Through the crowded streets, Duke St. Landers and Maester Yerug came to the central castle of Stormhold.
As the western gateway of Crimson Flame Territory, Storm Fortress is the territory directly under the royal family. Of course, this castle is also the private property of the San Lorenzo family.
Low towers, narrow windows, thick walls... the castle sacrificed beauty and comfort for military use.
On the mottled walls, there are still traces of battle left at an unknown time, and dense thorns climbed past, quietly hiding most of the traces.
"Is His Majesty there?"
The Duke of St. Landers stopped in front of a wide wooden door and asked softly.
The guard nodded, but refused again:
"Sorry, Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's not convenient for His Majesty to see you now..."
The Duke of St. Landers smiled helplessly and was about to leave.
But at this moment, the wooden door suddenly opened from the inside, and a disheveled maid poked her head out with a look of distress, and whispered something in the ear of the guard at the door.
Afterwards, the guard also walked in.
The Duke of St. Landers and Maester Yerug exchanged glances, and had no choice but to wait where they were.
After a while, they saw the guards come out again, only holding a dead body in their arms.
The Duke of St. Landers naturally knew what was going on.
Ever since the fiasco in the Tianduan Mountains, Emperor Reinhard's temper has become more and more irritable, and the number of maids who died at his hands is already unknown.
"My lord, His Majesty let you in."
"good."
The Duke of St. Landers straightened his clothes, and then led Bachelor Yaruger into the room.
The room still had the obscene atmosphere after being happy, Emperor Reinhard simply put on a nightgown, stood barefoot on the floor, and poured red wine into his mouth.
When he heard the greetings from the Duke of St. Landers and Bachelor Yerug, he put down his wine glass, squinted his drunken eyes, and asked angrily:
"Why are you two here? The orc army is coming soon?"
The Duke of St. Landers shook his head and said:
"Not yet, Your Majesty. The orcs are busy looting in the west, and haven't regrouped yet to move east.
However, according to the report of the scouts, I estimate that in about half a month, the vanguard of the orc army will arrive at the Storm Fortress. "
"Then why are you here looking for me?" Emperor Reinhardt began pouring wine into his mouth again.
The Duke of St. Landers tried his best not to show any contempt on his face. Although he really looked down on the emperor, and although the relationship between the southern border and the royal family has never been harmonious, as a human being, the Duke of St. Landers also I can only suppress the disdain in my heart and try to save the current situation.
What's more, now that the commander-in-chief of the northern border has been declared rebellious, the lord of the eastern border is still vacant, and the duke of the western border is still alive and dead... Under such circumstances, the Duke of St. Landers knows that if he does not stand up again, the Glorious Empire may be destroyed This stupid emperor led into the abyss of destruction.
"Your Majesty, there are too many refugees from the western region gathered in the Storm Fortress, which has exceeded the limit of the fortress. If this continues, I'm afraid there will be riots inside the fortress without waiting for the orcs to come!"
"They dare!" Emperor Reinhard stared, "Who dares to mess around in the fortress, just kill them!"
The Duke of St. Landers said helplessly:
"Your Majesty, killing alone cannot solve the problem, not to mention that they are all citizens of the empire! The best way is to let them leave Storm Fortress and go to Crimson Flame Territory to take shelter temporarily."
"Then let them go!" Emperor Reinhard waved impatiently.
"Your Majesty, because you are in Storm Fortress and the imperial army is gathered here, most of the refugees feel that this is a safe place, and they are unwilling to leave..."
"Then what do you say?"
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to come forward and declare that the imperial army is about to evacuate Storm Fortress, so that the refugees will naturally leave..."
Snapped!
An exquisite goblet fell in front of the Duke of St. Landers, and the red wine in the glass splashed all over him.
Then came the angry roar of Emperor Reinhardt:
"Don't withdraw!
As long as I have one breath, I will never take a step back!
Those damned orcs will never want to wreak havoc on my territory! "
The Duke of St. Landers had expected the reaction of Reinhard the Great, and at this time he just waited quietly for the other party to vent, and then said again:
"Your Majesty, of course I am not trying to persuade you to withdraw your troops. This is just a scam to get refugees to evacuate voluntarily."
"Really?" Emperor Reinhard calmed down a little, but still frowned, "But doesn't this mean that I will lie to the people of the empire?"
"Of course not." The Duke of St. Landers immediately explained, "You just announced that you want to withdraw the troops, but you haven't announced the specific time. When the orc army arrives at the Storm Fortress, you can use the legitimate excuse of guarding the fortress to announce the cancellation of the withdrawal plan. "
Emperor Reinhard lowered his head and pondered, probably considering the feasibility of this method.
Bachelor Yaruger watched with cold eyes, seeing that Emperor Reinhardt did not immediately refuse, his confidence in his strategy was a little bit stronger.
According to his judgment, the orcs are very likely to bypass the Storm Fortress and directly march into the Crimson Flame Territory.
If this is the case, then Emperor Reinhardt's excuse for canceling the withdrawal plan will not stand at all.
At that time, in order to maintain his promise, the emperor with excellent face could only choose to withdraw his troops.
In this way, this troop withdrawal plan will be a fake show.
However, as for where to evacuate, Bachelor Yaruge has a different plan from Marquis Garcia...
"Okay, just follow your method." Emperor Reinhard obviously failed to see through the trap designed by Bachelor Yaruger, and immediately agreed, "You set a time, and I will come out publicly and announce that the imperial army is about to withdraw from Storm Fortress... "
"Can't withdraw!"
Just when the Duke of St. Landers and Bachelor Yerug thought their plan had succeeded, the door was suddenly opened, and a figure broke in.
Emperor Reinhard's face darkened, and he was about to scold this bastard who dared to break in without permission, but when he saw the face of the person coming, he immediately swallowed the cursing words again.
Because, the person who came here was the Lord of the Western Region——Duke St. Grian!
The guards hurriedly followed in, looked at Emperor Reinhard at a loss, and signaled that he really couldn't stop the Duke of the West.
Emperor Reinhard did not embarrass the guards either, and waved him back.
"Duke St. Grian, it's great that you can safely withdraw from the Western Territory..."
Emperor Reinhard stopped abruptly in the middle of his words, because a figure walked in again outside the door.
"Lexie..."
After Prince Lehi walked in, he neither saluted nor greeted, but just watched Emperor Reinhard quietly with cold eyes.
Emperor Reinhard swallowed quietly, and was just about to speak, but he didn't expect that today's guests would not be this far.
I saw another figure walking in from outside the door.
"Sir?"
(end of this chapter)