……

So - the atmosphere is more solemn, even more.

With the knight of Togarth and his griffin mount seriously wounded and brought back to the front, the second floor room of the Warm House Drunkard Tavern began to discuss the discussion of a second impromptu meeting, and this time the participants were not only Alice, the chief steward of Scambed, and Urs, but also the chief priest of Sirudelt, while the rest remained on guard in the street area outside the tavern, or remained in the rest of the room to take care of the wounded and comfort the old and the sick.

The normal citizens who had been rescued by the crowd along the way, who had gradually gathered from all over the city, now honestly complied with the arrangement, patiently and helplessly waiting for the outcome of the meeting, to be announced from the mouth of Lady Alice, who was called the de jure heir of the Northland Earldom—or the so-called weight of fate, which simply slammed down like a hammer before the result was known, and stoned everyone to death.

It was the worst of things, the worst nightmare, and no one wanted that, but no one would have thought of that horror.

These innocent, unarmed victims have no power to resist their fate, so they will make assumptions in fear and wait for the leader's choice to guide their fate.

Alice knew she was carrying this responsibility. She sat on the edge of the bed in the makeshift conference room, and felt a little better with her hand on her forehead, at least she had regained her composure of calm thinking when she heard from Togarth a few minutes ago when she heard about the fall of Winter Fortress.

Scambed sat on a chair on the edge of the bed with his fingers clasped into fists, his bear-like figure quite burly even when bent down, but his burly appearance paled in comparison to the sadness on his face that could not be concealed.

After all, the old manager was worried about the current situation.

He remembered very well that Thogas had fainted not long ago after reporting the sudden appearance and siege of the city by the army of the undead, the loss of the fortress, the death of Baron Marken, and the desperate escape of several griffon knights.

Scambed couldn't guess the exact process of the fall of the fortress for the time being, but he was sure that Thogas was loyal, and then the fall of the Winter Fortress marked that the city of Helmet had lost its defense against the southern barrier of Byron Tas, and when a city that had lost the protection of the fortress was exposed to enemy attacks, there were only three options left, and those three options were simply nothing more than a symbol of surrender, a symbol of recalcitrant street fighting, and an evacuation, escape.

"Flee" is not a good word in the Holm people's view of honor, but sometimes it may be the sane answer, so Scambed, though humiliated, is at the same time in favor of evacuation, and knows that Urs and Alice agree with him, except that the former confesses it at the beginning of the meeting, while the latter only nods his head and acquiesces.

As the de jure heir of the county, the real agent of power during the death of the lord - presumably, it is psychological pressure that does not tolerate such a weak compromise, right?

But there is nothing to be done.

The old steward closed his eyes, shook his head slightly, and then looked in the direction of his eyes towards Sirudelt.

Sirudelt sat on the edge of the other bed opposite Alice's direction, his eyes and expression were not only apprehensive, but also more or less embarrassed, after all, he and the people of the Northland were not in a cooperative relationship from the beginning, but in the blink of an eye, they had gone from being a participant in a conspiracy to being a victim of another calamity.

So—how does it feel to be a grasshopper on a rope with the sister and courtiers of the conspirators?

The cardinal priest from the Cardinal Council of the Church did not have the slightest affection for the undead creatures in the depths of the northern snowfield, but due to political sensitivity, there were naturally more things to consider at the moment.

Sirudelt subconsciously avoided Scambed's gaze, and his eyes fell on Urs, who was kneeling on one knee, and saw the young man holding a knife and burying his head on the wooden floor of the tavern room to draw lines and figures, perhaps unable to stand the heavy and silent atmosphere of the room for a while, and suddenly asked:

"While you still have time, go out of the south gate and head southwest to Sword Castle, or go due south to the east to Silver Shield Fort. Obvious route, isn't it? ”

With that, he looked up, and the two blue eyes under his blonde hair glanced at Alice and Scambed, but then Urs responded, "No, Cardinal." ”

Urs, who seemed to have finished painting under the knife, casually responded to Sirudelt's remarks, crouched back a little to make room for the position in front of him, and then motioned for the three men present to look at the floor of the room where they had just carved with the knife.

