"What do you think of it?" Edith sat back to the bed.

"The bathroom?"

"No, the new laws."

"Um..." Cole was a bit hesitated. "I'm going to write father a letter tomorrow and tell him His Majesty's terms. I don't think he'll agree."

"Really?" Edith neither approved nor disapproved.

Seeing Edith did not refute him, Cole ventured more confidently. "I've read the booklet distributed by His Majesty. Let's put aside the credibility issue for now and just look at the example. The top-ranking n.o.ble listed as the example is just an earl's son, who is currently equivalent to a duke without lands. To be honest, I'd definitely make the same choice if I were merely a knight. However, our father is the designated ruler of the Northern Region, Duke of the City of Evernight. He has far greater power and more distinctive social status than the oldest son of the Honeysuckle Family. If he agrees to His Majesty's terms, it means he's consenting to hand over his domain. This isn't a promotion, but a demotion instead."

"Good reasoning." Edith nodded with a smile, but soon went on before her brother could feel good about himself. "But you've missed one thing."

"What?"

"Whether we're able to keep our current status and power is uncertain."

Cole was a little stunned.

"You've apparently focused on the story in the latter part of the booklet, but I care more about the paragraph at the beginning." Edith picked up the advertising pamphlet from the nightstand and flipped over the cover page. "If this is really His Majesty's idea... I have to say it's quite interesting."

"The cause... of feudalism?" Cole peeped over her shoulder. "Have you figured out what it means?"

"It's just a made-up word. You can call it the current system or the system of n.o.bility."

Cole looked confused.

Edith shook her head in silence. It seemed quite strange to put such an awkward paragraph at the very beginning of the booklet. The writing did not really flow at first glance, and the contents were also much drier than the following examples. Nevertheless, after probing into its underlying meanings, she realized that this opening statement was the basis of Roland Wimbledon's decision to implement the new laws.

It was her first time to come across such an innovative and eloquent argument.

"Have you ever thought of the reason we grant lands to subordinate knights and va.s.sals?"

"To have them remain loyal to the Kant Family," Cole mumbled, "and also to attract more courageous men to work for us."

"What if our father becomes the sole ruler of the entire Northern Region?" Edith continued to ask.

"Do you mean to have all the lands go to our family?" Cole shook his head after some contemplation. "That won't work. If we hold all the lands, these knights will lose their properties and thus leave for somewhere else to seek employment, so will the lower n.o.bles. The Kant Family will then become the only n.o.bles in the town."

"Isn't it nice?"

"Of course not!" Cole winked, failing to understand why his sister asked such a self-evident question. "The Northern Region is way too large to handle by ourselves. It takes the guards around half a week just to march from the City of Evernight to the Palisade City in the event of an attack, not to mention the extra time we need to deliver messages. Plus, it'll be rather problematic to collect taxes and food. We can't wait for those lowlifes to voluntarily make the payment, can we?"

"So, we constantly increase our subordinates to keep our lands is fundamentally due to the potential war requirements and our limitations of management. These two factors are also what His Majesty thinks the main cause of feudalism." Edith said while caressing the booklet, "However, things have changed. No matter how we arm ourselves, it's futile to resist His Majesty's unstoppable army. Meanwhile, His Majesty firmly believes a powerful City Hall will be able to manage the whole region. As a matter of course, there'll be no need to grant lands to the n.o.bles."

"Well..." Cole groped unsuccessfully for adequate words, failing because he did not know what to respond.

"Roland Wimbledon thinks such a change is inevitable." Edith pointed to the last sentence of the opening statement. "A well-functioning centralized government will unavoidably replace feudal n.o.bles, because a unified management system will make better use of resources across the whole region and maximize people's potential, and thereby largely increase the productivity of the entire kingdom. Productivity determines the dominant power of the state."

"Nonsense." Cole bellowed. "What's productivity? Farming skills? A knight can knock 10 farmers down. Besides, where does he get so much manpower to... administer the whole country and take charge of tax collection? He still, after all, needs to rely on the n.o.bles. In that case, what will be the difference? Those lowlifes won't care about who their King is."

"I'm as curious as you are in this regard." Edith curled up her lips into a smile. "But don't you think the person who is capable of jotting down such a plan will have full preparation for the implementation of the new laws?" She paused for a moment and then said, "Let's call on him again tomorrow. I'll do the talking this time."

"That fast?" Cole was surprised. "Don't you usually reveal your true ident.i.ty only after they inquire about it?"

"I can't wait till then." Edith shrugged. "Also, don't write to father just yet. You've heard that he's let me take the lead on this meeting."

"Are you... going to agree to His Majesty's proposal?" Cole gasped. "Father will kill you!"

"Huh?"

"Um... No, I mean he'll resent you." Cole soon corrected himself. "After all, he sent you primarily for the purpose of keeping his t.i.tle as a duke."

"Don't worry. I'm not that amenable." Edith raised her eyebrows. "Since the king has already placed his bid, surely I have to negotiate a better price, don't you think?"

The following day, Roland received multiple injury test reports in succession.

Demons were by no means physically stronger than witches. Although both guns and swords could fatally injure them, toxin could not due to their different physiological structure.

For instance, none of the chlorine, nitric oxide and carbon monoxide had any impacts on demons. Even they did, it resulted from the decrease in the effective ingredients in the Red Mist.

Neither the Dreamland Water nor the Pill of Madness worked. The Dreamland Water had failed to make the demon fall asleep, and the Pill of Madness did not drive him crazy.

As to the ingredients of the Red Mist, it was composed of various gases and water. Kyle Sichi had confirmed through experiments that one part of the ingredients was flammable with an unpleasant odor. Another part was nitrogen, and the rest was unknown. However, demons appeared to depend on the feeble magic power swarming in the Mist rather than these ingredients to maintain their lives, which was also why the Red Mist could only be preserved for a short period of time.

Furthermore, the Red Mist would break down faster at a temperature of 300 ℃ and would even burn at 800 ℃.

Roland folded the reports and put them in the drawer. It seemed that other than regular firearms, the fire also lethal to demons. At least, its high temperature could effectually break down the Red Mist. Given that, it seemed that they could instantly reverse the situation by setting a great fire on demons' campgrounds.