Inside the Steel Dragonwing Palace, Cassius lay sprawled across the throne, exhaling a puff of sulfurous hot air.
"Counting down the time, the players should be leaving soon."
"When the official launch finally comes, it'll be four whole years later."
All the furnishings originally in the Council Hall had been moved here intact.
In particular, the astonishingly rich collection of the red dragon's treasury, under rigorous supervision, was continuously hauled into the deepest recesses of the cavern by tremendously strong frost giant slaves. Even so, the process had taken several full days. Those miserable slaves were blindfolded, forced to haul everything solely by following the overseers' directions.
Tens of thousands of gold coins were piled inside like small hills, interspersed with translucent, glittering gemstones and crystals of every color. Hundreds of magical items gleamed with resplendent light, vast amounts of elemental ore lay scattered all around, and hidden within was even an exceedingly precious ninth-circle spell scroll—such was the red dragon's treasury.
Every other cavern opening had been sealed shut with magically conjured stone, leaving only a single passageway secured by an advanced Arcane Lock. Hidden around the entryway were dozens of Glyphs of Warding, and outside the gate stood over a hundred heavily armored hobgoblins on guard, more than sufficient to stop and kill any unwelcome intruder. The red dragon even half-wished some adventurers would show up; perhaps that would add to his hoard.
Langpu had originally wanted to name this structure "The Dragon King's Mountain of Treasures," but for certain reasons, Cassius had changed it.
As a member of the greediest breed of dragons, the red dragon took great pride in this hoard.
At times, he would retrieve gold coins from the treasury and eat them to bolster the gold element in his body and enrich his Gilded Scales. Tinia, as a fellow true dragon, could never comprehend this and questioned her very understanding of dragonkind—how could any dragon be so extravagant as to swallow precious gold coins?
Tiefling guards patrolled back and forth outside the palace gates, and wyverns even perched atop the watchtowers beyond. Any unauthorized intruder would be torn to shreds.
At this moment, Cassius was browsing through the report submitted by Langpu.
With the consolidation of the territories of the former Principality of Lakeman and Principality of Norton, combined with the original Storm Heights and the newly annexed glacial regions, the realm now encompassed nearly two hundred thousand square kilometers. However, most of these regions were sparsely populated; even counting the dragon-blooded vassals, the total population was only around four hundred thousand citizens.
Yet, given the kingdom's near-medieval level of productivity, administering an expanse of this size was already quite a strain for the Kingdom of Cinders. Tasks such as census counts and tax collection were proceeding in an orderly manner, but it was estimated to take several years before the system would be fully refined.
Langpu had already learned a fair amount of relatively advanced administrative theory from the players, but adapting it to local conditions remained a thorny challenge.
Because the land was vast yet sparsely populated and had been founded on warfare, the princes and high nobility of the former Principality of Lakeman had held vast hereditary estates. They forced the poor into labor service, giving rise to serfdom, and established their economic and legal systems upon estates centered on forced labor. Lakeman was not an isolated case; nearly every principality across the Northlands adopted this seemingly backward system. It at least guaranteed the combat effectiveness of their private noble armies, allowing them to gain advantages in conflicts.
Yet this was plainly unsuitable for the current Kingdom of Cinders. After all, more than half of the old nobility had been slaughtered to the last by the enraged tieflings, and the tens of thousands of serfs on House Lakeman's estates had even been proclaimed free. What the red dragon desired was a centralized empire.
"*Haaah—*"
Looking over the tedious data, Cassius could not help but yawn.
Fortunately, he did not need to distract himself too much with such matters. All he had to do was point out the broad direction and act as a hands-off boss. The ones who truly needed to fret over these issues were his ministers. In the period after the players departed, their days would only become harder.
Just then, a tiefling guard announced from the doorway.
"Your Majesty, Lord Mezrolash has arrived."
"Send him in."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The heavy palace doors swung open slowly, and Mezrolash entered with measured strides, gracefully kneeling on one knee before Cassius.
"How did the matter I entrusted to you go?"
"The handover with that player went smoothly. In accordance with your instructions, I have located several humans with clean backgrounds who suffered oppression under the Principality of Lakeman to serve as candidates for the Nocturne unit. They will become the kingdom's sharpest daggers in the dark."
"Very good."
Cassius had ultimately decided to place the leadership of Nocturne into Mezrolash's hands. Part of the reason was that the tiefling race was firmly lashed to the kingdom's war chariot, leaving him with no possibility of betrayal.
Another reason was that Mezrolash was habitually decisive and ruthless, possessed the Control Undead ability, and held little aversion to handling dirty work in the shadows.
After all, players were far too unpredictable. Especially with someone as notorious as Langlibaitiao, it was best to keep him as a mascot. Handing him simple assassination or ambush missions was fine, but genuinely covert affairs could never be entrusted to them.
Cassius, however, had no idea what had actually transpired behind this "smooth" handover. Langlibaitiao had howled and wailed in protest, even challenging Mezrolash to a duel, only yielding after being beaten black and blue, much to the amusement and applause of the surrounding player spectators.
"The task of gathering intelligence on the various principalities needs to be put on the agenda. Once their training is complete, dispatch these vampires to the nations of the Northlands. The kingdom's footprint is growing larger and larger; we cannot rely solely on intelligence from the yuan-ti."
Cassius paused, then continued:
"Four years. Within four years, I want detailed intelligence on every nation."
"As for the extra funding, I'll write you an authorization slip. You can take it to the ministers yourself."
"Yes, Master," Mezrolash replied respectfully.
His face remained calm, showing neither much excitement nor dejection, merely simple obedience to the arrangement.
For the tiefling, this assignment undoubtedly expanded his authority. After all, in Cassius's plan, Nocturne was not aimed solely abroad. This would give him leverage over other domestic factions, though it would also draw suspicion and hostility.
Yet that hardly mattered. The power structure of this nation was exceedingly simple, founded upon overwhelming individual might. As long as he held tight to the red dragon's pillar-thick thighs, any trouble could be easily resolved.
Mezrolash knew this well and practiced it diligently.
With the kingdom booming lately, affairs followed one after another. No sooner had Mezrolash stepped out than the tiefling guard at the door reported once more.
"Your Majesty, Lord Fried from the Dragon Oath Hall requests an audience."
"So many things to deal with lately. Not even a moment to catch a breath."
Cassius opened the eyes he had just squinted shut, slowly raising his head as he exhaled a puff of thick gray smoke in mild irritation.
Still, the red dragon said:
"Let him in."
Chapter 221