After reaching the conclusion, Roland felt slightly relieved.

The basic combat capability of the demons did not exceed the combat efficiency of the conventional firearms as the machine gun and cannon were enough to crush all the enemies within the distance of 500 to 1,000 meters, while the spear thrower attack was obviously unsuitable for the trench warfare. Mad Demon would not even stand a chance as long as the bullet production kept up with the pace since it would take three to five seconds for the Magic Stone to charge up and take effect.

It implied that at least the humans would be compet.i.tive on the frontlines of the battlefield.

"It would be nice if you were born in Taquila." Agatha sighed while staring at the weapon in Roland's hand. "The number of common people on the Fertile Plains is 100 times more than those in the Kingdom of Graycastle, so is the number of witches. If every one of them had a spear in their hands, the demons would have probably run back to where they came from."

Roland smiled but he did not agree with it in his heart.

After all, it was a witch-dominated empire 400 years ago. He thought, [If there were really a weapon that gave the common people power beyond the witches, would the seniors of the Union have lightly accepted such an existence? Witches have always been the minority—there were millions of humans yet only thousands of witches. This has been the case since the Land of Dawn until the Fertile Plains. Would the long-oppressed common people willingly set foot on the battlefield? Once the actual strength was reversed, the disintegration of the dominance hierarchy would inevitably lead to civil strife. The idea of fighting for the survival of the human beings was still extremely vague after the awakening of nationalism, not to mention a group of humans who had been living like slaves to have such a lofty ideal.]

Of course, Roland would not talk about these conclusions in the public and Agatha was simply a researcher of the Quest Society, so it would be better not to involve her in the political matters.

After the damage test, Anna amputated the demon again and put it into a steel cage.

"Is that all?" Agatha asked.

Roland shook his head and said, "That's all for today. The injury test shall begin tomorrow morning."

"What's that?"

"We're going to test the resistance ability of the various parts of the demon to shooting, as well as the effects of the chemicals, Pill of Madness and Dreamland Water," Roland answered. "Oh yeah, and get Lucia to separate the composition of Red Mist and see what we can get out of it."

[Unfortunately, the demon can't be kept alive for the long-term. Otherwise, more comprehensive data could be collected by using Nana's healing power on the demon.]

Agatha yawned and said, "Up to you. However, I'll need two witch a.s.sistants to help me make the Sigil and the materials must be prepared in advance as the blood doesn't last once the demon is dead. It's better to start melting the G.o.d's Stone of Retaliation when the demon is still alive." She paused and said, "By the way, what kind of Sigil do you want to make?"

"We can make any of them as long as we've sufficient Magic Stones?"

"Of course," she nodded and said, "the failure doesn't consume the stone itself but I... Oh no, nothing."

Roland raised his brows and asked, "What's with you?"

"Never mind. It was simply a slip of the tongue," Agatha curled her lips and said. "At most you'll only be losing some raw materials."

Roland did not continue pressing since Agatha did not want to go on. "Let me come back to you with an answer tomorrow morning after I study the 'Magic Stone Collection'".

It was bound to be a sleepless night.

Edith Kant was standing by the window, overlooking the city under the night sky. [Businessmen always refer to candlelight as wealth; the brighter a place is in the night, the wealthier it is.] She thought that within the Inner City of the king's city, the scene of a brightly lit night would only exist near the taverns and theatres.

However, she could never really grasp the true meaning of brightly lit night here, within the Southern Coast of the Redwater River.

Looking from afar, the sh.o.r.e was as bright as if it were lit. However, it was not the orange-glow of the bonfire but a soft-yellow light, looking bright yet stable as if it were a yarn-covered sunlight.

The entire factory area would be continuously producing a variety of goods at night, goods that they called industrial products.

The steam engine was one of them.

The afternoon visit had left Edith feeling an indescribable shock. A shock which was beyond the shock left by the fight on the battlefield or anything else... It was even beyond comparison with the removal of land command mentioned by His Majesty.

When she entered the factory, she saw some rough iron ingots that were being spun and drilled one by one, her attention was instantly caught, especially when the dirty iron slabs that were full of grease and sc.r.a.pes transformed into s.h.i.+ny components that had been given a sense of newborn beauty.

The hard materials were processed into different shapes by the roaring machines that could work by themselves after being put together in a unique way—what a wonderful sight it was.

The factory was not a wonderful place with the running sewage and metal sc.r.a.ps all over the floor, in addition to the noise and humid air, but Edith had stayed there for an entire afternoon.

And, she could clearly remember the City Hall officer who brought the emissary delegation to visit was looking impatient and wanted to leave the noisy place early. The officer felt relieved when the group of people finally intended to leave and there was a statement she could freshly remember, "What's so interesting about this machine? Only His Majesty Roland will think that there's a hidden beauty within these black blotches."

[Hidden beauty?]

Edith suddenly felt a strong resonance.

That was right... It was the beauty that was brought by the pure power and that could knead and transform the metal without any restraint. There was an additional kind of beauty with the aid of a natural trend, especially after she understood the operational principle of the steam engine.

The beauty was far beyond the beauty of colorful gems and exquisite luxury clothing.

She could only feel that something had faintly touched her heart.

[How does His Majesty know these pieces of knowledge? What else does he know?]

Suddenly, a knocking sound outside the bedroom interrupted Edith's thoughts.

"Sister, I've done bathing," Cole stuck his head in and said, "and the water is still warm. Do you want to take a bath as well?"

"Get the servant to boil a new basin of water." She ordered. "Do you understand the principle of the water intake here?"

"I've sent someone to ask around. The water of the pipeline seems to flow out from the standing iron tower." Cole touched his head while walking into the room. "As for how the water flows upwards from the well, they didn't really say anything about it. Oh yeah, there was something in the bathroom that you must try. It looks like a special fat but it smells really good after soaking in the water. It feels fantastic to clean the body with it. I can a.s.sure you that even the milk and rose bath is not as comfortable!"

[Is this deliberately arranged by His Majesty?] Edith could not help but ponder. The residence of the emissary delegation was located near the castle district. It was a four-story building with a top floor that was higher than half of the castle; not only could they enjoy the night view of the City of Neverwinter from there, but even the layout and facilities of the rooms were quite ingenious—although it was not big, it was comfortable to live in. A reception officer from the City Hall mentioned that it was the hotel His Majesty specifically prepared for the foreign emissary, which was calling the Foreign Affairs Building.

From what she could see, it was Roland Wimbledon's intention to show off with both the clear water that was pouring out from the valve once it was unscrewed and the was.h.i.+ng material that Cole was praising about.