime it should not be yours to issue orders. It should be the military headquarters or the General Staff that issues the orders, not the legion acting on its own and then reporting it." Judging from the speed of the withdrawal, the escape and the reporting were carried out simultaneously, which means that regardless of whether the military headquarters agrees or not, Bain's soldiers will definitely return home.

Moreover, the new marshal failed to realize that he had set a bad precedent by prioritizing the will of the Bain monarch over the General Staff during wartime, a point of concern for the Chancellor as well. The Bain king was the nominal commander-in-chief of the Bain Legion, while all generals of the Imperial Army were subject to the orders of the General Staff.

Can the General Staff control the kings of the states? This is a vague question. Whether it is or not, neither side can accept it. But at the very least, the withdrawal of the Byrne Legion should not be allowed to set a precedent for other states to follow suit, otherwise the efforts to integrate the Southern Army of the Empire will have failed.

Therefore, the prime minister would not budge on this issue: "No army can be mobilized independently without orders from the military headquarters."

Albert was equally firm: "You, I, and His Majesty the Emperor all know that other states are other states, and Byrne is Byrne."

He stood up and walked to the map hanging in the conference room: "Even if we join the Imperial Council, we will not be completely under the control of the Kingdom of Marin. In my opinion, in the eyes of all Bain people, the military and the General Staff are nothing more than the Kingdom of Marin. The former members of the Tam River Alliance are merely obeying your orders under the threat of the Holy Kingdom. This is an emergency."

"They all acted voluntarily, just as they voluntarily signed the Imperial Agreement, voluntarily accepted the protection of the Empire as an entity, and voluntarily accepted the stationing of garrison mages and Imperial troops. The war was also approved by the Imperial Diet, which is the will of all regions."

"You're right, I don't deny it. But the situation has changed. The Empire's war against Valois has gone beyond self-defense. Valois no longer has a king, and the intervention thereafter is aimed at invasion and plunder. If we're going to divide the spoils, we should first agree on how to distribute the profits."

"The interests of the Empire belong to the Empire, and Byrne should also strive for its own expansion. If the war is won and only the Empire's territory increases, then I see no reason to hand over the army to the Empire for deployment."

Neither side denied the Empire's fighting prowess. They believed the first defeat was due to underestimating the enemy, and the second to flawed command. The Valois army was riding high on its first victory. In short, the failure of the second battle was the result of multiple factors, which they believed could be overcome after regrouping.

This period marked a low point in the empire's military strength and a brief period of weakness for the entire empire.

After Rorschach eliminated the flaws of the trade guilds and unearthed the industrial potential of the Kingdom of Bain, the royal family, upon receiving the statistical data, exclaimed: "Hmm... so our country can be this strong? In terms of steel production, we are still far behind the Empire and even lag behind Istani, but we are fighting on par with Valuva." Coincidentally, the Empire and Valuva are now also locked in a fierce battle on the battlefield.

Recognizing the strength of the Imperial Army and deeply affected by the Holy Kingdom's dismal performance in the early stages, His Majesty Albert rejected the Archmage of the Arcane Tower's instigation. Instead of directly challenging the Empire, he chose to demand more rights and autonomy from it at this juncture. The newly equipped Third and Fourth Legions of Bain suddenly became a powerful bargaining chip at the negotiating table; they could change the Empire's attitude towards Bain and, on the battlefield, tip the scales of victory.

"Do you wish to achieve an equal status with the Empire?"

"Compared to the member states of the Imperial Council, Byron is now more suitable to be an ally of the Empire, unless the Kingdom of Marin is willing to give up its leading position in the Imperial system and restore the old system of electors." On his own territory, Albert made an outrageous demand without batting an eye, and at least for now, his fangs were not at a disadvantage.

(End of this chapter)