Chapter 1803 - 501: The King Who Excels at Extinguishing Fires Cares for His People

Ever since the grand mourning ceremony concluded, King Theoden's reputation for loving his people like his children spread across Roland City like the spring breeze.

The citizens praised him in taverns and churches, all moved to tears by His Majesty's great sacrifice of eating vegetarian for a week for the departed commoners.

However, no one noticed that the castle's kitchen seemed to be missing two straightforward chefs. Just like no one had bothered to count how many people had actually died in Twilight Province.

In any case, this "merciful" reputation even crossed the borders and reached the neighbors.

Merchant Newcastle from Thunder City keenly sensed the enormous business opportunity within, so he brought something good from Thunder City—a manual fire pump.

He firmly believed that since His Majesty the King was so empathetic to his subjects, even willing to eat vegetarian for a week for the souls of the dead, he surely wouldn't skimp on gold coins for this advanced fire extinguisher.

Newcastle was a man of action, well aware of court rules.

He spent ten thousand gold coins to grease the palms of Roland City's governor, court officials, and even relatives of the king's lover, finally securing a precious opportunity to present his product in front of the king.

The royal court in Roland City was solemn and oppressive in atmosphere.

The red-painted fire pump Newcastle brought was placed at the center of the marble floor, its brass pipes gleaming in the candlelight, clashing with the surrounding cold marble columns.

Newcastle took a deep breath, restraining the excitement in his heart, and addressed His Majesty resting on the throne.

"Your Majesty! It is an honor to meet you. I am Newcastle from the Campbell Duchy. Please allow me to introduce this innovative product from Thunder City to you—manual fire pump! Its efficiency is sixty times that of manual labor..."

Theoden observed Newcastle's showcase with interest, but after a while, a hint of weariness crept onto his aging face.

He yawned.

Seeing the king's yawn, the noble who guided Newcastle gently coughed, reminding him of the time.

Newcastle promptly stopped his speech and began directing his servants to operate the strangely shaped machine.

Under the curious gazes of the nobles, Newcastle's servants struggled to press the levers on both sides.

As the cylinders moved, a powerful stream of water abruptly shot from the copper nozzle, precisely extinguishing a distant burning brazier.

Some faces showed surprised expressions, and some even exclaimed.

But that was all.

Their surprise was more like watching an unexpected circus performance, as alternative methods to magic for spraying water weren't common.

As for being impressive, not quite.

"What an amusing thing, is this another new toy invented by the Campbell people recently?"

"Not really recently. I visited Thunder City once about a decade ago, and I recall they had this back then."

"Doesn't look as good as the Magic Scroll."

"Haha, you say that right."

But Newcastle did not notice the lack of interest hidden behind the surprise, completely immersed in his own world.

"Your Majesty! Did you see it?"

His voice was high due to excitement, arms spread wide like embracing a better future.

"It only requires six well-trained firefighters to do the work of sixty people carrying water buckets! Its water stream can easily go over rooftops without needing a Cloud Ladder!"

"Most importantly, it will bring unparalleled efficiency! A fire team can quickly move along the street without mobilizing the chaos of the entire city's residents! As long as you deploy it at street corners, they can immediately suppress the fire soon after it breaks out!"

"I promise you, Your Majesty! With this, Roland City will never again suffer the tragedy of a district being burned down! It can save countless lives and properties, and your wisdom will be engraved in history!"

Newcastle spoke passionately, trying to move the king on the throne with his eloquence.

Roland City's population is three times that of Thunder City; if he could open up the market for fire pumps here, the profit would be unimaginable!

However, Theoden sitting there seemed drowsy.

He supported his chin with one hand, eyelids drooping, yawning from time to time.

As for how that machine sprayed water and how far it could spray, he had no interest. To him, it was just a sideshow interspersed between daily affairs.

Of course, he admitted that this little clown from Campbell performed quite energetically.

Before Newcastle could finish speaking, Theoden raised his hand to interrupt him.

"That... merchant from Campbell."

Newcastle immediately fell silent, bowing his head, waiting for His Majesty's final judgment on the fate of his product.

"Your idea is very good." Theoden slowly sat up, his voice tinged with the laziness of waking up, "I support your creativity, the Kingdom indeed needs a safer environment."

He was about to grin with joy, but it was shattered by the following "but."

"But..." Theoden shifted his tone, continued slowly, "Firefighting is the work of the guild craftsmen. They have lived off this for generations. The Royal Family should not interfere with their livelihood, do you understand what I mean? We are different from you, we cannot compete with the people."

"But, Your Majesty," hearing the indifference behind the voice, Newcastle's throat moved, attempting a final plea, "isn't the life and property safety of Roland City citizens more important than those people's livelihood?"