The group numbered around fifty, all clad in armor, shimmering in the sunlight. Among the four flags in the队伍, three bore the twin-gun tower emblem of the Graycastle royal family, and the other a horse-head tower flag. He pondered for a moment, recognizing it as the banner of the Northland's Horse family.

A man stepped forward from the knightly group and shouted, "I am Lehman Horse, envoy of King Tifieco, and I bring the royal city's decree. Lower the drawbridge!"

"Credentials?" Pero shouted, leaning out.

The man removed a bow and arrow from his back, attached a rolled-up piece of paper to the arrow, and shot it directly onto the city wall.

A guard beside him immediately retrieved the arrow. Pero unfurled the parchment, noticing the faint intertwining gold threads embedded in the document, and the Wimbledon royal seal in the lower right corner. It was indeed an envoy of the new king.

"Lower the bridge, open the gate." Pero took a deep breath. He had a rough idea of the content of the so-called royal city decree – it was likely related to Roland Wimbledon. Since the envoy was not an imposter, he had no reason to refuse entry to the new king's messenger, as that would be tantamount to antagonizing the Graycastle royal city. Once this news spread, the other major families would undoubtedly turn against the Honeysuckle territory, and the suppressed undercurrents within the city would instantly rebound.

However, Tifieco sending only a fifty-man delegation to inquire about the situation confirmed the Fourth Prince's claim – the new king might not have time to govern the Western Territory at the moment.

Since His Highness the Prince could repel a ducal alliance of over a thousand men, these fifty were unlikely to succeed.

Of course, this news needed to be conveyed to His Highness Roland as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, he called over the knight from earlier, "Westerlo, take three short-tailed horses, change mounts along the way, and deliver this message to the lord of Border Town as quickly as possible. Tell him, Tifieco's men have arrived."

"As you command." Westerlo nodded.

Watching the knight turn and leave, Pero sighed, "Let's go down and greet the new king's envoy."

...

Standing at the city gate, he realized that, apart from the dozen or so at the head of the队伍 who appeared energetic, the remaining knights looked listless, sitting hunched on their horses, as if they were about to fall off at any moment.

"Greetings, Sir Lehman," Pero nodded. "I am Pero Hermon, the fortress administrator of the Honeysuckle family."

The term "fortress administrator" tasted somewhat bitter to him. If he were truly the ruler of the Western Territory and the Duke of the Fortress, he wouldn't need to greet the envoy, or even meet him at the gate. He would simply stay in the lord's castle and wait for the envoy to request an audience.

"I heard your name back in Coldwind Ridge, 'Acting Duke'," Lehman dismounted and walked up to him with a smile. "The Western Territory is truly a strange place. Duke Ryan gathered a large army but failed to conquer a small town, instead losing his life. This is rare in Graycastle. Of course, this might be good news for Honeysuckle."

Pero automatically ignored the sarcasm in his words. "Are your men alright? They seem a bit...uncomfortable."

"Don't mind them," Lehman glanced back. "Probably just travel fatigue and unfamiliarity with the climate. They'll be fine after a rest. Frankly, it's too hot here."

"The North is too cold," Pero said, since the envoy didn't care, "I'm curious why His Majesty's envoy departed from Coldwind Ridge instead of the royal city?"

"Because His Majesty Tifieco is currently in the Northern Territory," he stated directly. "Duke Ace took advantage of the border guards' weakness to incite a rebellion in the north, suspected of treason, and the King had no choice but to send troops to quell the rebellion."

Rebellion? Pero frowned. This defied logic. Although the border guards consisted of knights and mercenaries from various parts of Graycastle, most of the members were still under the Duke's command. There was no reason to launch a rebellion when his own troops had suffered heavy losses. Recalling Duke Ryan's letter, in which he planned to seize the opportunity to annex the Northland, Pero felt a sense of foreboding... Could Tifieco Wimbledon be pursuing the same idea?

"Then what is the royal city's decree?"

"A recall order," Lehman said. "His Majesty sent me here precisely because he does not wish to see the Western Territory also descend into war. If I remember correctly, His Majesty sent a recall order to Roland Wimbledon as early as the Months of Demons, but he still has not returned to the royal city."

"The document should have arrived at the fortress five months ago, but His Highness Roland, unlike the lords of previous years, did not return to the fortress to take refuge before the Demon Months descended," Pero paused. "At the time, he was leading his people in Border Town to resist the invasion of demonic beasts, and could not immediately set out to return to the royal city."

"The Months of Demons ended almost three months ago," Lehman said indifferently. "The King sent me to escort him back to the royal city."

"When do you plan to go to Border Town?"

"We'll depart early tomorrow morning."

Normally, it would take three days to reach the town. If the knight he sent traveled day and night, he could deliver the message in a day and a night. That way, His Highness Roland should be able to prepare accordingly, Pero thought. All he could do was this much.

Leading the envoy and his party to the fortress camp, he stopped and said, "This used to be the Duke's Knights' garrison. You can rest here for the night. Dinner will be delivered by a special person. As for the envoy," he looked at Lehman Horse, "the castle will host a lavish banquet for you. Please be sure to attend."

"Thank you for your generosity, Sir Pero." The latter smiled.

*******************

After the banquet, Lehman returned to the camp, entered the central tent, and several subordinates immediately gathered around him.

"What's the situation?" he asked.

"There are people watching all around, and there's a unit of nearly a hundred men stationed at the exits, but most of them don't have complete armor. They're probably city patrolmen," one man reported. "It seems the lord doesn't trust us."

"At least the intelligence is correct. The information I gathered at the banquet confirms this," Lehman said in a deep voice. "After the Duke's defeat, most of the knights were taken to Border Town. There aren't many elite troops in the fortress that can be used for combat."

Before arriving here, he had learned in detail about the situation at Changge Fortress. King Tifieco had given him a very simple task: to find out the reasons for the Duke's failure and then take appropriate measures to seize control of the Western Territory as soon as possible.

"How are those drug takers...doing?"

"They're almost at their limit," another man said. "Now, as long as you give them pills, they'll do anything."

The envoy was just a facade. The fifty-man隊伍 only had thirteen real knights. The others were mercenaries disguised as knights. Under the influence of the Church's pills, they were now more obedient than hounds and more ferocious than demonic beasts. This was the key to Lehman seizing the city gate. According to plan, another fifteen hundred militia were slowly approaching the fortress. As long as the city gate was opened, the city would fall into his hands.

"Distribute the pills, leave ten men to deal with the patrolmen, and the others proceed to the east gate," he ordered.