Chapter 580 (1/2)

Chapter 580: The Tooth Extraction Campaign

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

“Tell me more.” Roland could not help becoming interested in Edith’s idea.

“The terrain of Hermes is very unique. There’s a slope around this area of the Impassable Mountain Range. The old part of the holy city is located at the lower end of the slope, while the new part is built on a plateau on the higher end. The environment there is very harsh. Although there’re natural barriers that keep demonic beasts away, the highland isn’t really suitable for living, let alone for cultivating and farming. Thus the food and supplies of the new holy city have to be provided by the old one, despite the fact that the latter’s mass land can only produce enough supplies for the 20,000 or so people living downhill.”

Edith walked to Roland’s side, pointed at the map, and continued, “This means that they have to gather supplies from other places. For example, they would buy plots of land from churches and related organizations in nearby cities. Or they would rent wheat fields for farming. Every year during autumn, dozens of horse carriages would arrive from the four kingdoms every day to provide supplies to the new holy city. The old holy city has become something like a market town where these carriages may rest, as well as a checkpoint where the church can control the flow of people in and out of the new city.”

“In other words, whenever they mobilize the Judgement Army, the merchants here would definitely witness it. In fact, even before the army acts, we can observe changes in the transportation of supplies to deduce when they’ll move out.”

The young woman spoke as if she was taking part in a modern-day oratorical competition. Her eyes routinely swept across everyone present to make sure that they were paying attention to herself. The level of confidence she displayed was rarely seen in women of her era.

Roland silently thought to himself, “Perhaps what Calvin Kant wrote in the letter isn’t all boastful bullsh*t. Judging from Edith’s manner, she is indeed worthy of being called ‘Pearl of the Northern Region’.”

“How do you know all of this so well?” Barov stroked his beard as he queried. “It’s almost as if you came from there.”

“I lived there for a period of time,” Edith replied without a second thought, “because of the Agreement on the Months of Demons.”

“What’s that?” Roland asked doubtfully. He seemed to have an impression of what it was, but could not recall the exact details of it.

“How can you not know?” The young woman blinked in amazement. “To help the church tide over the disasters during the Months of Demons, the four kingdoms had to dispatch troops to aid Hermes and fight alongside the Judgement Army. Your older brother, Gerald Wimbledon, was the commander of Graycastle’s border troops. I’ve fought under him before. However, there seem to be some mishaps over the past year. It’s reported that the coalition of the four kingdoms has suffered many casualties, while the church’s Judgement Army has suffered a similar loss.”

“This is indeed so.” Petrov corroborated what Edith said. “My friend, Rene Medde, completed his knight test in Hermes.”

“Does every knight have to fight against demonic beasts before he can be granted his title?” Roland looked towards Carter. “Why haven’t you mentioned this before?”

“Ahem, this is a method that knights from small towns love to use.” Carter shrugged his shoulders. “The knightage of King’s City has its own rules for that. Apart from valiant combat, a knight’s loyalty and knowledge are also very important considerations. These can’t be proven simply by fighting against some evil creatures.”

“By the way, Your Majesty.” Edith did not refute Carter’s words and instead turned to face Roland. “May I inspect how your army fights in combat? I’ve always been curious as to how you managed to capture King’s City in just one day. If I can understand how the First Army operates, I may be able to contribute in future battles.”

This was not a big problem. There were no issues of secrecy. With the weaponry that the First Army now possessed, it was impossible to emulate their methods just by observing. As technology advanced, wars were becoming more and more expensive. Without a complete logistics supply system and industrial production support system, a batch of flintlocks would be utterly useless on its own. Furthermore, by displaying his military strength to the loyalists of the Northern Region, he could not only increase their confidence in him, but also deter them from having any secession ideas. As he thought about this, Roland nodded at Iron Axe and ordered, “Go and make arrangements for her.”