Gospel of Blood-Chapter 572 : Changes in the Starfall Kingdom

Hearing Nice’s voice after a long time, Charlotte couldn’t help but smile slightly.

You know what, say what you will about him, but even with all his annoying habits, suddenly hearing his voice again after all this time did make Charlotte feel a bit nostalgic.

It felt like a wanderer finally returning home after a long journey.

Of course, another reason was that Charlotte was now extremely curious.

She had been “asleep” for a full three and a half years, and she wanted to know how her cult and kingdom had fared during this time, and what had transpired on the Myria continent.

To say nothing of the recent overwhelming influx of divine power she had felt upon awakening, even without considering the faith network of the Holy Court she had inadvertently tapped into, she could still sense the vastness of her own faith power.

Charlotte felt that during her three and a half years of slumber, the number of her followers had increased by an order of magnitude!

Although it hadn’t quite broken through to the millions, it must have reached seven or eight hundred thousand.

And that was just the devout believers who were connected to her faith network.

It should be noted that new converts or those whose faith wasn’t deep enough weren’t linked to the network.

According to Charlotte’s understanding of church faith on the Myria continent, the ratio of shallow believers to devout ones was typically at least four to one.

In other words, the influence of the Nightshade Cult, in just three and a half years, had expanded to affect nearly half the population of the Starfall Kingdom.

The extraordinary power accumulated by the Nightshade Cult during these three and a half years was likely significant, but just now, when Charlotte connected to the Holy Court’s faith network, she had almost fully replenished her divine power, so she hadn’t yet examined it closely.

But clearly, during her years of slumber, her followers had been diligently carrying out the development plans she had laid out, and it seemed they had done quite well!

Thinking this, Charlotte gently raised her hand, and the clothes prepared in the wardrobe in the secret room flew towards her and dressed her automatically.

Smoothing her pale golden hair, she flicked her fingers to unlock the secret chamber’s door, which only she could open.

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As the door opened, she saw another “her” excitedly rushing in.

However, a golden-red phantom was even faster.

“Supreme Sovereign, great God Nyx, noble master whom Roman serves! Wuwuwu, you… have finally awakened!”

It was the Roman Sword.

The artifact swiftly flew over, bypassing the black cat Nice who still looked like Charlotte, and excitedly rubbed against her leg.

“Wonderful! Wonderful! Wuwuwu, I can finally sense your power again! You have no idea, during your slumber, I felt like our connection was about to break! I thought you had abandoned me!”

Seeing the excited wisdom artifact, Charlotte patted its ornate hilt and couldn’t help but smile.

“Long time no see, Roman.”

The Roman Sword, having recognized Charlotte as its master, had a special connection with her, more profound than with any of her other followers.

During her time-traveling ventures, the connection with the Roman Sword had weakened the most.

For the other followers, it was just difficult to communicate with their “slumbering” True Ancestor, but for the wisdom artifact, it was almost as if the God had completely “disappeared.”

After all, based on Charlotte’s observations, her time travel involved her entire being, even her “existence” itself.

Having comforted the Roman Sword, Charlotte turned her gaze to the now self-consciously reverted-to-cat form Nice, who was looking at her eagerly.

She smiled and reached out to rub Nice’s head.

“Long time no see, Nice.”

…

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

“……”

In the Starfall Red Palace, within the opulent halls.

The fully dressed Charlotte walked through the long corridors, nodding in response to the maids and knights who stood to the sides and saluted her.

Beside her, Nice, now in cat form, followed with his tail held high, while the Roman Sword floated in mid-air on the other side.

Everything in the palace seemed to be running normally, just as it had before Charlotte fell asleep.

Well, not everything was unchanged.

Charlotte noticed that many of the lamps had been replaced with magical devices, and the proportion of magical equipment in the palace had increased significantly since before she had slept.

This was obviously connected to the plan she had implemented to develop the magi-tech and alchemy industries before she went to sleep.

There were also many new faces among the palace staff, likely new recruits.

Everyone she encountered greeted her with respect.

This genuine respect was far more sincere than the perfunctory gestures she had received when she first ascended to the throne, even more so than before she fell asleep.

Three and a half years had been enough for “Charlotte de Castell” to firmly establish her rule over the Starfall Kingdom.

No one realized their “Queen” had changed.

Of course, no one had realized it three and a half years ago either.

Nice, clearly mastering the art of impersonation, seemed to have worked hard these past years, as evidenced by the staff’s attitude.

Charlotte glanced at Nice with satisfaction, and feeling her approving gaze, Nice’s tail lifted even higher.

