AWDC Chapter 103

“What did you say? The Queen Mother is pregnant?” Elliot exclaimed in a strange voice.

“That woman must be almost 40. How could this happen?” Even Richter was surprised.

At the regular meeting, I presented the information Sadal had brought. As a close aide to the King who frequented the royal palace, he learned of Queen Mother Margaret’s pregnancy.

“So, Hofer finally made the Queen Mother bear a child, intending to have him succeed him?”

The Queen Mother’s father had connections with the royal family, and the Queen Mother herself held the right to the throne. It wasn’t impossible.

“If the child born is a boy, he might even try to take over the country.”

“We must take countermeasures quickly. It would be best if the child isn’t a boy.”

But the child born was a boy.

Hofer, having had a son with the Queen Mother, would likely try to eliminate opposing forces from within the country next.

It was predicted that Hofer would oppress the frontier regions more openly than ever before and instigate war.

If Hofer were merely seizing the country and making it his own, I would have remained a bystander.

I only needed to live in Toriholi and make it prosperous. By cooperating with Gregg and Midland, we could maintain enough economic power. No matter what evils Hofer committed in the capital, I intended to focus solely on enriching Toriholi. The reason I focused on coal development after returning from the capital was because I was worried about the forests near the village disappearing in the future due to the use of wood for cooking and heating.

If we tried to counter the Solveni regime, which was strengthening its military power, with force, the economic burden would be considerable. So, I intended to develop the village’s industry and make it prosperous.

Fortunately, the desert development was progressing smoothly, and the warm weather continued, increasing wheat production.

“This year’s wheat production is expected to exceed 100,000 bags,” Eric, an official, reported at the executive meeting.

“So, we’ve finally reached the milestone,” the lord said, his eyes narrowing with satisfaction at the report.

Since embarking on the plan to draw water to the Datar Plateau and turn it into arable land, we had been working tirelessly with the lord at the forefront. Initially, financial and technical problems were significant, but the influx of residents from outside the village began to raise concerns about public order. Balancing security while increasing farmers and expanding farmland was also a headache. We gradually overcame these problems, and now we can finally harvest 100,000 bags of wheat.

“From Datar, where not a single grain of wheat could be grown, it has come to this,” George, who had been overseeing the government office, said with deep emotion, and everyone nodded earnestly.

This plan succeeded because of the cooperation of the villagers and the efforts of the farmers.

The lord and I always kept the lives of the farmers in mind. The results of that were now beginning to blossom.

Hofer was clearly strengthening economic control in the capital and aiming to collect taxes.

“Business in the capital is impossible. A transit tax is levied on goods, increasing prices, and now they’re even trying to introduce a stove tax. Residents of the capital can no longer afford to buy paper or lamps.”

This was a report from Roda, who was doing business in the capital. Since Hofer seized power, the lives of ordinary people in the capital had gradually become difficult.

His method was to crush the discontent and complaints of the common people using his power. Because of the transit tax, merchants had no choice but to raise the prices of goods. Business was already becoming difficult, and if taxes were levied on stoves used for cooking, the sales of non-essential items such as paper and lamps would inevitably decline. It was no wonder Roda was lamenting.

Hofer’s desire for power was too blatant.

Having the Queen Mother bear a child could only be seen as an intention to strengthen his power further.

Strictly collecting taxes even at the expense of the people’s lives was probably meant to make his power absolute. He would use military force as a backing to suppress opposing forces. He would threaten hostile forces with military power, and if they didn’t comply, he would invade and overthrow them. That would lead to a world full of wars. Hofer’s ideas were too dangerous.

I had always feared the spread of gunpowder and firearms like guns in this country. Killing each other with bows and arrows or swords was limited, but if gunpowder was used and guns were used, there was no telling how many people would kill each other. I wanted to avoid spreading such a thing in this world.

However, I had actually used gunpowder to prevent the invasion of the Bawa Roma believers. Since then, the principles of gunpowder have been thoroughly hidden, and gunpowder and guns have not spread to this day.

“Hey, how did you defeat the Bawa Roma?” Elliot and others pressed me to reveal the secrets of gunpowder. But I was afraid of the dangers of gunpowder and didn’t reveal it.

I also secretly held another secret.

It took nearly five years to develop a blast furnace and be able to produce steel stably. Steel production was that difficult. However, the results were also significant.

If steel could be produced cheaply and in large quantities, it would bring about significant changes in various aspects. First of all, in terms of daily life, steel could be used to build large and durable structures such as bridges and buildings. The bridge over the Mulan River that I had previously given up on could be replaced with a steel bridge. And in terms of military affairs, steel made it possible to mass-produce guns, cannons, and shells.

It would be terrible if guns spread in this world. I had been hiding guns.

However, Hofer’s ambitions were not hidden, and as his ambition to control the country became clear, I had no choice but to change my mind.

I decided that the peace of Toriholi could not be protected unless we further strengthened our alliance and had enough military force to counter Hofer. I decided to reveal my secret weapon to the two of them.

I guided the two to the Datar testing grounds and showed them a gun shooting experiment.

“Bang!” With a tremendous explosion, a target 100 meters away was destroyed.

“This is amazing.” “You had something like this?” Elliot and Richter were both surprised by its power.

“Because it’s such a powerful thing, I wanted to keep it a secret.”

“But showing it to us means you’ll share it with us, right?”

“That’s right.”

I promised to supply the two with firearms, ammunition, and weapons.

However, I kept the manufacturing methods for gunpowder and guns secret. The two of them understood this.

If I revealed the manufacturing methods, guns would overflow in this world. If that happened, the slaughter of war could not be prevented. I wanted to prevent that at all costs.

However, humans are animals that never stop thinking. If someone else invents something, they think they can do it themselves and devise ways to develop it. Especially if there is a real thing in front of them, it is natural to imitate it.

Looking at the clothes and shoes I gave them, the craftsmen of Midland mastered new sewing techniques.

Eventually, I expected that the gunpowder and gun manufacturing methods would no longer be secret. That was inevitable.

I decided that I had no choice but to crush Hofer’s ambitions. In order to confront Hofer, I gave guns to my allies, and in return, guns would spread to the world.

I had opened Pandora’s box.