Part Two: The Human World Chapter Thirty-Five: The Duke's Troubles
When Asa returned to Bracada and heard that the new commander had arrived, he immediately went to the city hall. He had to explain to the Duke the affairs of the general and the five thousand soldiers.
When he came to the commander's room, he saw a handsome, powerful knight wearing a knight's armor, with clean golden curly hair and neat hair, sitting in the commander's seat with grace and staring at him. This
The knight's appearance, which had nothing to do with this simple and rough garrison, was as neat as the one seen at his wedding not long ago.
Asa frowned and glanced at him, without concealing the disgusted expression on his face, and asked: "Where's Duke Mrak?" Although he just didn't have a good impression of this guy before, now that he saw him, he realized that he had been the one for some time.
I hate him so much.
Clovis' face didn't look very good, and he replied: "The Duke will postpone his visit because of something else. I will be in charge of taking charge here for the time being."
Asa snorted coldly and said, "I knew I would be here a few days later. I'm in a bad mood now, and it's even worse after seeing the annoying people."
For the first time, Asa felt that status still has its benefits. I am the priest of the Magic Academy, what do you want?
Clovis's face immediately turned livid, and it seemed that he had to use a lot of effort to maintain his courtesy. He said in a somewhat unnatural and business-like tone: "I heard that the priest went after the general who incited the soldiers to leave without permission.
, I wonder if you can catch up?"
"Caught up."
"Then you have always been with their army?"
"right."
"So where are their people now? Have they fought with Ofu?"
"They are all dead." Asa didn't want to talk nonsense with this guy.
Clovis' eyes twitched and he asked coldly: "Did they all die in the battle? No one was left alive?"
"Yes." Asa also replied coldly.
Clovis's eyes scanned Asa up and down, and said: "Then how can you come back safely, Lord Priest? It seems that you are not injured at all, and your clothes are not even torn. Could it be that those orcs are reluctant to hurt you?"
?"
"Uh..." Asa was speechless and couldn't really tell what was going on. "I hid somewhere else to watch."
Clovis did not speak, his blue eyes still looked directly at this obvious liar. Asa also looked at him without showing any weakness. The two people stared at each other. After a while, Clovis suddenly shouted
He said, "Come here. Capture this traitor." A group of soldiers ran in after hearing the sound, but they were all confused and recognized that it was the priest.
Asa shouted angrily: "What the hell are you farting at?"
Clovis's righteous words were clear and precise: "As a priest, you did not direct the priests to stabilize the morale of the army. This led to Sanders inciting the morale of the army and leading the troops secretly. And if you hadn't colluded with those orcs, how could those five
Thousands of soldiers in the entire army have not escaped, but you are unscathed? According to the report from the detective horse, the general's troops have traveled at least hundreds of miles. How could you come back so quickly? A sentinel just reported that it was ten miles away.
An orc wyvern appeared outside, but it only shook for a moment and then flew away, and then you came back. How could there be such a coincidence? Don't these evidences show that you are colluding with the orcs?"
"This is...well..." Asa really couldn't explain it at this time. He did come back with a flying dragon, and he really didn't consider these issues.
"I seem to have heard them say that the priest really came back on foot just now, not on horseback..." A team leader added doubts to add fuel to the fire.
The soldiers were a little doubtful. Clovis had the upper hand. He waved his hand and shouted vigorously: "Isn't this evidence? Arrest him and kill him if he resists."
"Of course this is not evidence." A man came in from the outside in time, and a few words of magnanimity had the effect of turning everything upside down. "His Majesty has ordered the withdrawal of troops and plans to sign a peace treaty with Ouf. General Sanders
The five thousand soldiers who ignored military regulations and laws and attacked friendly countries for their own personal grudges should have been dealt with in accordance with military law. Thanks to the hard work of the priests, those misbehaviors were not allowed to damage the relationship between the two countries.
It did not lead to a greater disaster of war." This man concluded emotionally. "He is truly a servant of God with compassion and faith, a pillar of the country and a blessing to the people."
