Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 433: A Meeting Of Knights

Alan and Roger were taken to a cubicle in White Castle, next to the conference room and separated only by a wall. The cubicle had vision holes, allowing one to see through the entire conference room. The position of the eye was a self-portrait of Earl Ouban on the wall of the high-hanging conference room. No one would look at the Count's portrait, for it was disrespectful in itself. Even if they did, they would still be unable to see through the spies because of the angle and the arrangement.

As for the significance of the Earl's design of this compartment, perhaps only he himself knew. However, he suspected that his distrust of his subordinates was one of the qualities of the nobles, so Alan was not surprised to see a room that had other uses.

Soon, footsteps sounded in the meeting room. Roger put his face to his vision and saw someone coming in through the door.

That's a fat man, over a hundred years old. Baldy, your clothes are exaggerated. He wore a golden necklace around his neck, and his fingers were covered with gemstone rings of all colors. Fatty's entire body glowed with jewelry, as if he was a nouveau riche. "This is Baron Eni, one of the shareholders of the Emerald Pearl. He is cowardly and his territory is rich. But because the army is not strong enough, he can only rely on the Earl for protection," Roger said.

Baron Eni seemed to be very hot, and his forehead was covered in sweat. He wiped away a silk handkerchief in his hand, and someone behind him snorted, "Hurry up, Eni. Damn it, I can smell your sweat from afar."

The baron awkwardly turned around and said to the man behind him, "I'm really sorry, Viscount Grayer."

The man who passed by the baron was tall and thin, and his clothes were decorated with exaggerated flower patterns. He wore a fluffy golden wig and even had eyeliner on his fair face. He snorted and did not look at the fat baron. He sat straight to the first seat on the left side of the table.

That meant that he was second only to Earl Oppen in power.

The fat man looked at him and then lowered his head to conceal the intense resentment in his eyes.

"This is?" Alan retreated a little from his vision and gave room to Roger.

Roger looked at him and said, "This is Viscount Grayer. He has a lot to do with the Ridley family." The two clans had been linked by marriage for several generations, so their influence was only below the Earl's. This viscount was also one of the major shareholders of the Emerald Pearl. He loved literary salons more than battlefields. "Yes, I also heard that he is so masculine. I wonder if it's true."

Following that, people entered the conference room one after another. Roger introduced them one by one, and Alan remembered them in his heart. He also had a preliminary understanding of the Earl's team and the structure of his power. Simply put, Earl Orban's relationship with these subordinates was different from that of the other nobles. As far as Allen knew, most of the upper nobles controlled their subordinates with their own strength, but Earl Oban's relationship with these people was more like a partner.

This brought about many problems. The power structure was loose, which meant that the Earl's orders could not be carried out completely. The Count was more important to them in terms of business and money than in terms of personal strength and a strong army. In other words, such a loose structure could easily collapse. After all, there was no eternal interest in this world.

From this structure, it was not difficult to see the dilemma faced by Earl Ouban. His personal strength was mediocre, and even the title of Earl was obtained by relying on huge taxes and generations of contributions from his family. As for the army, it was even more worrying. A dignified Earl Territory's army was mainly made up of mercenary corps. Perhaps the Radley family's wealth could afford to hire three or more large mercenary groups.

However, such an army was bound to lack loyalty. An army without loyalty could betray them, and they would definitely not risk their lives for the count in the face of desperate circumstances. From the structure of his power alone, Alan could see that Earl Oban's pyramid of power was shaking. The reason was still the Count's own martial power. With his personal strength, he was more than enough to be a viscount, but he was unable to manage a count's territory.

Only after everyone had arrived did Count Oban enter through a side door. He glanced at the crowd and sat down at his seat. "Everyone, I'm sure you know why I invited you here today." Yes, our territory is being watched by the shameful Daniel. Although this has been the case for a long time, Daniel's actions have recently become even more rude and his ambitions are growing. And as his neighbors, we are under real threat. "

The count looked at the butler and Butler Mace bowed to the crowd. "Sir Daniel's Baron Duff, known as the Hungry Wolf, suddenly attacked three villages near Sir Daniel's territory three days ago," he said. "This is a flagrant act of aggression, and the Count is very angry about it."

"That's why I want to hear your opinions." Count Oban spread out his hands and said, "You can speak freely."

Everyone on the table looked at me and I looked at you, but they couldn't say a word for a long time. Viscount Grayer, who was sitting at the front seat on the left, frowned and said, "Your Excellency, I think we should notify the Imperial Army that something like this has happened."

Alan almost laughed when he heard this. Even Roger shook his head. The two exchanged glances and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes. The Imperial Legion was indeed stationed everywhere, but their responsibility was more to guard against the invasion of foreign races than to settle grudges between the nobles. If the empire had to interfere in such a matter, then the empire legion, known as the Million Great Masters, would not have any free time at all.

Every day, there were countless private battles between nobles within the empire, and the empire could not and would not interfere. The Bailegang Empire had a strong martial wind, and the royal family didn't care about this kind of war between nobles at all. When the human empire was founded, it respected the law of the jungle, which ensured that the empire would constantly have fresh blood and powerful force. This was also the cornerstone of the empire's continuation for a thousand years.

Unless the war between the nobles affected the foundation of the country, the royal family would only open their eyes and turn a blind eye. Hence, as a viscount, Grar said those words that undoubtedly showed weakness. If it wasn't naive, then it would be ignorant, and it would make people laugh in vain.

