On the way to the Duke of West's mansion, Hold and the others, who were walking slowly on chocobos, saw shops on both sides of the street, and the red wolf flag, the symbol of Roland City, was hung at the door of the residence, and the red flags of different sizes were tied to one or two or even several black yarns at the ends.

“...... It seems that the news of the death of the Grand Duke of West has spread throughout the city. Hade sighed slightly, this way of hanging the territorial flag flat with a black veil tied to the end was a ritual for the Olympian Empire to commemorate the death of an important person. Generally speaking, those who are tied to one are paying tribute to His Excellency the Grand Duke, while two or more are the number of family members who died in the catastrophe a few days ago.

Roughly every street will hang a large Olympian imperial flag near the street entrance, and the flag with the white alpine logo on a blue background is also hung horizontally, and there are a memorial bouquet of white roses under the flag, and from time to time there are passers-by silently adding one to the pile of white roses.

The expressions of the pedestrians on the street are more serious, and they are completely less relaxed and leisurely than before.

"According to the practice of the Empire, the funeral ceremony should be held seven days after the official announcement, especially the soldiers who died in this catastrophe will be buried in the Patriotic Army cemetery area on the edge of the outer city. ”

Soon after, Hade arrived at the Duke's palace with two of his honorary knights, namely Madrick and Des, following the messenger.

There were a lot of things to deal with in this family meeting, and Head sat in the living room of the Duke's Palace, silently looking at most of the family patriarchs he had never met.

Of course, he was more familiar with his titular mentor, Baroness Shultias, and the other one who had the impression was Count Alton, the head of the Knights of the Ninth Legion, who was a more old-fashioned traditional and rigorous soldier. In the past, when Hide was breeding aerial riding monsters, he had met him a few times.

There is also a deep impression of several half-elves from a half-elf family. Because one of them is Kalleia, nicknamed "The Burst Witch", the sister of Lady Anne, the second wife of the Duke of West.

Strangely enough, Viscount Seurtias, with black wings curled up behind his back, had a very unsightly face. What's even more strange is that the purple-haired girl Sima actually followed her mentor to attend this family meeting, and she shrunk behind the black-haired and black-winged baroness and showed half of her face desperately glancing at Hade, which made Hade feel very strange.

"Head, the number of members of the West family is not too many. Madjik, who was in the corner of the living room, whispered in Head's ear.

"Well, generally speaking, it is difficult for the number of dependents of the eight wealthy families on the border to exceed thirty, and there are many reasons for this. While answering Madjik's question, Hayde looked strangely at Seema's little face that seemed to be grimacing, not understanding at all that Weishenme had become such a tricky and lively girl after not seeing her for a long time.

"What's wrong with that little girl?" said Magik, too, puzzled.

"I don't know, Des, do you understand the meaning of her expression?"

The silver-haired female apprentice behind Head said calmly, "I don't understand. ”

Hood was about to walk over and ask her what was going on. But seeing the Baroness Seurtias look at him coldly, the kind of gaze with a very strong contempt and anger made Hade a little baffled, I don't know why Weishenme, a baroness who has always been very polite to herself, suddenly put on such an attitude. Seema, on the other hand, waved her hand desperately, causing Hade to temporarily discourage the idea of walking over and talking to them.

"Let's wait until the family meeting is over and talk to them. Hede also felt that the atmosphere in the living room was not suitable for small talk.

Four of the thirteen clans, including Have, were half-elves, a rarity that was rare to find in cities in other parts of the empire. And there are only thirteen clans, which does not mean that the influence of the West family is relatively small, but that the dependents of the big nobles in border cities have changed more frequently, the reason is, of course, because of various tragic wars, often causing some sparsely populated new clans to die in a certain battle.

Of course. In fact, there are still many nobles of all classes who are loyal to the West family, and there are also many nobles who were originally family members who later accumulated meritorious deeds and were promoted to higher ranks. However, due to the restrictions of the empire's regulations, the noble lineage with the title of dependant can only obtain the title of earl at most.

