King

In the Holy Mountain of Light, the war in the Northern Continent diverted the attention of the outside world, and Shelter VII rarely had a few days of leisure.

As a pope, Pius VII was undoubtedly miserable.

During his tenure, various historical issues broke out one after another, and even he himself was embroiled in various scandals.

Measures were constantly taken to solve the problem, but unfortunately the Lord of the Dawn did not bless him, so the problem became more troublesome as it was solved.

This situation lasted until the orcs invaded, and everyone turned their attention away from the Holy See, allowing him to take a breath.

Unfortunately, happy life is always short-lived. After only one good year, new troubles came to the door.

The spies sent into the Orc Empire were caught, and they also obtained some evidence that the Holy See secretly provoked this war.

If your reputation is good enough, you can just insist that the orcs fabricated it. It's a pity that the reputation of the Holy See of Dawn on the mainland is not very good. Once it is exposed, it will be shocking.

Especially their various delaying operations in the alliance meeting. If someone deliberately ties the two things together, it will be their doom.

"Idiots, they are all a bunch of idiots! This kind of thing can be exposed, what do you do for food..."

Facing the furious Pope, everyone lowered their heads. There is no way. Almost every department in the Holy See has been exposed to scandals.

It's just that the thunder this time is bigger, making things more complicated.

"Your Majesty, the person captured by the orcs is a member of the Judgment Knights. It is best to recall Blake to ask about the specific situation."

Gu Lei, the leader of the Judgment Knights, said without hesitation.

There is no room for tenderness in political struggle.

As an old enemy, the Judgment Knights were in trouble again this time, so he had no reason not to take action.

"Captain Gulei, the matter is not that serious. The new Emperor Beamon just captured our people and did not deal with them.

Although Hank was imprisoned, Xander was still in the Beamon Palace and was not implicated.

Alex was originally a playboy, but he was forced into the position by the old Emperor Beamon. We cannot treat him with ordinary people's thinking.

If handled well, bad things can turn into good things.

If Blake is recalled now, it will be more likely to arouse the suspicion of the major forces! "

Bishop Solon helped defend.

Someone always needs to be held accountable if something gets messed up. If Blake comes back now, he will be the first person responsible.

As a political ally, it is natural to help at times like this.

Running around outside, there is no credit but hard work. Come back when the matter is resolved, and it will be another story.

"Bishop Sauron, you can't say that. If the handle falls into the hands of the orcs, it will be a hidden danger.

Even if an agreement is reached this time, they will not leak it, but what about the future?

We can't always be controlled by others, right? "

Gu Lei said dissatisfied.

If you want to pass easily, how is that possible? Even if you can't kill your enemy, you still have to scrape off a layer of oil.

The cake is only so big. If some people take more, some people will take less.

After finally finding an opportunity, he had already made up his mind that he would not give up until the Trial Knights shed blood this time.

…

First there was a quarrel between the two, and then it turned into a fight between the two camps. Soon the other factions were dragged into the water, and the meeting hall turned into a vegetable market.

Seeing that the quarrel was escalating, Pius VII could no longer sit still and immediately shouted sharply: "Quiet!"

"Look at each of you, what do you look like now?"

"There will be plenty of time to discuss the matter of accountability later. Now let's discuss whether the orcs' proposal is in our interests!"

I don't know since when, Pius VII has become accustomed to talking about "interests". This is inconsistent with the status of the Pope, but it is very effective.

Every time you encounter a problem that cannot be solved, just start from the perspective of "profit" and it will be solved quickly.

Since it is easy to use, it will naturally be carried forward. Even though the outside world sprayed Pius VII with blood, his prestige within the Holy See was still very high.

"Your Majesty, the orcs have two main demands: to have the human alliance strike out and assassinate them.

If we look at it separately, what really embarrasses us is asking the Human Alliance to stop fighting. If you show too much, it will easily arouse suspicion from all parties.

What's more, the Judgment Knights have all gone to the front line. If they withdraw without fighting, it will not look good on their face.

Assassination.

Caesar III has caused us no less troubles since he came to the throne. It would be great if we could get rid of this person.

As for the other people requested by the orcs, they are all important people within the Alpha Kingdom, so they can take care of them if they have the chance.

The only trouble is that these people are very concerned about their own safety, and it is difficult to get close to them, let alone assassinate them.

Unless we..."

When the words came to his lips, Archbishop Sauron swallowed them back. As one of the oldest forces in the human race, the Holy See naturally does not lack dark means.

