In the royal palace hall, numerous people had gathered to witness the ceremony.
"I feel like Earl Ardagan will rise to the peak with this."
"Right? He has achieved something that no one has ever seen before."
"Even the last invasion was three hundred years ago. And it took more than five great nobles to take action, including a hundred thousand troops."
"But isn't this ceremony going to be used to attack the Earl?"
"That's a pity."
"A light too bright will cast a very dark shadow. Everyone is waiting for the chance to devour this light."
The nobles inside the hall were split into three. The majority actually maintained their neutrality or more like they wanted to wait and see first before taking action.
Meanwhile, the royal faction was the second largest. Their eyes were filled with anger as if they were ready to crush Noel in this ceremony.
The smallest faction were the nobles who supported Noel. However, most of them came from the connection to Marquis Stargaze.
These three factions were observing each other.
"His Majesty the King is entering the hall." The soldier opened the gate while declaring it out loud.
All the nobles fell to their knees to pay respect no matter which faction they were.
The king finally entered the room. His complexion wasn't that good as though he hadn't slept for a few days.
As soon as he sat down on his throne, the king said, "You may rise."
The people stood up once again, but the atmosphere had turned tense. They didn't dare to speak another word, fearing that the king would take action against them.
Even the royal faction waited until other factions spoke up first so that they wouldn't be branded as overstepping their bounds by speaking before their master said anything.
The tension was so high that people felt time had slowed down. It only took five minutes before Noel arrived at the royal court, but it felt like they had been standing for more than half an hour.
They only wished for Noel to come first.
Finally, the soldier opened the gate once more. "Earl Noel Ardagan is entering the hall."
*Clack!*
The moment the gate was opened, Noel walked into the hall with Kevin accompanying him from behind.
"That is Noel Ardagan?"
"I have seen him before, but his aura has become even more terrifying."
"Right? He has definitely grown since he accepted his title."
The nobles were observing Noel in awe. The ladies they brought had their eyes glued to him. There was this indescribable charm that made them unable to look away from him.
Even the people from the royal faction were admiring him for a second, forgetting that they were here to crush him.
"Kh." Duke Raymond gritted his teeth. He had suffered a lot because of Noel's father, Luke. So, the hatred was a bit hard to contain.
Kevin was satisfied after looking at Raymond's face and gradually moved to the left, joining the other nobles.
With a solemn face, Noel dropped to one knee while saying, "Noel Ardagan greets Your Majesty. May the Muivell Kingdom prosper for eternity."
The king's expression became grim as he stood up. "Good work for coming here, my loyal subject. I have heard about your achievements in the north. You've repelled the Supreme Devil Organization and numerous demons. As a king, I'd like to personally thank you."
"Your words are a blessing to the Ardagan family. As long as I'm alive, I will continue to fight the demons and the Supreme Devil Organization."
The nobles had their eyebrows twitched, fully knowing that the Supreme Devil Organization was created by the royal family to control the kingdom. Noel was shameless enough to thank the king and even swore to fight the Supreme Devil Organization to death.
"However!" The king raised his voice. "Would you like to explain the reason for Duke Briton's presence in the battle? Are you trying to show that the Muivell Kingdom is weak?"
Noel remained calm as if he had expected this. "Your Majesty. Duke Briton just happened to be a shipwright in my territory in order to build a ship that can cross the North River. If a man is being threatened, I can't see any reasons for them not to fight back."
"So, you're implying that Duke Briton was simply protecting himself?"
"That's right," Noel confirmed without hesitation.
Duke Raymond stepped forward and asked, "If that was the case, why did he need to be in your city? If he was being threatened, he could simply go in a different direction."
As expected of Duke Raymond, he wouldn't let go of this opportunity.
Noel shook his head helplessly and asked, "In that case, may I know where he could go? The Duke was building a ship in my territory, so he couldn't go to the south or west, which were other nobles' territories. The east was the Greenwood Kingdom. So, he only had one option. As the one responsible for bringing him here, the least I could do was provide my protection. I believe my action has protected the country's honor.
"By protecting such an important person from that calamity, the Zaecuria Kingdom would definitely recognize our strength."
Duke Raymond frowned. Noel skillfully dodged the matter. Just like his father, he was indeed a hard opponent.
Another noble stepped forward and said, "Then, how about the cooperation with the Greenwood Kingdom and the Zaecuria Kingdom? Are you trying to invite foreign power into this country, Earl Ardagan?"
"I am not sure what you're talking about." Noel glanced at him before closing his eyes.
"I'm talking about the airship and the battleship!"
As expected, they had spies all around him. There might be some in the Greenwood Kingdom's court. He truly couldn't underestimate the old nobles since they had been in politics for so long.
Still, if this was the only thing, he had prepared an answer. "Of course, I am not trying to invite foreign power into this country. Instead, I'm planning to strengthen this country. I have heard the naval power of the Zaecuria Kingdom is strong, so I cooperate with them to learn from them. With this, we can produce a ship much stronger than the Zaecuria Kingdom.
