Chapter 457: Chapter 453 Rolling Heads Chapter 457: Chapter 453 Rolling Heads “Don’t stir up trouble for me!” Muria gently tapped the forehead of Princess Loli Remilia, whose eyes shimmered slightly. In her ruby-like eyes, Muria saw some disturbing thoughts.

“Ah! Brother Muria, I wasn’t thinking of destroying the floating ships!” Remilia, holding her head with both hands, rubbed her head and hastened to explain. As soon as she finished speaking, she covered her mouth at once; she realized her gaffe, she foolishly voiced her thoughts.

“You actually thought of destroying the ships?” Muria, amused, lightly pinched Remilia’s soft and fair cheek.

“No, I didn’t, you heard wrong,” Princess Loli Remilia whose cheeks changed shape under Muria’s palm, mumbled quietly with a glimmer of hope.

“So far, I’ve assembled over 2,400 floating ships. Do you intend to destroy them all?” Muria, savoring the velvety touch of Remilia’s cheeks, asked with a smile.

The robed young man glanced towards the floating Cloud Island. From here, he could see four thin lines intermittently connecting the island to the distance.

These were lines of cargo-laden floating ships, bringing resources from across the nation to Cloud Island—satisfying all construction demands for the island’s transformation.

Upon seeing this, Muria was somehow reminded of the twenty breath-taking spatial vortices above the Sky Mechanical City of Mechanism Emperor Osiris, along with the twenty steel torrents of warships connected to those vortices.

“If I could use just one of those torrents of steel, it would only take a month to solve our transportation problem,” An impractical thought crossed Muria’s mind, but he soon dismissed it. “That’s pathetic. If I had a fleet of that caliber, I wouldn’t waste it transporting materials. I’d rather target and plunder those nations established by the Evil Races.”

While Muria was lost in his unrealistic fantasies, the Loli Princess, shocked by the series of numbers Muria had given, slipped into a deep thought. Her experiences traveling across the nation had endowed her with more wisdom than when she had been a naïve princess.

…

At the end of the second year after the Magic Disaster, or the twelfth year of Muria’s reign, an earth-shattering news spread throughout the Lockman Kingdom: Regent Archduke Muria would soon preside over the coronation ceremony for Princess Remilia and personally crown her.

This news was greeted with jubilation by each aristocrat who heard it. It clearly indicated that the Golden Dragon Archduke, who held a high position even among the Dragon Race, was finally leaving Lockman Kingdom.

To the nobility of the Lockman Kingdom, having a king from the Lawful Good Alignment was inconvenient, but not intolerable. But when the ruler wielded absolute power and was extremely domineering, it could be very uncomfortable.

Muria had executed many nobles to establish his authority when he first took office. Due to the existence of the ten ancient dragons, no noble dared to raise any objections.

In such circumstances, all the nobles in the Lockman Kingdom, including the seven dukes who possessed legendary power, were genuinely subservient. They restrained their relatives and avoided inviting the Regent Archduke’s animosity and disgust.

Moreover, nobles who were unwilling to act responsibly and quick to stir trouble were hanged outside the Royal City by Muria. As a result, the remaining nobles were very careful, knowing exactly what to do and what not to do.

It’s worth noting that the number of holy warriors in the Lockman Kingdom had multiplied several times during Muria’s tenure as Regent Archduke. This was undoubtedly due to nobles catering to Muria’s preferences.

Those beneath often emulate those above.

For the sake of pleasing the ruler, the aristocrats would do anything—even nurturing their descendants to become high-minded holy warriors. The fact that many noblemen even dressed their daughters and granddaughters beautifully, and tried to make elaborate arrangements to send them to Muria’s side, not that it was of much use, underscores their desperation.

In conclusion, most nobles were displeased with a ruler like Muria, and neither did he treat them kindly. Seizing every opportunity, he would raise his slaughter knife.

The most brutal instance of Muria carrying out executions was during the Magic Disaster. Random appearances of increasingly powerful demons had stirred up fear among nobles scattered throughout the kingdom.

As a result, some aristocrats abandoned their territories and subjects, and fled to the capital with their families seeking refuge. For such irresponsible nobles, Muria showed no mercy. To set an example, he beheaded each of these nobles charged with deserting their duties upon finding them in the capital.

As Muria saw it, since commoners supported nobles, then it was the nobles’ duty to protect them during times of disaster. This was a mutually beneficial relationship, it shouldn’t involve one-sided exploitation.

If nobles didn’t protect commoners, then on what grounds could they demand the commoners to toil and moil for them? Enjoying every indulgence in peacetime, but asking the commoners to bear all the hardships during crisis? Fat chance!

After Muria and slaughtered thousands of these aristocrats and their families seeking refuge in the Royal City, no territorial noble dared to relocate to the capital.

Of course, they flocked somewhere else instead of the capital—it was natural for many weaker nobles, unwilling to remain in their territories, to retaliate, for they felt it was like waiting for death.

It is in human nature to cherish profit and reject harm; wanting to flee from situations threatening their survival is natural. But Regent Archduke Muria did not understand this, or rather, he didn’t agree with the nobles’ flight.

With Demon Hunter Monument spread out in each city throughout the Lockman Kingdom, even if a legendary demon were to appear in the most underdeveloped city, all it would take was a call for help, and a legendary ancient dragon would descend.

In such circumstances, Muria simply could not tolerate territorial nobles abandoning their domains. Thus, during the mid-stages of the Magic Disaster, Muria had the mages and the five-colored dragons under his control form a patrol and hunting team. This team specialized in hunting down territorial nobles who had abandoned their domains.

Following a massacre, nobles no longer dared to desert their territories. In the latter half of the Magic Disaster, some eccentric nobles even appeared who lived and ate near the Demon Hunter Monument.

Given such treatment, almost no noble in the Lockman Kingdom held any goodwill toward Muria. Naturally, they rejoiced upon hearing the news of Princess Remilia’s imminent ascension to the throne.

The Golden Dragon Archduke, who liked holding his executioner’s blade, frequently threatening their lives, was finally leaving.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read