After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

In five days, Yang Hao could only come up with some ideas and plans at most—it was obvious that the "cheapening" of the longbow would definitely be supported, if the Elf Masters were all smart people.

The industrialization characteristic of the elves, the reform of the conscription system, and the final mobilization are likely to be met with opposition... The former may cause irreversible damage to the Elf Forest, and for at least a long time, the ancient trees of the Elf Forest can only grow towards industry rather than people's livelihood.

The latter could disrupt some of the current customs of elven society, damage the elven population structure, cause soldiers to become the majority, and affect the normal alternation of professions such as artisans and farmers.

The latter will further divert all the originally equal social resources to the military, resulting in an unequal situation where other regions are left with nothing but rice, while the military industry is enjoying a life of luxury and envy.

But Yang Hao believed that this proposal could still be passed. Because without destruction, there can be no construction; the elves had reached the brink of war and needed to allocate resources to military affairs. No matter how stubborn they were, it was time for a change.

However, these proposals alone are still lacking something decisive... Yang Hao needs to obtain tangible results, at least results that the elves can see and that are actually useful in five days.

what can we do about it?

Yang Hao fell into deep thought. Just then, Fen suddenly smiled and said that she already knew about his previous decision to bring Arthur back to the team, but whenever she thought of Arthur, she was reminded of the waves that first appeared in the Elf King's capital.

“That was the first time that a human from outside the Bayrzans Empire was willing to abide by our rules, enter our city with proper manners, and respect our traditions,” Finn laughed. “And you must admit, Mr. Arthur is indeed a genius. Whether it’s the speed at which he learns our traditions, the speed at which he mingles with women, or the speed at which he integrates into elven life, he is a genius—more importantly, he seems to have a natural dissatisfaction with the elven [perfect] weapons and workshops.”

"...In fact, if we only consider practicality, the elves' weapons would definitely be criticized by outsiders."

"Yes. That's why I admire Mr. Arthur for his outspokenness. But I admire his loyalty to you even more."

"Loyalty to me?"

Yang Hao blinked, unable to understand what Fen was saying.

Finn, after taking a sip of her juice, said that it happened two days after the Quiet Exile incident.

At that moment, Arthur, dejected, told the elves that he had resigned from his position as a diplomat of the Roman Empire. He openly lamented that the only one who could understand him, His Majesty, would never again guide him in his whims, and then he left the city in despair.

There was even a time when this man had suicidal thoughts, but in the end, he was comforted by the female elves. But then again... when it comes to the women around Arthur, we have to touch on the elves' [stubborn traditions].

"Your Majesty Yang Hao, you may have heard that when elves love someone, they will especially love a family, and this love will not disappear until they die. This love that lasts for hundreds of years is known as the 'Millennial Covenant'."

Finn smiled without saying a word. At some point, her gaze shifted from Yang Hao's face to Mother Teresa's chubby cheeks as she ate.

"But this is actually wrong."

"Incorrect?"

"Because there is no such thing as a 'millennial covenant'... Elves will do anything to keep the people they love by their side, even if they are short-lived ghosts who can only live for twenty years or so. We will use all kinds of magic to prolong their lives by any means necessary—and Mr. Arthur is a victim of this tradition... or rather, a victim of the stubborn nature of the elves."

When you walk down the street, have you noticed that there seem to be a lot of women in our city for some reason?

As Fen sang, Yang Hao seemed lost in thought, while Teresa blinked and then suddenly turned pale.

"Elves have many traditions: males like to become wandering knights after reaching adulthood, while females prefer to stay in their homeland to hone their skills. This is quite normal for elves."

But gradually, with the onslaught of the demonic calamity, even wandering rangers could not guarantee their safe return. Especially after the war against the demonic calamity, the near extinction of the male population exacerbated the gender imbalance in Gaparia, leaving many female elves seeking partners alone. While outwardly living peaceful lives, they still yearned for a tranquil love and the companionship of a lover.

Naturally, Mr. Arthur, as an outsider, a handsome but principled libertine... in the first few months after entering Fingal, a place where the population structure had not changed for hundreds of years and where there were more women than men, he won the attention and recognition of the elves through his actual abilities and achievements... and naturally also won the affection of many of the elf women who remained there.

You might find it hard to understand why Mr. Arthur continued to have affairs after marriage.

But in reality, this is the result of a compromise within elven society. Therefore, I'm actually glad Mr. Arthur is a libertine; otherwise, Fingal might have become a brutal battlefield between women for a while.

At this point, Finn took another sip of her juice. She looked at Theresa with a meaningful gaze, while Theresa looked back at Finn defiantly.

"Elves will do anything for the one they love. If a man who is devoted to only one woman wins the affections of more than a dozen elven women at the same time, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Perhaps after a brutal struggle, only one victor remained, achieved through ruthless means—of course, they would never let the person in question realize anything.

After all, elves live very long lives, and it's normal for them to travel for hundreds of years. Using this excuse to cover up the disappearance of a female elf friend of the person in question for decades is certainly the best thing to do. But what actually happened is only known to them.

