Chapter 358: Chapter 355: The Beginning of the Plain of Despair
"Congratulations. You’ve mastered this Magic," Rorschach applauded sincerely—for himself and for the Tower Spirit.
Andre didn’t feel happy. A lingering doubt remained: ’Have I really mastered it?’
Not blindly trusting Rorschach, Andre decided to test it himself. He cast [Cold Ice Beam] again. The ray didn’t go far enough, and its temperature wasn’t low enough—it was the same as before.
Rorschach calmly dispelled the spell his Apprentice had cast, a satisfied smile on his face. "Try outlining the Secret Contract again, then Cast just like me..." He slowly demonstrated the characteristic values for the "Ability Deprivation" and "Ray" terms to Andre. After Andre did as instructed, he instantly unleashed a Ray far more powerful than his first attempt.
In Rorschach’s view, however, none of Andre’s three attempts could compare to his own Casting, nor to the spell prototype he had entered into the Tower Spirit.
When a Mage acts as a medium for the Tower Spirit’s Casting, they are like a megaphone, converting the Magic signals from the Tower Spirit into an actual spell. However, someone like Andre, with little Endogenous Magic Power and a low baseline skill in Casting, would still produce a diminished effect.
’It seems the Caster’s own strength still affects the spell’s power...’ Rorschach silently noted the result. But one thing was certain: the Tower Spirit’s assistance lowered the barrier to Casting.
"Let’s go. Today we’re visiting the new Steel Factory to check on the construction progress and hiring situation." Rorschach ushered Andre into a waiting carriage. Bayern’s coal-producing region was south of Lansite, near the border of Sallo and the Holy Kingdom.
Rorschach took Andre far away from the Tower Spirit. Besides inspecting the new factory, he also wanted to test whether spatial distance would cause a significant delay in the assisted Casting.
Locating the Steel Factory in a coal-producing region was standard practice, with imported or locally-mined iron ore transported via waterways. If the main focus were steelmaking, the factory should actually be built near iron ore deposits, with the coal being coked after extraction and then shipped to the mill. However, in Rorschach’s plan, coal was also a raw material for other products, such as aromatic organic compounds and water gas. It was more efficient to mine and refine it on-site before shipping out products with higher added value.
The only drawback was its proximity to the border. Of course, the once-aggressive Holy Kingdom had chosen not to take on Bayern, a relatively hard nut to crack. Moreover, its army was now retreating, its pride from the start of the war long gone.
Now, the newspapers of Valois were filled with nothing but panic. The populace had turned their anger 180 degrees, aiming it at the National Assembly that had once made such grandiose promises.
"Gentlemen, the deserters from the Battle of Sallo have returned to Valuva, where they await the judgment of justice. However, we do not yet know whether it was a mutiny among the soldiers or the incompetence of the commanders that led to this disastrous defeat.
"Only two things are certain: the remaining generals of the Second Legion are refusing to accept deployment orders from the National Assembly, and the Empire’s armies are mobilizing on a massive scale. Their boots and muzzles are all pointed toward our motherland.
"I deeply regret the defeat in this war. I submitted my resignation to His Majesty this morning. This cabinet will be dissolved!"
Amidst the stunned silence of the attendees, the Speaker emotionlessly finished reading the report, which also served as his resignation. As the leader of the National Assembly, the Speaker was equivalent to the prime minister of Istani. Other ministers were responsible to him, while he, in turn, was supposed to be responsible to the National Assembly and the Kingdom.
And then the Speaker resigned. Just like that—clean, efficient, and utterly shameless.
When the representatives finally reacted, blood rushed to their heads. They began to scream, roar, and argue, each blaming the opposing factions for being cowards and for the failure of the war.
Maxim took it all in. He and his fellow club members had played a key role during the great revolution, but now all the public’s support and attention were being monopolized by the "great men" of the past. These included figures like the former Duke Melovinca, who now called himself "Equality," as well as wealthy merchants and the Chief Justice. In contrast, he and his club members were just young lawyers and journalists who had become nothing more than disobedient "little pawns."
