Chapter 56: The Results of the Elven Reforms and the Pre-Battle Against the Redemption Army (part 2)

“The demon folk? Heh, they’re well-behaved. They know who’s protecting them. They won’t cause trouble in the Elven Forest, but Your Excellency, the Regent, you plan to take them in, right?”

“Yes. We need population. More people. And more warriors. The demon folk are the best warriors, and their hatred for the Romans is even greater than mine,” said Yang Hao.

“If the Little Empress were to be treated like that, you would only wish that not enough Romans had died.”

“Maybe…”

The number of demon folk accepted by the elves currently stood at around 72,000.

Among them, the largest groups were the wolfkin and catfolk, fewer were the bearmen, and the rarest were the Ling tribe, who, sensing danger, quickly fled by following their spiritual connections. There were about two hundred of them, but none were as skilled as Narujia, who could single-handedly create and precisely control golems.

Because of this, Narujia had become the leader of all the Ling tribe members. These Ling joined Capariia and, after getting through the initial chaos, became part of the golem-making team.

They didn’t like conflict. If they could secure their place through making golems, they were more than happy to do so.

However, handling the wolfkin, catfolk, and bearmen was much more troublesome.

These demon folk weren’t like the Ling Tribe, who had a spiritual connection allowing them to integrate quickly into existing communities. They had plenty of conflicts among themselves.

The wolfkin had fought with the catfolk over foraging grounds, and the bearmen had muddied everything up during the spring. They were currently united only by their shared status as refugees, forced to band together against potential disaster. But to truly unite them, an external force was needed.

Religion was that powerful force. Yang Hao had long known that Teresa had been secretly praying for the demon folk in the newly built chapel and that she seemed capable of bringing down miracles.

In a way, she was a saintess of the Light, so Yang Hao knew Teresa would definitely do something for the poor demon folk. 

She was like that, always ready with a sharp tongue, but deep down, she was a kind-hearted nun who couldn’t stand to see innocent people suffer. 

However, Yang Hao never planned to command Teresa to contribute in this way. 

As he had told her before—he had been selfishly demanding too much from her for too long.

He wanted Teresa to help the demon folk out of her own free will, a little act of kindness, rather than out of obligation to his orders, even if it was inconvenient or bothersome. 

After all, it was what Teresa deserved.

They had supported each other through the toughest times, and it was only right that they treated each other with respect and embraced each other’s flaws. Yang Hao always felt that he owed her more.

“Actually, as long as the demon folk are willing to follow our orders, the Elven Forest will treat them as citizens.”

While Yang Hao was thinking about Teresa’s kindness, Fen suddenly blew softly, causing him to tense up. He stammered a few words, cold sweat forming on his forehead. Even with low emotional intelligence, he understood Fen’s hint.

As long as the demon folk were willing to follow “our” orders—if Teresa were here, she’d probably start cursing right away.

Using the demon folk’s acceptance as a reason, Fen subtly implied that Yang Hao had to acknowledge their equal status or even an intimate relationship. If he didn’t, the elves would likely still see him as a founding father figure due to their stubbornness.

Even if Yang Hao tried to explain later, the elves’ steadfast beliefs would mean he’d never shake off the unexpected constraints placed on him.

He didn’t want that. He had already planned that if they managed to rescue the young Empress and the head of the court, and if the young Empress wanted to stay with him, he’d just have her call Teresa her adoptive mother. But now, Fen threw a wrench in his plans. What was he supposed to do about his future plans now?

To avoid Fen delving further into this topic, Yang Hao quickly took a sip of water, effectively stalling her with a displeased look on her face. He then laughed heartily and began discussing the changes in elven society over the past ten days.

Caparia had undergone a whirlwind of changes due to the introduction of the Capa 1404 rifle. 

The entire population was captivated by this magical rifle, and the elves soon realized that the Capia 1404 was as basic as the earliest bow in terms of firearm types. Some elves tirelessly discussed with their friends how the rifle could be improved.

Their rate of brainstorming surpassed even Yang Hao’s own design efforts, but the most surprising contribution came from Dr. Joseph.

Since arriving in Caparia, Dr. Joseph and his family had been utterly fascinated by elven medicine. One day, he overheard an elf talking about the power of the Capa 1404 rifle. Curious, he looked into it and soon said that, barring any mistakes, the bullet’s tip was the key to its damage, but from a biological standpoint, the rifle’s caliber seemed excessively large.

“This thing can blow half a pig’s body apart! The power is ridiculously excessive!”

This was Dr. Joseph’s excited conclusion after watching the elves’ target practice.

After discussing with his new elven friends, Dr. Joseph came to a consensus. They could reduce the caliber, making the gun lighter and capable of carrying more ammunition while designing a weapon that could shoot continuously.

Dr. Joseph was a dedicated physician who believed in saving lives. He thought that if they could quickly diminish the enemy’s combat strength, it would mean fewer wounded on their side needed surgery.

If the Capa 1404 rifle could shoot continuously, transforming it into the firearm equivalent of a short bow, it would surely increase the enemy’s casualty rate to an unacceptable level.

With the enemy’s casualties significantly increased, their own casualties would be greatly reduced. As long as the weapon couldn’t be replicated by the enemy, Dr. Joseph believed his idea was feasible.

So, the good doctor abandoned his medical duties and decided to discuss his idea with Arthur.

But whether it was intentional on Arthur’s part or the result of a mischievous girlfriend, when Dr. Joseph arrived at Arthur’s place, following the given directions, he saw Viya, looking dead-eyed as she stood guard outside, and inside, Arthur was being rather intimately handled by an elf.

