On the training ground, veterans who had just returned from the battlefield were teaching the recruits how to line up and listen to orders with wooden sticks in their hands.

Cumberland stood at the entrance to the playground, his arms folded over his chest, his face full of sorrow.

"Even the little girls in our village who have just learned to walk can beat these men down. Brünnhilde chewed on a somewhat blackened biscuit and shook his head.

Cumberland glanced at the snack bag in her hand, frowned, and said, "Still eating old camp's handmade cookies?

Brünnhilde stuck out his tongue, licked the cookie crumbs off his fingers, and tied the seal of the snack bag: "Twilight City is so big, but you can't find such a delicious sweet tooth again." ”

Cumberland remembered the vanishing back in the fire, sighed imperceptibly, and changed the subject: "What is your opinion on the training of these recruits?"

"Opinions?" Brunhilde's ears heard the cries and begs for mercy of the recruits, and she spat out: "These recruits recruited from the refugee pile, thin and weak, they can't even hold their weapons steadily, how can they go to war? ”

Cumberland turned his head and looked at the training ground and said in a deep voice: "The weakness of the body is not terrible, the barrenness of faith is the source of uselessness. The Knights of the Twilight West are fighting for the kingdom and freedom, and the group of people in front of them have joined the army just to make ends meet. ”

Cumberland turned and walked out of the training ground.

"Don't you look at it anymore?"

"There's no need to look any further, and I need to talk to someone about it. ”

Walking through the bustling crowd, Cumberland looked at the bustling street as he walked, and sighed secretly in his heart, the war had only ended for half a month, and the city had returned to its former prosperity, as if nothing had happened.

The patrolling soldiers recognized the warlord of the Knights of the Twilight West and bowed in salute, and Cumberland nodded and quickened his pace.

Walking to the door of a small building, Cumberland was just about to push open the door when a middle-aged woman with a bag on her back rushed out and bumped into the old knight.

Seeing who was outside the door, the woman immediately complained loudly: "My lord, I can't do this job, even if you give me a high salary, I won't do it!"

Cumberland endured the other party's loud voice and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You'll find out for yourself when you go in and see!" the middle-aged woman tightened the strap of her bag and left the door without looking back.

Cumberland watched the other man leave, turned and pushed the door open.

The heavy stench of alcohol, mold, and vomit hit his face, and Cumberland subconsciously took a step back, calmed down, and walked back in.

In broad daylight, all the windows of the room were tightly closed, the thick curtains were deliberately fixed with wooden clips, and Cumberland groped in the darkness as he kicked down countless empty wine bottles on the floor, and stumbled to the innermost bedroom.

"Old turtle, what have you done, this is already the fifth servant woman who has been pissed off by you!"

Hearing Cumberland's reprimand, Earl Emerson, who sat on the floor in the corner of the wall, holding a half-full bottle of red wine in his arms, with a withered face and dark eyes, waved his hand and motioned for the other party to leave him alone.

Cumberland looked at the old friend's filth and became angry, he grabbed the hem of the curtain with both hands, and pulled it hard, pulling the whole curtain to the ground.

As the harsh sunlight filtered into the room, Emerson threw away the bottle, covered his eyes with his arms, and yelled in dissatisfaction.

Cumberland squatted down, grabbed the other party's collar, and said fiercely: "I rescued you because I wanted you to cheer up, not to let you be accompanied by alcohol all day long and commit suicide slowly!"

The bearded Emerson looked into the eyes of the old knight and said coldly: "At the beginning, no one came to ask you to save me, everything was your own initiative, you bastard......"

Cumberland's eyes widened, grabbed Emerson by the collar, and ignored the protests and struggles of the other man, dragging him all the way to the ground and into the storage room in the back room.

Lifting the lid of the bucket, Cumberland scooped up the water from a wooden basin and poured it all over Emerson's head.

The water temperature was cold, and the clothes were thin, and Emerson, who was nearly fifty years old, began to bark his teeth before he could scold.

Cumberland smashed the tub in his hand to pieces with a punch, crouched down again, and yelled at Emerson, "I saved you because you are valuable! If you really want to give up on yourself, why don't you ride your horse and set off towards the forest to the south, where the wolves can help you get rid faster!"

