"Lord Arnold!" "In the Bafeipe conference hall, Farage's assistant officer raised his eyebrows and declared his dissatisfaction in a very high tone, "His Royal Highness Iscario's letter has already made it very clear, 'The war in the Mirror Lake Territory is quite tight, please lead the Leng Shan Leader army to support as soon as possible', why do you have to push back, don't you have the courage to go to the battlefield?"

"As I said earlier," Arnold was quite calm and in the mood to sit at his table and fiddle with his nails compared to Farage's anger, "The report from Azure Harbor also indicates that there is indeed a fleet of whitelands on Mirror Lake, and they are very likely to attack the imperial capital, so my troops should continue to hold on here - you don't want the capital of the empire to be captured by the whitemen, do you? ”

"However, doesn't the report of the Blue Harbor also say that Bishop Juan has led his troops to defeat the main force of the enemy fleet that came to sneak attack, does Your Excellency still insist that the White Lands will sneak attack from Mirror Lake?"

"Juan is talking about defeating, not annihilating the enemy. Although the whitelanders are vulnerable on the water, if the enemy uses a large force as bait and sends a small surprise force to land while we are careless, then the victory on the water is just a joke - even if our navy is all ashore, it is no match for a few hundred whitemen. ”

"You're using strong words. Farage slapped the table angrily, "It's been five days since Northway defeated the White Diren, and since the White Diren's troops haven't reappeared for so long, it means that they have retreated or all died in the Mirror Lake, and they can't hold out for so long without supplies." ”

"Auxiliary Officer Farage. Titus, who was behind Arnold, coughed and spoke, "As a civil official, you may not know much about the Baidi people, for this people, even on the snow fields with extremely harsh living conditions, they can insist on surviving for more than ten days or even a month, and the cold of Wang Ji is not enough to stump them. If our troops leave easily, we may fall for the tricks of the other side. ”

Farage glared at Titus and "snorted", but did not refute.

And Prince Alcott, who was sitting at the main seat of the conference table, had long lost his patience and interest in listening after listening to the quarrel between the two sides for so long.

"Your Excellency Francis," he said, turning his head to look at the Chief Cardinal, whom he had specially invited, "do the archangels and the Holy Spirit have any instructions?"

Looking at Prince Alcott, who actually asked for help from the gods at such a time, Farage sighed secretly.

"Your Highness, it is enough for you to be convinced that the archangels and the Holy Spirit must be on the side of the Empire. Francis still smiling, so that one could not tell that he had been assassinated the other day, "Justice will prevail, so there is no need to worry." ”

"If that's the case, then we don't have to work so hard to let the soldiers fight the barbarians desperately in such weather. ”

Hearing Francis' words so easily, Farage couldn't help but let out a sarcastic remark.

"Watch your words, Your Excellency!"

Before the church could speak, Titus preemptively scolded Farage.

Farage frowned, then looked at Arnold, but the other party's expression did not give him any information.

"In short, His Highness Iscario is the commander-in-chief of the front, and he has the power to command all the armies of the Empire. Lord Arnold, I implore you to think carefully, this is not only a military order, but also a matter of life and death for the Empire, and it will not be good for you to continue to stay in the Imperial Capital. ”

"I can think ......," Arnold squinted at Farage, "are you threatening me?"

"I'm just stating the facts. ”

"Then let me state a fact. Arnold stood up and looked at Farage-for-tat, "You just said that His Highness Iscario has the power to command the armies of the entire empire? It is necessary for me to defend the imperial capital, unless His Majesty the Emperor also orders me to go to the front to support. ”

"It's-"

Not only Farage, but also Prince Alcourt and Chief Cardinal Francis' eyes widened.

"You want to see His Majesty the Emperor? no, absolutely not!" Farage flatly refused, "With all due respect, Lord Arnold, at the moment you can't prove the loyalty of the Cold Mountain Leader to the Empire, and I really can't allow you to meet Your Majesty." ”

"I don't want your permission, assistant officer, pay attention to your identity, you are not qualified to say this. Arnold retorted, "I said, only His Majesty the Emperor is now qualified to give orders to me, and I cannot accept orders from anyone else who is not able to bear the corresponding responsibility." ”

Farage gritted his teeth, his lips trembling from the clash of teeth. In his opinion, Arnold is an out-and-out careerist, a white-eyed wolf who still only thinks about fighting for power for himself at a critical juncture of the empire.

"You don't have that right either. Farage did not show weakness, turned around, and said to Prince Alcourt in a fierce voice, "Your Highness, please dismiss Duke Arnold from the post of head of the defense of the imperial capital, now he is no longer fit to continue to assume this responsibility." ”

"Uh, what's this......" Alcot looked at Farage in a daze, not knowing what to say, trying to persuade peace, but not knowing how to speak, let alone who to turn to now.