…

Back in her study, Charlotte took her seat on the throne.

Nice happily prepared a glass of sweet milk for her.

Charlotte took a sip, savoring the familiar sweetness she hadn’t tasted for a long time while in the Free City-State Alliance, where she had maintained her “Lilith” persona.

“Lady Charlotte, here is the information I have prepared! From the day you slumber to today, it contains all the details of the kingdom and the cult, organized exactly as you instructed before you slumber!”

Nice eagerly presented the thick stack of documents to her desk.

Charlotte nodded and took the documents, browsing through them as she asked.

“Where are the others?”

Nice replied respectfully.

“Sebastian is patrolling the northern coast and overseeing the resettlement of Free Tribe immigrants. The kingdom has changed so much in these years that he’s been very busy, but I’ve already sent him a magical message about your awakening, and he’s on his way back.”

“Yurst has been busy with the magi-tech industry. Over the years, he’s developed many new things and is now the chief alchemy consultant for the industry company!”

“Luff has been active within the cult. Your faith has spread to every corner of the kingdom. Although not yet overtly acknowledged, the number of believers is almost on par with the established church’s influence in the Starfall Kingdom.”

“Of course, the believers don’t know you are the God Nyx.”

“The Nez Clan has also stabilized. After you fell into slumber, there were a few minor disturbances, but they were eventually quelled by Duke Bardock and Duke Robin. Many bloodbornes have joined the Holy Court, now known as the Crimson Nobility.”

“From the Harcos Clan, Prophet Margo has maintained contact with us, greatly assisting the expansion of the Nightshade Cult.”

“As for Albrecht… he visited Starfall a few times and seemed to suspect your slumber, but I managed to fool him.”

Charlotte nodded slightly.

She multitasked, listening to Nice’s report while browsing the provided documents.

As Nice had said, the Starfall Kingdom had indeed undergone significant changes in the past few years.

The two key areas were:

First, the magi-tech and alchemy industries of the Starfall Kingdom. After integrating the resources of the Nez Clan and the Harcos Clan and setting development plans, the kingdom’s magi-tech industry experienced explosive growth over the years.

It was a natural progression, in a sense.

When Charlotte first took over as Countess of Castell, she had noticed that the Myria continent was at a critical point similar to the “Industrial Revolution” on Earth.

Small and large alchemy workshops sprang up like mushrooms after rain, and various new alchemical tools appeared among the nobility. More and more nouveau riche made their fortunes from alchemy and trade, especially in Castell territory, which was showing signs of early capitalism.

Of course, here it was the magi-tech revolution rather than the industrial revolution of Earth.

Charlotte had been steering towards a magi-tech revolution since her ascension. With funding from the Harcos Clan and assistance from the former Legendary Mage Nicholas, everything proceeded according to plan.

The most notable achievement was the unprecedented success of the magi-tech and alchemy industry company designed by Charlotte before her slumber. In just three and a half years, with funding from the Harcos Clan and Nice’s improved technology, it had become a formidable entity in the northern part of the continent.

This success triggered a series of chain reactions, leading to the rapid development of various magi-tech and alchemy workshops in the Starfall Kingdom.

Nice’s documents showed that Starfall Kingdom’s magi-tech and alchemical products now occupied about 40% of the market, surpassing the long-dominant Mage Association.

The magi-tech and alchemy industry company Charlotte established had even extended its magical device trade to the eastern Coria Kingdom.

The company’s profits had reached a staggering figure, even after considerable dividends to the invested nobility and reinvestment in production, leaving a very impressive amount for the royal treasury.

Twenty million…

A full twenty million gold tana!

This was equivalent to half of Starfall Kingdom’s annual fiscal revenue when Charlotte first took the throne.

And this was just the third year since the company’s establishment. According to the plans of Charlotte and Nice, future revenue would only continue to grow.

Charlotte couldn’t help but marvel. Trade, especially high-end goods trade with a technological edge, was incredibly profitable.

The industrial-scale production of magi-tech devices was even more lucrative than she had imagined. Not only the nobility but wealthy commoners were also eager buyers of Starfall-produced magi-tech and alchemical products.

What was once a privilege for the high nobility had now become accessible to the affluent commoners.

Combining Starfall Kingdom’s alchemy workshops with Nice’s technological improvements and Charlotte’s “factory” model ideas, the magi-tech and alchemy industry company was a force of overwhelming dominance in this era.

It was foreseeable that soon, the Starfall Kingdom’s financial situation would improve dramatically, potentially making it the wealthiest kingdom on the Myria continent.