The National Assembly invented the concepts of "active citizens" and "passive citizens," using gender and property to determine a citizen’s right to vote and run for office. Because Maxim insisted on speaking up for the poor of the Third Estate, he was ostracized.
But the Kingdom had reached a moment of crisis. It was time for the club to step forward!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
At his signal, Rock’s supporters took off their left shoes and began banging their hard heels on the desks. With the Speaker having resigned, no one was there to stop them. The sound of their banging was uniform, a rhythmic pounding like the march of an enemy army. Before long, it had captured the attention of all the representatives.
Both the so-called "Radical Faction" and the "moderate faction" now stopped their arguing. They looked toward "Rock," the man at the center of the pounding.
Maxim signaled for the banging to stop and began his speech. "Citizens! The most active citizens of Valois!" He spoke the last sentence with a tone of mockery.
"Because of a series of shameful events that have occurred here and on the front lines, we and those generals of noble birth have personally pushed our motherland into a perilous situation. And yet, what I see is all of you still engaged in meaningless squabbles! We must recognize the urgency of the situation and respond correctly!"
"And what do you propose we do?" a representative demanded. "The other cities of the Kingdom are in chaos. The legions garrisoned on home soil cannot leave, or the entire Kingdom will descend into anarchy before the Empireists even set foot inside!"
Due to the turmoil in the Kingdom, many cities had reduced their tax payments to the Royal Capital and were governing themselves. Many of the poor, imitating the people of Valuva, had stormed the City Halls, only to have their actions declared illegal by the National Assembly. The National Assembly had originally hoped a victory would unite the Kingdom. Clearly, rashly starting a war had produced the opposite effect.
Maxim earnestly proposed his measures:
Admit defeat to the people and declare a national state of emergency. Send out a decree to all parts of the country, calling for local armed forces to voluntarily gather at the Royal Capital to defend the motherland. Abolish the discrimination against "passive citizens" and arm all citizens willing to defend the Kingdom, regardless of their status.
"Impossible! The events of the past few months have shown us that if you give guns to the sans-culottes, they will only burn, kill, and plunder from the propertied class!"
"Would you rather hand over your wealth to the invaders than trust the Third Estate to defend its own motherland? You are always exploiting the people’s anger and anxiety to achieve your own ends. But it is time to let the citizens themselves decide the fate of Valois and fight for themselves, for their country!" Maxim didn’t want to waste any more time accusing them. The priority now was to reach a consensus quickly, to get the National Assembly to mobilize, to get all of Valois to mobilize.
They had to set aside the arguments in the assembly, pause the games of financial figures, and stake all of Valois’s people and resources on a bloody war against the Empire.
’Is there still time?’ A final trace of worry was hidden deep within Maxim’s determined eyes.
However, on the border, another force was gathering, one that might buy time for Maxim’s measures. They came from Monasteries, from Churches, from the garrisons of Knight Orders, arriving in the northern fields of the Kingdom to make camp and reorganize.
Holy Oil burned, and Holy Anthems swirled beneath glorious banners as Attendant Monks fitted shining Armor onto the Warriors. These were the Holy Knights. For the first time since the Holy War, Holy Knights from all across the lands had gathered, forming an unrivaled division of cavalry.
Joseph had aged even more, but with the enhancement of a Divine Art, his voice could travel far, ringing out across the desolate fields of early winter. "Most loyal, most steadfast, most powerful Warriors of the Lord, take up your arms to defend the Lord’s domain, the Lord’s glory!
"More importantly, protect the Lord’s lambs. No matter how far they have strayed, do not forget that they are our brothers and sisters. Among them are our closest kin. They are our countrymen..."
Although the Holy Knights still raised swords and Knight Lances, under the light of the Lord of Order, they would surely reap the lives of the invading enemy with their cold steel.
