2:53 p.m.

The first floor of the Cold Snow Castle, inside the Council Chamber.

Facing the direction of the main entrance, Mace sat upright in his armchair and assumed a solemn and solemn demeanor. The Legion Commander and the Strategists leaned their heads close to each other, each whispering one after the other, glancing over at Mace from time to time.

Their expressions were furious...... Sighing in his heart, Mace closed his eyes: sure enough, the first task of this meeting was to appease the emotions of these high-ranking army leaders. Two of the most belligerent of them were none other than Sorek in the Old Town and Odys in the Central Barracks.

From their whispered conversation, Mace heard a few words: as expected, the rumors of last night's night attack had been reported, and now the whole city was in a state of rage.

That's fine...... Mace gritted his teeth: the people who share the same hatred are the magic weapon to win. However, there must be a limit to this, and the emotions of the common people cannot be allowed to run high. Most of the Children of Ice must be made aware that our real enemy is the evil army of the Dark Glacier, not the Children of Frost - at least not for the time being, until this is all over.

Thinking about what he was about to say in a moment, the lord fell into deep thought: the most important task was to persuade the legion commanders not to rush into sending troops. But Odyss, the guy is an impatient and belligerent thorn, and he's incitative...... As soon as the meeting starts, that guy is probably going to start going against me.

In short, he can't let him mess around...... Secretly determined in his heart, the city lord planned to invite Odys out of the conference room as soon as he lost control of his emotions.

Looking at the three chairs that were still empty, Mace muttered to himself: And his two military advisors...... These three people are too slow.

Each city district is represented by three people...... Looking around at each of the guests at the square table, Mace silently identified the urban barracks they represented: from the left hand to the right, the people of the southern district, the old city, the east city, the west city, the northern suburbs and the unarrived central barracks. In addition, it is the group of Cold Snow Castle represented by himself and Eders and Denor.

The waiter holds the teapot and pours tea for the guests in turn. Shaking his head to look at the heavily armed guards around the hall, Mace secretly smiled bitterly: Eders is really cautious, and sent more than twenty people to stand guard. But you should be careful - you may even step on a secret door under your feet.

Looking at the huge aerial view of Eternal Winter behind him, Mace couldn't help but sigh: he couldn't imagine how this oil painting was made. Perhaps the painter was hunched on the back of an ice dragon to get a panoramic view of the city - of course, the snow and fog didn't happen to be that thick that day.

Speaking of secret passages...... Mays was distressed: Engineer Volkat had proposed to demolish the old Snowcastle and rebuild it. He thought that the castle was too dangerous to know only about the tunnels known to the enemy. Although Mace was reluctant to give up the old building, he had to consider the proposal: perhaps that would be wise enough.

Even if I build a fortress that looks exactly the same, it is not really a snow castle in my heart...... Constantly entangled in the plot of old things, Mace raised his head and looked at the huge banner hanging in the center of the hall: a white background, a pale green forest of sacred trees, and an ice-blue dragon god in the center. It is both the emblem of our House of Mace and the banner of glory of Neverwinter.

"Edus. Looking at the minute hand that was about to point to "12", the slightly uneasy lord whispered to the captain, "Have you informed him properly?" ”

"I informed him. Eders looked anxious: "After coming out of Cold Snow Castle, the first thing I went to was the central barracks. Unless he's remembering the wrong time, ......"

Before Eders could finish speaking, the door suddenly opened. It was Odyss—he was followed by two military advisors, and all three of them walked briskly into the hall.

Everyone turned their eyes to look at the three who had arrived belatedly. Glancing at the guards who had closed the door again, Mace waved his hand and motioned for the three to sit in their seats.

"Sorry, it's late. With brown hair wet from the snow, Odyssey picked up the tea and drank it dry in one gulp: "There is something wrong with the saddle, and it has been delayed for a while. ”

"It's good for you to pinch a little, it's exactly three o'clock. Tapping on his helmet, Edes teased: "It's not too late, it's quite punctual." ”

In the face of ridicule, Odysse was completely lazy to respond. After asking for another cup of tea, he pushed it in front of him, "Aren't we going to start, lord?"

"Everyone, the meeting started on time. With these words in his voice, Mace looked around with majestic eyes: everyone fell silent and looked at him in unison.

If you want others to hear what you say, you shouldn't raise your voice and shout...... Mace cleared his throat and straightened up: the collar had a sense of his own majesty. To do this, keep your voice down when talking about important topics.

"I believe that everyone knows about the night attack on our army's Beihaiwang. Lowering his voice, Mace decided to get straight to the point: "You must also understand what kind of predicament the Ice Child is in right now. Perils abound in and around Neverwinter, with threats from black ice and the Corruptor everywhere. We don't have much of a force left, and we must defend our homeland, not attack the Children of Frost......"

"Lord, can I interject?" Odes looked annoyed and couldn't wait to speak: "Do you want to say that we should swallow our anger? Being beaten by others, just endure it?! If you want me to say, you should send troops to support Beihaiwang and start a war against them! Everyone here, does anyone think the same way?!"

"I agree. As expected, Sorek of the Old Town Barracks blushed and smashed the table and shouted, "We must not indulge those Ice Rock People on our heads!"

The scene got a little out of control...... Just as they were about to order the two to stop, something unexpected happened: Brude, the commander of the East City Army, also sided with Odyssey and began to shout for war. The worst thing is that the commander of the Nancheng District Army, who has always been sensible, also hesitated, as if he was about to waver to the side of the main battle faction.

(Note 1: Due to the special aristocratic system of Neverwinter, there are no common titles of nobility such as earls and barons from the outside world.) In addition, there is no concept of a king either. The lord of the castle is the supreme ruler. As for the position of high-ranking army commander, it is equivalent to the commander of the army. Each High Legion Commander is in control of his own army, stationed in the various barracks of Neverwinter. ）

(Note 2: The Council of Ice is the Supreme Council of Neverwinter, and only the Lord of the City has the right to conduct it.) ）