"The same applies to the Greenwood Kingdom. By creating something better than what they can produce, I believe I have shown my loyalty by showing the power of our country." Noel turned to the noble and continued, "Marquis Silverford, was it? Your territory is connected directly to the Greenwood Kingdom. You have also cooperated with them. Are you trying to invite foreign powers?"
"What did you say?" The noble who questioned him earlier gritted his teeth. "This is just a beneficial trade. The country doesn't ban international trade."
"I am simply doing the same thing."
"You are not. I am only cooperating with a single family, while you are cooperating with the entire kingdom."
"That's slander, Marquis Silverford." Kevin stepped up this time. "Earl Ardagan has done the same thing. In the Zaecuria Kingdom, he is simply cooperating with the Briton family. The same applies to the Greenwood Kingdom. He is only cooperating with the Ezenholm family, which happens to be his mother's family."
"You…" Marquis Silverford gritted his teeth.
Duke Raymond waved his hand, stopping him. "Marquis Silverford was only worried that the technology would be snatched away by other kingdoms."
"Is Duke Raymond implying that I haven't done anything for the kingdom?"
Duke Raymond asked, "Have you done anything?"
"I have spread the knowledge about runes. In the past, the Greenwood Kingdom has been bestowed with a Spirit Enchantment Book. And they became the leading country regarding the Spirit Enchantment, the holy land of the master blacksmiths.
"I have spread the knowledge of runes in this kingdom so that everyone can learn from it. Why does Duke Raymond not think this is a big contribution to my country?"
Duke Raymond said, "Then, what about those rune technologies?"
"Is there something wrong? I merely research it much faster than the rest and take advantage of it."
"You are the creator of the runes…" Duke Raymond gritted his teeth.
"I'm a creator of the rune? I apologize. That is not true. I am merely researching what my ancestors left behind. Just like the other families have their own heirlooms, my Ardagan family has one too. And I'm completing the job that my ancestor hasn't finished."
"I am telling you this to avoid the runes from being taken by another kingdom like the Spirit Enchantment." Duke Raymond became more and more annoyed.
"I have done everything for the kingdom. I have even promised to create a Rune Academy, which will be filled up mostly by the citizens of the Muivell Kingdom, sharing my research. If you still wish to take away the rune technology, then I'm willing to hand over my research as long as the Tower Association also surrenders all their research to the Muivell Kingdom."
"You…" Duke Raymond gritted his teeth.
Old Jade had actually told Noel about this. He simply had to state that it was his research and not his creation. In the kingdom, they had a law to protect the research of the people and encouraged them to do so. That was the main purpose of the Tower Association.
If the kingdom planned to seize the runes, he simply had to state that it was his ancestor's creation and he simply researched and completed it. This way, the Tower Association had to surrender all their research to make it fair or no one would want to invent anything in this kingdom anymore.
The old nobles definitely knew this. That was why Duke Raymond had no words to fight back.
Duke Raymond, however, knew precisely what Noel planned to do. He showed all that to prove he wasn't monopolizing it. But as the creator of the rune, he could simply invent new things and monopolize them until he couldn't anymore.
In addition, the Greenwood Kingdom had started building roads to the demon territory. It was most likely that Noel had asked for them to do so.
And if they dropped all the resources in that territory and Noel claimed them for himself by stating that it was something he found in the ancient ruin, they simply couldn't do anything.
The only way to prevent Noel and the Greenwood Kingdom from expanding even further was to turn that territory into Noel's territory. But it meant that they had to increase Noel's rank to Marquis.
Then again, due to Noel's advantageous position, they could simply extend it a bit more to the north until they reached the demon territory again.
Duke Raymond needed to come up with something fast. He shouldn't allow Noel to win this debate.
That was when someone suddenly asked, "In that case, what's with those new inventions that are capable of bringing a lot of people and tons of materials?!"
"!!!" Duke Raymond wondered who was so foolish to ask that question. But it turned out Kevin had disappeared from his vision and the noble who questioned Noel this time was from the neutral faction.
If he took another look at the neutral faction, he noticed that Kevin Stargaze was among them.
In other words, Noel and Kevin had planned this.
With a big smile in his heart, Noel stated, "This is to improve the kingdom. All the ministers should have known that the biggest problem the kingdom has right now is logistics. I have created a new invention so that we can bring a lot of materials at once.
"Once the flow of materials increases and becomes much faster, the goods can become cheaper and the development of the kingdom will be accelerated.
"However, there is one big problem. The kingdom is lacking a paved road. Roads are built so that people can travel faster and smoother. Nobles have made roads in their own territory for this very reason."
Duke Raymond shuddered, finally realizing the blunder he had made. Noel was trying to force the kingdom to build a road, which he could take advantage of. If the royal family forced them to pay for using the road, the merchants and citizens would hate them.
If they didn't, Noel could easily expand his business by using the royal family's money. Either way, the merchants would be flocking to the Ardagan family for this new invention.
Kevin, who was watching the entire thing, couldn't help but smile, thinking, 'The counter attack starts now.'
