Firearms in a Fantasy World

Chapter 45: Father-Daughter Conflict

Translator: Cinder Translations

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Earl Merlin banished the fleeting absurd thoughts from his mind. Magic? How could that be possible?

The clergy of the Church always used legends of evil wizards and witches to frighten common folk, even establishing tribunals that occasionally feigned investigations with some old stones, claiming to detect traces of magical sorcery.

Due to their influence, the public unquestionably believed these claims, especially the lower classes.

However, to the educated minority, such tales of wizards and witches were merely fabrications concocted by the Church to expand its influence.

With the passage of time, many mysterious phenomena received rational explanations, such as the "will-o'-the-wisps" seen in graves, once attributed to malevolent spirits by the Church but later explained by alchemists as spontaneous combustion of a substance called "phosphorus."

As these lies were exposed, scholars who dared to explore the unknown were frowned upon by the Church, with some even persecuted and branded as wizards.

Yet, this did not quell people's curiosity. Even within the Church, factions arose advocating for approaching and understanding the divine through exploration of the unknown and study of nature, such as the renowned "Clear Reason Society."

The Church often arbitrarily associated unexplained persons or events with witchcraft or devilry to exploit people's fears and strengthen their dependency on the Church. Such ideas had started circulating within the circles of the aristocracy, dismissing wizards and magic as mere tricks to deceive the ignorant.

Earl Merlin himself held this view, though most nobles maintained a skeptical stance—believing it better to err on the side of caution.

"Lord Merlin, please continue your investigation into this matter. But regardless of the truth, the harsh reality of food shortage remains unchanged."

The King broke the silence in the study, addressing the most pressing issue at hand.

Princess Catherine frowned deeply. "Father, I have already ordered the gathering of provisions within royal territories, but it will take considerable time."

"Even if we manage to gather some provisions, it won't be enough to sustain a prolonged military campaign deep into the south."

King Rodney XVI fell silent, pondering for a while before saying, "We'll have to purchase from the lords who support the crown."

"It is an unwritten rule in this world that kings should be self-sufficient."

Since the collapse of the ancient Belar Empire, numerous new regimes had risen within its territories.

Newly formed nations frequently waged wars, yet their monarchs lacked the vast territories of the Belar Empire to sustain large standing armies with their wealth alone.

To meet military needs, nations commonly adopted two approaches:

Firstly, maintaining a small elite force during peace, such as various orders of knights, and mobilizing a larger force of commoners during wartime.

Secondly, employing a feudal system where the king granted land to deserving nobles, making them lords who in turn could grant land to their vassals, and so on down to knights.

Lords relied on the income from their estates to build military strength, and during wartime, they were obligated to answer their liege lord's call and provide their military forces for use by the liege lord.