Imperial Crown

Faced with Montreal's inquiry, the messenger respectfully replied: "The last time you met with Count Tyrone, I was at your side and will never admit your mistake."

Montreal asked: "So, is this old friend of mine who I haven't seen for a long time still healthy?"

The messenger immediately responded: "Very healthy."

"Very good, very good." Although he said so, there was no joy in Montreal's eyes: "Step back."

Montreal wears the family's "molten embers". This set of fourth-level enchanted plate armor is very gorgeous. The dark background is engraved with fiery red lines like lotus flowers. Whenever the fighting spirit surges, it will appear with A bright red stream of light.

Compared with the majesty of the armor, the count of Montreal's face is not so majestic. His skin is a little pale, his eye sockets are sunken, and his tall aquiline nose makes his face rather gloomy.

He opened the reply letter, glanced over it, and his expression became a little cold: "His mouth is still so tough. If Meng'en City had such strength, it would not be breached."

With that said, Montreal handed the letter to Thomas, who was sitting side by side with him.

As the red archbishop of the Church of Light, Thomas wears a black soft hat on his head, covering his slightly bald crown. His clothes are split open, and behind the golden priest robe is a bright red cloak.

He has a round face and compact features. He looks quite rich and honest, like a kind businessman.

Taking the letter, Thomas quickly scanned the contents and smiled softly: "Earl Tyrone is still so confident."

The content of the letter was very simple. On the surface, Earl Tyrone expressed his gratitude to Montreal and Thomas, but there was resentment between the lines, vaguely implying, "Even if you don't come, I can solve this problem myself."

Thomas asked: "Mr. Governor, what are you going to do next?"

Montreal said: "After marching a long distance, we are tired and exhausted. We have experienced another battle today. Both I and my soldiers need to rest."

"I'm going to rest for a while before making a decision."

This reason is not reliable.

Even if the road thaws in the spring and becomes muddy, the Fox family's army should have arrived long ago. The reason why it has delayed until this time is because it has been delayed for too long on the road.

They only marched for half a day every day, starting at dawn and resting at noon. If it rained or snowed, they had to stay for an extra day.

By dragging it like this, I hope that the hand of death can give some force and uproot the Slater family.

Unexpectedly, even after so long delay, even the inner city has been breached, and Count Tyrone is still alive and well.

"Earl of Montreal, I understand that you are considerate of your soldiers, but things should not be done this way." Thomas said calmly: "I still recommend that you continue the attack and clean up the hand of death."

Montreal looked unhappy. He didn't like others to teach him how to do things: "Archbishop Thomas, soldiers are not those tireless undead creatures. They need to rest."

"And isn't Earl Tyrone very energetic? The coalition forces of the four legions are also in high spirits. Why should you be anxious?"

Thomas sighed: "Meng En City is like a ravaged and crying girl, longing to return to the embrace of the Lord of Light. At this time, as the bishop of the Holy See, how can I ignore it?"

"But I can understand your consideration for the soldiers. Since your army needs to rest, then I will lead the priests to the coalition forces."

Montreal's expression became more depressed, and his voice was cold: "Sir Thomas, are you going to break the promise between us?"

Thomas shook his head slightly and met Montreal's gaze: "I only have loyalty to the Lord of Light in my heart!"

The two people's eyes collided, almost exploding a ball of lightning in the air.

Previously, the interests of both parties were basically the same.

Montreal is happy to see the decline of the Slater family and the city of Monn in ruins.

And Thomas also needs a struggling and crying city of grace. Otherwise, it cannot reflect the brilliance and power of the Lord of Light.

But now that they have entered the city, the interests of both parties have fundamentally conflicted.

Thomas's demand is for a quick solution, and he must show the indispensability of the Church of Light.

But Montreal is different. He wants to drag it out, use this war to continue cutting the flesh with a blunt knife, and bleed the Slater family bit by bit.

"Meng En City is indeed crying." Montreal said: "But even if you save her, she will return to her husband's arms, and your heaven on earth will not be born in her belly."

One of the terms of the deal between Montreal and Thomas was to allow the Church of Light to station troops in the Fox family's territory, and now he began to try to use this as a threat.

"The mercy of the Lord of Light cannot be measured by value." Thomas did not give in. "God loves the world, but the monarch may not."

Montreal frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"

"The Order of the Death Hand is not just making trouble in one place." Thomas said: "Now the five major human forces, the Insa Empire, the Kingdom of Lozeron, the Kingdom of Podomich, and the Feton city-states, as well as our Cairns Empire, are all There are shadows of the hand of death.”

"This is not just a security incident, but also a political issue."

"If other countries have put out the unrest, but our Keynesian Empire has not been able to solve the problem, especially if we fall behind the Insa Empire, what will our respected Majesty the King think?"

As the only two empires, Keynes and Insa have been competing with each other and are very keen to suppress each other's international reputation. If the Insa Empire extinguishes the war first, it can ridicule the Keynes Empire.

This is absolutely unacceptable to the face-conscious Keynes XVI. If he really condemns, the first person to bear the brunt is the Governor Montreal.

