At his manor in Panshi Ridge, George Nary, Earl, finally received the messenger from the Western Region. He tore open the letter, quickly scanned through it, and his expression grew increasingly gloomy.
“What does the letter say?” a restless baron asked. From the River God family crest on the questioner's chest, it could be seen that this person was a member of the Leviathan family, whose territory was located at the confluence of rivers, and was a somewhat well-known aristocratic family in the area.
And there were about twenty other nobles like him in the room.
It could be said that half of the enfeoffed nobles near Chishui City had gathered here.
George glanced at the other party coldly, and did not answer immediately. Instead, he handed the letter to Earl Guy Urian of Sanhe. After he finished reading it, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "Roland Wimbledon has stripped the lord of Willow Town of all his power and has occupied his territory as his own."
"The new king… has really done this?"
"Damn it, does that mean his purpose for this trip is really as the previous news claimed, to take back our titles?"
"On what basis? This was passed down from my grandfather's generation!"
"Willow Town is too close to the fortress and not very large. It doesn't mean that Chishui City will be the same, right?" someone suddenly said.
"He didn't swallow the royal capital in one gulp before, so he probably couldn't swallow it. Perhaps we should wait and see."
Hearing this, George couldn't help but laugh out loud in anger. "Could it be that Chishui City is farther from the Western Region than Evernight City? Could it be that the sum of your territories is wider than the entire Northern Region? Are you blind or stupid? Roland Wimbledon has wanted to take back the power of all the nobles for more than a day or two—the example of the Northern Lands is right in front of you, the merchants' news repeatedly mentioned this matter, and now even Willow Town has become a living proof, yet you are still agonizing over whether you will be the next unlucky ones?"
"Please watch your language, Your Excellency."
These harsh and rude remarks made the nobles frown.
"Let me," Guy waved his hand towards the Panshi Earl, "In fact, everyone knows very well that our new king is definitely not an ordinary person. Everything he has done since being assigned to Border Town has been beyond imagination. It is meaningless to measure gains and losses using the old rules and experience. I also asked people to inquire in the Western Region. Roland Wimbledon has no intention of hiding his thoughts at all. No longer enfeoffing land, nobles only retaining titles… these have basically become his slogans for managing the territory, and they are openly hung in the city square."
His calm tone eased everyone's emotions, "You may say that Chishui City is not his territory, but Changge Fortress was not his at first, not to mention the Northern Region. Roland Wimbledon will become the King of Graycastle sooner or later. When that time comes, even if he declares that the entire kingdom is his territory, we can only accept it—and this scene is almost certain." Guy paused, "If you lose your fiefdoms and your people, what will you have left?"
"But what can we do?" Huff, who was also a baron like Leviathan, couldn't hold back his temper, "His Majesty Tiffeco was defeated, and the Church was also defeated. Who else can stop his advance? When the Western Region army came to Chishui City, didn't everyone see how they fought? Within a hundred steps, the snow powder weapons were deadly to the touch, and even heavy-armored knights could not get close. Such power is simply not something we can contend with!"
These words aroused a chorus of agreement.
"Of course, there is a way," George said coldly, "Although snow powder weapons are powerful, they are not without weaknesses—they need an open space to be used. The larger the space, the more amazing the power, but when compressed into a narrow environment, their effect is very limited."
"A narrow... environment?"
"For example, the lord's castle," he swept across the nobles present one by one, saying each word distinctly, "When Roland Wimbledon arrives in Chishui City, he will definitely stay in the castle—it can't fit many guards, as long as we can send more people in, the situation will become favorable to us."
"Has Lord Delta agreed to cooperate with you?" Leviathan asked in surprise.
"With his temperament, how could he do such a thing? Even if you put a knife to his neck, he probably wouldn't be able to muster the courage to resist." George shook his head disdainfully, "However, this guy has helped me a lot—the castle has many secret passages connected to the outer city, as long as we disperse our manpower and place them inside in advance, it will work."
"How do you... know about this?"
"Thanks to Earl Delta. If he didn't always like to dig around in the city, I wouldn't have been able to buy this information from those craftsmen. As the saying goes, even a rabbit has several burrows. I don't know whether to praise him for being cautious or cowardly," George sneered, "This trick was originally intended to deal with him, but now it's being used on the Fourth Prince, so it's not a waste."
"But this is treason..." Huff murmured, "And if Roland Wimbledon is killed, his army will also crush us into dust!"
"Who said anything about killing him?" George knocked on the table in displeasure, "We only need to control the situation and capture Roland. If the new king is not dead, his army will not dare to act arbitrarily, and we can even force the other party to withdraw their troops. Once this news spreads, those nobles will undoubtedly immediately stand on our side—don't forget that he only actually controls the Western Region. When the time comes to reverse the situation, it is still a question whether the Duke of the Northern Region will insist on standing with him."
"But he is ultimately..."
"He is not the real king yet, baron," Guy Urian interrupted, "He has not been crowned, nor has he announced it to the world. We can find another Wimbledon bloodline—a royal offspring who believes in nobles and follows the ancient traditions—to be the king. As long as we search carefully in the royal capital, such a person can always be found."
"If that moment really comes, maybe we won't have to look, and someone will have already stood up." George lowered his voice, "And you should all know how much benefit can be gained from this. One side is losing everything, and the other side is glorifying the family. Is there any need to hesitate?"
A commotion arose among the nobles. It could be seen that they had already made a general choice in their hearts.
George Nary was not surprised by this result. The nobles he had brought were themselves more inclined to stand on Tiffeco's side. Even if the Second Prince was no longer there, they would not serve the Fourth Prince, who seriously hindered their interests. The temptation of additional benefits was enough to make this group of cowards become bold.
However, their abilities were always limited. Without someone to lead them, they were just a pile of loose sand. Only he himself was more suitable to be the lord of Chishui City and manage this region.
After a moment, Leviathan and others seemed to have made up their minds, "What should we do next?"
"Draw out a portion of trustworthy knights to listen to my command. The rest… wait and see." George said confidently.
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