Chapter 598 - 441: Raylo, Regent
Chapter 598: Chapter 441: Raylo, Regent
"ROAR!"
Astra let out a dragon’s roar that shook the heavens and the earth.
The next second, its form transformed into a streak of blue lightning that tore through the sky, soaring toward the southern lands soon to be engulfed in the flames of war.
...
「In the study.」
Stacks of documents, piled as high as a mountain and bound in different colored folders, were arranged neatly on the wide mahogany desk.
Raylo sat behind the desk, looking at the stacks of paperwork more "majestic" than the Black Stone Mountain Range, and felt a headache coming on.
He casually picked up the one on top and opened it.
"An application for a ruling on the dispute between the Southern Red Rock Territory and the South Mountain Territory over the mining rights in the ’Blue River’ basin..."
Raylo frowned and set the document aside.
He picked up a second one.
"A military budget request from the Thunder Dragon City garrison to replace one thousand sets of standard-issue Armor and Weapons..."
A third.
"An urgent report from the Panshi Territory in the Eastern Duchy, requesting the Royal Capital dispatch High Tier Mages and botanists as reinforcements to deal with a large-scale ’blight’ outbreak within the territory..."
A fourth, a fifth...
Government affairs, military matters, the people’s livelihood, finance, conflicts of interest between territories, the petty squabbles of nobles...
Countless matters—large and small, urgent and trivial—all converged here, awaiting him, the Regent, to make the final Judgment.
This was the daily routine of a Duchy.
This was the work his father, Aiden Duke, had to face every single day.
A bitter smile touched the corners of Raylo’s mouth.
Only now did he understand why his father always wore such a stern, unsmiling expression.
’Anyone bogged down by this garbage every day would probably find it hard to smile, too.’
He picked up his pen and began to review them carefully, one by one.
He worked quickly.
His years in the Black Stone Territory, building a domain from scratch, had made him no stranger to such administrative tasks.
For the trivial matters where nobles bickered over paltry profits, he rejected them with a decisive stroke of his pen, ordering them to negotiate amongst themselves. If they couldn’t reach an agreement, the matter would be handled according to the Duchy’s laws.
As for the urgent matters involving the military and the people’s welfare, he would read every detail carefully before writing his proposed solution in the margins.
For the request to replace military equipment, he approved half the budget.
The Duchy was on the brink of war; every coin had to be spent where it mattered most.
For the "blight" in Panshi Territory, he immediately ordered the Mage Guild in Thunder Dragon City to dispatch a team to provide support.
He also dispatched two scholars specializing in botany from Thunder Dragon City to accompany the Mages.
Time passed, second by second.
As the sky outside the study gradually darkened, Raylo finally finished processing a little less than half of the documents on his desk.
He rubbed his sore neck, stood up, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
Outside, the myriad lights of Thunder Dragon City shone brilliantly under the night sky, like a sea of stars.
This magnificent city was operating quietly beneath his feet.
And he was the one who would decide the fate of this city, of this Duchy, for a long time to come.
He stood before the window for a long time.
Until a knock came from the door behind him.
"Your Highness."
It was Gaius’s voice.
"Come in," Raylo said.
The study door opened, and Gaius walked in.
"Uncle Gaius, please sit. There is something I wish to discuss with you."
Gaius was slightly taken aback.
Raylo returned to his desk and sat down.
"Uncle Gaius."
Raylo pushed a piece of intelligence across the desk to Gaius.
"Take a look at this first."
Gaius’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the parchment Raylo handed him.
With just a single glance, the color drained from Gaius’s perennially stern and old-fashioned face.
"Jade Swamp... the Six-armed Snake Demon Kashna... a Mass Grave... a ritual to ascend to Catastrophe Level?"
One shocking term after another escaped his lips, each spoken with difficulty.
His breathing grew ragged.
He looked up at Raylo, his eyes filled with shock and horror.
"Your Highness, this intelligence... is it real?"
Raylo’s voice was calm. "It’s absolutely true."
"The source is completely reliable."
Gaius fell silent.
He lowered his head again and meticulously read the report from beginning to end one more time.
To the Thunder Dragon Duchy, the threat of the Jade Swamp was like a poisoned thorn lodged in its throat.
The Nine-headed Demon Serpent, that powerful Demon lurking in the depths of the swamp, was a sword hanging over the heads of all the Northern Lords, ready to fall at any moment.
For so many years, the only reason the Duchy had been able to maintain a fragile stability in the north was because the Nine-headed Demon Serpent remained in slumber.
But now...
If that Domain Level Peak Six-armed Snake Demon successfully ascended...
The Jade Swamp would have a second Catastrophe Level Demon, aside from the Nine-headed Demon Serpent’s Thunderbolt Clone!
At that point, with two Catastrophe Level beings, the entire Thunder Dragon Duchy, all the territories of the Northern Territory, would be completely submerged by an endless tide of Demons!
It would be a true, world-ending disaster!
"No! Absolutely not!"
Gaius’s head snapped up, his eyes resolute and filled with chilling killing intent.
"Your Highness! We must stop it!"
"We cannot allow a second Catastrophe Level Demon to appear in the Jade Swamp!" he said decisively.
Raylo looked at him, a flash of approval in his eyes.
’He’s truly worthy of being my father’s most trusted confidant. His decisiveness and courage are far beyond those nobles who only know how to vie for power and profit.’
’Even when facing a Catastrophe Level threat, he shows no hesitation or fear.’
"That’s what I was thinking as well," Raylo said.
"That’s why I called you here to discuss it."
Gaius took a deep breath, calming himself.
He looked at Raylo and asked, "Your Highness, what do you plan to do?"
"Deploy troops."
Raylo uttered two words.
"Deploy troops?"
Gaius’s brow furrowed.
"Now? The Duke has just left; the people of the Duchy are uneasy. More importantly, if we venture deep into the Jade Swamp, the Nine-headed Demon Serpent’s Thunderbolt Clone is bound to intervene..."
His concerns were not without reason.
Raylo shook his head.
"Uncle Gaius, I understand your concerns," he said.
"But we’re out of time."
Gaius nodded.
"Then..."
Raylo said, "Therefore, in this battle, we must give it our all!"
Raylo’s eyes were cold and severe.
"We must not only win, but we must win cleanly and decisively!"
"We must use a resounding victory to display the might of our Thunder Dragon Duchy and intimidate all those treacherous villains with ill intentions!"
"We must also ensure that Father has no worries about the home front while he is on the southern battlefield!"
Raylo stood up and walked to the map in the study.
It was a huge, detailed map of the entire Thunder Dragon Duchy.
His finger landed on the dark green area in the northern part of the map, which represented the Jade Swamp.
"Uncle Gaius."
He turned his head to look at Gaius.
"For this battle, I will ask a Catastrophe Level existence to deal with the Demon Serpent Avatar. Our target will be the Six-armed Snake Demon that is about to ascend."
’He can call upon a Catastrophe Level existence?’
Gaius’s eyes blazed with light, and he was secretly astonished by the power this young Regent wielded.
He looked at Raylo and felt his own blood begin to boil uncontrollably.
He knew that the young highness before him had already made his decision.
And he would be the most important piece in this high-stakes gamble.
He took a deep breath and performed a Knight’s salute.
"Your Highness!"
His voice was sonorous and forceful, like the clash of metal on stone.
"The Thunder Dragon Knight Order is ready for your command at any time!"
"Please, give the order!"
A smile finally appeared on Raylo’s face.
He knew he had successfully persuaded the most important pillar of support his father had left for him.