Montreal's eyelids are slightly condensed, and his breathing begins to become rapid: "Your Excellency the Archbishop wants to add insult to injury?"

"No, I'm just analyzing the situation for you." Thomas said lightly: "Of course, you have to judge for yourself how to do it."

Montreal clenched his fists.

This time, the offensive of the Death Hand Cult was powerful, far beyond his expectations. That's why he was full of expectations for the demise of the Slater family.

As the only two earl families in the province, the weakening of Slater means the rise of Fox.

As long as Tyrone dies now, the Slater family will be firmly suppressed by him in the next few decades!

However, the Fox family had taken root in the Nord Province by relying on the relationship with the royal family. Now that they are so close to the Church of Light, it is equivalent to betraying the royal family.

If they offend the Church of Light again, they will be in trouble on both sides.

"I understand what Bishop Thomas means." Montreal's voice was full of unhappiness: "After resting tonight, I will continue to march, and I hope Bishop Thomas will cooperate."

"Your good deeds will definitely be remembered by the Lord of Light." Thomas showed a peaceful smile on his face.

Montreal snorted coldly when he heard the words, and left the big tent.

Until his back disappeared, Thomas's face suddenly darkened: "Idiot."

In Thomas's view, Montreal's scheming is far inferior to Tyrone. The difference between the two families is so great, which is decisively related to the quality gap between the two heads of the family.

Montreal actually thought that he had autonomy and could choose to negotiate with the Church of Light. It was simply naive and ridiculous.

In fact, from the moment Montreal chose to cooperate with the Church of Light and watched the turmoil of the Hand of Death break out in the Nord Province, he had no choice but to cling to the thigh of the Church of Light.

Otherwise, the other nobles in the Nord Province and His Majesty Keynes XVI would let him know what the end of double-dealing would be!

Thomas showed a smug smile on his face.

Well, if Montreal's political sensitivity was not so bad, how could his plan go so smoothly?

The conversation in the big tent was unknown to outsiders, but the news of the arrival of the Fox family army had already spread throughout the city of Mon'en.

Raven, who returned to the camp, of course received the news and learned that the nobles were meeting in the big tent.

According to convention, Raven would only stay for a short time and then leave, but today he waited for two extra hours.

Sure enough, when the moon was at its zenith, Viscount John sent someone to invite him to his tent, and Judra was also invited with Raven.

Viscount John now looked even worse than before. He had always been very concerned about his image and even took off his helmet. His eyes were full of bloodshot. Even if he tried his best to suppress it, he could still show his unbearable anger.

"Sit down."

Raven and Judra looked at each other and sat opposite Viscount John. The old noble picked up the wine pot and poured a glass of wine for each of them, then raised his own glass.

After clinking glasses in silence, Viscount John drank it all in one gulp, then began to pour wine again, three times in a row, before stopping.

"Huh..." Viscount John snorted after exhaling a foul breath: "Those guys who have no sense of honor, I really should bring out a few crystals to let them see their faces."

Raven knew why he said that.

Now, not only the Fourth Legion, but the entire military camp is filled with a very blind optimism.

According to the nobles, since the Count of Montreal has come, as the governor, he cannot watch the inner city being captured, and today's performance of the priest group has also been seen by many nobles, and they all feel that victory is within reach.

In this state of mind, the nobles who had previously clamored to fight on their own changed their attitudes and petitioned to unite again, letting the four legion commanders take on their responsibilities, commanding everyone to fight, and clearing out the Death Hand Cult.

In that way, it seemed that they had completely forgotten who was the culprit who messed up the army.

Needless to say, the four legion commanders must have felt as uncomfortable as if they had eaten a fly, and the one who was hurt the most was Viscount John.

Because he was the most responsible and honor-conscious one, he had previously felt deeply guilty for the disintegration of the legion, which was not only unworthy of the Slater family's trust, but also unworthy of the civilians of Mon'en City.

Especially since he had the ability to bring the legion together, but failed to do so because of his own selfishness, the guilt became even stronger.

As time went by, Viscount John began to stop dwelling on this, but he never expected that just because Montreal entered the city, the nobles would come to him again, each of them passionate and generous, looking like they were ready to sacrifice their lives and shed their blood for the comfort of Mon'en City and Nord Province at any time.

This is not the way to play tricks on people!

Viscount John was generous, and he only scolded people as "having no sense of honor". If it were Raven or Jude, they would have scolded him in many different ways.

"You must have heard about what happened in the military camp." Viscount John asked.

Raven nodded: "Yes, it seems that everyone is asking for a fight and their fighting spirit is high."

"Why are you so high-spirited? I just want to take advantage of the last opportunity to gain military glory." Judra smiled disdainfully: "Nowadays, everyone looks like a loyal soul to the empire. I don't know what they have been doing."

Viscount John sighed: "It's no wonder that nobles put family interests first. At times like this, of course they have to take the initiative to seek credit and seek titles and fiefs for themselves and their families."

This was indeed what Viscount John would say, and Raven could almost guess that Viscount John would give them a beating and persuade them to put the overall situation first.

Old aristocracy, that's what it is.

In the past, people wiped people's butts with a smiling face, but now they wipe people's butts with a cold face.