After receiving the signal, Scambed first looked at the floor, carefully identified it for a few seconds, and then looked slightly surprised: "The tactical map of the entire Northland county?" ”

Then he turned his eyes to look at the young man, his face showing surprise appreciation, and at the same time a little confused, "It's very brief—but, I don't remember that you were ever qualified for a military education course for the sons of nobles, Knight of Urs?" Or have we all underestimated your talents in the past? ”

"It doesn't matter, Lord Steward, and Lord Priest, Miss Alice." Urs snapped his fingers indifferently, then pointed the tip of his knife at the floor where he had carved sawdust and curled wire, "Look at this line, and here—this is the distance between the Winter Fortress and the city of Helmet, and there is a suburban area in between that that serves as a buffer area, which used to be a place for the lord's military training, and now determines how much time we have to get rid of the undead troops. ”

"Byron has captured the Winter Fortress, and there is no reason to let go of the Helmet City that is close at hand." Scambed nodded in agreement, simply got up and left the wooden chair, took two small steps to the young man's side and half-crouched, "But why reject the proposal of the celebrant of Sirudelt?" ”

"Because we have to flee east."

"What! East? You are crazy? Sirudelt was stunned for a moment, and stood up from the edge of the bed under his buttocks, and then, as if realizing that his tone was a little impulsive, he hurriedly pressed his hands and calmed down and asked, "Well, slave knight—oh no, I mean, knight, I'm not sure if you've learned the math about the length of the sides of a triangle, but don't you think it's easier to be overtaken by the enemy if you flee east than south?" If the enemy knew that we had fled eastward. ”

"Byron Tas has a lot of scouts who are good at scouting, and if they want to chase us, they will definitely not lose us in a short time, so I don't propose to go east to bet on luck." Urs looked up at Sirudelt as if he were stating the facts, "As for the south?" Guys, look at these two places, the route from Armor City to Sword Keep or Silver Shield Keep—"

"Plains!" Skambede noticed the two locations indicated by Urs with the tip of his knife, and immediately deciphered the key, glancing sideways, "You're worried about the undead cavalry?" ”

"The elite of the Black Duke Cassius, the Black Knights from the Hill of Mourning, I have seen their horrors." Urs nodded, his throat snorting, "The area of passage from Helmet City to Sword Keep or Silver Shield has a large plain, there is no terrain cover, and our evacuation plan must take the civilians as much as possible, the Black Knights of Byron Tas can easily catch up with us on the plains. ”

"So we have to go east." Following the train of thought provided by Urs, Scambed stretched out his index finger and drew into the void on the wooden floor carved by a knife, "The city of Helmet is located in the western part of the Northlands, and to the east are the fiefdoms of Baron Marken and Baron Friedrich, white pine collar and brown hill collar, and the terrain is mostly hills, forests, and even some mountains. ”

"Before we go out of the city, we collect food and water from taverns along the way for a few days, and as soon as we get out of the city, we go to the nearest forest, which is here." Urs moved his knife so that the tip of the knife fell back on the wooden floor, drawing a new curve little by little on the basis of a brief map, "Following this route, we can avoid the aerial scouts of Byron Tass in the forest, such as the reconnaissance of the Bone Vultures, and then reach the White Pine Collar, clean up the remnants left by Baron Marken, and then choose to go south or continue east, depending on the situation—"

"—If the undead fail to anticipate our intentions, we will proceed south from the White Pine Collar to the foot of the Alcacan Mountains into the territory of the Silver Shield, seek refuge and assistance from the Earl of Wilkens, and send a letter informing Baron Friedrich that he will also be transferred from his subjects as soon as possible;"

"—If the undead have guessed our thoughts, and have sent troops in advance to block the mountain road south from the White Pine Territory, we will continue eastward from the White Pine Territory to the Brown Hill Territory, join forces with Baron Friedrich, and march southeast, crossing this low ridge in the south-west direction of the Alcacan Mountains to reach Ulan, and ask the Duchess of Anastasia for help."

"A very bold strategy...... But cautious and flexible, I agree with this plan. Scambed took a deep breath and took a moment before expressing his approval, "And Lady Alice, what do you think?" ”

As the words fell, he turned his head to inquire, not forgetting that Alice was also a member of the impromptu meeting, and was the one with the most authority in the rules of the law.

Alice sat on the edge of the bed expressionlessly, her small hand under the blue flame robe held the ice crystal orb staff that belonged to her, as if holding a heavy scepter, quietly listened to the various assumptions and analyses put forward by Urs, saw Scambed turn his head to ask for his opinion, closed his eyes and thought for a long time, and then said softly: "...... Agree. ”

"On the proposal of the Knight of Urs, to the east."

。 m.