"I'm sorry, but this is the result of my poor supervision; I didn't expect things to turn out like this. ”

With a heavy sigh, Corona frowned and said, "By the time I start to deal with it, the matter is beyond the control of the Free Council. ”

"It's not your fault, Master Corona. Loren shook his head, interrupting the old man's self-reproach: "If it weren't for the Minister of War to withdraw the Imperial Legions, these mercenaries would not have dared to rebel at all; ”

The empty Freedom Council, at this moment, is just him and Corona.

When they heard that Ebolden was about to encounter a major invasion from abroad, a third of the nobles had begun to flee, a third had taken refuge in their homes, and the remaining third had been placed to fill the posts and positions that had been vacated by two-thirds of them, and there were no more people left for meetings.

After communicating with Corona, Loren finally got things figured out.

First of all, Corona, who rushed back to Eberden, issued Connad I's all-out war mobilization order through the Free Council, which caused a frenzy of citizens to flee, and even many rich and noble people fled the city like crazy.

Corona chose to acquiesce, for similar reasons as Loren thought at the time - the chances of Eberden being able to hold it were too low to drag the whole city to death.

But this kind of chaos has given the three mercenary groups in the city some hope of "making a fortune".

They first pretended to agree to the terms of employment of the Free Council, while taking control of several key forts and districts in the name of "maintaining order in the city", and then suddenly sat on the ground and tripled their commissions as they prepared for the handover.

Cash, and no credit and substitutions are accepted!

At this time, the three mercenary groups had joined forces and controlled most of the fortresses and city defenses in the city, and a very small number of city defenses were also disarmed and driven out unsuspected, or turned into corpses in the resistance.

That's when things changed.

But it's too late to deal with it.

A large number of merchants fled and could not take their shops and goods with them, but they would certainly take real money and even sell everything they could, and the result was that the warehouses in Eberden were now abundant in all kinds of supplies, but the stocks of gold and silver were very small enough to pay the amount demanded by the mercenaries.

Therefore, although Loren has been comforting Corona, both of them know very well in their hearts that this incident is the result of Corona's miscalculation... At the very least, he bears the lion's share of the blame.

Corona was a wizard, he was not a politician or businessman like the Bellini family, and even if he became the consul of Ebolden, it would not change the fact that he was a wizard, which meant that when he thought about the problem, he must first weigh the pros and cons of one thing from the perspective of a wizard.

As a result, he was unable to control the Ebolden mercenaries like the Bellini family, and as a direct result, the uncontrolled mercenaries swelled rapidly to the point where they could not be easily contained.

In other words, when the Bellini family, who controlled trade and the nobility in the city, and held military power, fell, and replaced the leader of the wizard tower as consuls, in a sense, this situation was already a foregone conclusion.

While the two were talking, the door to the council hall was opened, and an indifferent Luson escorted three people into the hall, flanked by five witchers.

Three people, with different expressions.

One is extremely vicious, the other is gloomy, and the other is smiling, unaware.

The three of them were roughly pressed into chairs by Lusen and the witcher.

"That's... Can you give a cup to drink?" The grinning mercenary leader pointed behind him and looked at the black-haired wizard curiously: "I was suddenly woken up early in the morning, and I was greeted by this little brother so warmly, I was really a little thirsty." ”

"Yes, but not now. Loren slightly hooked the corners of his mouth: "According to Byrne's rules, the two sides of the negotiation can only raise a glass to celebrate when they shake hands and make peace." ”

"That's fine! That means you're not going to be polite with us guys, the Consul Corona is here, and you've mentioned Byrne's rules, so... You are the Duke of Turin of Byrne. Eating and laughing, the mercenary leader stared at Loren with a wink:

"Then according to the rules of the Empire, I will also introduce myself, my name is... Hey, forget it, you probably don't want to know the name of such a little thug as me, just call me 'Viper' - the bottom of the three mercenary groups, the weakest and least seeded, and the group of guys at the city gate who were taught by you are my people!hahahaha!"

"And the guy next to me, who looks like a bad guy and looks like a villain, is the boss of the 'Black Blade', and he is also the one who started this trouble... Well, I'm not the first anyway!"

The ferocious "Black Blade" regiment leader snorted coldly, looking like he was gritting his teeth.

"And this one who is not easy to mess with at first glance is the head of Silver Blood, the strength is the strongest among us, and the person is also the most capable of fighting among the three of us - anyway, I am the least able to fight!"

The squinting "Silver Blood" remained motionless, and its wolf-like eyes stared at Loren without squinting.

After a while, the two sides know each other.

"Very well, with the polite words done, let's get down to business. Master Corona, who was standing between the two groups of people, clapped his hands and said slowly: "The purpose of the three of you should already know the purpose of coming here, and we emptied the Freedom Council today in the hope of reaching an agreement in private......

"We have only one condition. ”

The "Silver Blood" sitting in the center of the three only stared at Loren and said coldly: "It's okay for us to fight, but we have to pay twice the commission." ”

"Or else?" asked Loren rhetorically.

"Otherwise, we will occupy the port and fortress of Eberden all the time, and then when the Azorean elven army arrives, we will hand over the city to them!" the smirking "Black Blade" glared at the black-haired wizard with a fierce expression:

"Either you want the city, or you want the money... This duke, please pick one!"

But Loren just shook his head and looked at the three of them in disbelief.

"I said... You don't think the Azorean elves are a very easy race to deal with, do you?"

