"It's hard to say, it's just a little twists and turns. Fortunately, he arrived at Ark Port with his blessings." Roger glanced at Allen and smiled.

Earl Ouban put down the book in his hand, leaned forward slightly and said, "When it comes to that, I want to ask you, Mr. Roger, to bring me a group of war slaves. I believe that they will come in handy soon."

Roger was slightly surprised, but still said: "This is not a problem, but it takes time to prepare. After all, I don't have many war slaves on hand. If the number of Count is large, I have to draw from other places."

"I need a thousand more people, at least."

"Are you a thousand war slaves? OK, I get it."

Allen, who had been silent, spoke at this time: "Does the Count rely too much on war slaves? After all, they are just slaves and not formal troops. If they rely too much, the army leader will be inseparable."

Earl-You-You-Xiao-Speak-New-New-Fast-Fast-Move your eyes and fall on Allen: "Young Baron, please tell me which territory you are from."

"Storm City, Lord."

"Storm City?" Earl Ouban looked at Roger unexpectedly and said, "Isn't your partner to work with the baron of Storm City? Then this one..."

"Barl Maud has become a thing of the past. Now, Sir Alan is in charge of that city and is operating better than Baron Maud. This time, Sir Alan and I come to visit you with Earl Marquis, hoping to have the opportunity to serve you."

Then Oban looked at Allen seriously, and he asked quietly: "Baron Allen, in your opinion, how can we build an invincible iron brigade lion?"

"Financial resources, military equipment, training, and strong people are indispensable. As for war slaves, I admit that they are good cannon fodder troops, but they are just cannon fodder. They should be auxiliary parts of the army, not the main link."

"It seems that Sir Allen has his own set of insights in military management."

"I dare not, this insight is nothing in front of Lord Earl."

Oban laughed and thought for a moment and said, "I will have a meeting. If Mr. Roger and Sir Allen have time, why not listen together?"

"Sir Earl, if it is confidential, I think this is not appropriate, right?" Roger said.

"It's okay, you are my friend and business partner. As for Sir Allen, I want to hear his opinions for a while." Oban looked at the wall clock: "The meeting will be held in an hour, and you can rest in the fort first."

He tapped the silver bell on the table, and the butler Mess walked in. The count ordered: "Please take these two people down to rest. They are my important guests. You can treat me well."

"Yes, sir."

Allen and the other were taken to an elegantly decorated room. After Mess asked the servants to bring coffee and snacks, they retreated. When he returned to the study, Earl Ouban said to him: "Go and call the Black Cats over. I need to know what happened to the border recently, and the identity of Sir Allen. Mr. Mess, you have half an hour."

"I'll do it right away."

In the room, Allen stood at the window and happened to see the butler Mess leaving. Roger was enjoying the mellow coffee behind him. He blew hotly and said, "The Earl's reaction is a bit strange."

"Mr. Roger, when did Earl Ouban start buying a large number of war slaves from you?"

Roger thought for a moment and said, "Earl Ouban has always had business dealings with me. The largest merchant group in Ark Port, "Emerald Pearl", is run by the Ridley family. They have several caravans under their charge, and the guards they use are almost all of them provided by the war slaves I provide. But when it comes to buying a large number of war slaves, it only started half a year ago."

"It seems that this count is ambitious."

"You mean, Lord Earl is ready to expand?" Roger's eyes lit up. No matter when, war will always bring huge benefits, especially wars initiated by his own business partners.

"It is obvious that it is not difficult to see from the city of Ark Harbor that the wealth controlled by the Ridley family has reached the top that the title of Earl can reach. The Earl is probably no longer satisfied with the worldly wealth. What he hopes for now is probably greater power." Allen turned around and smiled and said, "But the Ridley family is good at managing the city, but when it comes to managing the army, it seems that they are not their strength."

"You talk about the earl's pain point." Roger put down his cup and said, "The Ridley family has never been known for its force, otherwise they would not bend to the relatively peaceful southern border of the empire. You should know that the northern border of the empire is the most chaotic place, with alien species standing in a covetous way. Live in the north, all families with a long history are known for their force, and at the same time, it is also the best place to seek military merit."