It's just that some of the methods were too ruthless and were not commensurate with the role played by the Holy See, and the price to be paid was also too high, so they gradually disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Your Majesty, just agreeing to the orcs' conditions is too easy for them.

Moreover, whether it is asking the Human Alliance to stop the war or assassinating Caesar III, we will need to pay a high price.

Since they are giving us problems, we can also respond to them. The requirements don't need to be too high, as long as they severely damage the Alpha Kingdom's Northern Expeditionary Army.

Give them the information on the internal factions of the Alpha Kingdom and let them catch some of the factions and beat them up to break the internal balance of power in the Alpha Kingdom.

By then, even if the assassination of Caesar III failed, there would still be enough mess waiting for him to clean up. "

Gu Lei said with a sneer.

It was obvious that he truly despised the incompetence of the Orc Empire, and he couldn't help but help out with suggestions.

After thinking for a moment, Pius VII nodded slightly and said: "You can let the orcs try it, and we will not lose no matter whether we succeed or fail.

Inform Bishop Montesson and let him prepare. Once we and the orcs come to an agreement, we will push for a truce negotiation proposal.

But this alone is not enough. If we want the alliance meeting to agree to a truce, we have to help the orcs.

Sauron, mobilize our connections and help the orcs lobby all races to intervene in mediation. "

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Pius VII felt something was wrong. It seems that the Holy See has intervened too much in this war.

Especially now, the favoritism towards the orcs is so obvious that one might just jump out and support the orc empire.

As a human race force, it is obvious that the bottom is crooked when playing like this. If there is a thunderstorm one day, it will be shattered to pieces.

“Forget it, don’t let Bishop Montesson do it.

Our previous performance left many flaws. In the following alliance meeting, we must be the main combatant.

Tell Bishop Montesson to exaggerate the difficulty of destroying the Orc Empire at the alliance meeting, and then call on all countries to jointly send 7 million troops to destroy the Orc Empire! "

Pius VII said with a sneer.

To promote a plan, you don't have to go into battle personally. Sometimes the opposite plan can also achieve the goal.

The entire human race can naturally handle seven million troops. But wanting to put so many troops on the battlefield is just wishful thinking.

The heavy logistics are enough to drag down any force to death. Even if it is shared among the many forces in the alliance, the price that needs to be paid is enough to break everyone's muscles and bones.

However, with the huge territory of the Orc Empire, it is really impossible to completely destroy the opponent without millions of troops.

A slight exaggeration of the difficulty can rationalize the "seven million" figure.

If you cannot afford the loss, the plan will naturally not proceed. Coupled with the intervention of various ethnic groups on the mainland, negotiation became the best option.

…

Fort Nudson, through the joint efforts of the defenders and the soldiers and civilians in the city, finally completed the work of exhuming corpses and cleaning up construction debris.

From the ruins left over from the war, it can be seen that the Red Dragon Maxim's robbery caused the Locknard family to suffer huge losses.

The specific damage report has already reached Thorsten. Looking at the detailed list above, he almost cried.

It was so tragic, the long list of dead was no less than a battle.

But the problem is that there are still achievements in the war, and they have made a complete mistake. As the evil dragon who caused the trouble walked away, all the losses could only be paid for by the Locknard family themselves.

If he didn't still have some sense, he would have organized a dragon-slaying brigade to seek justice from Maxim.

Since it is a living creature, it will naturally have weaknesses, and dragons are no exception.

It's just that compared to ordinary creatures, the dragon's weaknesses are not so obvious. Even if the weakness is grasped, it is not something that ordinary people can grasp.

As an ancient noble family, the Locknard family also has records in this regard.

After weighing the pros and cons, Thorsten finally gave up on his desire for immediate revenge.

The direct casualties caused by the war exceeded 3,000, and the casualties caused by the fire exceeded 5,000.

Tens of thousands of houses were destroyed, and there were countless property losses. Most of the city's residents became homeless overnight.

Those who could live in Fort Nudson were no ordinary serfs. They were either distant branches of the Locknard family, or family members of close retainers, or worst of all, family members of elite soldiers.

We are all our own people, so if something like this happens, the family will naturally be held responsible to the end.

Having just experienced the orc invasion, the Locknard family had already suffered heavy losses, and now another wave like this has made their already poor finances even worse.

I really can't stand the trouble anymore. If the dragon slaying is successful and the dragon clan takes revenge, it will be the end of the world.

No matter how secretive they were, it was useless. Just after this happened, Maxim had an accident, and it was difficult for the Dragon Clan not to suspect them.

For the strong, evidence is never necessary, only suspicion is enough.

