A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 453 Valois's Ambition

"Huh? My turn?" Rorschach hurriedly swallowed the confit duck, letting the slick meat shove down his throat. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Joe, the War Commissioner."

George Jacques dismissed it: "I didn't expect you to be so young. Over the past year, our neighboring country seems to have undergone tremendous changes, and preliminary investigations all point to a key figure. Moreover, we've also discovered that you studied at the Tower of Stars for a year."

The Secretary of War contacted Rorschach because of his long-advocated claim: the Sister Republic Project.

Valois' recent series of victories have left the Republic with only the "last mile" left to drive the Imperial army out of its territory. Now, both the Mountain Faction and the Conservatives have fanatics who are advocating exporting the fruits of great change to the entire continent.

Even the conservatives believed that the initial defeat of the Valois army against the Empire was a loss for the old kingdom's army, and that as long as the tricolor flag flew and the National Guard launched an attack, the Republic's military might was invincible.

The fantasy of exporting major changes to the world (through violence) leads to two seemingly more practical theories:

One theory is the natural boundary theory: the border of the republic should be from the northern coast to the central mountain range, and then to the banks of the Tam River. In other words, all the areas disputed with the empire should be taken over, until the natural barrier formed by the mountains and rivers is reached.

Secondly, there was the idea of ​​a sister republic, which Georges Jacques was a fervent supporter and advocate. He believed that Valois should support all people who wanted to overthrow the monarchy, especially the states within the empire, to get rid of the emperor's rule through similar reforms.

This would not only weaken the enemy but also provide the newly formed republic with natural allies. Valois would be the "big sister," and the others would be the younger sisters, including the small coastal states south of Valois and the various small states north of Valois.

Oh, and there's also "Supergirl" Byrne, who has the potential to be a powerful ally.

In George Jacques's view, the resurgence of so-called evil gods on the battlefield would not pose a threat—wouldn't it be enough to just push the battlefield into the territory of the Empire?

The war commissioner, swirling his wine glass, delivered a passionate speech, as he had preached in the National Assembly and club salons. Unfortunately, his audience today, the monks, had neither applauded nor fiercely opposed him.

When he became thirsty from talking and wanted to drink some wine to moisten his throat, the only sounds in the room were the clinking and scraping of knives, forks, and porcelain plates.

Fortunately, Georges Jacques remained unfazed by the awkward situation, smiling as he asked Rorschach, "So, what does Master Rorschach think of our plan?"

He talked at length about the same old "exporting change" and "sister republic" rhetoric, only packaged in a more respectable way, using the same slogans he was promoting to the public.

Perhaps Pascal and Paul would be intimidated and get excited, but Luo Dashanren has never "eaten pork" in another world. In his previous life, he had also learned "how pigs run". Couldn't he defeat the empire completely first before doing this?

Rorschach responded with a smile, "Sir, could you please answer two questions for me first?"

"Please just say it."

"First, when will your country be able to recover its entire territory? Second, what does what you just said have to do with me?"

Georges Jacques' smile and passion remained unchanged: "I can answer your question all at once: Valois, every citizen believes that their fate is intertwined with that of the Republic, and based on that alone, I am convinced that Valois will soon defeat the Empire."

"Similarly, as far as I know, the influence of Master Rosha on the fate of Bain should not be underestimated. If you can help Bain make progress, I assure you that Valois will give you and the newborn Bain great support and grant you the title of honorary citizen of Valois."

One day later.

Rorschach and Caroline's revisit to the old haunts came to an end. They bid farewell to the group at the Tower of Stars and opened the portal to Byrne.

With the help of the archmage, the return journey was quite smooth. When they came out of the workshop of the Rorschach mage tower, the teleportation array was still intact.

For Caroline, everything that happened after passing through that damned door was both memorable and exhausting. Returning to Rorschach's mage tower, she felt a sense of relaxation, like coming home after a business trip.

Here, there is no Tower of Stars, no fast-paced research in the Alchemy Department, no bloodshed on the battlefield, and no chaos in the capital or the heart of the Republic. Everything is peaceful and orderly.

The only thing she didn't understand was why Rorschach ultimately agreed to that war commissioner's "empty promise": "Rorschach, I remember you told Bart and the others that you wanted to make the Special District a free state of the Empire, and now you want Byrne to become a republic."

"I don't have that kind of power, to say that Byrne can become whatever he wants, and neither can that pot-bellied committee member." Rorschach shrugged. He wasn't playing some kind of game where he could just click the mouse and make a country transform at will.

"He's just talking big, so I'll just say, 'Yes, yes, yes.' The reason I agreed to his request is that I do need a little help from Valois. Teacher Caroline, a wise man from the East once said that people always compromise."

Most human traits follow a positive distribution; this applies to magical talent, intelligence, and, based on Valois's experience, most people tend to be centrists.

For the centrists in Byrne, supporting Byrne's transformation from a kingdom into a free state under an emperor seems difficult. However, if calls for a transformation from a kingdom into a republic grow, they will suddenly realize that it would be best to remain under monarchical rule, yet be far removed from the emperor's reach and maintain their independence.

As if overnight, a flood of pamphlets from the neighboring southern country poured into Bain. They weren't exactly beautifully printed, but they were clear enough that they weren't pirated. Suddenly, many tabloids also appeared, publishing treasonous remarks.

In the past, this wouldn't have been a problem, but now the economy outside the special zone in Bain is not optimistic. Many workshops have closed down, food supplies are scarce, and people are sulking with hunger. In big cities like Munich and Nuremberg, every street has a beer hall, and now those beer halls are filled with people having heated discussions.

These people's views were roughly divided into two camps: one side believed that they should be integrated into the imperial system as soon as possible and restore the previous level of trade, while the other side brandished pamphlets and newspapers from Valois and made outrageous statements against the monarch.

In particular, the vastly different war records of the Kingdom of Valois and the Republic against the Empire serve as proof of the superiority of the Great Transformation.

Würzburg, as a hub for universities, was also the stronghold of the latter faction, who had long been paying close attention to the Republic's every move.

If that were the case, it would be fine, but the royal family and the city government suddenly discovered that the literacy campaign carried out when the new legion was formed was not without side effects—damn it, why are the military manuals and the heretical doctrines advocating the republic written in the Common Language?

After summer arrived, Byrne began to contract "Valuwa disease," while the special zone, where the standard of living was stable and progressing steadily, remained very stable and harmonious, almost abnormally quiet.

(End of this chapter)