Knight with Wand

The dark and cloudy sky in the afternoon made the field where the army faced off outside Fort Wachter look even more depressing.

Together with the knights of Farolis, they rode their horses and followed Baron Earliver to the camp of Earl Stag. After passing through the densely packed soldiers and horses, everyone took off their helmets and entered the military tent where the arbitration meeting was held.

Walking into it, there were already two rows of nobles in armor sitting inside. Most of them should be lords of Kossos County. Their knights and vassals were also standing behind the lord.

Baron Earliver saluted upward, and Leon also punched his breastplate along with his colleagues, lowered his head to salute, and then raised his head, Leon once again saw the old general who came to Selva.

Trossa sat at the head of the military tent. Although the years had left ravines on the face of the old earl with a resolute face, the silver-bearded old man's eyes were still bright, revealing unquestionable majesty.

"Sit down, Lord Farolis, Lord Gunnar hasn't arrived yet." Trossa raised his hand to signal.

Elipher obeyed and took his seat at the place assigned to him.

The atmosphere was solemn and everyone remained quiet and silent.

Leon stood behind the Lord's seat and looked around at the people in the military tent.

He saw Hilgard, the count's warlock advisor, and the warlock Met, sitting on the side of the count and attending the meeting of nobles.

For this kind of internal arbitration where even the attendants are not allowed to enter, it seems not very compliant, but since the lords present have acquiesced to them watching, it is obvious that the northern warlock has a certain degree of respect from the lords.

Suddenly, the curtain of the tent was opened by the guards outside, and a burly nobleman with short brown hair and beard and fierce eyes walked in.

Leon saw the running wolf emblems on the robes of the knights behind him, and looked at the very similar appearance of this nobleman to Canis, and understood that this was the great baron of the Gray Wolf family, Avaro Gunnar. .

His appearance seemed to make the atmosphere in the entire military tent more tense, and his hostile sight almost instantly pierced Baron Thorn Flower.

Facing Baron Gunnar's aggressive eyes, Elliot sneered calmly.

He is not worried about any accountability. If it were not for the security of the letter, there would not even be a need to convene this face-to-face arbitration today. However, with the presence of most of the nobles from Kossos County, it is convenient to announce to the lords the person who has been manipulated by him. Maximize the use of intelligence.

After Baron Gunnar saluted and sat down opposite Elliot, Trossa straightened up and opened his mouth to break the silence in the military tent.

"Noble lords, we are gathered here today, hoping to resolve the dispute between the Gunnar family and the Faloris family through peaceful means."

Announcing the start of the arbitration meeting, Trossa calmly looked at the two great barons on the left and right.

"I know the enmity between your two families, but as both Lords of Orland, now engaging in unnecessary conflicts under the rule of His Majesty Ledwin will only bring pain and destruction to the subjects of the kingdom. Both of them have swords in their hands. Put it away in the sheath. Let’s clear up the misunderstanding through dialogue today, and let me and the other lords decide whether the conflict is right or wrong.”

The old general raised his right hand: "Sir Gunnar, please tell me."

Baron Gunnar immediately accused him with righteous indignation: "The right and wrong are obvious. The Thorn Flower family took advantage of me to lead the army to fight, and used witchcraft to attract a group of damn monsters from nowhere to wreak havoc in my territory. For more than two months, the Wolf family Several villages and towns in my territory were attacked. The Thorn Flower family took the opportunity to plunder my village and kidnap my people. I even had a noble knight who died while fighting those corpse monsters.

I brought the evidence, the remains of the monster wearing the Thornflower armor, and the witnesses who witnessed the Thornflower family plundering the village, are outside the tent at the moment. "

After he finished speaking, he stared at Ellipher with fierce eyes: "Ellipher, I heard that your wife was murdered, and I want to take revenge on the murderer, but I want to tell you clearly that your wife's life and death has nothing to do with the Gunnar family, and you The offense committed against the wolf leader must be repaid.”

Trossa listened quietly, and then looked to the left, Baron Thornflower, who always looked calm: "For Lord Gunnar's accusation, Lord Farolis, do you have any objection?"

Earliver nodded to the Earl of Buck: "Gunnar is completely disrespectful. My people have never harassed the Wolf Leader. Instead, it was the Wolf Family who took the initiative to invade the Thorn Flower Leader. What he said about witchcraft is even more conjecture. , those undead monsters that attacked the people in the territory, the Thorn Flower Territory was also infested by them. The knights under my command only accepted some homeless refugees and did not harm the Wolf Territory."