"Ahem. Seeing that Prince Alcourt was aiming at himself intentionally or unintentionally in a panic, Chief Cardinal Francis could not stay out of the matter, and had to stand up to relieve the poor First Prince, "Auxiliary Officer Farage, indeed, now that His Majesty's illness does not allow him to meet Lord Arnold in person, we all know your lord's feelings for His Majesty's sake. However, your duke said that he wanted to remove Lord Arnold from the authority of the defense of the imperial capital, which is probably not appropriate, let me ask, who else can ensure the safety of the imperial capital in Wang Ji now?"

"The imperial capital has its own garrison, and the 200,000 troops on the front line are the best guarantee for the emperor's security, as long as the front line is victorious, the imperial capital will not be lost. On the contrary, if there is a gap on the front line, then sooner or later the imperial capital will be ravaged by the horse's hooves of the White people. ”

Farage's stubbornness gave Francis a headache, and Arnold was also not such a good-natured person, and his stubborn paranoia did not lose to Farage.

"No, it should be said that on the contrary, there are 200,000 troops on the front line, and as a defender, they have a geographical advantage, and they can definitely hold on. And if the imperial capital is attacked and falls by the enemy when the fierce battle is in full swing on the front line, then all the efforts of the front line are in vain, so the imperial capital must be defended. ”

In the face of such a dispute, Prince Alcott's head grew.

"Alright, that's all for today's meeting. He hurriedly declared the meeting over, and hurried out of the chamber, ignoring Farage's dissuasion behind him.

Farage, who couldn't keep Alcott, gritted his teeth, glared back at Arnold, and then left the chamber to chase Alcott.

In the chamber, only Arnold's men and Chief Cardinal Francis remained.

Arnold looked at his assassination target, as if he hadn't noticed anything, and sat in his seat with a cute look, worried about Prince Alcott's affairs.

"Your Excellency. Arnold was the first to speak, "I apologize for hearing that you were assassinated a few days ago and have not been able to visit you. But now that you are still able to serve your country, I think your health is fine. ”

"Ah, thank you for your concern, Lord Duke. Hearing Arnold's greeting, Francis seemed to be really moved, and smiled quite politely, "It's just that there is no danger, but you, the Duke, must have worked very hard for the curfew in the past few days." ”

"I can't talk about it. Arnold shook his head slightly, his face remained expressionless, "Regarding the identity of the murderer, I have strictly ordered the Garrison to investigate, but considering that this is an assassination of the chief cardinal, I think there should be other masterminds behind the killer, do you have any suspicions?"

"Oh, that's hard to say. Francis patted the back of his head, his honest smile making it impossible to imagine that there were other dirty schemes in his mind, "I don't think I have offended anyone, of course, it may just be that I feel too good about myself, haha-"

Arnold's expression remained unchanged.

"So, I can only guess from the basics, first of all, I would like to ask who are the candidates for the next Grand Cardinal?"

Francis was stunned, and the smile on his face paused. He understood what Arnold meant, but because he understood, he was surprised.

"Do you suspect that someone in the Church would want to assassinate me for the position of Chief Cardinal? No, it is impossible! No one in my Church has dedicated their bodies and souls to the glorious cause of the Archangel, and no one would ever do such a thing. A person who still has this level of filth in his heart will never be chosen as a candidate for the Chief Cardinal. ”

Arnold looked at Francis, who had said these words in righteous words, and his attitude did not relax in the slightest.

"Really? Then I was rude. From another point of view, if it is not an internal enemy, then it can only be an external enemy, such as the White People. ”

Arnold's quietly changed words made Francis instinctively smell a little conspiracy.

"But in contrast, if the people of the White Land really want to weaken our fighting spirit by assassination, it should be more appropriate to target a few royal highnesses, right? ”

"However, this is the most likely scenario we can think of. ”

Arnold shook his head, as if he really couldn't think of anything else.

"We have also investigated the identity of the assassin, he is just an ordinary poor man who has been used by others, and the people behind the scenes have manipulated this puppet to assassinate him through hallucinogenic drugs. I'm not from the Imperial Capital after all, do you have any impression of this kind of assassination?"

"If you want to say it...... "Francis, holding his chin and thinking seriously, "this method is somewhat similar to the methods of the brotherhood that was active in the imperial capital, but the brothers are very strict in selecting killers, and they are generally not likely to fail." ”

"That's ......"

Arnold's fingers unconsciously tapped on the armrests of the seat.

"Well, for now, we can only focus on the people of the White Land, even if it is a brotherhood, someone must be hiring them behind the scenes. ”

"Although it is not certain, as the object of suspicion, the white people are indeed the most suspicious. Even if he understood what Arnold was trying to say, Francis really couldn't refute the judgment that the white people were the most likely objects of suspicion, so he had to follow Arnold's words.

"So I must continue to garrison the Imperial Capital, Your Excellency Francis, you should be able to understand it. ”

"It's understandable...... Francis' voice grew lower, and there was nothing he could do to stop Arnold from remaining in the capital.

"Then, please help convince Falage Auxiliary, who is a good and loyal minister, but after all, he and ours always have a different vision. ”

"Alright—" Francis sighed, reluctantly agreeing.

However, in his heart, is it really as shown on his face, does he not want Arnold to stay in the imperial capital?