The Secretary of State for Trade suddenly surrendered -

This startled the Inspectorate.

But they soon found traces of the control of the spirit of speech.

And there are only a few people who can control Minister Drost...... They also locked the trade secretary in the basement for safety. It's the basement where President Lloyd was held before.

In any case, this is not something that these little inspectors who are just at the second level can manage......

Let's put it aside for now.

After being locked in the basement, Drost regained his free will.

He was unexpectedly quiet at the moment, because he knew that someone would save him. Even if the Avalons don't come, the Star Antimony or the Noble Red does.

So he just opened his eyes and stared at the darkness in front of him, and fell into a long thought.

I see, Meg is dying......

That's why she's in such a hurry. Suddenly arrested both the president and vice president of Lloyd...... Now the merchants are already panicking. And being caught myself may further exacerbate this panic.

Before that, Meg didn't know anything herself, so she chose to leave nothing at all and concentrate on staying in school to teach students.

Unless the Arbitration Chamber asks her to do something, or Her Majesty herself orders it, she simply leaves it all to the Arbitration Chamber. At the time, she was also asked about Meg's personal statement: "I don't want to mess up anything because of me, so I choose to only do the right thing, and I have the ability to do the right thing." ”

- Completely different from her big grin, Meg is surprisingly delicate.

Once upon a time, the Arbitration Chamber was the complete apex authority. They are the round table hall of the round table halls, which are basically made up of the families of the founders. Together, they were nominally equal to the king.

Later, many of the founding families withdrew from the arbitration hall one after another. In order to fill the vacancy, a number of top ministers were added...... At that time, the "Secretary of State for Trade" could also join the Arbitration Hall.

But there was an incident at that time that directly led to the ministers not being allowed to join the Arbitration Hall and the Inspectorate. Those who have already joined the Arbitration Hall and the Inspectorate are not allowed to inherit the family property.

And now, those who can join the arbitration hall are geniuses who have reached the fourth energy level before the age of forty, and their souls are basically intact, and they have the potential to advance to the fifth energy level.

All of them are blessed by the Silver Crowned Dragon, and a new fifth energy level may be born at any time. In normal times, they are largely isolated, helping the king or queen to adjudicate matters of the highest order—such as executing a minister, dismissing a department, waging war, or deposing a member of the royal family.

This is also the true essence of Avalon.

From this point of view, Avalon can also be said to be a theocratic state ruled indirectly by the Silver Crowned Dragon.

However, according to the records of the Droist family, the silver-crowned dragon actually appeared frequently in the first hundred years of Avalon's founding. How can I manifest once or twice, two or three times a year, and often ask the arbitration hall at that time about the situation and give some orders and favors.

But then he appeared less and less...... It was also because he rarely appeared, that the original founding families thought they had done something wrong and withdrew from the arbitration hall one after another.

And in the last 100 years, He has not appeared once. Although it will respond to prayers steadily, it is no longer manifested from the material realm.

Probably he's tired of it, or he's disappointed. Chancellor Drost thought to himself.

After all, Avalon is no longer the knightly kingdom it was when it was founded.

It's just that they still wear armor and call themselves knights. But how are they different from the nobility of other countries?

But in fact, according to Drost's idea, it is better to say that Avalon has changed too little.

Because of other countries, it has changed even more.

The Star Antimony people have invented machine guns, united demon scholars and alchemists, and are developing their "Star Antimony Alchemy", and the level of technology can be said to be changing with each passing day; The dwarves who were forced into the Northland Mountains by the elves invented flying machines and mining machines, lived alongside the wise Northland giants, and established many clusters.

The goblins built troll plantations on the southern continent, selling large numbers of domesticated trolls to other countries as cheap labor. It's a highly sought-after item.

Trolls have a lifespan comparable to that of humans, with fangs, low intelligence, and laziness and ignorance. But they are extremely tall, physically strong, powerful, and proficient in rituals and curses...... Whether it's as a guard, a laborer, or as a curse master and ritual master, it's worth enough.

Trained trolls are extremely capable of clearing wasteland, possessing strange regenerative abilities and immunity from most toxins, except fire and acid to prevent their regeneration. Thorns, knives, guns, bullets were of no use to them.

With these trolls, the Iris Kingdom has carved out a large area of land in the south. The return of a large number of goods has greatly increased the export trade volume.

Today, the merchant ships of the goblins connect goods from all over the world. Even the unchanging lizardfolk in the desert are changing their way of life, opening schools and teaching all students equally. Even the elves of the Cult have recently been preparing to teach the higher divine arts of other races.

- Everyone is changing, but Avalon is not moving.

Objectively speaking, it cannot be said to be motionless...... At least for now, many of those who have succeeded to the knighthood can't even wear the armor handed down from their father's or grandfather's generation. They will also ask craftsmen to restructure and hollow out armor to reduce weight and dissipate heat.

Today, Avalon still doesn't even allow races other than humans and elves to set foot on their lands, let alone let goblins do business.

This outdated rule has left the Avalons too far behind. The goblin merchant ships that brought in large quantities of goods from the east and south could not disembark at Avalon, so they had to go to Star Antimony, the Church and Iris.

As a result, the Avalons had to buy the same thing from these humans at a higher price, which they considered traditional.

It was precisely because Drost was the Minister of Trade that he could understand these things.

Before the Noble Red Society contacted him, he was indeed the one who did his duty for Avalon—it was because he was conscientious enough to see so many hidden dangers and crises and think that it was time for Avalon to come to an end.

Even if Queen Sophia is enlightened enough, considering that the Avalons have not seen a foreign race for hundreds of years, considering the opinions and reactions of the people, and considering the opposition of the knights, she still does not open the right to operate the foreign race.

With Sophia's fame and her open-mindedness, she doesn't want to change, so is there any hope for the future Avalon?

Drost thinks no.

It's better to sell Avalon for a good price while it's still a threat in the eyes of others - the Griffons are still the strongest air force on the continent, and Meg is the top powerhouse. Together, even the Star Antimony people should be wary of them. But on the flip side, the Star Antimony people will also pay enough value for this information.

Although Droist himself had never been to Star Antimony, he already had four estates of his own, as well as a viscounty of his own. He was granted the hereditary viscount by the kings of this generation, which is truly his own land, and he can even recruit his own personal soldiers!

These things are what he sold Avalon's information in exchange.

Because Avalon's top echelons of power are authoritarian ways of swearing allegiance to the Queen, the spies they planted never reached the top. Because of this, neither the Star Antimony People nor the Iris People knew the reality of Avalon.

After all, griffons are indeed very threatening...... It has intelligence beyond that of humans, strength close to the fifth level, the ability to blend into the wind, a silent rapid advance, and a long elf-like lifespan. With the friendship of the griffins, it would be difficult for Avalon to defend if they wanted to attack other countries.

And then there's Meg.

And now, Meg is dying?

If you sell this news to the Star Antimony people yourself...... How much money can he make?

Drost's eyes narrowed.

He suddenly had a premonition—a premonition that Avalon was about to be shattered.

Most of the Avalons didn't anticipate Meg's death, but the Starty Men could have prepared in advance...... Well, it would be a raid. The Avalons simply didn't have time to resist before they were directly routed.

On the other hand, if important information such as Meg's imminent death cannot be reported, then he will lose the value of his existence as a spy.

In other words, it is time for Drost to make a choice.

Help Avalon, or help Star Antimony?

"Heh......"

He smiled.

Do you still need to choose?

He had no choice.

Update complete!

(End of chapter)