Speaking of this, Baron Thorn Flower looked around at the surrounding lords: "You have just returned from the front line in Mamore County. Some of you must have heard about it, and some of you still don't know. In fact, it is far more than just the Wolf Leader and my Thorn Flower Leader. , the entire area south of Kossos County and near the Nightmare Forest has been more or less attacked by the undead during this period.”

"You pushed those monsters that harassed the territory to the Nightmare Forest? Are you planning to make up a bedtime story for the children?" Gunnar leaned on the armrest with his elbow and narrowed his eyes in a deep voice.

Listening to the conversation between the two, the warlock Mate couldn't help but frown.

He has clearly clarified the accusation of witchcraft for the Thorn Flower family, but he does not understand why the Lord of the Thorn Flower has not mentioned a word about his testimony until now.

Baron Earliver listened to Baron Gray Wolf's sarcasm, crossed his fingers indifferently, leaned back on the chair with a slightly contented expression, and said Shi Shiran: "Since you think I am making up a story, then I will tell you today How about a story about a nightmare forest?

For example, one day suddenly, the cursed land that spanned the southern part of Kossos for thousands of years disappeared out of thin air for unknown reasons. A certain lord discovered this fact, and then led his army south to raid the Kantadar Kingdom, taking the opportunity to conquer a large area of ​​territory. "

"Eliver, what are you talking about in your sleep?" Gunnar frowned upon hearing this.

All the nobles in the camp were puzzled.

Only Warlock Meta raised his eyebrows secretly, but his eyes were a little unbelievable.

"No, the lord who took the opportunity to go south to attack the city and plunder the land is me. Please forgive the Thorn Flower family for not announcing the news immediately, but I think everyone present, except the noble general, will definitely do something like this I have the same choice." Elliot continued to confess to all the lords present calmly.

Count Trossa leaned forward a little, frowned at Baron Thorn Flower, and considered the "story" that the other party would change the topic as if joking.

Looking at the eyes of the Earl of Bucks, Earliver decided to end this farce now and come here to attend the arbitration meeting. The purpose is now. He is not here to have a war of words with the Gunnar family.

After getting up and making a gesture, a thorn flower knight behind Elliot immediately unfolded the parchment scroll map he had brought.

Baron Thorn Flower raised his hand, pointed at the enemy county leader on the southeast side of Nightmare Forest, and said: "As you all gather here now, my army has controlled the entire Glade County in Kantadar. As a vanguard, , opening the way for the kingdom to march south. This is the important thing that you need to seize the opportunity to determine the rise and fall of your family, instead of sitting here and wasting precious time listening to Gunnar's groundless accusations against me.

As for those monsters, as long as you lead your army through the Nightmare Forest, you will see those living corpses that are haunted by the ancient curse. Don't worry, those undead are not too difficult for you to deal with. "

"Your Excellency Farolis, do you know what you are talking about?" Trossa stroked his white beard and made sure again that the Lord of the Thorn Flower was not crazy.

As the general commanding the Orland army and the king's minister of war, he knew very well the impact that the joke would have if it were true.

"General, I have no interest in making such a big joke. If you don't believe me, you can send your trusted followers to accompany me through the Nightmare Forest. I will soon return to Glade County to stabilize my rule. I will not stay in the Thorn Flower Territory." Stay longer.”

Elliot said, bowing to Trosa to apologize: "Please forgive me for withdrawing the army without telling the truth. I think you can also understand the Thorn Flower family's difficulties in doing so, but now, You should confirm the information I mentioned as soon as possible and report it to His Majesty the King.

At this moment, after I occupy Glade County, even if the Cantadar people don't know my marching path for a while, they will react sooner or later, leaving little time for the kingdom to assemble an army. "

As Erlifu completely disclosed the information, the lords in the military tent were in an uproar.

Even though there are many royal allies of Gunnar present, they have lost the slightest interest in the little conflict between the wolf and the flower.

For the lords of Kossos County, with such a short distance, seizing the large territory and wealth in the south before the Kantadar Kingdom could react was the top priority.

Especially since the army they gathered in Mamore County in the east has not yet been disbanded. As long as they turn around and march down, everything will be at their fingertips.

Attacking the land south of the Nightmare Forest from this direction is much easier than the long-term border confrontation in Mamore County. After all, the lords present have never been in the direction of the Nightmare Forest and wasted resources on building defensive strongholds. It is completely conceivable that a flat plain can be reached to the south. How undefended the land is.

Of course, the premise is that what Eliphe said is true.

Baron Gunnar sat in his seat in amazement.

Captured the entire Glade County?

