You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 403 How do we eat this meal?
There are also differences between the seated witches.

Margaret is the youngest Seat Witch, and her talent is unparalleled. However, she is not considered particularly strong among the Seat Witches; she is at the bottom of the list.

She is young and has the potential to improve, but the Prophet and others have no expectations for her, believing that she has gone astray. Otherwise, she would not have been abandoned as a pawn back then.

When the conquerors went on their expedition, the prophet led a group of witches to escape the palace and establish the Witch Forest. Over the past hundred years, eight seated witches have emerged from the Witch Forest.

By the standards of the Conquest era, only Thunder and Prophet can be considered seated witches; the rest can only be considered high-ranking witches. There's no way around it; witches have been severely suppressed in recent years, with none of their veteran warriors remaining, and the external environment is extremely poor, so they cannot be judged by past standards.

Idne was incredibly strong; in a one-on-one fight, neither the twins nor Margaret would stand a chance. Even when surrounded by multiple attackers, she still managed to escape death.

Shastas were filled with shame. Everyone else was daring to challenge the lord, but they, as his attendants, had failed to uphold his prestige and killed the provocateurs. They felt utterly inadequate.

But Roman's anger wasn't about not killing Idene and Bertried.

In fact, while the witch and the red dragon were important, they weren't that important to him.

There's nothing we can do if we can't kill it. The red dragon has an incredibly tenacious vitality and can withstand so many attacks. A human would have been crushed to pieces long ago.

What truly angered him was Alex's attitude.

The advantage of the supreme leader of a major power is never personal military strength, but rather its enormous influence.

"Your Highness, Princess Tashina has arrived," Shasta said as he entered.

She glanced at his cold, stern face and sighed inwardly. Even when the Black Iron Alliance launched a massive invasion, she had never seen him show such an expression.

Princess White Steel strode into the castle hall, dressed elegantly and smartly in high-waisted trousers, knee-high boots, a tight top, a shawl, and a high ponytail. She was late today.

Tashina has a camp in the City of Abundance, which Roman specifically allocated to her, so that the Black Iron Knights, White Knights, and Oak Elite Soldiers can have a permanent base there.

Some time ago, Tashina asked Roman for some officers and slaves, intending to train them into elite troops to help her conquer cities and territories—she had always wanted this, and Roman didn't mind providing assistance when the interests were aligned.

Training troops was a long-term task, and Tashina enjoyed it immensely. After becoming familiar with the City of Abundance, her life gradually became more structured. Roman rarely saw her unless absolutely necessary.

Now she is here.

"It seems you've run into some serious trouble."

Roman's face tightened: "Alex sent a witch and a red dragon to have my soldiers fill in the lines."

In his view, Alex was there to intimidate him, and Idne was showing off her fists to force him to his death.

The princess sat down gracefully, crossing her legs as Roman usually did, revealing her shapely thighs.

“They never considered my thoughts,” Roman said calmly. “I only accept alliances, not threats.”

But some people think differently, believing that he will bow down to the storm of disaster, just like the newly crowned King of Iceland, Nelson, who knelt before Alex.

Tashina hadn't expected this to happen.

Judging from the overall situation, only three forces dominate the Black Iron Lands—the rest are insignificant noble forces that are opportunistic and not worth mentioning.

The valley is the weakest of the three forces, with few people and little land, and it is still in its development stage, but it is definitely not an easy target.

Since the death of the Iron King, there have been more people who have declared themselves kings than rats in the castle. Although the Valley is small in number, it has many elite soldiers and warriors. This is an achievement earned through numerous large-scale battles, and it is of great value.

The pirates' actions were tantamount to humiliation, so it's no wonder Roman attacked without warning. She thought to herself, if even dragons couldn't subdue him, what in this world could possibly frighten him?

"The Pirate King did something very foolish," Tashina commented succinctly. Power can lead one astray.

In this chaotic world, when you have a knife, you will unconsciously test its sharpness, completely disregarding the consequences.

“That’s not the problem.” Roman’s face showed anger.

"The problem is, I've prepared a meal, but two tables of guests have arrived. How are we supposed to eat this?"

He did everything in his power to deal with the forces mobilized by the Church and the Black Iron.

Now they are threatened by pirates.

Idne dared to say they would burn the valley; who could have predicted they wouldn't?

“The pirates shouldn’t bother you before we conquer Ironflower County,” Tashina shook her head. Perhaps it’s because being an outsider allows for a clearer perspective.

“The main pirate force and the main Papacy force are locked in a stalemate on the northern front, and neither side is certain of victory,” she said. “If they were to target you, it would only give the Papacy an opportunity to exploit the situation. Alex will not do that; even including Iceland, the pirates' overall strength is inferior to that of the Papacy.”

Unless dragons... a large number of dragons... are sent over the land to launch an attack directly from the sky.

If that happens, the dragon will have to pay a bloody price.

Bertrid was able to escape alive after being hit by a splitting arrow because it was an elite dragon and avoided a fatal blow.

When Roman first arrived, he could only draw the bowstring a fraction, yet its power was comparable to that of a heavy sniper rifle. Now, as a fifth-tier warrior knight, he can draw the bowstring into a crescent shape, easily piercing mountains and splitting rocks. Every single dragon flying at low altitude is within his sniping range.

This species is already small in number, and an adult dragon is already a high-tier unit. They are strong in manipulating storms, spewing flames, and engaging in close combat, and more importantly, they are flying units.

The loss of a few animals in the valley would be enough to break Alex's heart.

"How is Mary?" Roman asked, turning to her.

Shasta's voice was cold and clear: "She's asleep. Lady Felicia and Lysa treated her with the Silver Moon Gem. She'll be fine after a couple of days of rest."

The battle just now took a huge toll on Margaret, leaving her somewhat exhausted, but the Red Dragon's injuries were even more severe, and it would take him at least a year or two to recover.

Roman nodded, his desire to improve his strength growing stronger.

Lacking resources and population, with extremely limited room for maneuver and a short development time, the constant distraction from external forces is also a major problem.

Fighting a war while farming at the same time resulted in a lot of wasted effort; not only did they fail to defeat the enemy, but they also couldn't snowball their development.

We have no choice but to find another way.

Roman focused his gaze on the yellowed parchment scrolls, which contained the complete set of Silver Moon spells that Lysa had brought out from Silver Moon Castle.

It was once only available to those with the Silvermoon bloodline or Silvermoon Knights, but after Diana's improvements, it became a universal spell.

Since the end of the Iron Age last year, a new Chaos Age has arrived, an era of heroes and gods.

The Papal Knights regained control of the divine magic.

The Ego pirates are physically powerful and are natural-born warriors; now even the Ego witch has appeared.

The enemies will become increasingly stronger in the future, so we must greatly enhance the strength of the Apostles!
(End of this chapter)