The evening breeze is cold, and the Daha Temple, located in the middle of the city, rings the last bell of the day, loud and heavy. But it is like a bell, ringing in everyone's heart, making people feel an inexplicable fear.

"We have to hurry, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ”

In the ornate room, Grand Duke Samiel whispered. He was excited, but anxious. Excitedly, since the king of the north, Rod, overthrew the former queen Katrina, the southern nobles had never been so united against the Tsar, and Samiel seemed to feel the crown beckoning to him, this was the closest he had come to the throne of the king.

The anxious thing is that the noble lords are too slow to act, they only have money, but they can't do anything substantial. It is useless to denounce the king, and real action is needed. And the southern aristocratic lords lost their military power early at the beginning of the civil war, and now it is not possible to recruit troops overnight. The only thing that can be done is to find mercenaries. But the Griffin Legion has been wiped out, and there are no more large mercenary regiments in Kislev. Gathering an army becomes a tricky business.

Fortunately, the aristocracy was united like never before. Moreover, they all support themselves. Samil knows his strengths and weaknesses. He knew that if the southern lords had the strength to organize a legion in a short period of time, they would be victorious.

"My lord, Mixin!"

Just as Samil was excited about the impending victory, the crow keeper ran in in a panic. A small section of paper was handed to the Duke himself.

With trepidation, Samil opened the letter. By the time he finished reading the first line, his face had become very ugly. The servant stared nervously at his master's mood changes, Samir didn't reveal his emotions often, but once he did, something big would happen.

After a moment of silence, Samiel's face turned pale, and he walked to the fireplace and threw the little piece of paper into the fire. In an instant, the paper burned, turned into sparks, and disappeared into the fireplace.

"What's wrong? ”

Black Rose Edmure asked in a low voice.

"Rhodes...... Damn Rod, he sent troops ahead of schedule!"

Samiel gasped and replied. His arms were shaking, and his anger was suppressed in his heart, and there was nowhere to vent it.

"Impossible! It is impossible to organize a corps without two or three months! Besides, what is the name of sending troops?"

Edmu asked. He had fought all his life in the empire, and he knew the operation of the army all too well. When the king gathered his army, he had to write letters to the small lords in various places to raise grain and grass at the same time. When the armies from all over the country gather and the grain and grass are ready, it will not be completed at all without two or three months. Even if it is, it's just the beginning. According to Samiel, Rhodes had completed all the mustering work, and the army was already on its way to the city of Kislev. For Edmure, this is absolutely impossible to do, even if the Elector personally summons the legion, he can't do it so quickly!

"I would have hoped it was a false message, but it was seen by the northerners, and Rhodes' army passed through every town with great might, and everywhere it went, the gates were wide open, and merchants and civilians cheered. They played the same name as we did - to demand that Tsar Pavel recognize the inviolability of the private property of the noble lords. ”

Sam Yir gritted his teeth in hatred. Seeing that the fruit of his hand was about to be handed over, Samiel had the heart to kill Rhodes. He has been manipulating in the dark, using so many means and spending so much financial resources to have today's situation and such opportunities. But in the end, the king of the north only snapped his fingers and came to the aid from all directions. This is a good thing, Rhodes once again represents the will of the people, not the king, but his prestige far exceeds that of the king......

A sense of sadness suddenly welled up from the depths of Samil's heart—something that some people had tried hard for a long time, and had tried their best, could not get anything. Some people, with a little finger, are called to come...... Perhaps, this is everyone's fate, right?

It's just that Sam Yir and Edmure don't understand why, why is it so fast? Unless he prepares in advance?

Yes, it must be so! Samiel suddenly realized. I am observing the situation, I am preparing to plan, and so is the other party. It's not just that I'm still waiting. At this point, Rhodes is a veteran. Samir suddenly remembered how this guy had risen from a minor lord of the North to the Lord of the North, the Lord of the Protector of Kislev. Forbearance, concealment, but this northern lord's forte......

......

Bonfires in the night lit up the vast land, like falling stars, distributed in the ancient land of the northern border of Kislev.

In the moonlight, Rhodes stood alone at the top of a small hill, overlooking the earth and overlooking the barracks. If nothing else, in half a month, the troops will be able to reach the city of Kislev. Along the way, the march of the Northern Legion went very smoothly, and Rhodes knew that this was not only because of his own personal prestige, but also because of the preparation in advance.

When the army moves south, it is bound to inevitably disturb the people. No matter how high the quality of the army is, there will always be some disobedient soldiers who will make trouble. Therefore, before leaving, Rhodes cut down the staffing and only dispatched elite troops. And not a massive corps going south. Because, this time to go south, Rod knew that he would not encounter any artificial obstacles.

First of all, the teacher is famous, for the sake of public opinion. No lord will say "no". In the past, the lord raised an army, and the biggest trouble was the king's suppression. But Rhodes knew that this did not exist at this moment.

The king's power comes from the support of the lords below, and without the support of the local lords, the king is nothing more than a bare-bones commander. The current Tsar Pavel angered the nobles, and none of the lords were willing to provide him with troops, and the city of Kislev had no other troops at Pavel's disposal except for the permanent troops.

As for the Southern Noble Alliance, it will not be able to organize a legion at all for a while. After the end of the Civil War, Dennis's series of policies directly confiscated the military power of the southern noble lords, leaving only a few permanent soldiers to guard their castles. Since the southern nobles obeyed Queen Caterina at the beginning, they naturally had nothing to say after the defeat. It now seems that this decision was the right one. This has led to a lot of stability in the political situation going forward.

If there's one thing to worry about, it's the wife and daughter in the capital. Caroline, her state is becoming more and more stable, so stable that it is frightening, and there is hardly a trace of emotion in handling things. Rationality is good, it's just that, as human beings, it is impossible to be absolutely rational, and there are always some emotions that will unconsciously control mortals. But what Caroline made Rhodes feel was only near-perfect rationality...... Frost Witch ...... Rhodes, who didn't know magic, didn't even know how high his wife's magical attainments had been.

and his daughter Dennis, Rod always felt that this child still had a lot to say, and she deliberately hid something. Boris was assigned to the frontier, why is that? There must be some reason for this, the parties concerned will not say. All the questions made Rhodes feel uneasy when he went south.