Late at night, two o'clock in the morning.

Fueled by tea, Mace yawned tiredly and rubbed her eyes dazzled by the candlelight. His face also seemed a little tired, Elton slowly stepped forward and filled the teacup for Mace: "City Lord, you should go to sleep, right? ”

"No, no government affairs can be postponed until tomorrow. It is the duty of the lord of the city to take care of these documents. Shaking his head, Mace smiled bitterly in his heart: it seems that this is already "tomorrow", right?

"It seems like it's been a long time since you've shared a bed with Lady Elena. Replacing the teapot with new tea, Elton interjected, "It's important to fulfill the duties of the city lord, but you should also value the duties of your husband, right?"

"You have a tone like Morse. Smiling, Mace glanced up at him, "I remember that I asked Edus to find a guard who could keep his mouth shut." ”

"What a coincidence. I also remember that a certain city lord made a point of not being dumb. In response to the castle lord's joke, Elton burst out laughing. The laughter was very similar to that of Morse's father: "Actually, I'm just not good at dealing with crowded situations, it's not that I don't like to talk." ”

"You can see it. Taking a sip of hot tea, Mace comfortably kneaded her extremely sore eyes: "However, your character is very conducive to being a guard." What's more, when you stand next to me, it doesn't affect my office at all. ”

"That's just a lack of existence. He poured himself a cup of tea, and Elton drank it in a breath of astonishment—he didn't burn his throat.

Isn't it heavy to carry that shield on your back every day...... Just looking at the heavy black steel shield made Mace feel sore. Looking at the sleepy young man, the city lord asked with concern, "Go to sleep first, Elton." There's no need to stay up late with me. ”

"City Lord, how can you say that there is no need?" Elton seemed a little unhappy after rejecting Mace's proposal: "It is the duty of the city lord to protect the city lord every step of the way, and I must not be derelict in my duty no matter what—not to mention, the middle of the night is the most important thing to be wary of." Who knows how those corrupters will assassinate you?!"

And so he said...... Somewhat regretting his statement, Mace sighed helplessly and picked up the document again to review. After a few casual conversations with Elton, the two returned to their wordless work. The environment was eerily quiet late at night, with only the occasional rustle of pages and the mechanical sound of the clock's gears snapping.

As time passed, Mace's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he had to pour a lot of tea to refresh himself. Just as he picked up the teacup again, Mace was startled by the sudden knock on the door and almost burned his wrist.

It's all this time, who can it be...... Maybe it was Eders, who didn't hear the knock on the door clearly, and Mace, shook his head vigorously: "Please come in." ”

It was not what he expected. When the door was pushed open, a man he had never met entered before. Seeing that he was dressed as a soldier, Mace immediately straightened his waist and motioned for the guards to sit in front of him.

Taking a deep breath, Mace felt his sleepiness dissipate a little. Pinching his eyelids, the lord kept his eyes as wide as he could, looking directly at the guards: "Welcome, soldier." It's so late, I don't know what you need to do with the city lord?"

"I am a guard from the central barracks, and I have come to deliver the letter. Handing a letter to Mace with both hands, the guard rubbed his palms together and moved his seat closer to the fire: "This letter was sent by the letter crow an hour ago, and the sender is Captain Odyss. ”

With a chuckle in his heart, Mace lowered his head and stared at the envelope carefully: the fire paint coat of arms on the seal was the Beihai Lookout Post.

I guess I also know that the messenger sent during the day must not have had time to stop Odyss...... Gritting his teeth, Mace calmed down and said, "Well done, soldier." Go find the guard in the living room and ask them to take you to your guest room to rest - and you'll be back tomorrow after breakfast. ”

The soldier nodded and quickly exited the door. Listening to the sound of footsteps fading away, the lord picked up the letter opener and opened the envelope from the back.

Slowly pulling out the letter, Mace nervously leaned it close to the candle flame and read it carefully.

Just as he expected. The first sentence of Odyss's letter was to declare that he had led his army in a night attack on an enemy outpost. With a sigh in his heart, the city lord sighed helplessly: Sure enough, the situation he was most worried about still happened.

After reading the brief letter, Mace closed his eyes and leaned back hard: according to the Odys report...... In terms of results alone, he won a great victory in this sortie. Taking advantage of the enemy's slackness and the tactic of attacking from three directions at the same time, Odysse lost only 294 soldiers and annihilated 853 of the enemy. In addition, he captured the enemy's outpost in Beihaiwang and captured a large amount of supplies for Neverwinter.

It's really remarkable...... Unexpectedly, Mace was extremely stunned: in the previous battle, the enemy and us had been in a stalemate, and they had not taken each other's outposts for decades. But on this night, the Ice Rock People in Beihaiwang were all annihilated.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to send additional troops, it is true that you can gain a firm foothold in Beihaiwang, and even take the town and port as your own...... Frowning, the lord felt a dilemma: however, Eternal Winter had a limited number of troops and had to be used as a defense for the main city. In any case, it is impossible to free up a large number of people to be sent to Beihaiwang.

Odyss's attack this time will definitely attract a heavy attack by the Ice Rock People...... Feeling a pang of chagrin, Mace complained in his heart: Why do you have to take the enemy outpost at the Breath of Winter? In this way, if the Ice Rock people want to get the supplies from the sea, they will have to pay a lot of money to buy them from us.

But now, you can't focus entirely on dealing with the Frost Child...... The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became, and the city lord's idea was extremely contradictory: according to his original plan, he should try to avoid war with the Frost Child and initiate peace talks as much as possible, and then send troops to settle accounts with the other party after surviving the breath of winter. However, at this juncture, Odyss's move undoubtedly shattered this possibility.

"Lord, your face is not very good. As if noticing Mace's struggle, Elton asked, "What's the bad news on the letter?"

"It's a mixed bag. Handing the letter to Elton, Mace let out a long sigh, "I haven't figured out one thing right now - it stands to reason that after the Ice Rock attacked our outpost at night a few days ago, they should have expected that we might counterattack and defend it tightly?

"I'm afraid only he knows. After reading the letter quickly, Elton looked up, "What are your plans - to recall Captain Odyss, or to send him to guard there?"