At this time, in the Duke's palace in Canterlot, Joel sat restlessly at his table, having not left since the last time he left the Guards and returned to Canterlot.

Originally, he wanted to warn his father to be careful of Shelley Lean, but the Duke of Pokata not only did not pay attention to it, but instead beat himself up. said that he was just fooled by the other party's little cleverness, and simply let him stay for a while.

"In a few days, the woman will come and ask for money in person. When the time comes, I'll humiliate her in public again! Let her realize whose territory she is in. Duke Poka said with a grim face as he shook the wine glass in his hand while holding his stomach.

Joel, who had been ruthlessly planted by Shelley, thought it was ridiculous to hear that the Duke of Poka wanted to humiliate Shelley by making a fuss about tax dividends. It is true that he is also greedy, and he also wants to take revenge on Shelley. But what if the other party bites him in turn?

Last time, in front of thousands of pro-soldiers, my own had been bitten to the point of doubting my life. He didn't want to experience that experience again because of a few dozen gold coins.

"Father...... I'm worried about ......"

"What is there to worry about! She is nothing more than a princess who has lost her status as crown prince. And as long as the prince I support is established as the next king, when the time comes, even if I find someone to kill her, no one will be able to do anything to me! ”

Joel was not relieved by the Duke of Poka's confident remarks. He shuddered at the thought of the woman's tiger and leopard eyes as if she was playing with her prey.

Wrong! That woman was very dangerous, and her feelings were definitely not fake. But why did her father despise her so much? Could it be that she deliberately hid it in front of her father? The more you think about it, the more likely it becomes, which makes Joel even more flustered.

Seeing his son like this, Duke Poka said with a look of hatred: "Look at your virtue! Being scared like this by a good-for-nothing woman makes me lose face when I say it! Since you are so scared, just take this opportunity to get the field back for you, how much she gnawed from you, I want her to vomit more! ”

Joel knew that things had come to this point, and he couldn't persuade him anymore. Now I can only hope that when the time comes, things will not change in the direction I feared.

At this moment, a subordinate came running.

"Master, the people from the army directly under the kingdom are here."

As soon as he heard this man, Duke Pokata's face showed obvious impatience.

"Tsk, it's endless." He drank the cup in his hand and said to Joel, "Let's go, come with me and let the people go." ”

In the living room, a young man in heavy iron armor with a heroic sword stood very calmly in the center, and on either side of him stood several similar warriors.

The soldiers were not as well equipped as the guards that Joel had brought, but they were covered in scratches and looked like a thick layer of pulp. This shows that the owners who wear them are a group of ruthless people who have been bathed in battle all year round.

"I said General Payne, why are you here again, I didn't say that there is no need to worry."

Seeing Duke Poka and his son Joel come out, Payne's brow furrowed, and his eyes burst with anger.

"No need to worry? Is this the word that comes out of the mouth of the lord of the border state? As I mentioned to you, the greenskins are moving more and more frequently, and they don't know when they have become sophisticated weapons. To deal with such a guy, you should have been well prepared, but you have been delaying again and again, and you have not contributed to the effort, people, and money! How can we protect civilians in the state if we continue like this? Did you know that these days, the number of confirmed casualties and abducted women is already higher than last year's? "Funny

Upon hearing this, Joel's face showed surprise, because he was not in the personal guard now, and he had been bothered by Shelley's affairs, so he didn't know that the current greenskin ghost had become rampant like this. However, he was only a little surprised, but his heart was the same as that of Duke Poka, and he was not much worried.

The green-skinned ghosts come out to make trouble every year, which time has it not caused a large number of casualties and losses? This time it was just a few times more than before, and in his opinion, this would not affect the Duke's Palace. At most, after the fact, it is enough to send some money down and calm the uneasy people.

But if it is said that for the sake of the green-skinned ghost, it is to send troops and money, then the loss will be great. You know, there's nothing more expensive than a war, even a crusade. Not to mention that because there are many tribes, the distribution points of their attacks are also very scattered. If every place sent people to guard the town, how much food, grass and money would have to be spent?

Therefore, at this point, Joel, like his father, is not at all in favor of sending troops against the Greenskins.

After being questioned by the other party, Duke Poka said in a somewhat unhappy tone: "I have heard these words, the old silkworm, you really want to fight, send troops over by yourself, I have no opinion at all." ”

"You ......"

Payne gritted his teeth angrily at his words. As a direct army of the kingdom, he is not the same general as Joel in the border states. The generals of the army directly under the kingdom have been tempered by thousands of tempers. And from the age when he has not reached 30 years, it can be seen that this is an extremely excellent talent.

But no matter how good he is, without the cooperation of the border state lords, he would not be able to dispatch personnel to crusade against the greenskins.

The armies directly under the kingdom in various places are provided by the royal family for their daily expenses. But once there is a war, there will be a very large amount of capital and material consumption. Not to mention anything else, just the amount of food and grass provided by the royal family is absolutely insufficient.

Moreover, the fact that the soldiers and horses have not yet arrived, and the fact that the grain and grass go first also means that a lot of manpower is needed to transport the grain, which is a huge expense. Therefore, in wartime, the lords of the states protected by the direct army must contribute money and efforts.

But the problem is that there are many times when the direct army cannot be cooperated.

If it is really a large number of enemy troops attacking for the purpose of invasion and occupation, then there is no need for the direct army to say anything, these usually greedy lords and nobles pay faster than anyone else.

But if the direct subordinate army judges that it is necessary to send troops to fight, they become shy in their pockets, push back and obstruct, and even simply ignore the direct subordinate army.

In the eyes of Duke Boka, the attack of the green-skinned ghost is something that does not need to be cared about, so he will not contribute money or effort to anything.

But it was not a matter to be annoyed by such a stunned person all the time, so his eyes rolled, and an idea flashed in his mind.

"General Payne, it's not like I won't help you. But the problem is that you've found the wrong person. Have you forgotten that the current owner of this border state is not me, but Her Royal Highness Princess Shelley Lean. I'm just being entrusted by her to take care of this place. ”

Joel's eyes lit up as soon as he heard this. Gao, at this time, you can throw the pot on that woman.

"Princess Shelley Lean...... Find her useful? ”

"It's not a question of whether it's useful or not, it's a responsibility that she should have shouldered. You see this way, I received the news that Her Royal Highness the princess is coming over in the past two days, whether you need money or supplies, how about going to her when the time comes? ”