Chapter II: The Council of the Exiles
Although El himself was not mentally prepared, he did get the recognition of those soldiers. Although they are armed with weapons, they are confused in their hearts. After losing their glory and homeland, their psychological backbone has collapsed, and only the instinct to obey orders remains. No matter how unreliable El is, he is their only commander after all.
With El's support, Tiana immediately gathered the leaders of the other factions in the refugee camp to discuss the next steps.
Before the meteor shower, there were at least 50,000 refugees evacuated from Istalen, most of whom chose to head west, and there were many border cities like Marseille and Isttalon on the border between the plains and the forests, most of which maintained commercial contacts with Istalen, and were familiar to the civilians of Istalen.
Tiana was wary of the plague in the north, so she chose to go south. Compared to the border cities to the west, from Isttalon to the south, it entered the interior of the Oakland Kingdom, where the relationship between the local lords and the White Lion family had not been very harmonious due to the bullshit grievances of the upper echelons of the kingdom.
But even so, many people chose the south, and the number of refugees gathered in the boulevard alone reached 3,000. After sunrise, more refugees with their families and families arrived, hoping to get asylum under the herd mentality. It is foreseeable that in the coming days, more and more refugees will gather together.
Although the number of refugees is large, in reality the vast majority of them are women and children who are unable to protect themselves, and there are very few people with leadership skills.
When El walked into the tent with his men, the people sitting in the tent stood up with a hula, and all kinds of people of all kinds of people from all walks of life and ninths in fancy costumes gathered together, as if they were holding a carnival ball, and the mess made him swallow a mouthful of saliva.
"Alright, our general is here, please be quiet, let me introduce you. Tiana said with a strained face, these are the leaders she picked out overnight, and only she knows the origin.
The temporary members of the "Carnival Ball" include five large merchants, three mercenary captains, four noble family heads, and two commoner representatives, and this cast can sing a wonderful show wherever it is placed.
The five great merchants, including the old merchant Jupiter, were all wealthy bosses with their own caravans and guards, and they were the only ones who were most familiar with the intelligence of the South. However, due to the rush of time, except for Jupiter, the other bosses did not prepare their goods, and the real property was only the bare-rod caravan in hand.
However, this also shows that they are all smart people with brains, and not smart enough bosses such as Lord Bagar have long disappeared into the fire. The last thing a wise merchant lacked was a flexible mind, and by the time Tiana came to the door, they had formed an alliance of their own interests, led by Jupiter.
The three mercenary captains have signed a contract with Tiana and can be considered the main force of her subordinates. However, the nature of mercenaries is to recognize money and not people, and their feelings for Isttalon are not so deep. In this situation, her loyalty is also questionable, otherwise Tiana would not have sought El's help again.
The aristocratic blood of Isttalon has not yet faded, and most of the families have followed the banner of the White Lion family to go to righteousness generously, but it is also an obligation to continue the bloodline. This time, there were at least a dozen small families who evacuated to the south with the refugees, and most of them were members of the blood line of high-level families. The families spontaneously came together to form a small collective, and four elders were selected to be their representatives.
As for the civilians, Tiana originally wanted to select a few more representatives, but the civilians themselves did not have any organization and lack of assertiveness, and they would not be able to do anything for a while. The last two representatives selected are still legendary.
One of the young men was Isttalen's most famous street performer, who claimed to have a righteous heart and often helped the commoners to fight their grievances, and was imprisoned several times for offending the nobles. Although it is not clear for a while what he is capable of, at least this person has a high popularity among civilians.
Another civilian representative was even more outrageous, an elderly prostitute. The highly militarized administration of Isttalon indirectly contributed to the prosperity of the prostitution industry, and the woman was the most beautiful stripper in the city a dozen years ago, and it is said that even the then Grand Duke Caesar was obsessed with it, and even fought with his brother over her. The veracity of those legends is no longer verifiable, but this woman does enjoy a certain prestige among the common people. Although she had been retired for many years, her words were more effective than those of the city officials.
After Tiana introduced these various members, El was surprised and secretly relieved, because the manpower he brought himself was not very reliable.