"If the Ridley family had prospered martial arts, they would have marched into the Northland long ago, so why would they stay in Ark Port for so many hundred years? As for Earl Ouban, as far as I know, this adult has quite a degree of accomplishment in economy, urban management and even art. But his personal force is only 24. This is one level away from the standard of title set by the Empire. If the Ridley family had not contributed huge taxes to the Empire every year, I doubt whether Lord Ouban could maintain this title."

"Where is their army?"

Roger shook his head and said, "The Count has a lot of troops on the surface, a regular army of 5,000 people and a war slave team of more than 2,000 people. But in fact, the army belonging to the Count's direct line is pitifully few, with less than a thousand people. As for the number of the so-called 5,000 troops, it is actually supported by several large mercenary groups. These mercenary groups have been employed by the Count for many years and guard several important cities in the territory. For example, the mercenary group of Ark Port is responsible for the defense of the mercenary group "Black Wings".

"As for the other jazz who depended on the Earl, they were more like merchants and artists than lords or warriors."

Alan thought to himself, is this called a feather flock? At this time, carriages came in one after another at the arch of the castle, each carriage had a different mark. Alan whispered: "The Earl is here, a guest."

Before the meeting began, Butler Mess returned with sweat, and brought a pale man. In the study, the count looked at the man and said, "I think Butler Mess has told you, what do I need to know?"

"Yes, dear Count Ouban. It's just that the time you requested is too urgent, so we only have time to find out some of the information."

"Tell me."

The man bowed and said, "About the border, the past six months can only be described as storm. Sur City and Storm City have changed hands one after another. The city lords Edward and Allen emerged and replaced the original lord at an unimaginable speed. In particular, the Lord Allen, according to the information we found, he seemed to be the young master of a certain family. At first, he came to Sur City as a merchant. Then he used some means to let his subordinates take the position of the city lord, and then he in turn established his own position. I can only describe this whole process in the word "stunning."

"So how much do you Black Cats know about this Sir Allen?"

"Not much," the man grinned, "but there is only one thing that is certain that Sir Allen is not from the Empire."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because his identity documents seem to be fabricated by the local administrator. You should know that the Empire will not interfere in places like the border areas. And this Lord Allen, although the documents were fabricated by the local officials, the procedures are legal. Even if this matter is put on the Imperial House, it will only be left alone. That's why I say, this Lord's methods are really wonderful."

Oban frowned and said, "It's interesting. He is not from the Empire. If you join the imperial car and seize the title, you shouldn't be just a border area. What an ambitious little guy."

"Yes, this lord is not only ambitious, but also has strength." The Black Cat's man continued: "Not only was the army of Storm City defeated by him, but even the Black Iron Fort signed a peace agreement with Storm City for some reason. Lord Earl, what are the Black Iron Forts? I think you know better than me."

“And there has been a big thing recently.”

"oh?"

"On the Viscount Danny's son, his army, joined forces with Dawn Castle and the two Bauhinia troops, found an excuse to attack Storm City, but Lord Alan repelled it. That's all, the commanders of the two armies of Bauhinia and Dawn Castle even asked him to deduct it. For this reason, the two sirs were so shameless that they just exchanged the ransom for their commander not long ago."

Earl Ouban's eyes lit up and he said happily: "In other words, this Sir Allen is good at fighting?"

"Yes, and he himself is also a brave warrior."

"Very good, the information you provide is valuable. Go down with Butler Mes, and he will give you the reward you deserve."

The black cat man saluted exaggeratedly: "Thank you for your generosity, sir."

Just as he was about to withdraw from the study, Earl Ouban suddenly said behind him: "I don't want Daniel to get similar information. If it is leaked, you should know what will happen."

The man's back chilled and quickly turned around and said, "Although we sell everything, we only have principles not to sell. One of the principles is that if we don't sell similar intelligence, please rest assured by the Count."

"I really appreciate your professional attitude and work hard. I believe there are still many things to use for you in the future." The Count waved his hand.

The man went down, and a moment later Metz came back and said, "Sir, the other jazz have arrived."

"Okay, go and invite Sir Allen and the others to enter the compartment first, and don't let others notice it."

"Yes, sir." r1058

...
Chapter completed!