Therefore, in order not to affect the promotion of the title, many dependents are nominally independent from the main clan after accumulating meritorious deeds and being promoted to the earl title. There are also many families in this type who are still closely related to the main family that raised them. But at least nominally an independent aristocratic lineage, it can't be counted as a family, and there are many rules in the aristocratic circles of the Human Empire that are quite complicated.

"Lady Wella...... You've already succeeded to the dukedom title, right?" the silver-haired female apprentice also asked in a low voice.

Hade shook his head slightly. "I'm afraid it will take a few days before an envoy is sent from the imperial capital to officially confer the titles of duke and lord. ”

Wella has not yet officially inherited the title of duke, because the conferment of titles above the earl must be carried out by the Imperial Capital Heraldic Court in person. In the autonomous cities of each territory, the heraldic house controlled by the local lord family can only appoint nobles with the title of viscount.

The heads of the families entered the reception room separately to meet with the current head of the West, Wella West. It is necessary to discuss some relatively important arrangements separately, listen to the views of the heads of various family members on the future situation, and so on.

As the clans had not yet arrived, it was soon Have's turn, and when Beard entered the reception room, he found that Wella, who had not seen her for almost two days, had a haggard face, and although she had managed to pull herself together, it was evident that she had not fully recovered from the loss of her father.

"In general, I still hope that you will assist His Excellency Syltias in the breeding of monsters, and try to make the most of your strengths. Wella looked at Beard, "Especially the training of the Thunderwing Wind Snake and the Razer Knights has been put on the agenda, and since the Griffin Knights have lost two percent of their strength before, the combat power in the air has been greatly affected. ”

Hide nodded slightly, the cultivation period of the griffin and its knights is too long, and the loss of twenty percent of the troops may take a long time to recover.

There was silence for a while. Wella asked, "What do you think?"

"Your Excellency Wella is referring to the political situation?"

Wei Na nodded slightly, hesitated for a moment and said, "News just came from the imperial capital. Empress Bixia is on her way south under the escort of the Praetorian Guard, and it has been confirmed that she will come to pay her father's honor at a ceremony in five days' time. It should also rush to Woolman City, the territory of the Amazon family, to pay tribute to the two deceased masters of the Amazon family. ”

Hade frowned: "This is normal, after the death of an imperial pillar like the Grand Duke of West, it is also appropriate for Empress Bixia to come to pay her respects in person." ”

"But in addition to the Praetorian Guard, there are also several sub-legions of the Central Military Headquarters of the Imperial Capital, and the Amazon family has received a document that the Central Military Department will send His Excellency Duke Rommel Degens of the Degens family to assist in the garrison of Wolman City. Although we have not yet received similar military documents in Roland City, it is obvious that Roland City and Wolman City are in the same situation at present, and there is no master to stabilize the people's hearts. ”

Wella said this, and Hand had already understood it thoroughly.

"Rommel Degens, the Amazon family seems to be in trouble. Rommel, known as the Black Flame Demon Dragon, has always been very fond of meddling in government affairs, and it is estimated that there will be a lot of conflicts there. ”

The three cities on the southern border are very important border towns for the empire, and they definitely need high-end military defense. However, with the current situation of the West family, it is really difficult to "create" a genuine master in a short period of time, so it is natural for the Central Military Department of the Empire to dispatch a master-level powerhouse to lead troops to assist in garrisoning.

Just this "assistance" to assist in garrisoning can be interpreted in many vague ways. The territory of the eight major families on the border is actually equivalent to an autonomous city within a country, and the children of each family have worked hard for several generations for one or two hundred years, and have already formed various stable management models. If someone else interferes, it is easy to cause various conflicts and lead to adverse consequences.

For example, the West family has worked hard for generations and painstakingly managed Roland City for nearly two hundred years, although the Olympus royal family would not make such a reckless and stupid move as suddenly changing the territory, but judging from the situation of the Amazon family. It is likely that several powerful families in the central government want to take this opportunity to meddle in the governance of border cities, which will of course arouse Weina's suspicions.