"Your Excellency, you are here so soon." Clovis looked a little panicked.
"Of course we have to be quick. Otherwise, how could we have stopped this misunderstanding in time. Fortunately, I heard that the priest was back as soon as I arrived, so I rushed over immediately." Duke Mrak waved his hand kindly and asked the soldiers to go out. He
He looked at Asa and smiled kindly, just enough to express his affection and apology. "We are all young people and are too impulsive, so sometimes our words are inevitably offensive. He doesn't know that we are actually on the same side.
It is not good for anyone to be at odds with each other. Please forgive me, the priest." He turned to Clovis and waved his hand. "You still haven't apologized to the priest?"
"Forget it. There is no one else here, so there is no need for any boring etiquette. Everyone still doesn't know what is going on." Asa spread his hands. "Okay, I also know that this is not good for anyone. Fortunately, the Duke
You are here. After explaining the things here, I will go back to the royal capital to find the bishop. This will prevent everyone here from being young and easily impulsive."
"That's not possible, Lord Priest." The Duke's smile looked particularly cordial and friendly today. "The reason for my delay is because of this matter. Your Majesty and the Bishop have an important task for you. This is a very important task.
, the bishop strongly recommends you, saying that you are the only one who can complete it. I have prepared a group of entourage for you to accompany you on your mission to Europe."
"Ah? What group?" Asa was confused.
"The entourage will accompany you to Eufu to negotiate and sign a peace agreement. You are now shouldering the glorious mission of bringing peace to the two countries."
Although it seemed a bit troublesome, it was just an additional task and probably wouldn't waste much time. Asa frowned and nodded reluctantly.
When Asa left and only the Duke and his deputy were left in the room, the Duke's face began to darken. After a moment of silence, he said coldly: "You must never attack him again."
"But...the evidence is enough. He can be executed immediately on the spot for collaborating with the enemy. There is no way he can escape among these 40,000 troops." Clovis tried hard to defend himself.
Impulsive excuse. "This person's existence is too dangerous..."
"Killing him may also make us unable to eat and walk around." The Duke's face became more and more gloomy, and his voice became a little impatient. The shrewd and energetic expression of the past was all gone, and now he looked fat and chubby.
His kind face was actually full of frustration and anger, making him look like a businessman who had just lost a lot of money in business.
Clovis was surprised. Although he had been following the Duke for a long time, he had never seen the Duke with such an expression.
It seems that it is not a big deal for a person to be discouraged. But the Duke, who is so wily, clever, has a city as big as the sea, and is on the cusp of political turmoil, can actually have such a frustrated look on his face like Clovis.
I almost wondered if the sky was falling.
Of course, the sky will not fall. And the current situation seems to be very good. There is nothing wrong with it. The Duke has now successfully taken over the military power. As long as he follows the plan, the next exciting drama will be launched immediately.
staged. So Clovis really didn't know why the Duke reacted like this.
But being curious, Clovis did not ask. He had already seen that there was some unusual light in the Duke's eyes, and he knew better that a good assistant should always speak less and do more. So he immediately went to inform
The generals in the army came to meet the new commander.
The Duke was the only one left in the room. Facing the empty room, the Duke sighed again.
Then he concentrated again, looked carefully, and listened attentively. After making sure that there was no one around, he suddenly kicked a stool and hit it against the wall. At this moment, he
The kindness and grace that seemed to have become part of the appearance suddenly disappeared completely. There was no longer the slightest smile in those slender eyes, but a cold light that could tear the person looking at them into pieces.
The majesty and murderous intent displayed on his face were no worse than those of any general who fought on the battlefield and killed countless people with swords and horses.
But the next moment, after venting, the Duke's face returned to its original state. After a while, when the other generals and Clovis came back, they could see a very kind, kind, graceful and approachable Duke. Of course, he was a little tired.
It cannot be concealed.
