Chapter 620: The Darr Kingdom’s Situation – Part 1

Less than half-a-day after he landed in Oasis, the capital city of the Darr Kingdom, Prince Landon Darr, son of Crown Princess Talia Darr, found himself standing in front of the nation’s highest decision-making body, the Royal Council, giving the gathered nobles, generals, ministers, royals, advisors a lengthy report on his time in the Rockwell Kingdom.

The report itself was a rather dry subject, with Landon recounting the experiences he found relevant to the current situation in his homeland, as well as any pieces of information he was able to confirm about the Rockwell Kingdom.

"That is all, respected members of the council," Landon concluded after about 30 minutes.

The chamber fell silent after the prince finished speaking, with no one from either of the two major factions seemingly wanting to speak up first.

The Royalists, led obviously by King Darian, were naturally inclined to believe and take seriously the words of the most talented member of the younger generation of the Darr Family, but they knew that the Noble Faction was going to take issue with several of the points Landon had just brought up.

Sure enough, after good minute or so, First Minister Kolton Hamra slammed his fist against the table and shouted, "Coward! I cannot believe I am hearing such spineless words from a prince of our great kingdom!"

Maintaining the stoic expression he usually kept in public, Ladon didn’t immediately reply to First Minister Hamra’s outburst.

Landon knew precisely what kind of reaction his report would draw from the Noble Faction’s lead representative on the Royal Council, so he wasn’t even surprised by the Minister Hamra’s insulting words. Allowing the accusation of cowardice to brush past him like a gentle breeze, Landon simply waited, knowing that it wasn’t his place to talk back here.

He might be a prince, but he was still just a boy. He was allowed to present the findings of his investigation, and perhaps even express a little of his opinion if he was asked for it, but unless he was directly called upon again, Landon had no right to speak freely here.

Besides, there was no need for Landon to defend himself; there were others present who would do that for him.

Sure enough, Minister of Finance Ilman Baas quickly rose to his feet and shouted, "Mind your words, Minister Hamra! He may be young, but His Highness Landon is still a member of the Royal House!"

"Hmph! So what if his surname is ’Darr’? Does that mean he is above critique?" Kolton snapped back.

From there, the room quickly devolved into a shouting match, with colourful insults and accusations being hurled back and forth.

Despite what one might think if they were seeing such a chaotic scene for the first time, this was actually pretty typical of Royal Council meetings in the Darr Kingdom.

The Darr Kingdom’s leaders were more belligerent and less united than their cohorts in the Rockwell Kingdom; as such, they tended to squabble with much greater intensity amongst themselves. It was one of the factors which had repeatedly allowed the Rockwell Kingdom to repel their aggressive attacks despite having a smaller population and fewer masters.

The bickering and arguing continued on for a good 15 minutes before King Darian finally got bored of listening and directly released his Cultivation Pressure, suppressing everyone in the room.

It was a brutal and direct show of authority, but no one complained as that was just how things worked in the Darr Kingdom.

Finally having some peace and quiet again in the chamber, King Darian turned his attention to his favourite grandson and asked directly, "Landon, how confident in your assessment of the Rockwell Kingdom’s strength are you?"

"I am almost 100% certain, Your Majesty," Landon didn’t even hesitate, "If we were to launch an all-out invasion tomorrow, the most likely outcome would be a stalemate with both sides suffering devastating losses."

"Even with the chaos caused by that incident in their South-West Province?" The king followed up.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Landon nodded, "The fallout from that crisis was indeed enormous, but as I stated in my earlier report, the Rockwell Kingdom responded with shocking speed and force, allowing them to contain almost all the damage to their South-West Province alone."

"Prince Landon’s assessment is not exaggerated in any way," Crown Princess Talia chose this moment to speak up, "From the reports we have received from our informants, spies, and merchants, I can confirm that the overall strength of the Rockwell Kingdom has not suffered nearly as much as we anticipated."

"As a matter of fact," Talia continued, her brow knitting slightly, "I’d say the Rockwell Kingdom is actually doing better now than it was a year ago."

"Why is that?" Gino Tabor asked in his usual flat, even tone.

As the General of the Royal Army, one of the strongest masters in the Darr kingdom, the Minister of War, and one of the few truly neutral actors in the kingdom, Gino Tabor’s voice carried enormous weight in the court, so when he spoke up or asked a question, no one interrupted or tried to silence him.

This wasn’t because Gino was well liked; quite the opposite, in fact.

Both the Royal and Noble Factions found General Tabor’s stone-cold attitude and persistently logical thinking incredibly frustrating as it meant almost nothing could sway his opinion, but these exact qualities also made him incredibly trustworthy.

A centuries long reputation of trustworthiness naturally garnered a great deal of respect, as did the fact that Gino Tabor never abused that respect for private gain.

He was a model of loyalty and duty, if not a bit inflexible in his thinking.

"The exact details are a bit unclear," Talia replied to the old General’s question, "But, it seems the biggest factor was their Second Queen, Natasha Summers, launching a massive investment and infrastructure program which not only put to work all the able-bodied refugees who had been displaced from their homes, but has also smoothed trade and increased commerce within the Rockwell Kingdom’s borders."

Tapping his finger on the table for a moment, Gino mulled over this information before he nodded, "I see. They spent their way out of the problem."

"Pretty much," Talia shrugged.