The scene was so shocking that Dr. Joseph had since been puzzled by elven marriage customs.

But in any case, his idea was passed on to the elven bowmakers. When these bow craftsmen heard about it, they thought this gun concept sounded incredibly interesting.

They immediately abandoned their traditional bow-making work and gathered together, chattering excitedly. They even pulled in Viya, who had been staring blankly, to discuss the idea for a long time. Eventually, they reached a conclusion.

Reducing the caliber? Possible.

Making the gun and ammunition lighter? Definitely possible.

Upgrading the Capa 1404 to a version capable of continuous fire? Super exciting.

But the problem was, how should they design the structure? How exactly should they go about it? When would they be able to keep up with the ammo consumption of a continuously firing gun?

These were all good questions.

The bowmakers knew the regent’s preferences well. He didn’t like overly complicated things, so they needed to come up with a simple design that could be approved.

So, even before Fen’s policy was implemented, the bowmakers abandoned their original work.

They transformed from bowmakers into gunsmiths, and the changes they brought about naturally influenced all aspects of Caparia.

People on the streets discussed how the advent of guns would change the traditional, somewhat boring archery competitions. Some elven merchants even started making gun-themed snacks and desserts.

Eating bright yellow bullets definitely looked strange, but the elves seemed to enjoy it.

However, what delighted Yang Hao and Fen the most was the newfound vitality in elven society.

Vitality was the key to the Elven Kingdom’s reforms.

If the Elven Kingdom was once a stagnant yet sweet pond, it had now become the roaring sea along the coast. They didn’t know where this newfound energy would lead the elves, but the presence of change meant the elves wouldn’t be left behind by the times.

This was a good thing.

Fen smiled and said, “This is all thanks to you, Your Majesty Yang Hao. So, what kind of reward would be fitting for you?”

Yang Hao suddenly broke into a cold sweat because Fen clearly didn’t plan to let him off the hook. She was just setting a trap for him, so he used Teresa as an excuse, saying that she wanted him to come home early tonight to rest.

“How could that be? Miss Teresa just went to deal with the demons. Even if you go back now, she probably won’t be done yet.”

“Well…”

Fen was difficult to deal with. The night was equally challenging.

Yang Hao found himself in a tough battle, defending and attacking against Fen.

***

Meanwhile, the little nun, who was in high spirits after getting Yang Hao’s permission, was on her way to the chapel.

It was then that she suddenly felt a divine feedback from St. Petersburg. It seemed like her earlier efforts had paid off?

“It’s for your own good,” Teresa muttered softly, “so borrowing your image to give them a divine revelation should be reasonable, right?”

She mumbled to herself as she sincerely prayed for the Light, simultaneously thinking that if the Light revived and found out about her little tricks, it might just as well stay dead.

But never mind…

Providing these poor demon folk with a bit of spiritual comfort, even if it was just her self-satisfaction, made Teresa truly happy. Even if she couldn’t actually do much for them, at least she could let them die with hope.

“My bad puppy, let the Church of Light disappear from this world.”

She prayed as she took her holy book and a statue of Light from the chapel, then, with a few elven guards, headed towards the demon folk camp.

***

Meanwhile, in the Salvation Army’s camp, the priests were discussing their next steps with the temporary general.

“We can’t wait for the expeditionary force. If we want to have a few more coins in our pockets, we need to act first. We must enter the Monster Forest and the Elven Forest to loot before the Great Battle begins. Otherwise, the main force will take all the money and glory and leave us with nothing.”

The priest, irritated, grumbled his dissatisfaction with Bishop Stephen. Of course, he was unhappy. Being a priest in the Redemption Army meant that when the main force launched their attack, they couldn’t snatch the spoils from them. This meant he would earn the least in this expedition.

While priests weren’t supposed to compete over worldly wealth, no one said they couldn’t be greedy.

For money and status, the Redemption Army priest was ready to leave the patrol area of the main force and lead his 80,000 elite troops to charge the Monster Forest’s defenses on the 15th.

Based on his calculations, the elves should have already used up half their arrows.

If they hadn’t caused significant damage yet, he figured they could push into the Monster Forest and engage in close combat for a decisive victory.

The leader and advisors of the Redemption Army, including the bankrupt village head of Skool Village, kept nodding in agreement.

They owed thousands of gold coins. If they couldn’t make enough money in the Redemption Army, they would face endless hard labor. But there was still one problem.

How to explain this to Bishop Stephen?

The bankrupt village head and the Skool Army leader looked at each other, then simultaneously turned their greedy eyes to the priest.

“But what about Bishop Stephen…”

“No need to worry about him. As long as there’s money, he won’t interfere. We just need to win. Moreover, this time our actions have my lord’s blessing. The elves are like a candle flickering in the wind. Even with that traitor’s help, they can’t stop our advance.”

The priest’s casual dismissal made the bankrupt village head nod repeatedly. 

“Yes, you’re right! Yang Hao… I watched him grow up, I know exactly what kind of people he and that white-haired wild child are. He might have achieved something in the Roman Empire under the guidance of the late emperor, but there’s no way he can strengthen those demon folks all by himself with just a nun by his side. Not to mention, the demon folks don’t even have weapons. How could they possibly withstand our attack? So, Priest, I’m willing to do whatever it takes for you, but about the spoils of war afterward…”

“I’ll give you an extra five percent. No more.”

“Thank you, thank you! By the God of Light above. Thank you for this opportunity.”

The bankrupt village head was so grateful he almost knelt to kiss the priest’s boots.

The priest then looked up at the ceiling, his eyes full of confidence as he envisioned his army trampling through the Monster Forest.