Bidding farewell to Tristan, Todd summoned Cumberland and Alfonso and presented them with the church's official documents.

After reading the document several times from beginning to end, Cumberland and Alfonso glanced at each other, the former cleared his throat and asked Todd first, "Chief Leader, what do you think about the mission given by the church?"

Todd touched the bridge of his nose with his finger and said helplessly, "What do you think? Since the church has publicly released this document, it means that they have made up their minds to pull the Knights of the Twilight West into the Eastern War. But on the other hand, the alliance between Silver Ring City and the barbarians must have put great pressure on the church. ”

Cumberland asked, "Do you think we should send troops?"

Todd nodded: "Sending troops may be a helpless choice. The legitimacy of the town and the Order of Dusk is based on the recognition of the Church. If we do not send troops or respond passively, it will inevitably arouse the resentment of the church, which will not be conducive to our subsequent development. ”

Cumberland heard this and gave the speaker a meaningful look.

Alfonso held his helmet in his hand, thought for a while, and said, "The Northern Quarry is the largest source of income for the Silver Ring Kingdom, and the income from its production of silver ore accounts for 70% of the kingdom's financial revenue. Therefore, the number of defenders and fortifications in the mine can be seen in the entire kingdom, and its defense power is second only to the main city of the Silver Ring. And, in addition to these defenders, we also need to consider another army that may emerge - the Barbarians. For such an important stronghold, Silver Ring City will definitely ask the barbarian army to assist in the defense. ”

Cumberland suddenly said something that had nothing to do with the meeting: "I've heard that the Knights of the Twilight West recruited xenos as soldiers and used explosives, and that the upper echelons of the church have heard about it. ”

Todd was stunned for a moment, and quickly asked, "Where did this news come from?"

"Knight Dion, he has many friends among the secular nobles of the Papal States......" Cumberland adjusted his sitting posture and looked at Todd and said, "Actually, it is only a matter of time before the Church learns these secrets of the Knights of Twilight. ”

Todd set his eyes on the official document and nodded slowly: "It seems that the church asked the Knights of the Twilight West to attack the Northern Quarry this time, and it was intended to ask us to touch the nails......"

Alfonso smashed his fist into his thigh and said in a deep voice: "Then we will give up the march to the North Stone Quarry under the pretext of insufficient troops!"

Todd leaned back in his chair with a solemn expression: "We can't do this, although we have signed a peace agreement with the North Island tribe, this agreement is not strong, and the pirates may turn against each other at any time." Moreover, there are still many enemies around Dusk Town, and it is not a wise move to fight against the church forces at this time. ”

Cumberland stroked the silver whisker on his chin: "This mission given by the church is actually more like a test. ”

"Testing?" Todd was puzzled.

"Test the attitude of the Knights of the Twilight West towards the Church. Cumberland looked at the "umbrella" flag on the wall of the chief master's room, and began to explain to Todd in detail: "The establishment of the Knights of the Twilight West is different from the other three major church orders. From the point of view of time, it took three years for other Church Knights to actually establish from planning to actual establishment, and some even more than nine years for the longest, but the Knights of the Twilight West only took less than half a year to obtain the Holy Order. ”

"In terms of purpose, the other Church Orders were formed in response to pagan aggression and to deter secular kingship. The Knights of Twilight were founded to obtain the recipe for the Crystal Relic on the surface, but the real intention was to use Twilight Town to attract the attention of the enemy. Commander, think about it, without sending any reinforcements, the church asked Twilight Town to deal with the three forces of Silver Ring, pirates, and barbarians at the same time, which is already treating the Twilight Knights as an outcast. ”

Cumberland paused for a moment at this point, looked at Todd and continued, "Finally, there's the composition of the personnel. Most of the other Knights' top brass were pious nobles or clergy of the Church. As for the Twilight West Knights, the chief head was originally a monk of the monastery ascetic sect, and most of the soldiers were deserters from the Silver Ring City. Coupled with the gunpowder used by the pagans in the south, and the xenomorphs defined as the 'demon's remnants', how could the Church be at ease with such an 'unreasonable' order?"

Todd listened to Cumberland's analysis, his eyes widened, and he looked at the other party in surprise.

Seeing the other party's expression, the old man waved his hand and said, "These are not all what I said, most of them were sorted out by my old boss and old friend, Count Emerson. ”

Todd was suddenly interested: "So where is the Earl now? I want to meet him." ”

Hearing the inquiry, Cumberland shrugged his brow: "That old turtle has lived in Twilight Town for a while, and then returned to Silver Ring City. I tried to persuade him again and again, hoping that he would stay. The answer is always one sentence, the royal family has grace first, and if he leaves this kingdom and leaves, his heart will never be able to forgive himself. ”

Todd let out a long sigh and dropped the subject.

The three of them discussed together for a while, and finally decided to enter the North Quarry.

Alfonso was responsible for selecting the right people from among the refugees, training them and integrating them into the army. Cumberland was responsible for the rearmament of the troops and the development of tactics.

Watching Alfonso leave the room first, Cumberland slowed down, and Todd knew that the latter had something to say to himself, so he approached the other party.

The old knight lowered his voice: "Chief Master, what do you think of the official document that the church allows you to establish a secular kingdom?"

Todd glanced at the old man: "Personally, I think this is the church's preparation for the future political landscape. If the Knights of the Twilight West really laid down the Northern Quarry and established the Knights Nation. In the near future, if the combined forces of the Silver Ring and the Barbarians are defeated, the Church can provoke a battle between the secular kingdoms against the increasingly powerful Knights of the Twilight West to restrain our development......"

Cumberland leaned sideways and whispered, "Chief Chief, you should know that this is not what I want to ask. What I want to know about the worldly kingdom is what 'you' think?"

Todd's heart tightened, and he stopped and stared into the old man's eyes, but there was no hint or intention in the other party's eyes.

After a few seconds, the head of the regiment gave up the in-depth investigation and said softly: "There is no point in talking about the future now. Wait, wait until the day when everything happens, and you and I will know what the answer is. ”

Cumberland turned his head back and laughed as if explanatory: "Commander, you're right. Who can guess what the future holds?"

The old man walked to the door of the Knights' headquarters, and his figure finally disappeared into a ray of sunshine.