In addition to the three mid-to-high-ranking officers, Timmy, Palanti and Ahmed, he is followed by a head gray goblin chef who is shaking his head behind his butt. Sensing the magic of the grey goblins, Tiana urged Mr. Wesley Black Pepper to attend the meeting, even as Lorana's representative.
El thought she was joking at first, but after seeing the bunch of cows and ghosts in the tent, it suddenly became clear in her heart that the girl was really a clever woman at this time, and she could only pick up what to use, and she had no choice at all.
While he was observing the others, everyone was watching him and his men, most of them skeptical. In terms of status, everyone else can be considered refugees, and they are deserters. The refugees of Isttalen also have the pride of being refugees, as their families are fighting bloodily. Although it is difficult to tell right from wrong at this time, in the traditional concept of the Istalen, it is contemptible to flee from the battle.
El was thick-skinned and didn't pay much attention to these glances, but Palanti, who was standing beside him, couldn't bear it a little and looked a little cringe.
"Alright, everyone be quiet!" Tiana raised her staff and tapped the ground, "Everyone sit down, we must solve the most pressing problems now." ”
"Ms. Lanstadt, we all follow your instructions. A muscular mercenary leader said in a deep voice.
"I can't save all the refugees alone. Tiana shook her head and said, "Now we are a collective, and everyone here has to take the corresponding responsibility." We have lost our homeland and cannot afford to lose our loved ones around us. ”
"Yesterday we were Istalen, and today we are exiles of Istalen, and we are a bunch of lost dogs in the eyes of outsiders. A gray-haired aristocratic old man sighed.
"Now is not the time to be sentimental, we have to think about how to make sure that everyone can survive. Tiana said worriedly, "We have a frenzied enemy behind us, and the road ahead is uncertain, and even our current team itself is in trouble...... We have no sacrifices, no food, and probably someone will fall on the road today. ”
"That...... My caravan is carrying grain this time, which should last for a while. Jupiter, the old merchant, raised his hand with some hesitation and said.
"There are so many refugees that there is not enough food to eat. Another aristocratic old man waved his hand with a solemn face: "Don't think that we will get help from the southern lord, three days south from this road, is the territory of Count Kemal, and that bastard will not give us a piece of bread." ”
Seeing that everyone's topic had completely shifted to food, Tiana couldn't help but frown. Now the problem that needs to be solved is not just eating, she just gave an example to let everyone have their own opinions, but these people obviously have no experience, and she must be further guided.
"We need to have an initial plan in place. Tiana cleared her throat to draw everyone's attention, and she said to the aristocratic old man who had just raised the question of the lord of the South, "Mr. Androv, you know the South well, please help us determine a feasible goal." ”
Then she turned to the two civilian representatives and said, "I need to know what the refugees are right now, how many women, how many children, and any other valuable data." Mr. Bonaparte and Ms. Mediaa, I hope that you will complete this work as soon as possible. ”
"Obviously you're not going to ask people to stop and count, are you? Bonaparte, a street performer, said playfully.
"Yes, we can't stop, God knows if those undead and earthwalkers will come after us. Tiana nodded and looked at El: "General, can your troops ensure the safety of the rear?"
El looked into the girl's eyes, knowing that she now needed her own unconditional support to calm everyone's emotions, so he nodded and said, "No problem, my people were killed from the city, and they can also be killed." The work of the queen is entrusted to us. ”
Tiana, of course, knew that this was pure nonsense, the Gold-Rank powerhouses of both the Earthwalker and the Undead were killing the city in the dark, and as long as one of them had his hands free, it would be easy to destroy the survivors of the human race.
However, ordinary people naturally don't know the truth, and when they hear El's promise, even if they don't want to believe it, they can't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief in their hearts.
"Then there's the situation ahead. Tiana nodded quietly and looked at the burly mercenary leader: "Mr. Quill, I need you to organize people to probe the intelligence ahead, I believe you should be a professional in this regard." ”
"It is incumbent upon you, my lady. Quill snapped his chest and exclaimed. (Go read OM) (Jiangsu.com)