Of course, in very rare cases, there is room for compromise—but this is only in families with identical twins, or in cases where two elven women are already like sisters and neither wants to be separated, they may choose to compromise and sever this abnormal but realistic love between the elven people.

From Finn's perspective, none of the above is acceptable... so I'm really glad that Mr. Arthur is a promiscuous person.

He really knows how to manage the relationships around him.

Which elf who liked him was already impatient to rush over? Which elf still had room to delay and could even use time management to divide his work and rest time? He danced like a butterfly in a rain of arrows in the Shura Field, ensuring that no bloodshed involving elves occurred in Fingel during this time. He was truly remarkable.

The only price was that his leg wasn't fully healed for several days—but that's an elf tradition, isn't it? You've also heard of their marriage "promise," haven't you?

"...Yes."

"Then I need not say more—after all, I have only hoped that Your Majesty Yang Hao can be prepared."

"Clam?"

Yang Hao was completely bewildered and momentarily stunned.

Theresa, standing to the side, looked at Finn's smiling face with a serious expression. Finn's apparent intention was to prevent Yang Hao from harboring any resentment towards Arthur's actions, but in reality, she was merely using Arthur's ordeal to announce something to herself.

Finn declared that she would not back down and would stop at nothing to win over the Regent to stay permanently in the Elven Kingdom.

But the final "promise" is telling themselves that although they will "use any means necessary," the elves will still remember their oath—in other words, is this "any means necessary" going on based on the previous oath...?

...Tsk tsk. What has become of the elves after all the damage caused by the demonic war over the past thousand years?!

Theresa felt a headache coming on... and just then, Yang Hao also took a sip of his drink and remarked:

"If that's the case... Arthur really deserves praise for his emotional intelligence. If it were me, I probably would only feel regret after bloodshed."

"You're quite remarkable that you could foresee bloodshed in the end—most people wouldn't even realize what happened in the end."

"It is precisely because he could think of that I have such high respect for Arthur's emotional intelligence. It must have been difficult for him to maintain such a balance so carefully. I probably didn't have as much pressure as he did when I was the regent of the Roman Empire."

"Hehe. Compared to that, aren't you in a hurry for us to rescue the little empress right now?"

When the topic turned to the Little Empress, Yang Hao's expression became extremely serious.

But he said he wasn't in a hurry at all—to be precise, even if he were, the reality didn't allow him to be in a hurry.

"Leaving aside how the elves will hold off the parish's attack a few months from now, if the elves really do rescue the little queen and the chief judge at this critical juncture, then it won't just be the parish attacking the Elf Forest."

The young empress is now the symbol of the Roman Empire, a radiant and great figure sitting on the emperor's throne—at least in the eyes of the Romans. Except for Garsen.

In this situation, rescuing the little empress, who would be the focus of everyone's attention, from the throne would only provide a powerful "righteous cause" for other regions of the Roman Empire to launch an attack on the Elf Kingdom.

Whether it's the military districts, the dioceses, or the noble landowners—they all actually want to rule the Roman Empire, but apart from the royal family, they have no legitimate claim to support their actions. So they can only remain in a stalemate. While the dioceses are fighting the Elf Kingdom, the other three factions are doing their own thing, splitting themselves as much as possible, which makes it seem so harmonious.

But if the elves manage to rescue the little queen at this critical juncture, then the previously divided factions will reach a consensus: let's beat the elves first.

When the time comes, the little empress, who has finally gained her freedom, will face the predicament of being displaced again, and Yang Hao does not have the ability to protect his sworn brother's daughter amidst thousands of troops... So after thinking it over, what's the use of being anxious now?

I was anxious, but in practice I had to act quickly and prudently.

Yang Hao muttered something to himself—and just then, Qin Na suddenly burst into the reception room.

“Fen, Your Majesty Yang Hao, Your Majesty Theresa… Sister. News has come from the coast that our rangers have made contact with a force calling itself Isgard.”

She paused for a moment at this point, seemingly choosing the right words.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, she revealed the complete intelligence:

"They have two metal warships and three merchant ships, and are building a secret port in unclaimed land about 40 kilometers from the border of the Roman Empire. They are equipped with some very strange weapons, and most importantly, they have a black dragon in human form that is seriously injured."

"A black dragon?" Yang Hao blinked, thinking, "Could it be such a coincidence?" "Do you know the identity of this black dragon?"

Qinna shook her head, indicating that the other party had no intention of revealing the Black Dragon's identity. They simply expressed politely that they needed help and were willing to exchange their goods for it—but what they were buying were some strange tube-like weapons, the rangers of which they did not know what they were for, and they hoped that the rear could provide instructions.

In response, Yang Hao simply stated seriously:

"Is there any way for us to see the situation on-site? This is an opportunity! The best chance to obtain the advanced technology from Isgard!"

He was emotional, he really didn't expect that he would actually encounter such a stroke of good luck.

Chapter 19: Perhaps it would be better to sign a non-aggression pact with Isgard, separated by the Roman Empire.

