Falcon Castle was built on a hill near the small town of Hessingen, about 64 km from Stuttgart.

All the castles in this world were not originally designed to resist war, and even large concrete blocks can blow you up.

In fact, these castles were basically built in the First to Tertiary periods, in order to prevent the attacks of extraordinary creatures in the surrounding wilderness.

For example, the ancient Solomon Republic in the Tertiary Period, while expanding northward from Italy and the peninsula, established a large number of military and civilian fortresses, which were nailed into the territory of barbarians and transcendent creatures.

Once there is an existence that cannot be solved by a conventional army such as the beast tide, the ancient Solomon official will organize the masses to evacuate and concentrate in the nearest castle. These castles cover an extremely large area, and there are plenty of internal food reserves, which can maintain self-sufficiency for a long time, so that the people inside can hold on until the arrival of Solomon's field army.

The castle of the Falcon family was built in the early Tertiary period by an ancient Solomon tax collector...... More background aside, in short, the Falcon family certainly does not intend to stick to this useless castle, waiting for the war in northern Franconia to be decided.

Although the griffons suddenly rebelled against the Empire, it did disrupt their long-term plans. But at this point, there is nothing to regret.

While the old griffin was still the monarch of the Duchy of Swabia, how to use his son-in-law's official status to conquer the surrounding lords as soon as possible was what Frederick, the contemporary Earl of Falcon, was considering.

Obviously, he was not the only lord with similar ideas, such as Eberhard, Count of Württemberg in Ulm, the fishbone count whose family coat of arms was three fish bones, and he had already led troops to Stuttgart, not far from here, and his intentions were clearly revealed.

If you really want to have an aristocratic classical war, then there is no way. In terms of troops, everyone is half a pound and eight taels, and they don't say that anyone will definitely win, and they can still fight.

It's just that even if the opponent is defeated, the loss of ammunition and materials is inevitable, and the subsequent expansion plan to the surrounding area will definitely be dragged down. Therefore, the two sides have even drawn the battle line, but they have not made a move for a long time, just out of similar scruples.

At that moment, a young woman claiming to be from the Licinian family visited the Falcon family, saying that she wanted to negotiate a large arms deal.

No, not a claim. Several elders in the family who have connections in Solomon City have confirmed that the other party is indeed the daughter of the head of the arms magnate Licinius Consortium. Valennis. There is no trace of the disguise of his face or identity with his supernatural powers.

So the Falcon family immediately held a banquet to welcome this noble woman from the city of Solomon...... and her secretary and bodyguard.

Although Frederick did not understand why a young woman of this status would hire an equally young man as her personal secretary.

However, according to the elders who have been to Solomon's city, the customs on Solomon's side are relatively open. Even unmarried women can openly bring a man who is in a confirmed or undetermined relationship with them, and call it "free love" without worrying about ruining the reputation of the future.

On the side of the traditional conservative Empire, if his daughter dared to do such a shameless thing, Frederick kicked her to the convent with one kick.

In short, Frederick made an extremely solemn gesture of welcoming the distinguished guests, and there was nothing suspicious to find fault with his words and deeds.

If it weren't for the fact that all the thoughts and activities were read by Nuo, Nuo would really think that this nobleman would have made a pretty good impression.

"In fact, as long as the price is not too outrageous, we can accept it." After three rounds of drinking, Count Frederick quietly began to probe, "You also know that the Duchy of Swabia is in turmoil today, and our demand for arms and equipment is also very strong, the key is how much your company can provide. ”

"As long as the volume of goods reaches a sufficient amount, then we can make another profit in terms of price, high rebates, installment chasing, and partial asset mortgage, all of which are easy to say."

After all, it is now a link to grab turf, and the more investment in the early stage, the more you can earn back in the later stage. Frederick also knew that this was not the time to be stingy, and even said that the price did not matter.

"I wonder how many goods Your Excellency Earl plans to want?" Nuo asked softly.

"Hahaha, of course the more the merrier." Count Frederick burst out laughing, and so did the guests around him.

"Actually, I don't doubt that the Earl will be able to eat this shipment." After muttering a few words to Aske in the secret psychic communication channel, Nuo said with a smile, "The main consideration is the impact of the Holy See's export ban......

"That's it." Count Frederick showed a look of "I understand 100% of the time", "Of course we can understand your concerns, but our Sauron family doesn't seem to be on the Holy See's export control ban list, right?" ”

He cast an inquiring glance at the elder next to him, and the old man in the formal dress next to him immediately nodded in agreement:

"Miss No, although our Sauron family has some assets near Stuttgart, within the entire Duchy of Swabia, it is just a slightly larger local aristocratic force, and I am afraid that it will not be able to enter the eyes of the Holy See."

"Not necessarily." Aske said beside him, "According to the information of our marketing department, the Count seems to be the son-in-law of the Duke of Franconia?" ”

Count Frederick's face remained unchanged, and he raised his glass and smiled:

"Within our empire, marriages among the nobility were considered to be in good matches, and marriages were quite common and frequent. Not only with the Hohenstaufen family, but also with other nobles in Franconia and Swabia, our family members were also closely related by marriage. ”

He explained a few words lightly, but he skillfully avoided all the doubts between the lines of Asker's words.

"This Count of Sauron doesn't seem to want to talk much about the civil war." "However, he is not optimistic about the future of the Griffon Family, so he wants us to skip this topic as soon as possible." ”

"Keep tempting." Asker said.

"Actually." Nuo took over and said with a smile, "We still have another concern, that is, after the goods are sold to you, they may be transferred to some forces that are more sensitive to the Holy See through the close network of in-laws that the Earl just mentioned. ”

Then Frederick was stopped by her, you just said that we are relatives, so how do I know that you will not sell the gun to your father-in-law in the north? What if your father-in-law is defeated and these guns fall into the hands of the emperor again?

After a moment of silence with his glass, Frederick said slowly:

"I'll tell you the truth, I'm just going to be honest here. The subsequent development of the situation in Franconia has actually decided the outcome of this civil war in the Empire, and it is not something that our Sauron family can intervene in. ”

"Once the Hohenstaufens are defeated and the Emperor's coalition moves south to join the Weissbachs, the Wolffs have no chance of winning this civil war."

"On the other hand, if the Duke of Franconia can hold back the Emperor's coalition and let the Wolf family continue to destroy the Duchy of Bavaria, then the civil war will slide into a long-term and protracted meat grinder."

And that's exactly what the Holy See wants to see. I would have predicted that if the civil war could continue for a while longer, when spring came, the Holy See's army in Italy would intervene north, right? ”

"Therefore, the war in Franconia today is an arena for the behemoths to compete with each other. Although our family is quite powerful in the local area, if you measure it at the level of the entire empire, it is just a small existence that can be pinched to death by any force at the touch of a finger. Therefore, no matter how unwise we are, we will not rashly set foot in the past. ”

"The arms you have sold us, I can guarantee here that they will only be used for the expansion of our influence in the Duchy of Swabia, and will never appear on the battlefield outside the Duchy."

"We have neither the motivation nor the ability to do anything superfluous. After all, in-laws belong to in-laws, and families belong to families. ”

"He's telling the truth." By reading his mind, Noh confirmed the credibility of this statement.

This is troublesome, and both of them are a little speechless.

In other words, the Falcon family now positions itself as a small lord in the Duchy of Swabia, taking advantage of the old griffin to fight the emperor in the north, and wants to secretly pull some meat from the surrounding to eat.

You're still worried about people taking sides, and they don't even think about taking sides from the beginning to the end...... The big-tailed wolf cowered in the hole, thinking he was a white rabbit!