The kingdom of Leighton in winter is almost the harshest living area in the world. The cold wind mixed with snow and ice almost never stopped. Walking in the middle of it, without a suitable reference to guide the way, one will soon lose one's way, freeze to death in despair and helplessness, and become a corpse that may not be found until the snow melts in the spring.

But for the Thracian army, getting lost was not a problem, the wind and snow were not a problem, and the cold was no problem either.

They have guides, magic to show them the way, tools to protect them from the cold, and plenty of provisions.

The loss of the "iron-blooded prime minister" who originally shined in this war and used magic-like means of dispatch caused some trouble for the Thracian army. But these troubles were offset by ample cold protection tools, and at least from the point of view of this war, they went relatively well.

"Despite some resistance, our army is still advancing along the established line!" reported one of the staff members, "according to the current trend, we will reach Leighton City in five days at most." ”

Richard Thrace sat in a soft chair upholstered in snowbear skin, his expression grim.

"I remember when I first formulated the strategy, it was estimated that it would be about seven days to attack the city of Leighton. "It's been five days now." ”

The staff choked for a moment, he had also participated in the original military meeting, so he naturally knew the original plan.

At the time, it didn't seem like anything special about the plan, just go about it. And now, they are indeed acting according to this plan...... But I don't know why, the efficiency of the action is just a beat slower.

The staff discussed it many times in private, but they never understood what the problem was.

Sadly, Leopold Otto, who had made that plan, was dead, at the hands of the traitor James Edward.

When they got the news, they couldn't believe their ears - that Leopold had no last resort to death, dead in the house of a mere knight, what a joke!

Leopold's methods, everyone knows. Not to mention that Jaime is just a knight, even if he is a high-ranking earl, it is impossible to kill him!

But Leopold is dead, there is no doubt about it.

The Patrol Division arrived at Edward's Mansion almost immediately, braving the heat to open the burnt living room and find his wreckage.

Because it was so badly destroyed, there was no possibility of resurrection.

What's more, in that living room, there were only his corpses.

This means that Leopold was not only dead, but most likely killed and then cremated.

His Majesty, who got the news, was silent for a while, then sneered a few times and said, "We all underestimated Jaime and the Edward family!"

Then, he gave the order to completely exterminate the Edward family.

Of course, the staff understood why: it was clear from what had happened that morning that the Edwards not only had the strength to kill Leopold, but also the means to summon dragons (although they could not control the summoned dragons), and they even had a powerful group of dead men and powerful mages capable of providing ultra-long-range teleportation.

All of this was slowly developed and arranged without everyone noticing.

This kind of ability, this kind of heritage, is simply chilling!

In fact, exterminating the Edward family is not a very good choice, and subduing them is. But no king can tolerate such a guy who secretly develops great power under his nose, no!

Previously, many people thought that James Edward was able to make such a large amount of money purely by luck. Now they understand that this is not luck, but heritage, a reflection of the deep heritage of the Edward family.

It's just that James's frivolity and greed didn't make the most of this heritage.

This is the misfortune of the Edwards, but it is the luck of His Majesty Richard.

The staff all understood that with the exposure and destruction of the Edward family, His Majesty was angry and afraid, and at the same time, he was also deeply relieved.

In any case, the Edward family was finished, and he didn't have to worry about dying at the hands of the assassins one day when he went out on patrol or hunting.

Even if Jaime would find a way to get revenge, it would be better than not knowing nothing.

Anyway, there are many people who want to kill His Majesty Richard, and they don't care about him more.

It's just that His Majesty's mood has not improved because of this, but has become more and more irritable.

Since Leopold's death, things seem to have been getting worse. This was true of the campaign against the kingdom of Leighton, as well as when dividing the sphere of influence of the occupied territories with the great nobles.

Obviously, they had discussed their respective gains before, but the nobles tried their best to take more on the grounds of "greater losses".

It is true that the losses of their army were greater than those of the king's army, but it was because they were reluctant to invest in armaments, who is to blame?

The army under the king's command, as long as it is a soldier, everyone has magic props to protect against the cold, and this alone is beyond the reach of those great nobles.

With such an investment, the loss will of course be smaller.

It's just that in the face of the unanimous nobles, His Majesty the King has no choice but to make a slight concession.

"If only Leopold were here!" he often sighed.

Of course, the staff knew what he meant—if Leopold was still there, he would be able to divide the alliance between the great nobles, turning them from monolithic to independent. When the time comes, don't say it's a concession, it's almost as good as taking some more benefits!

But...... Leopold is gone.

No one said this, and even when His Majesty mentioned certain topics, they would deliberately avoid the name.

No one who can be a member of King Richard's staff is a fool. At this time, when Leopold's name is mentioned, it is to make trouble for himself! Don't you see that Your Majesty's anger is getting bigger and bigger?

In the past, he would never have given that murderous order—and even if he did, he would have been preempted by Leopold to devise a more appropriate plan of action.

That kind of plan, surely no one could have imagined, was the same as his usual plan.

Since Leopold's death, many people wanted to take his job and take his seat as the prime minister of the kingdom.

But now, there are fewer and fewer people who think this way.

Repeatedly struck by the cruel reality, the staff deeply realized the gap between mortals and geniuses, and no longer dared to make such delusions.

Even the leaders of the staff.

"It's ridiculous that I was still delusional about fighting him, and I even thought that he was actually nothing more than that......" Walking out of the tent and looking at the heavy snow in the night sky, the head of the king's staff sighed softly, "Fortunately...... This war is coming to an end after all. No matter how many accidents there are, the outcome of Layton's defeat will not change after all. ”

"When this war is over, I will take advantage of the opportunity to win the battle and your majesty is in a good mood to return home. I'm a baron anyway, and I have a good territory...... My daughter is not too young, and this time I went back to find a suitable husband for her, and in a few years I can see my grandson......"

"The seat left by Leopold, whoever wants to sit on it, go and fight for it. In a word...... It's all about me!"