No one wants the foundation they have worked so hard to lay suddenly let outsiders interfere or even occupy it, this is a very simple reason. It is not a question of loyalty to the Empire. To be honest, at least Head felt that another family had been used to govern Roland City. It's going to be messy.

For example, if the Degens family, who have always adhered to the doctrine of "human supremacy", are allowed to govern Roland City, I am afraid that the day after they take over, they will exert pressure on the imperial empress, who has no political experience at all, through the auxiliary ministers of the Degens family in the center. It is proposed to re-demote the Half-Elves to slavery. At that time, would the hundreds of thousands of half-elves in Roland City and the surrounding territories really endure in silence?

"Is Your Excellency Wella worried about the attitude of the royal family?"

Wei Na said with some embarrassment: "When my father was a child of Empress Bixia, he took time out to go to the imperial capital every year to guide Empress Bixia's studies, and I have also met Empress Bixia, so the relationship between our family and the royal family is still very harmonious. It's just that Empress Bixia has not yet taken full power, and it's hard to say whether she will be misled by someone with a heart, such as if she sends that unruly Sastan to assist in garrisoning Roland City......"

Wella didn't seem to know much about the various complex relationships in the center of the imperial capital, and Hade thought for a moment and said tentatively: "Your Excellency Wella isn't very familiar with the situation in the imperial capital, right?"

Wella was stunned for a moment, and nodded a little astringently: "Although these things were one of the important courses designated by my father back then, I have never been very involved in these things, so I ......."

It can be seen that Hade knows that the woman Weta is honestly a little careless in terms of personality, and she is also more emotional, and it can be seen from the first meeting with her that to put it bluntly, she is not ruthless enough, and she is also a little indecisive, plus she is not very good at political things, I am afraid that many people will find it really difficult to expect her to maintain the previous level of governance of Roland City in the future.

However, in the history known to Heard, even after the elven army defeated Roland, the West family still did not lose power, and soon rebuilt New Roland, gradually recovering. And due to the proper arrangements made before the war between the two countries, even the military and civilian damage of the original Roland City was very small, just ...... Head glanced at the red-haired woman across from him, wondering what had changed history. Will Wella survive that big fight?

"Do you have any suggestions for the other clansmen?" said Head, who reckoned that Wella had asked the others the same question.

"Although everyone said that they would advance and retreat with the Westers, there were no particularly helpful opinions......." Wella also felt a little headache, "Most of the opinions are to resist the manpower sent by the central government in various ways. not to let them meddle in government affairs, and there are also suggestions to use more radical means to force the royal family to replace unpleasant candidates......, etc.

“...... I don't think either of these things are appropriate," said Beard, sighing, and continued, "I have heard a great deal about this when I studied with my teacher, the Marquis of Prince. We can first assume which master the Imperial Capital sent, and first of all, the other masters of the Degens family can be excluded from ......"

"Weishenme?" asked a question that Hade thought was silly.

"Because the Degens family has already sent that master known as the Black Flame Demon Dragon to assist in garrisoning Woolman City of the Amazon family, it is impossible to let another master of their family assist in garrisoning Roland City, and the other families in the imperial capital will not allow it. Although the Degens family wielded a great deal of power, it was not to that extent. ”

"Do you mean, to balance the issue of shili distribution?" asked Wella.

"Yes," Hade breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that Wella is not a complete layman in government affairs, "other wealthy families who assist the royal family will not watch a certain family grasp or even just grasp more power, and a wise emperor will never cultivate a courtier who cannot be controlled, even if the current empress is not too sensible, but there are naturally other people to remind these aspects." ”

"So. His Excellency Ingres, who is currently the commander of the Empress's Guard, will not be sent to Roland. Wella realized.

"yes, so only the Davo family and the Buddy family are left. ”

"And who do you think it will be?"