Emerson looked at the enraged old knight and laughed, "I know what you want me to do. But have you ever thought that the so-called kingdoms are the same, rising today and perishing tomorrow, and in the end, in the long river of history, it is difficult to see even a wave. ”

Cumberland found a clean linen cloth in the storage room and threw it to Emerson: "I told you a long time ago that the Kingdom of Twilight is not the same, there are no hypocritical nobles here, there is no racial discrimination, everything is in order and full of life here. ”

"No, you're wrong. Compared to the Silver Ring Kingdom, the Dusk West Kingdom is not much better at all. Emerson took the sackcloth and wiped his hair haphazardly: "Tell me, what is the most important thing for a kingdom?"

Cumberland glanced at Emerson: "Army?"

"Fart! From the time we met, you knew that there was war every day! If the kingdom survived by war, sooner or later it would be destroyed! Economy, religion, people's livelihood, diplomacy, and military affairs are the most important factors for the development of a kingdom......"

Cumberland shook his head and whispered, "According to you, everything is important, isn't it over?"

Emerson threw the sackcloth in Cumberland's face and exclaimed, "I'm not done yet!"

"Why do I say that the Twilight Kingdom is in a bad situation right now? Let's take a look at each other, let's talk about the economy first. I have calculated the production capacity of the products in the city of Twilight, plus the refugees outside the city, the population has exceeded 50,000, but the consumption level within the kingdom has not been raised, and most of the goods produced have to be digested by trade. But have you ever thought about what you should do if the Southern Empire, the main trade partner of the Twilight Kingdom, restricts or even bans the import of goods in order to protect its own industry?

"Looking at religion again, the Twilight Kingdom obviously uses the Heavenly Father's Religion as the foundation of its life, but it has accepted a large number of chaotic infidels. I'll help you count the Northlanders who believe in the Asgardian gods, the barbarians who believe in the ancient gods, the xenomorphs who believe in the unified god of Taylor, and the scholars who shout atheism every day. Religious conflicts and factional conflicts are intertwined, and it doesn't seem like a big deal now, but it is entirely dependent on the king's personal charm to suppress it. If this continues, sooner or later, religious contradictions will erupt.

"Then there's people's livelihood. Cumberland, you stand on the hills of Twilight and look at the city, and you'll see what the problem is. There are workshops and shops everywhere, do you think something is missing?! Damn! What about the farmland? Most of the food supply in Duxi City depends on imports! Have you ever thought that this kind of imported low-priced grain completely suppresses the enthusiasm of the peasants and forces them to give up farming and turn to production or business! Do you know what this means? If I were an enemy of the kingdom, I would only need to send out a fleet disguised as pirates, block the sea trade routes, or sweep the grain market, and in less than a month, without a single soldier, the kingdom of the twilight kingdom with soaring food prices will fall apart on its own!"

"And then there's diplomacy. Oh, diplomacy, is there diplomacy in Twilight City?!Since the establishment of the kingdom, how many diplomatic envoys have you sent, and how many countries have you set up diplomatic posts? Zero eggs! Defeated the combined forces of the barbarians and the Silver Ring, you are complacent, but you don't know that this victory has pushed the Twilight Kingdom into the abyss! The Kingdom of the Silver Ring has been destroyed, the barbarian army has been defeated, and the Church of the Heavenly Father has finally been able to free up its hands and clean up the Twilight Knights. Let me think about it, depriving the king of his membership, declaring the knights invalid, launching a crusade against the official documents, or even sending troops directly, the church can do anything!"

"And the military! Cumberland, I don't know what you taught the king of Duxi? The theory of the supremacy of force?! The theory of plundering national power! Remember, no matter how well you teach that theory, it can at most produce a general, but it is absolutely not suitable for a monarch! War is a continuation of politics and a bargaining chip for diplomacy! For the sake of a little petty profit, not paying attention to the overall situation, indiscriminately starting a war is a foolish act to bury the kingdom!"

With a deep sigh, Cumberland covered his forehead with his hand: "Old turtle, come with me to meet Your Majesty." Like I said before, he needs you, and the Kingdom of Twilight needs you. ”