With the Kroger family in charge, the nobles who had already joined earlier, perhaps impressed by the strength of the angry lion, followed his example and expressed their willingness to follow Archduke Andrea in the attack on Vale. On the contrary, the silent aristocracy became a minority, and among these minorities there were also two kinds of people. The former are the nobles who wait for Marcus to make a statement, they are generally of higher status, have a solid foundation in the kingdom, and do not need or want to increase their influence by following the Kroger family. The latter, which is also the object of Marcus's key observation, looked indifferently at the excited crowd, showing a completely unconcerned attitude.

These people's territories range from large to small, and their titles are also high, but they have one thing in common, that is, their territory is not greatly affected by the nezumi, or even not at all. They don't have that much personal hatred for the nezumi, and they prefer to wait for other guys who have been carried away by hatred to use their full strength to gain benefits after fighting with the nezumi to improve their status. There are even many people who want their family's territory to be independent from the kingdom and become the king of a small country.

Marcus saw their reactions, and he knew that the angry lion who seemed to be bent down to ask for his life was also confirming the identities of these people in his own way. Both of them knew that no matter what the lion decided next, those who tried to profit from this chaos by despicable means would not be tolerated. Of course, this didn't last long, and Marcus couldn't keep these people that way. The King's Hand gestured to the eyes of several nobles in the crowd who had been in private contact with him, telling them not to act rashly, and then spoke.

"Lord Andrea, get up first, I already feel your heroism. But this campaign is very important, and it is not something that can be completed by anyone who is the vanguard. Please wait for me to analyze the current situation before making a decision. ”

Hearing this, the angry lion did not hesitate for long and sat back. He acknowledged Marcus's talents, and believed that there was no reason for the hand of a reasonable king to target him, the most likely successor to the throne. In addition, the request just now was originally more a performance than a practical wish, although Andrea did not reject the real leader, but he really didn't want to lose too much of the family's troops. Especially in the task of testing the enemy's virtual reality.

"I'm sorry, but I was too impatient. I believe that when it comes to understanding the nezumi, there are few people who have more experience than you, who have personally experienced the battle to defend the royal capital. Your deeds of fighting in the city as a civilian have already reached Kroger's territory, if every official in the kingdom has such an awareness as you, why worry about the indeigent of the nezumi?"

"The Grand Duke has won the prize, and the contemptible man has just done what every person with a knighthood should do. Marcus nodded, accepting Andrea's flattery, and he knew very well that this was just Duke Kroger's momentary words, and he couldn't take it seriously, "Ahem, let's get back to business, there's not much time to waste." Lord Atticus, it's hard work. ”

The Iron Knight stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the tent, most of whom did not dare to look at him at all, and only the angry lion could look like he was present. Andrea's personality and style of acting are indeed unlikable, but Atticus also has to admit that in the kingdom that suddenly lost Sigget, he is probably the most qualified to sit on the throne. Unless, the child who was regarded as his own by the former king comes back... The Knight Chief forced himself to stop thinking about these things, now was not a good time for Lothar to return.

"I think Your Excellency the Hand of the King has just briefed you on the power of the coalition forces, so as a knight of the kingdom, it is necessary for me to make you aware of our enemies. Atticus said, pointing out the direction of Vale with the baton on his table, "First of all, I must admit that none of the five scouts we sent out had returned on time until the meeting began. The situation is not to be vigilant, and with the combat capabilities of the ratmen, they will not be able to defeat the well-trained soldiers with the same number of squads. And if there were a large number of nezumen leaving Vale to roam, there's no reason we haven't found out. After all, empirically speaking, they are not good at collective stealth operations. ”

"Could it be some kind of trap fortification? Rumor has it that the invincible molten iron city on the ground was destroyed from underground, and maybe the nezumi built a dark ditch or something nearby. A nobleman who looked to be in his forties or fifties spoke. His statement was supported by quite a few people, and it is not news that rats will burrow.

Atticus didn't comment directly on this speculation, he just raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, "As for your speculation, I can only say that it is not impossible. But none of the scouts have returned, and we have no way of knowing what the reason for their disappearance is, and how much this instability will hinder our large forces. But what worries me is that it's not that simple. ”

The chatter returned, and this time it was Andrea himself who spoke, "Can you please explain what you are worried about? I think the large number of potholes is already a very bad situation, and it will completely hinder the cavalry and force our knights to dismount and fight the enemy in close quarters. ”

"Yes, sir. The reason for my concern comes from the information I received during the previous battle, the Count of Montenegro, now the wanted criminal accused of treason, Lothar Montenegro, who mentioned the huge nezumi in the previous blockade of the Salon Territory. And the Grand Duke of the Hammer also mentioned such an enemy when I rushed to the aid of the molten iron. If it's just huge, that's fine, but what if the giant nezumi is just a deformity of the nezumi? I'm afraid there are more nezumi with special abilities that might make us misestimate the outcome of the battle. ”

"It doesn't make sense at all! the giant nezumi are just an excuse made up by the defeated army to justify themselves!" said a nobleman from the south, echoing his words with many nobles in the kingdom who were not yet under the influence of the nezumi.

"But what about the Hammer Duke? The nobleman who supported Marcus spoke.

"Hmph, do you believe the words of the dwarves and outcasts?What is the first fortress of the kingdom, I don't think the molten iron city is as strong as it says, maybe the city collapsed just because there were too many people standing on it. The statement caused a burst of laughter. Indeed, most of the nobles of the Greylion did not like the Dwarves and their subjects, they had neither been to the Hammer Lords, nor were they willing to admit that the abandoned outcasts could build massive cities. In their stereotyped impressions, the Hammermen should be not much different from the filthy nomads.

Andrea raised an eyebrow, but this time he didn't intend to protect the reputation of the hammer, he didn't like this dwarf who seemed to grow out of the ground, let alone his title was on an equal footing with the historic Kroger family. Although the destruction of the Molten Iron City has caused the power of the Hammer to plummet, the appropriate suppression can completely squeeze it out of the noble circle of the kingdom and lose its right to speak.

But such remarks would obviously upset lords who were close to the dwarves, and those who had actually been to the Hammerlords knew what a magnificent masterpiece those massive fortresses that towered over the steppes. They were about to speak to get the officials from the south to retract their rude words, but a noise outside the tent interrupted the meeting.

"It's a scout!

The people in the tent looked at each other, and Marcus immediately stood up from his seat. "This is an important matter, Lord Atticus, Lord Andrea, let's go and hear what the Scout has brought back. ”