Of course, Earl Oban couldn't laugh. On the contrary, anger surged in his eyes as he glared fiercely at Gral.

Glar hurriedly turned his face away and pretended to be confused. Then the knights began to discuss and put forward some strange suggestions, some of which even used money to bribe Duruf to withdraw his troops. The knight who made the suggestion added afterwards, "We don't lack money anyway. It would be great if we could settle it with money."

So the knights could not come up with a really useful suggestion. Orban closed his eyes as if he had allowed the knights to speak boldly. Only the butler who was familiar with him saw the count tapping the table with his knuckles. That was a sign of the Count's anger, and Butler Mace couldn't help but take two steps back.

Without the Count interfering, the knights below began to pull further and further away, beginning with Duruf's invasion and drawing upon each other's grudges and interests. Speaking of fierce times, two of the knights were prepared to go from quarreling to fighting. At this moment, the atmosphere in the meeting room froze. Count Oban finally opened his eyes. He snorted, and the knights below sensed that the atmosphere was not right, and shut their mouths tactfully.

"I've given you enough time to discuss, so what do you suggest now?"

Just as a baron stood up and was about to speak, Oban shouted, "Shut up. If we end up having to buy Duruf with money, what's the difference between buying his land with money?"

"Gentlemen, if you can't come up with a feasible proposal, then let me make it." Earl Oban stood up and shouted, "What we need is not bribery, nor evasion. We need to head-on repel Drouf and warn that bastard Daniel not to act recklessly. If we back down this time, Daniel will see our weakness. Trust me, he will not stop. His appetite will only grow!"

"So, everyone here, who can fight against Duruf for us? Drive that hungry wolf back to his wolf den!" The count waved his hand and looked at everyone on the table.

Without a doubt, his words were full of incitement. However, the knights below lowered their heads. Viscount Grall coughed softly and said, "You should know, my dear count. The title of Sir Drouf is preceded by the word strength. With all due respect, you are the only one here who can defeat him. Do you think it would be better for the Count to handle this matter personally?"

The other barons nodded in agreement. Count Orban looked at them with a look of disappointment in his eyes. He shook his head, as if he had lost the strength to support himself, and the count sat back down. A moment later, he sighed and said, "I'll think about this matter carefully. You guys can leave now."

Grar was the first to stand up, bowed to the count, and retreated. The other knights followed suit and walked away clean after a while. Only Earl Oban and Steward Mace were left in this large meeting room. The count shook his head helplessly and said, "Sir Allen, you may come out now."

Alan and Roger exchanged glances as they walked in through the side door of the meeting room and saw the silence on the count's face. They both felt the danger of the territory.

Count Orban laughed self-deprecatingly, "I thought that my family had taken root in this land for hundreds of years. But now, there is a feeling that a tree will fall. We have earned enough wealth in the world, but we can't even protect our own territory."

"All these trash are greedy for pleasure. They want to spend money whenever they encounter something, but they don't know that sometimes money can't buy anything. Just like this time, even if I can use money to send Duruf away and buy back my territory, I can't buy back my dignity as a count!"

Speaking of anger, the count slammed his palm on the table with hatred and made a muffled sound.

Ellen stepped forward and said, "Is the Count preparing to face him personally?"

Ou Ban smiled bitterly. "Do I have any other choice? Do I have to rely on those trash?"

"Perhaps" Allen smiled faintly. "For example, me."

"What do you mean?"

"I am willing to fight for you, but I need an identity, an identity that has sufficient authority to fight in your territory, Count."

Thinking of Alan's bag of gold coins, Steward Mace whispered in the count's ear, "That's not difficult. As long as Sir Alan joins your camp, it will be justified."

Count Orban nodded and said, "That's not difficult. Then, what do you want from me?"

"A territory." Alan said.

"Territory " Ou Ban thought for a moment and said, "Alright, if you repel Duruf, then the village he occupies will be your territory in the future. Of course, they are too small to be worthy of your status as a baron. However, that territory is adjacent to Daniel's viscount territory. Since Duruf has begun, I can naturally fight back with color. At that time, I will assign you the responsibility of attacking. As long as you can eat Daniel's territory, I will admit that it belongs to you. "

"Thank you, Count. This is the best."

Oban smiled and said, "I would like to have someone as good at fighting as Sir Allen. You see, I'm not stingy. So as long as you're strong enough, I'll give you everything you need."

"If that's the case, I hope the Count can provide us with some information, such as Viscount Daniel's intelligence and the map."

"I'll have Steward Mace hand over the information to you later." "By the way, I heard that your territory has just been attacked by a few Allied forces. Coincidentally, the city lords of Bauhinia and Dawn Castle are Sir Daniel's subordinates. As for the unicorn army, they are more directly attached to the viscount of strength. Perhaps that will give Sir Allen more motivation."

Alan smiled heartily, "If that's the case, it would be great. It just so happens that they still owe me a debt, and it's a good opportunity to get them to pay it back. Let's start by repelling Sir Hungry Wolf."

Oban ordered Mace to prepare the information for Alan, and Alan and Roger left first. After they left, another man entered the side door of the meeting room. He had a rare oriental face, black hair, black pupils, and a handsome appearance. "Mr. Long, what do you think of this young knight?"

"He has great ambitions, count." The man said in a deep voice, "He will be your good arm, but when you can't satisfy his ambition, be careful that he will bite you in return."

"It's good to be ambitious. I like this kind of young man. What do you think, Mr. Long?" Count Orban smiled heartily.