That was a county, not much smaller than Kossos County!

Baron Gray Wolf suddenly felt that the new territory of Lydingburg that his family had received in Mamore County seemed so shabby.

If the other party gets the king's title recognition, then the damn Baron of Thorns in front of him will become the Earl of Glade County!

"Did you withdraw your troops from the front line to march south through the Nightmare Forest?" Gunnar asked in a voiceless voice.

"Otherwise, you think I'm so interested in fighting with you in Kossos County?" Elliot glanced at the other party.

"But your wife is wrong, so you didn't intend to cause trouble for me in the first place?" Gunnar was confused when he thought of the wife who had been buried with great fanfare.

"Why should I cause trouble for you? Sir Gunnar, I am curious. I have never told anyone about my wife's assassination, so who told you that Thorn Flower is going to cause trouble for you?" Elliot asked.

Gunnar choked. He couldn't explain clearly that he bribed Trossa's chamberlain.

"But whoever it is, I want to tell you that my wife is safe and sound, even though she was assassinated by some despicable people and someone tried to blame you.

You should think carefully about who is trying to provoke conflict between you and me. Elliot said, glancing in a certain direction with his peripheral vision.

He learned the identity of the person who intended to assassinate Katniss from Leon. He must have something to do with the person behind the murder of his wife.

"Your wife is not dead?" Gunnar's eyes widened in surprise, but at this moment, he also instantly realized that he seemed to have been tricked.

If the other party's wife was not killed, then Earliver had been preparing for the great cause of going south from the beginning, and his transfer back to the army was not directly related to the assassination of his wife.

Since the other party never thought of revenge on the Wolf Lord out of anger, who tricked him? Elifer would not direct and act by himself. Since he was going south to secretly swallow up a large area of ​​territory, he definitely did not want to provoke conflicts during this period.

Who told him these "inside stories"?

The eunuch of Count Trosa.

Thinking of the most suspicious candidate, Gunnar shook his increasingly confused head. He could find trouble with the damn eunuch privately later, but there was something that needed to be solved immediately.

"Since your wife is fine, why did you detain my eldest son? Don't let my people see Canis?" Baron Gunnar asked.

The biggest reason for leading the army in anger was that he was worried that his captured son would be retaliated by Elifer, who "lost his wife".

However, it seems that the other party has no reason to violate the rules of war between nobles and harm his eldest son.

"Detain? Your Excellency should use a better word. My people just protected your eldest son and refused to reveal his whereabouts because they were afraid that your son would be assassinated again." Elliver explained calmly.

"Assassination?" Gunnar was shocked.

"Yes, your foolish invasion of the Thorn Flower Territory failed in Longka, and my restraint seemed to make the guys behind the scenes very anxious. They planned a murder of your precious son and tried to frame the Thorn Flower family, just like they tried to do to my wife."

General Trosa, who was at the top, heard that there was another hidden reason for the dispute between the two families. Someone secretly instigated the two Orland nobles to fight each other.

The surrounding lords' discussions became more frequent.

The curse of the Nightmare Forest dissipated.

Someone plotted to assassinate the relatives of the two great barons and set off a civil war.

The explosive news they heard at today's meeting was really one after another.

The sorcerer Met, who was sitting calmly, frowned slightly: ".?"

Canis was already dead. He knew very well that the spell had crushed his heart and lungs when he was caught off guard.

He even left the cell only after confirming that Canis's soul had completely dissipated from his lifeless body.

But now, why did Elifer say that Canis was still alive in the hands of the Thorn Flower family?

Was he trying to delay time?

However, Elifer's next words directly broke the doubts and speculations in Met's mind.

"I hope you have prepared the ransom, Lord Gunnar. My knight saved your eldest son during the assassination, but he didn't ask you to raise the price." Baron Thorn Flower turned his head and looked at his young general.

"Leon, let Lord Canis come in."

"Yes, sir."

Leon received the order and walked out immediately.

After a while, he led the burly figure in a cloak into the military tent.

The man took off his hood, revealing his face underneath. Kanis stared at the man he hated with eyes full of rage.

Mette straightened his body, tightly grasped the spear in his hand, and his eyes widened.

This is impossible! Absolutely impossible!!

Including today, Hefei has encountered four earthquakes this year, each one bigger than the last, and almost at the same earthquake point. It's 5.0. If it goes up one level, someone will die. Wow, it's not going to be a big one, right? The earthquake is really scary. I want to move to another city as soon as possible. My death is a small matter, and it's all over. If I don't die, that cabinet model is destroyed, and I'd rather die than live.