"Well, even if you succeed in making a deal with them, what about the next? Do you plan to leave the city or do you owe allegiance to the Azorean elves? I've dealt with them, and you don't have to think about the latter, it's impossible. ”

"As for the former... I can guarantee that as soon as you leave, the legions of the Empire will arrive on the back foot—and if you don't retake Ebolden, the Empire will do everything in its power to destroy you traitors. ”

"That's our business, we don't need you to worry about us!"

Black Blade sneered: "You better think about yourself first, Lord Duke - how will His Majesty the Emperor punish you if you lost Eboden before the elven army came?"

"So you're going to fight to the end?"

"Yo, you just found out?!"

The black blade with a "surprised" face laughed directly, and even applauded directly.

The gray-eyed boy standing behind Loren had an extremely difficult face, and was about to directly press the bastard to the ground, but was held down by the black-haired wizard.

"Hey, hey, hey... Friends, friends, calm down, everyone calm down!" Seeing that the atmosphere was getting more and more tense, the grinning "Viper" hurriedly stood up and interrupted: "We are here to negotiate, not to quarrel; our purpose is to reach an agreement that satisfies both sides, isn't it?"

"So please stop rushing like that, Boss Blackblade, and... Hey, Lord Duke and Lord Consul, you have seen it too. ”

The viper twisted his waist, rubbed his hands and smiled embarrassedly: "We are just a bunch of thugs and big bosses, it just so happens that we still have the city defense of Eboden and the largest army in our hands right now, enough to defend all the fortresses and walls, and the only thing that can make our gang of big bosses obedient......"

"It's just shiny little gold coins and little shining silver coins, that's all. ”

"But there isn't that much cash in Ebolden, and you're asking too much for it. Corona looked at him and said very simply: "At most, I can only pay you the price you agreed at the beginning, or you are willing to pay with the goods." ”

"I'm sorry, but we're not merchants, and it's only a waste of silk or fine wine to our bunch of scoundrels. The viper shook his head again and again, with a smile of "I'm sorry", and then changed the conversation:

"But... If the honorable Duke of Byrne is willing to represent His Majesty the Emperor, and vouch for his honor, to make an agreement with us that he will be able to pay us the full commission after the war, we cowards will be able to accept only half of the commission for the time being. ”

As the words fell, the grinning viper continued to rub his hands, but his gaze stopped on the black-haired wizard.

Almost at the same time, the other two mercenary leaders also turned their gaze.

Loren, who was holding down Lusen, still looked unsmiling.

The other party's thoughts are basically the same as they expected.

To put it simply, the leaders of these three mercenary groups plan to do a "long-term deal" - they know that Ebolden can't get that much money, and they also know that Ebolden needs 20,000 soldiers in his hands, so they have the idea of sitting on the ground and raising the price, and want to continue to blackmail and extort from their "fat sheep".

If they agree, then they will continue to blackmail themselves for various reasons in the next battle;

And as long as they refuse once, or the situation of the war changes, these people may turn against the water at any time, join the army of the Azorean elves or give up the city, and the line of fire will be turned in;

In any case, they have already received the first commission, so this "deal" is definitely a sure bet.

"Sounds like a good idea. Facing the expectant gazes of the three mercenaries, Loren smiled slightly:

“...... For robbers and extortionists who kidnap tickets. ”

Blackblade's face was startled, and Silver Blood's eyes narrowed.

Only the poisonous snake is still the same grinning appearance.

"I can promise you some conditions, but not this kind of unilateral blackmail. The black-haired wizard said coldly, "Don't be mistaken, you and the miscellaneous pieces under your hands are not that important to me. ”

"Ahh I don't agree with that. The viper chuckled, "After all... It was a fair negotiation with the aim of reaching an agreement that was acceptable to all......"

"I said, don't be mistaken. ”

The black-haired wizard stared at him, staring intently, and said sharply word by word: "I am looking for you, not to compromise with you, but to make you accept my 'agreement'. ”

"Otherwise?" asked the grinning viper rhetorically.

"Are you going to lock us up here, or do you want to have us beheaded one by one, or use some wizard's magic to control our brains?"

"Although it is not appropriate to say this, it seems that it is not us who think too simply, but you, Lord Duke!"

"Do you think the three of us will be prepared for walking in so swaggering and running to the wizard's territory to negotiate?"

"Before we came, we told our men that if we didn't go back within a day, or if suddenly the tone didn't match the previous one, they would still carry out the orders we had given before, and they would not agree unless you paid twice the commission!"

Corona on the side instinctively frowned when he heard this.

But the black-haired wizard was not surprised at all, but showed a very... Confused expression.

"Why?"

"Why... Not understanding such a simple thing would make it difficult for us to do it, Lord Duke. The poisonous snake shrugged helplessly: "That means that whether we go back or not, our people will still ......"

"No, I mean... Didn't we make an appointment?" Loren frowned, looked at the viper in a daze, and his expression was confused: "At this time... Aren't you supposed to stand up and oppose me?"

Well?

"You, what are you talking about, we only met for the first time today, Lord Duke, how could I possibly cooperate with you......"

"Ahh

"Is it the guy I sent back who didn't tell you what I said?"

"W-What are you?" Viper sneered and spread his hands, "If you mean the fool who scared you under the gates, then he did tell me what you said... No, it's telling us all. ”

"Everyone?" Loren's expression became even stranger: "How can this kind of thing be told to everyone, this has to be known to others... Wouldn't it be nice if your men knew?"

"What do you know?" the black blade next to him couldn't help but say more.

Loren, on the other hand, pretended to be a viper and replied to him, "You know I'm in the same league as you!"

The voice faded down.

The viper twitched the corners of his mouth, his expression ......

lit up.