As the elven mage rushed over and unleashed his magic, Yang Hao and his companions immediately obtained the information about what the rangers had seen on the scene.

Without a doubt, the ironclad ships anchored in a naturally hidden harbor were members of the Isgard steel warships. Their hulls were covered with the marks of battle, and there was even a metal breach sealed with wooden planks above the waterline, indicating that they had definitely experienced a brutal naval battle on their way to the continent of Elusia.

But Yang Hao wasn't interested in these iron-hulled ships—after all, the elves lived deep inland and had no need for the navy for the time being.

His attention was focused on the long-barreled weapon held by the guards of Isgard in front of the elves.

"This is... a bolt-action rifle. Has Ysugard's technology become this advanced?"

Although it looks very rough, there is no magazine, no structure typical of lever-action rifles, and not even a bayonet in front of the muzzle.

But without a doubt, this bolt-action rifle, which probably requires loading a bullet after each shot, is indeed a breech-loading gun, a true bolt-action rifle—he could even see standardized paper bullets on the bullet belt in front of his chest.

(Is it a new type of firearm similar to the Drezer rifle? My goodness... a firearm with an effective range of at least 400 meters is a game-changer for the Roman Empire. Is the invasion and colonization of Isgard going to happen sooner than expected?) Yang Hao frowned deeply. (How can the Roman Empire, which still relies mainly on bows and arrows and doesn't even have many crossbows, withstand the invasion of Isgard? Their only advantage is probably that Isgard is operating across the ocean, making ammunition resupply extremely difficult, right?)

The advent of muzzle-loading firearms led to the rapid collapse of demoralized feudal armies.

The thunderous roar of gunfire, the billowing smoke from guns, the scorching, acrid air, the inexplicably falling comrades beside them, and the armor and shields being pierced through—all these scenes would bring endless terror to soldiers in feudal times.

The first volley of fire might startle soldiers who are witnessing the power of muskets for the first time, causing them to halt their charge. Once they stop advancing, bewildered and disoriented on the open battlefield, they will inevitably be routed in the second volley.

In the early days of firearms, the essence of guns was not power but terror.

As soon as gunshots rang out and white smoke rose, someone was bound to die—once this fact was understood, feudal armies could no longer take a single step forward.

After all, arrows can be dodged with reflexes and bravery, and even if they hit the body, sufficient armor will prevent death. Magic and divine spells have visible signs, and if they are detected, there is still a chance to escape. In fact, quite a few people have successfully escaped from the casting range of divine spells and magic.

However, this was not the case for firearms that would fire immediately after aiming—their power was excessive for soldiers of that era. Most soldiers had no means to protect themselves in the face of firearms, let alone continue charging into the enemy ranks, or even making effective evasive maneuvers based on the gunner's movements during the charge.

Given the lack of accuracy, the slow and cumbersome reloading process, and the need to form a square formation to fire in volleys to effectively kill the enemy, the early firearms were already so terrifyingly dominant on the battlefield. How much more so now that Ysgard has the bolt-action breech-loading rifle?

Yang Hao only hoped that this new type of rifle would be a rarity in Isgard. If they were already widely deployed in Isgard, then the elves shouldn't even consider continuing to farm in the Elven Forest after defeating the parish; they'd be more realistic about migrating as far away as possible...

But then again...

"The other guards are still equipped with crossbows, and some of their tubular weapons don't look as advanced as the ones those guys have... Perhaps, Yang Hao, the weapons you're worried about aren't widely deployed in Isgard?"

Mother Teresa pointed to the weapons held by the other Isgard guards in the scene, offering a reminder. Admittedly, very few guards were equipped with the new rifles; most were still carrying crossbows and similar muzzle-loading weapons. It seemed the new rifles were merely a novelty in Isgard... or so?

Yang Hao dared not be careless. Industrialized countries love to create illusions—one month they say a new product can't be mass-produced, the next month they're stuffing more than they can use into their stomachs... He'd witnessed this kind of thing countless times. So he couldn't afford to let his guard down.

However, it seems the other side is facing considerable difficulties in Elusia. Given that Roman stands between the two countries, if the Elven Kingdom could establish a trade relationship with Isgard, or even temporarily sign a non-aggression pact, it would gain more time to develop... and give themselves more time to rescue the little queen and her companions during Isgard's invasion.

How much would the other side want in return for their new rifles? That's a good question.

Yang Hao glanced at Fen, who was equally serious, then reached up and rubbed his stubble-covered chin:

"If possible, it would be best to obtain the bolt-action rifle that this soldier is carrying—ideally two, along with more than 20 rounds of ammunition. Some I need to display at the Elf Council, and others I need to replicate."

“No problem. But they seem to value this weapon very much, and Gaparia may not be able to pay enough.”

"Huh?"

"Heh, some women won't even accept such a good deal as restoring their kingdom and reviving their religion, so naturally there are humans who won't be willing to give up their weapons, right? But they have a heavily wounded black dragon there, perhaps we can start there..."

Leaving aside Mother Teresa's strange expression, the rangers, under Finn's orders, negotiated with the representatives of Ysgard.