"It's hard to analyze because there's no accurate information at the moment," Head pondered. "Different candidates should have different ways of dealing with it, so as not to affect the current pattern of Roland City too much. Relatively speaking, the masters of these two families are the kind of people who don't like to meddle too much in government affairs. Therefore, the details of this aspect need to be discussed carefully after obtaining accurate information. ”

Heder's answer was rather general, and Wella was not very satisfied. However, there is no way, this kind of information that has not yet been confirmed does lack specific information. There is simply no way to respond effectively.

"Then we'll talk about this later, Hede, you continue to maintain good communication with the goblins, the new things that Master Kebi of the goblin clan has studied recently are very beneficial to the military's armament, so you need to be dedicated to this aspect. “

Now Wella only knows that Hide has had some communication with the elves and is trusted by the elves, but she doesn't know the real relationship between Hide and the elves. Hand took the opportunity to report to Wella about the elves asking for help to help their companions in the Elven Empire escape.

"You can do your best to help them, well, if you need help, you can negotiate with a few clan members who are mainly engaged in rescuing human and half-elf slaves in the Elven Empire, and I will let them do their best to assist you. ”

Hide then ends the conversation with Wella.

When all the main members of the family were present, including the two duchesses, the family council was presided over by Weina, the current first heir to the West family. Roughly speaking, it is to confirm the merits and losses of the current families in this battle, and introduce the new family member of Beard halfway.

The Second Duchess, Lady Anne, did not say a word during this period, but bowed her head and was silent, and it could be seen that this half-elf woman, who had a much longer lifespan than humans, could not accept the sad news of her husband's death.

And Mrs. Natasha is much stronger in comparison, trying to restrain her emotions and comforting some relatives who have also lost their relatives, which is quite admirable by everyone.

"Five days later, a memorial service will be held for the soldiers who died in this battle, and the funeral of Lord Gretel West will be held in conjunction with the insistence of Lord Wella and his two ladies. ”

Earl Arton, who spoke, looked at the faces of all the dependents and released the news on behalf of Wella.

After the family meeting was over, the three of them had just walked out of the Duke's palace when they were stopped by Syrtias.

"I have something to tell you, you come with me alone. The black-haired lady's face was very unsightly, and after saying this, she drove the white chocobo beneath her to turn around and walk slowly to the other side.

Sima was also riding on the back of a white chocobo, glanced at Hade apologetically, and suddenly blushed when she wanted to say something, and then followed her mentor with a small face hanging down.

Since there is something to talk about, it means that it is a negotiable matter, and although Hade has a slight clue, he is not sure, so he asks Magick and Des to go back to the residence first and follows him.

When the three of them arrived at the Viscount Shortias's mansion, which was not far from the Duke of West's house, and entered the reception room, the black-haired and black-winged Roland City Interior Governor said to Have: "You take responsibility for me." ”

"Your Excellency...... , I don't quite understand what you mean. Head was speechless.

"Head, mentor she ......"

"Shut up for me. Sima, who was standing timidly on the side, had just spoken, when he was interrupted angrily by his mentor.

"Did Sima spend the night at your lodgings yesterday?" asked Shurtia with a grimace.

Hade understood a little, and immediately said solemnly: "Yes, but she is resting with Dees, that is, my honorary knight." ”

"During this time, I was busy studying the dismantling of the magic array, and I didn't have much time to care about your and Sima's private affairs, but she suddenly told me today that she wanted to be your honorary knight, which made me very strange, and when I asked, I found out that you are a kid!"

"I also refused this, because ......" Hade was thinking about how to explain the question, but he was directly shut by Sima's next sentence.

"I'm sorry, Head, I told my mentor about the last time we bit our mouths, because I can't lie to my mentor. Sima whispered with a wincing.

Mouth-biting?Head, speechless, could only helplessly prepare to face the wrath of the Baroness Shortias, who seemed to be quite serious about these matters.

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(The recent comments seem to be discussing the problem of the harem.,It's true that there are more female characters at present.,Because the ghosts of the aesthetic typologists have always used beautiful women and never use ugly men, whether they are supporting characters or even passers-by.,Anyway, I'll send a survey later.。 (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)