After returning to the barracks, I fell asleep on the bed. Although it was only a day from departure to return, the fatigue and tension during this period made me exhausted. Once I was out of that environment, seeing the bed was equivalent to sleeping.
After waking up, I realized that I had overlooked one thing, that is, I had not settled the elf Yaruo after I came back. When I woke up, I found that she had been staying in the tent and had not moved at all. There was also a large group of soldiers watching at the door.
"What are you looking at? Get back here. I'm going to attack the city tomorrow. Go make crossbows. I want to see 20,000 large crossbows tomorrow. Anyone who doesn't have enough will have their butts chopped off..." With a roar, all the soldiers were scared out of their wits. The slave soldiers dared not disobey my only military order, while those from the Flame Legion were limited by their good military discipline in the past, and their reaction to this was almost instinctive.
After driving away those soldiers, I originally wanted to let Yaruo rest in my doghouse, but after seeing the situation there, I finally gave up the idea. I called the guards and asked them to immediately order a simple wooden bed to be made, and then I went to get a set of quilts before letting Yaruo rest.
But before leaving, I asked the soldiers to add double sentries outside my tent to ensure Yaruo's safety, or to give her a warning. Although I don't know what to do with this elf now, how to face up to the relationship with her. Damn, slaves are all I have seen in books, and this kind of slave contract really makes me confused, but before I figure it out, I don't want her to have any accidents.
"My Lord, are you not hurt? I heard that you were separated from the other hunting teams, and your subordinates were very worried..." I just came out after finishing my work when I ran into Matthew who came in a hurry. I was furious at first, but when I saw him rushing over as soon as he knew I woke up, my anger subsided a lot. I thought that I couldn't blame him for everything.
"It's okay. My luck is not the worst. I finally made it back alive. How was the siege these two days? What's the reaction of the Senke Federation?" Now that I have some money and have earned most of the merits I should have, the sooner this war ends for me, the better.
"Your Excellency is blessed with great fortune, so of course nothing will happen. The situation has been very stable in the past two days. We have lost a lot of infantry, and many commanders and senior soldiers of each unit have left during this hunt, so there haven't been any major operations. At most, we and the magician troops in the south city are just showing off our strength. The defenders in the city haven't responded much, they are just holding their ground. So the situation of both our army and the enemy in the past two days can only be explained as normal." After hearing my question, Matthew immediately flattered me and gave a brief report on the situation of the past two days.
"Well, what else did you come here for? You were in such a hurry, I thought something happened."
"Sir, I do have something to report to you..." After seeing that my expression did not change, he continued, "The soldiers below have completed the parts of the catapults and crossbows that you asked us to make before you left, but since no one knows the final assembly process, it still needs your personal guidance. In addition, while you were resting just now, Lord Sack and the other two hunting teams have returned, and Lord Sack's guards also came over to tell you to attend the banquet in the evening. You see, it's getting late now, are you going to go somewhere first?"
After I agreed and asked about the location of the banquet, I took a few soldiers and rushed there. Now in this military camp, except for the tents of several corps commanders and division commanders that I need to report, I can pass through any other places at will without any obstruction.
On the way, I asked several guards about the results of the operation. But what surprised me was that the casualties were so great. Nearly 200 people went in, but only a little over 100 came back safely. This casualty rate was really shocking. I was really lucky to come back safely. At the same time, I also learned that the other two soldiers who went in with me also came back alive, but they were both slightly injured. After knowing the general situation, I stopped asking questions and went directly to Thacker's camp. After all, the main situation still had to be learned from above.
As soon as I entered Thacker's tent, I was stunned. Is this a banquet? Although the banquet was quite sumptuous, how could there be only a few people? Six seats
"Hanlong is here. Come on, everyone, take a seat and discuss how to withdraw our troops." When Lord Pavel saw me come in, he immediately interrupted the people who were arguing inside and asked everyone to take their seats.
Hearing Pavel's words, I couldn't help but turn my gaze to the corner where the argument had just come from. Pavel, Thacker, Carsent, Wink, and another person I didn't know.
After saluting several superiors, I also learned the identity of this stranger: the Director of the Senke Federal Affairs Office under the Imperial Foreign Minister, and the Second Class Count of the Empire. It seems that the peace talks have begun. This is my first feeling after hearing his identity.
Although I knew from what Thacker said before that His Majesty would send people from his faction to participate in the negotiations in order to reach a peace agreement between the two countries as soon as possible, I still felt very uncomfortable when I saw his domineering look. That Y didn't even nod when I saluted him, but just waved his hand and passed by. Did he treat me like a grandson
But now there is nothing I can do. Who told me that I have no strength? Now I have no one who can really be used except Yaruo. Those I recently promoted, the Flame Legion, are just pawns used by Thacker to monitor me, and the slave soldiers have relatively low abilities and are of no use at all. I am now just the Monkey King in the palm of Tathagata Buddha. I can never get out of the Five Finger Mountain. . . . . .
"Today's banquet was originally planned to be lively, but since some problems occurred in our operation, if the soldiers have just suffered losses and the commanders are having a grand banquet, it will be bad for the morale of the army. So this meal to welcome the Earl and to calm Hanlong down can only be like this. Thank you for your understanding, haha..." After taking their seats, Pavel hurriedly tried to smooth things over and gave a way out to those who were all in a bad mood.
"I am not here for the sake of wine and food or the scene. I just want to tell you that the war is over. His Majesty the King needs to see a peaceful border where people are no longer hostile to each other. Thanks to the efforts of His Majesty and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Senke Federation has agreed to His Majesty's request for peace talks, and His Majesty will also make corresponding rewards and compensation to the relevant meritorious personnel and troops. So I hope that everyone present can withdraw their respective troops to the empire within three days. Do you have any opinions?"
After listening to the words of Count Morodi from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I knew that something dramatic was going to happen. From Pavel's tone just now, I knew that the previous negotiations were not so ideal. If we cannot appease the troops in the Eastern Territory who suffered such heavy losses, the consequences will be extremely serious.
"I'm sorry, we in the Eastern Territory absolutely cannot accept your so-called appeasement terms. Can we accept this outcome after suffering heavy losses to two local legions and three regular imperial legions? The materials and gold coins we receive as compensation are not even enough for us to compensate those soldiers who died in battle... No, absolutely not..." Almost as soon as the idea of watching the show flashed through my mind, Carsent stood up in a rage, slamming the table and shouting angrily.