According to the Duke's cultivation, it is true that even if he has great setbacks and frustrations, he will never show it on the outside. And with his cultivation and means, even if there is any difficulty, he will definitely be able to deal with it with ease.
There are no traces. One of the reasons why he is so abnormal is that this setback is not only huge, but also ridiculously big.
This setback was that the agreement between him and Oufu failed because of this kid's intervention.
The Duke's plan dates back a few years ago. When he learned from Cedros that he planned to establish an orc city-state, he immediately expressed his extreme support. The Duke not only had to give Cedros a lot of material help
, and more importantly, secretly find ways to block any news of city construction from reaching the imperial military.
To completely conceal the news of the establishment of a city-state from the public, such a difficult task is extremely dangerous even for the duke's methods. Although the two are friends, for people who are doing big things, no matter how great the friendship is, it can't outweigh the benefits.
Relationship. Since the Duke is willing to do this, it can only be because he has greater interests and future.
At that time, the Duke had just received this extremely noble title, but he also knew that his career had basically come to an end.
Although he is indeed very capable and capable, and all the bureaucrats in the empire will not be his opponent if they plot and scheme together, there is indeed no way to advance his fame. As a person with no background
It is already a miracle that a low-level noble can reach his height, but no matter how many miracles there are, without background, there is no background. One person, no matter how wonderful political methods are, cannot compete with those wealthy families with many people. Even if he and E
The Erni family's marriage, the hereditary nobles with deep ideas only wanted to take advantage of his abilities, and did not really treat him as one of their own.
As for the military, although according to his ability, it is possible to slowly reach the peak of power. But in a peaceful era, that speed is too slow and completely unable to satisfy his urgent and huge ambitions.
If you want to rise to the top, there is only one chance, and that is war and crisis.
Only in critical moments of the empire's survival can he fully demonstrate his superb abilities. Only in turmoil and chaos can he have enough opportunities for him to make full use of his exquisite methods and conspiracies to remove obstacles and gain enough oil and water.
And an orc city-state suddenly appeared out of thin air in the wild highlands that it had always considered to be the territory of the empire. This will definitely attract the attention of the military, which has always wanted to use military achievements as political capital, and war is absolutely inevitable. But as long as it is allowed
Cedros was fully prepared. As long as the orc army reached a certain scale and was led by General Gru, the Duke would never believe that the Empire's troops had a chance to win, just like he didn't believe that eggs would eat people.
A complete defeat in the battle with the orcs would immediately plunge the government and the public into chaos. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he used his daughter to marry into the Erni family, and through his good relationship with the military, both sides regarded him as
With his own ambiguous status, coupled with some skills and his own well-known abilities, it is logical to be appointed to take on important tasks when the country's survival is in danger.
The battle after taking over the army was purely for show. As a condition for helping Cedros, the Duke required this kind of cooperation on the battlefield.
Although the battle must be won, it will never be smooth sailing. Damage and bloodshed are inevitable. The terrifying combat effectiveness of the orc troops is already well known, and the ability to survive in the face of danger and make a comeback is the true style of a general. But death is the wound.
Those who failed might as well be those generals and troops who were not easy to control or bribe. Such damage is definitely pleasant.
The victory cannot be too complete, just restore the situation of complete defeat. Cedros will never agree to lose the precious orcs he has tried every means to retain. Those big-eared monsters that are not easy to manage are perfect cannon fodder.
After the armies of both sides were in a stalemate on the high ground for a period of time, Cedros' prearranged diplomatic strategy began to take effect. The diplomatic pressure from various countries would naturally force the politicians to cease the war. At this time, he could use some subtleties that he had planted in advance.
The foreshadowing of the situation suddenly changed, from a fighting hero to a peace messenger, promoting the negotiation of a peace agreement. Of course, this transformation requires superb performances and methods. With the cooperation of his allies, the Duke will handle it without leaving any trace.
