Boulderder, inside City Hall.

The old man in a luxurious costume sat at the wooden table, his eyes slightly closed, as if he was lost in thought. The quill pen in his hand was rhythmically lit on the parchment, but he did not do it for a long time.

Salos Covifort, head of the Coviford family. In his sixties, he is not only the mayor of Boulder City, but also the chief advisor elected by the craftsman's guild of the industry alliance. Although he did not have any title of nobility, the wealth and power in his hands were greater than that of any feudal lord with the title of earl or even duke in the kingdom of Rick.

About half an hour had passed, and just when the servant who was standing beside him was about to think that Master Salos was about to fall asleep, the old man suddenly opened his eyes, dipped the tip of his pen into the ink bottle, and left more than thirty lines of neat handwriting on the parchment, and finally wrote the name of the handwriting in the place where he fell, and stuffed the parchment into the envelope prepared in advance.

As if something big had happened, Salos let out a sigh of relief and slowly rose from his chair.

Walking to the window, looking at the bustling street scene outside the window, he said in an old and calm voice.

"Help me get the letter out and send it."

Looking at the recipient's name on the envelope, the servant was slightly stunned, but his expression quickly returned to normal, and he bowed his head respectfully.

"Yes, sir."

Since the head of the Coviford family has made a choice for the fate of the family, then as a servant, no matter what he thinks in his heart, all he can do is obey, because the fate of the Coviford family has been bound together from the moment he was born.

Watching his henchman leave the room, Salos sighed slowly, put his hands behind his back, and shook his head with a self-deprecating smile.

"I didn't expect that I would hesitate to do something that I had already decided, and sure enough, I was still old."

Maybe after another year or two, it's almost time for me to train a successor?

Salos thought so in his mind.

Just then, there was the sound of footsteps outside the door.

"Your Excellency."

Looking at the secretary standing at the door with a slight salute through the reflection on the window glass, Salos said in a steady voice.

"What's the matter, tell me."

"Miss Gondar has arrived at the Governor's Palace."

"I see." Salos said with a blank face.

It's just a little girl, he hasn't taken it to heart yet.

"One more thing......" The secretary's expression was a little hesitant, not knowing how to speak.

"Say."

"There's a wizard from Boulder."

"Wizard?" Salos frowned slightly.

"And ......," the secretary hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said quickly, "and your nephew has fallen for the wizard's curse ......"

"Bastard thing!"

Like an angry index finger, the white-haired Salos scolded angrily, so frightened that the secretary at the door did not dare to take a breath.

Even without the need for his own secretary, Salos could guess what was happening, Bancheno had already gained notoriety after serving as captain of the gate guard for so long. Although he had heard of it all along, he didn't bother to pay attention to him, but he didn't expect him to provoke the head of the wizard.

Or at such a critical juncture......

"Where's the others?" Salos said with a grimace.

"The wizard left the city gate and went to the market......"

"I'm asking Bancheno!"

"At the barracks at the gates, the priest said that he had been cursed and that no one dared touch him." The secretary said tremblingly.

Salos nodded and did not speak.

Looking at the expressionless face, the secretary felt a slight chill in his heart, and sighed softly in his heart.

I'm afraid I won't see the sun tomorrow.

For the good of the family, there is nothing that cannot be sacrificed......

……

Doge's Palace.

Outside the marble walls, Celita stepped off her horse, handed the reins to the servant, and as the butler walked into the courtyard, she met the governor of Boulder City, Sir Tours, in the study.

"Uncle Tours, long time no see." Seeing the familiar face, Cilita greeted politely.

"Cilita? I haven't seen you in such a long time, and it's already so big. Looking at Cilita with satisfaction, Turce nodded approvingly, "I thought you were joking, but I didn't expect you to really become a qualified knight." ”

"Where, I'm still far from you." Cilita said humbly.

"Don't be presumptuous, my old bones haven't been on the battlefield for a long time. It's already thankful that you can still have the strength of an intermediate knight. Sir Tours laughed, but his smile was a little lonely.

Compared to when he was the captain of the Guards patrol in the palace, Sir Tours was noticeably thinner, and his temples were gray.

Inviting Celita to sit down, he instructed the butler to make black tea for the two of them.

It took about ten minutes for Cilita to dictate in as concise language as possible the orders from the palace, what she had seen along the way, and her request to Boulder City to take in the outcasts outside the city.

After listening to Cilita's statement, Sir Tours groaned for a moment, slowly lowered his teacup, and sighed softly.

"The situation in Boulder City is much more complicated than you think, so let's start with the problem of the displaced people."

After a pause, Sir Tours continued.

"The land of the Thorn Wasteland is difficult to cultivate, and there is very little arable land available outside of Boulder City, which is simply not enough to absorb these displaced people. In fact, His Majesty has told me on more than one occasion in his letters to take care of the outcasts, or at least not to let them die of hunger and pestilence. After all, the displaced people will eventually return to their respective territories after the war is over. His Majesty is prepared to sign a decree after the end of the war, and he will not be held accountable for the faults of these fugitives, so I hope that Boulder City will temporarily provide them with shelter......"

"Then ......," said Cilita, who was about to speak, was interrupted by Sir Tours.

"That's why I said it's not that simple. For the industry alliance in Boulder City, this is using their purse bags to feed a group of people who have nothing to do with them," Sir Tours shook his head, "The compromise made by the town hall was to set up a refugee camp at the gates of the city to provide limited food for the homeless. But you can also see what has become of those people who are hungry, and yet even maintaining the current ration is quite barely enough to support it until the beginning of the next year......"

Celita fell silent.

She understood what Tours meant.

The fist on her knee clenched slightly, and her heart tingled like a knife at the thought of those who were suffering in the refugee camp, and of those who looked at her with expectant and even pleading eyes.

Ever since she became a high-ranking knight, she had never felt so little about her power.

"Fortunately, under my constant pressure, there has been a recent relaxation at the town hall, promising to increase the camp's rations next month." Sighing, Tours continued, "However, the problem of the displaced is not the most troublesome. Two full years have passed, and the conscripts in Boulder City have not yet completed their mobilization. ”

"Are they ready to disobey His Majesty's orders?" Cilita frowned.

"Actually, they've done it," Tours shook his head, "and it's all the way it happens." ”

For the king, Liberty City is quite ambiguous. The existence of ambiguity.

Nominally it was a crown domain, and the kingdom sent a governor to administer the taxes of the free city and enjoy certain administrative privileges, but in reality the city was ruled by the mayor chosen by the city's trade federation and the bureaucracy under the control of the trade union.

In times of peace, these free cities are as docile as birds, willing to be His Majesty's purse money, but when the kingdom is faced with disaster, these people are the most unreliable.

Two years ago, the king's conscription order had been sent to Boulder City, but it had been delayed until now, and the town hall had only completed the recruitment and training of the reserves, and did not send a single soldier to the front line, but just sat and watched.

"Your Highness Sophia probably didn't tell you," Sir Tours smiled a little reluctantly, "I'm sorry, these are all problems that should have been solved by me, but the problems are more difficult than I imagined. ”

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Cilita said.

"No," said Sir Tours, shaking his head, "those men are no opponents to defeat with a sword. I hope you'll give me a little more time, and in half a month at the latest, I'll be able to convince the stubborn councillors in the town hall. ”

"I'm waiting for your good news." Cilita nodded.

Sir Tours, who watched herself grow up, was like a mentor to her, and she trusted it from the bottom of her heart.

Unable to make eye contact with the girl's trusting eyes, Tours sighed inwardly.

Is half a month enough?

I hope everything will go so smoothly......