You can’t lose your sense of honor.

Raven had no such awareness and was ready to find an excuse to run away and never act with the army.

However, Viscount John's words were completely beyond his expectations: "Therefore, the three of us must also be prepared to make full achievements in the war and not to lag behind others."

Raven and Judra were stunned at the same time, their eyes locked on the old noble, as if Viscount John had changed from an old man to a charming girl.

"You two don't have to look at me like that." Viscount John smiled tiredly: "I'm not testing you either."

"Human beings have to learn from mistakes and gain wisdom. No matter how kind-hearted an old guy like me is, I am not stupid enough."

"Everyone of them considers the interests of the family. If they come to me, won't they be able to do it?"

Raven smiled: "Of course that's fine, what do you think, Viscount John?"

Viscount John said solemnly: "Although the current atmosphere in the military camp seems to me to be blindly optimistic, the conclusion is okay."

"This war will be over soon."

"So, in the next few days, I will lead the fourth legion to attack the undead legion outside the city. Although there are many undead legions left there, there is no fatal threat except for a bone dragon."

"However, although group operations are devastating, when it comes to the specific distribution of military merits, there will definitely be serious disputes."

"so……"

Viscount John pondered slightly: "I have decided to give you two the right to move freely. There are many skeleton soldiers scattered in Meng'en City now. If you go to destroy them, although it is more dangerous, all you will gain will be real military exploits. No one can Can't take it away."

Raven's lips curved into a smile.

Even though everyone seemed amiable, as if they really didn't care about Raven's first-level medal of courage, when it came to the battlefield, someone might hit him with a few cold arrows out of jealousy.

Acting alone is indeed a preferential treatment for Raven, who is familiar with the terrain of Munn City.

Judra's face showed a trace of embarrassment: "Well... Viscount John, your idea is indeed a good one, but I have no soldiers left..."

In successive battles, the two hundred serf soldiers brought out by Judra were wiped out. Maybe some of them are still "exerting their remaining energy" among the Death Hand troops.

Viscount John said: "It doesn't matter, my Xuefeng Legion can lend you a centurion, and can also allocate you a detachment of serf soldiers."

Then he turned to Raven: "Do you need additional support from me?"

Raven shook his head: "I don't need to. If there are too many people, it will be inconvenient for me to command and dispatch."

This is not entirely true. In fact, Raven does not want Viscount John to discover his secret. He does not intend to continue to struggle on this point. Instead, he asks: "Speaking of which, you are not afraid to send out such a large number of troops." Will it affect the combat effectiveness of Xuefeng Legion?”

Although this question was euphemistic, it also awakened Judra, who was stunned by the good things coming from heaven: "Yes, Viscount John, why do you offer such generous terms? What about your military exploits?"

Viscount John said: "My title is already Viscount, and there is only one heir in the family. No matter how many military exploits I have, I cannot be promoted to earl. A little more or a little less makes no difference."

"And as the commander of the Fourth Army, no matter how many soldiers I have, my share of the battle achievements will not be less."

These are all truths, but they cannot explain why he suddenly released such huge kindness and benefits. This was not a decision that could be made in a moment of excitement.

Viscount John said the real reason: "...I am old."

"And I'm not afraid of your jokes. In my early years, I was obsessed with building a career and improving my personal strength. My only son was spoiled by my wife. Now he is over forty, but he has just been promoted to the second level. No matter in terms of wealth, scheming or ability, ,All……"

"Alas!" Viscount John sighed: "Although he got married early, his children were born late. Now my grandson is only three years old. Once my soul returns to the side of my ancestors, the inheritance of the family will be a big problem."

"Our three fiefdoms are adjacent to each other, so I have to rely more on you two for future matters."

Raven nodded slightly when he heard the words. He couldn't understand Viscount John's state of mind at this time, but he admired and agreed with his decision very much, but there was one thing he was still a little confused about.

He chose to bet on himself because Raven had saved Viscount John once before and his character was guaranteed. Not to mention that Judra had chosen to run away before, and the identity of the heir was not certain. Why did Viscount John value him so much? ?

Viscount John's next sentence solved his doubts: "Judra, I can't say anything about your family affairs, but my little daughter is now a widow..."

Viscount John mentioned this point, implying that if Judra failed to inherit the title of the Wharton family, then Viscount John welcomed him to marry his little daughter and give Judra a knight's identity.

This is also a good help for his family in the future.

Judra nodded heavily: "... Thank you, Viscount John."

"I'm old and I don't have enough energy, so I won't keep you talking for long." Viscount John said: "Next, it's up to you."

Raven and Judra bowed and left together.

Back to his tent, just sat down, before he could take a breath, he heard Volaf shouting: "Baron, Mr. Judra wants to see you."

"Sure enough." Raven shook his head and chuckled: "Let him in."

The curtain was lifted, and Judra's figure appeared in the tent.

Raven asked with a smile: "Why, are you here to ask me about the terrain of the lower city?"

"No." Jude's face was gloomy: "I came to..."

Boom--

The spring thunder exploded, covering Jude's voice.

The lightning shone into the tent, making his face look particularly hideous.

...