"You can't hope to reason with the dragons unless you have fists as hard as theirs."

Even if you want to retaliate, you have to wait until the limelight has passed. In other words, when Maxim's enemies are all over the continent, he will take action.

…

"What?"

"This red dragon first appeared in the border guard camp before looting Fort Nudson?"

Thorsten exclaimed.

After the Southeastern Front Army, the Southwest Front Army, and the Central Front Army arrived in the Northland, together with the armies of the nobles from the northern provinces, they became the new border defense force of the Kingdom of Alpha.

As soon as his head turned, Thorsten discovered the problem. The current head coach of the Border Guards is their family's mortal enemy.

The Red Dragon failed to rob the border guards and immediately came to rob Fort Nudson. It was difficult not to associate it with him.

"Yes, Viscount!

According to the border guards, the evil dragon descended from the sky and demanded gold coins and the princess from the defenders. It was only after Earl Hudson came forward to negotiate with the evil dragon that he was sent away.

There are many versions of the specific conversation content. Some say that they were intimidated by Hudson; others say that Hudson patiently explained to the evil dragon that there was nothing in the military camp..."

After listening to the report from his men, Thorsten's face turned even darker. No matter which version it is, it cannot prove that the dragon's attack on Fort Nudson has anything to do with Hudson.

The information obtained through inquiring can only prove one result - Earl Hudson is so powerful that he can even dispatch the evil dragon with a few words.

Perhaps sensing the change in his expression, the young officer responsible for inquiring about the information hurriedly swallowed back what he had not finished.

You can't blame your subordinates for being indifferent. In fact, the grudge between them and the Koslow family is originally the dark history of the Locknard family.

The humiliated members of the Koslow family must be remembered by everyone and always look for opportunities to take revenge.

As the victors, the Locknard family was not so attentive. In the past years, there were thousands of nobles who were trampled under their feet. Who can remember a group of shabby people?

There are so many people who want revenge, but after so many years, the Rocknard family is still in its prime, but the former enemies are turning into dust one by one.

If it weren't for Hudson's sudden rise and the fact that he went through family books to find out the details, they would have almost forgotten that they still had this enemy.

He recalled his enemies, but after all, this was the dark history of his family that he couldn't bear to look back on. It's enough for the family's top brass to know, there's no need to make the whole world aware of it.

"I know what happened, please step back first!"

Thorsten said with a gloomy expression.

The thunder laid by our ancestors suddenly exploded, and the younger generation could only knock out their front teeth and swallow it in their stomachs.

Even if they were willing to ease their relationship and let the past grudges fade away, the Koslow family would not agree!

He knew that the dragon attack might be related to Hudson, but he didn't have any evidence, even if he wanted to use it as an excuse.

"Trouble, this matter is really difficult to handle!"

After sighing, Thorsten muttered to himself again.

"No! We must find a way to get rid of Hudson and let him continue to serve as the commander-in-chief of the border guards. The family will be in danger!"

He wanted to think about it, but he had no idea what to do specifically.

The Locknard family's influence is indeed powerful, but it cannot influence the kingdom's decision-making. At the very least, the position of commander-in-chief of the border defense forces is not something they can decide with a single word.

If you want to get rid of Hudson, you not only have to catch the opponent, but you also have to find someone who can replace him.

If the kingdom had a better choice, such a powerful core position would not be in the hands of the suddenly rising upstart Hudson.

The most capable generals are all in the Northern Expeditionary Army. Among the generals who stayed at home, Hudson had the most powerful military exploits.

Suddenly he wanted to change someone, let alone the Rocknard family, even the king couldn't do it.

The first person to oppose is no one else, but the most important ally of the Locknard family. The five wealthy families in the North are united, but they all have their own agendas.

When Hudson serves as the commander-in-chief of the border army, only the Locknard family is in danger; if someone else takes over, all the families in the North are in danger.

The battle on the front line has become more and more intense. No one can tell whether the Northern Expeditionary Army can retreat unscathed.

Reinforcements from the Human Alliance are slow to arrive. If the orcs defeat the Northern Expedition and move south again, the border guards will be everyone's last line of defense.

If a general who can fight is not arranged to serve as the commander of the front line, everyone will not feel at ease!

In this context, everyone is looking after themselves, who can care about the Locknard family?

In a sense, if you want to take down Hudson now, you are going against most of the nobles in the kingdom.

…

Note: Political allies are not constant. What you are an ally today will become an enemy tomorrow, so don’t make a fuss. It is common for countries to form alliances and betrayal, and it is also common for allies to stab each other. This setting is different from previous fantasy novels.