Kingdombuilding: All My Inventions Are Novelty

”Hahaha...”

Loud laughter echoed in the imperial court. Prince Gerad was all smiles; today, Simon unexpectedly gave him some face.

He pulled Simon aside and said. ”Dear nephew, this great victory in Dunmere, you are the main hero. But your royal uncle provided a lot of money, food, and supplies, so I deserve some credit too. On the court later, you should go easy on me.”

”Uncle, this time our father ordered us both to defend Brambleford. So this credit should be shared by both of us. I won’t fight over the merit, but later you must fully support me in return.”

”Oh? Go ahead, tell me what you want.” Prince Gerad was delighted; if Simon needed his help, things would be much easier.

Simon smiled mysteriously. ”With your wisdom, Uncle, you’ll understand soon enough.”

As they were speaking, Carl suddenly walked into the hall and loudly announced, ”His Majesty has arrived!”

All the ministers quickly returned to their places and stood straight. Simon and Prince Gerad stood with the other princes. When Simon had been chatting with the officials, the princes stood by coldly. After he approached, they gave him only a polite nod.

He didn’t care much for their attitude.

Even the Crown Prince acted this way. Simon couldn’t help but sneer inside. No wonder people said this Crown Prince was useless; he didn’t even understand basic manners.

”Long live the Emperor!”

Alaric sat on the dragon throne, and the crowd shouted in unison.

After the chant, Alaric fixed his gaze on Simon.

”My dear officials, I believe you’ve already seen Prince Gerad and Prince Simon this morning. The great victory in Dunmere has brought glory to our country and made the reavers retreat in defeat. For decades, our Eldorian Empire hasn’t had such a win. I summoned them here to reward their merits.”

Alaric was full of pride. He looked at Simon and Prince Gerad with a happy smile.

Prince Gerad looked pleased and said loudly. ”Your Majesty, as a border prince, defending the country is our duty. Without your strong support, neither Simon nor Simon could have won this battle.”

Simon glanced at Prince Gerad. He thought to himself. ”This old fox sure knows how to flatter while staying humble.”

He followed up. ”Uncle is right. Without Father’s full support, Dunmere might have already fallen into reaver hands. There wouldn’t have been a battle, let alone a victory. So rather than say this is my merit, it’s truly Father’s achievement. Though you were in Eldora, Father, you commanded as if a thousand miles away. My admiration for you flows like the endless River, continuous and mighty...”

The officials were all stunned. The entire hall was filled with Simon’s flattery that gave people goosebumps.

On the throne, Alaric’s smile grew wider. Even he felt embarrassed by the praise, but he had to admit, Simon’s compliments were creative and poetic.

”Hahahaha...”

Alaric finally burst out laughing.

At that moment, Simon stopped. When it came to flattery, could Prince Gerad possibly beat all the jokes stored in Simon’s brain?

Officials led by Darrell felt uneasy. They thought they were shameless, but this guy was on another level.

The Crown Prince and the other princes were visibly uncomfortable. Simon used to be useless and couldn’t even flatter well. When did he become so skilled?

Prince Gerad was stunned but secretly gave Simon a thumbs-up.

No emperor dislikes being flattered, especially when Simon gave him most of the credit for the victory.

He said. ”Prince Simon, don’t be too modest. Though I planned the war, you fought it. You deserve the greatest merit. Tell me, what reward do you want?”

Before coming here, Simon had already discussed this with Baldwin and others.

For officials, such a victory would mean promotion and reward. But for a prince, there’s no promotion. Gold and silver wouldn’t be much, and it wasn’t worth asking for.

What mattered now was planning for future strategy. So he said. ”Father, I don’t want any reward. Although the reavers lost this time, it was only a small defeat. Their strength is mostly intact. Dunmere is still in danger. If I want to keep my land safe, I must retake the Snake Pass. So I am planning to drive the reavers out of West Ham and take back the pass. But I need your approval on one matter.”

As soon as Simon mentioned retaking the Snake Pass, the ministers started whispering. Many showed mocking expressions.

Everyone knew the reavers were bad at sieging cities. This victory relied heavily on defending and using cannons.

But fighting reavers on the open plains was a totally different matter.

”What is it? Just say it. If I can agree, I will.” Said Alaric. He was delighted by Simon’s ambition.

”I want to form a cavalry unit called the Zayta Squad. These soldiers will be recruited from the former residents of West Ham. To boost their spirit to reclaim their homeland, I promised them that whoever helps take back the Snake Pass will be rewarded with land in West Ham.” Simon said seriously.

Right after Simon finished speaking, a court official stepped out and shouted. ”Your Majesty, you must not allow this! Prince Simon has sinister motives; if you agree, it’s the same as giving West Ham to him. His territory will become the largest in the Eldorian Empire!”

”Heh, what a joke, Minister Darrell.” Another official stepped forward and mocked Darrell. ”West Ham is under reaver control. Letting Prince Simon drive them out is better than feeding enemy troops. He is royal blood, don’t you know which side is heavier?”

”Minister Carl is right.” Said General Lancet. ”Some ministers clearly have evil thoughts. Sometimes I wonder, do they serve the Eldorian Empire or the reavers?”

Darrell was shaking with anger. He turned to the emperor and said. ”Your Majesty, according to our sources, Prince Simon has made a weapon called a ’cannon.’ It’s extremely powerful. That’s why he won the war. If we let him control West Ham too, he’ll become too powerful to control!”

As soon as the word ’cannon’ was spoken, every official turned to look at Darrell.

Simon sneered. So this was Darrell’s real plan, to bring up the cannon in court.