Of course, everyone is happy in the end. It is not a problem that Oufu was successfully established. He has military power in his hands, his achievements are unparalleled, his political capital has increased tremendously, and his dissidents have been almost eliminated. It is a trivial matter for one person to be less than ten thousand people, but the key is
It is to lay the foundation for greater actions and broader prospects in the future...
This is really an extremely grand strategy with a subtle and sophisticated layout, a unique vision, and an absolutely artful strategy. Even the Duke himself is proud of this plan. There are so many aspects to consider and the details that need to be taken care of in implementing this plan are so complicated.
The requirements for large and small layouts must be carefully coordinated and taken care of. Looking at the whole world, probably only a sage and political god like the Duke can complete it.
But this is definitely an extremely dangerous operation. As long as there is a leak anywhere and the layout is appropriate, one mistake will be made immediately and the whole game will be lost. Neither the imperial military nor the Erni family will allow someone to be in such deep danger.
The existence of scheming people is just like how a tolerant person would never dare to live with a poisonous snake. Even if his methods are ten times more clever, he will die without any room for change.
So he implemented it carefully all the way, walking on thin ice and being on guard, killing anyone who might leak the secret without letting go. He watched Oufu build up day by day, looking forward to the perfect ending day by day.
But he never expected that just when he was about to reap the fruits of success after putting in countless efforts, a stupid country boy would appear out of nowhere, causing the whole plan to come into being.
Unexpected huge changes.
The Duke didn't pay much attention to this kid when he first appeared. He was just a deserter, so he just had to kill him and silence him. He had already cleaned up this kind of garbage that had nothing to do with the overall situation.
But I don't know if it should be said to be an incredible coincidence or something, but the bishop actually stepped in. The Duke was a little surprised, but he was not panic. The bishop had never been involved in political affairs, and he probably just helped him out on a whim. As for himself,
With his own methods, he was able to deal with this kid properly in just a few words. He is still a waste and will not have the slightest impact on the overall situation.
When he came down again, he unexpectedly discovered that the relationship between the bishop and this boy was unusual. Now the Duke began to become a little interested. Maybe this was not a waste, but a good chess piece to win over the bishop. But when he used
After doing all he could, the Duke was surprised to find that this guy was actually a completely incompetent guy. He couldn't use it, but he didn't dare to destroy it. It was obviously against the rules of the game, but he stood there with a big sting, and the whole situation was ruined.
And there is an uncontrollable tendency.
The next development made the Duke even more unprepared and confused. The bishop, who had always been aloof from political affairs, suddenly said that the emperor requested a withdrawal and peace talks, which greatly accelerated the arrival of peace and left him with no time to take over the display of military power.
He made great achievements and eliminated dissidents. Not only that, but the candidate for the peace talks became that boy under the strong recommendation of the bishop.
The plan that he put in so much effort to implement at the risk of ruining his reputation ended up being nothing. A person ten times more educated than the Duke might not be able to get so angry. And that's not all, there are even more headaches.
's in the back.
In the past, the boy seemed not to want to get involved in the circle of power, so the Duke was not very worried. But now the bishop suddenly wants to focus on training that boy. And this boy who cannot be killed or won over has mastered a huge secret of his own.
, is undoubtedly the Sword of Darkmorris hanging over your head. From now on, every move must be scrupulous, restrained, inactive, fearful, and restrained... Such a situation
It is absolutely unbearable for the Duke. His exquisite methods, good reputation, so many foreshadowings, and endless ambitions...
So now the Duke is very depressed, annoyed, and irritable. He even wishes he could tear the kid into small pieces of meat with his own hands.
But the Duke is a Duke after all. No matter how depressed and irritable he is, he will never affect his noble rationality, so as soon as he gets here, he uses his supreme concentration and self-cultivation to suppress all his emotions. He is very graceful and skillful.
It effectively defuses tense scenes and atmospheres.
Emotions can never solve any problem. No matter how difficult the problem is, only carefulness, rationality, and practice can finally solve it. For such a huge problem, the Duke knew that he would be busy for a long time.