Chapter 00258: Preparations for Battle
# Preparations for Battle
Chapter 258
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 258: Preparations for Battle
Demon Lord Calendar, Year 648.
Mid-July, in the morning.
More than three months had passed since Princess Viola led her army to the Leon Territory.
In just a single quarter, the entire territory had undergone a heaven-and-earth-shaking transformation.
The territory, which had been somewhat lifeless under Count Leon's rule, was now brimming with new vitality.
In terms of military affairs, however, there had been no major movements.
The army loyal to Viola had only been conducting daily training.
As usual, after finishing her prayers, Viola returned to her office.
Viola was not alone in the office.
Besides Zola and a few Royal Guards skilled in internal affairs, there was also a white-haired girl.
Compared to the Royal Guards who wore armor even while working, this white-haired girl wore a magnificent, grand dress, looking more like a young lady at a ball.
She was Greta Or Fran, the daughter of Count Fran.
Ostensibly, it was in the hope that his daughter would be in a safe place, but in reality, she had been sent to Viola's side as a hostage.
Since the various Demon King Kingdoms were essentially composed of individual noble fiefs, to prevent nobles with real power from rebelling, the children of feudal lords had to live in the capital from the age of six.
They would only return to their territories upon reaching adulthood at fifteen.
Greta was well past fifteen, but the situation now was different.
By sending his daughter to Viola's side, Count Fran was likely making a gesture of allegiance, showing that he would staunchly follow Her Highness the Princess.
One must know that Count Fran currently had only one child, Greta.
As the sole heir, her importance was self-evident.
"Your Highness, here is the list of this quarter's grain production."
Viola glanced at the report Greta handed her.
The increase in grain production was not significantly different from previous years' data, which was to be expected.
However, the experimental field outside the city gate had already seen its first harvest.
Thanks to the meticulous care of the druids, the yield from less than two acres of land was astonishingly high.
Many farmers were already asking around for where to find potato seeds.
Spreading their cultivation would be a natural course of events.
Presumably, by the next quarter, grain production would increase substantially.
Furthermore, with the construction of one windmill after another, processing grain had become much more convenient than before.
It was currently the wheat harvest season.
Viola had brought the blueprints given to her by Li Chengxi to life, creating a wooden machine called a grain winnowing fan, which she rented out to farmers for free.
Previously, after the wheat was harvested, it was necessary to manually sift out the mixed-in stalks, shriveled grains, and other debris.
With the grain winnowing fan, a simple turn of the handle would clear away most of these impurities.
Afterward, the wheat grains were dried and thrown into the windmill flour mill, and a steady stream of flour was produced.
This greatly saved on labor, freeing up the saved human resources for other tasks.
"The petroleum extraction is also proceeding smoothly. The water pump invented by Miss Audel can extract about fifty barrels of petroleum per day. The territory has completely overcome the problem of oil shortages, though it is still slightly insufficient for a strategic reserve."
The water pump for extracting petroleum was, in fact, a type of steam engine, driving a piston with atmospheric pressure.
However, its design was still very immature.
It was merely functional at this stage, not advanced enough to form an entire petroleum production chain.
This speed was already acceptable.
Viola and her people were primarily extracting petroleum to burn directly, as they had no petroleum processing capabilities.
"The issues with fur and cotton have also been resolved. There is ample time to produce enough winter clothing before winter arrives."
In recent days, Viola had refurbished the dock in the Leon Territory, allowing it to accommodate medium-sized merchant ships.
Merchant ships from Sailing Harbor also brought large quantities of supplies that were urgently needed in the Leon Territory.
Among them was cotton.
As for the fur, that was thanks to the white dragon.
The white dragon had a pack of winter wolves under its command, which it usually treated as a reserve food supply.
Fortunately, dragons spent most of their time sleeping, and one full meal could last a very long time.
Otherwise, all the monsters in the Snow Region would have been eaten by it.
Living in the shadows, the winter wolves dared not disobey the white dragon's command.
They would leave behind the pelts of the prey they hunted.
Once a sufficient amount was gathered, the white dragon would personally deliver them to the Leon Territory.
The quality of these furs was not high.
After all, a winter wolf's bite paid no mind to the integrity of the pelt.
But by piecing a few together, they could be made into fur coats.
As long as they provided warmth, their appearance didn't matter.
Through the port's connection to Sailing Harbor, Viola had also successfully contacted the lords who were still resisting.
Now, almost every day, a large number of letters were sent by sea to the Leon Territory, all hoping that Princess Viola would come out and take charge of the overall situation.
Viola indeed would not stay in the Leon Territory for long, but now was not the time for a counterattack.
Her current military actions were limited to closely monitoring the movements of the Coalition of Four Nations and dispatching numerous scouts back and forth between the Leon Territory and the Half-Moon Fortress on the south side of the Spine of the World Mountains.
This move confused the Coalition of Four Nations.
It looked like a major action, but it only looked that way.
Viola had not taken any military action.
"Additionally, the construction of the Lord's Temple is proceeding smoothly. The craftsmen hope that Your Highness will be able to preside over the ceremony when the time comes."
After saying this, Greta closed her notebook and neatened her unruly white bangs with her hand, waiting for Viola's command.
Currently, the only religious facilities in the Leon Territory were the chapel inside the castle and the holy emblem and statue in the plaza.
Not even having a temple was simply unjustifiable.
So, as soon as the busy farming season was over, Viola immediately mobilized people to build a temple.
According to Viola's original idea, she had to build a temple not much smaller than the castle.
But after strict calculations, it was found that the manpower and resources required for such a temple would severely affect the counterattack plan.
Moreover, a place like the Leon Territory simply didn't have architects who knew how to design a temple.
Taking too large a step would lead to problems.
Thus, after repeated consideration, Viola finally agreed with her knights' opinion to reduce the scale of the temple to one-tenth of the original plan.
After all, the conditions were not right, and she couldn't force it.
The construction was so fast partly because the number of followers of the Demon God among the territory's commoners had surged.
As soon as they heard a temple was being built, they all came to lend a hand.
On the other hand, it was also because the temple was indeed not that big.
It could only be said to barely meet the needs.
This was all Greta had to report.
Viola looked up from her documents and said in a very friendly tone:
"You can relax a little. I have never thought of you as a hostage."
As the heir to a count, Greta had received an elite education since childhood.
She had some understanding of both internal and military affairs, which was a great help to Viola, who was short on officials, in handling government affairs.
And Greta had indeed done a good job.
Whether it was prayers or government affairs, every task was impeccable.
But although this person had a sweet appearance, she was like someone who couldn't smile at all.
Every time Viola saw her, she had a serious, straight face.
"No, Your Highness. There is no room for carelessness in work. If you have no other instructions, I will proceed with my scheduled inspection of the factory's production progress."
Viola sighed.
"Alright. Report any problems to me at any time."
Greta bowed her head in a salute and then pushed open the office door to leave.
Being sent over as a hostage, Greta must have still held some resentment in her heart.
However, Viola didn't have time to ponder whether Greta was unhappy because of this.
She turned to look at the map hanging on the wall, which was covered with dense lines drawn in different colored pens.
She stared at the map and murmured:
"Three more months..."