"Intelligence from the west. ”

Kambida puffed out his chest and looked solemn:

"Three days ago, our Western 'kids' held a secret meeting behind closed doors, and at least three of the patriarchs suggested that it was time to renegotiate and adjust the amount of goods and donations to be paid to the kingdom of Exeter each year. ”

At the moment of "West ......", Lisbane's eyes tightened: "You mean - the Liberal League?"

"On the southwest side of Qiyuan City, the Freedom Alliance on the Golden Corridor?"

Hearing this, Nicolas on the other side suddenly raised his head with an ugly face.

Kambida nodded expressionlessly.

"Although the Liberal League has not yet made a final decision, and the positions of the senators are wavering," said Kambida coldly, with an awe-inspiring chill between the lines, "but no doubt that when they dared to come up with this idea from that stupid and cowardly mind, and put forward the bill at the round table where Prince Suril had tried his knife......"

"Exter's dignity has been violated. ”

Kambida's voice fell, and he closed his mouth, silently waiting for a response.

Tails noticed that the people of the Northlands, whether it was a personal guard like Nicolai and Justin, or a high-ranking nobleman like Lisbane, were breathing slightly.

The air in the hall seemed to freeze for a moment because of these words.

But......

Freedom League.

Not the Kingdom of the Stars.

Tails let out a sigh of relief, thankfully, not the part he was most worried about.

He threw a puzzled look at the Grand Duchess, but Thelma only shook her head silently with a slight wist: it was clear that she knew something about the term.

A few seconds later.

The Earl of Lisbane slowly raised his head, his gaze drifting into the distance, reminiscing about the past eventful years, but his words showed undoubted majesty: "Twenty years ago, we generously 'taught' these children in the Golden Corridor to be true to their duties. ”

"Under the wrath of the dragon, even the self-proclaimed noble white elves cannot protect them—haven't the children of the Alliance learned this lesson?"

Kambida scoffed, his eyes filled with meaning.

"Obviously, compared to twenty years ago, the children seem to have the illusion that the kingdom of Exeter without a natural king will be more merciful. ”

A cold light flashed in Viscount Kambida's eyes: "It's time to teach them a lesson again." ”

Croesy behind him chuckled.

The hall fell silent.

What's going on.

Exter and ...... Liberal League?

Tails quietly recalls the geography he had learned over the past six years from the classes of the Northland aristocracy, which of course was centered on Exeter, whom the prince once jokingly called "the world through the eyes of Exeter."

After the end of the war, the western part of the Great Desert of the Western Continent became a pure land of peace at the beginning of the end of the era because of the strife between the two new powers, the stars and the dragon, and erected large and small countries and city-states, forming a long strip from north to south that spanned the many forces of the Western Continent: the desert inland and rock valleys in the east, the kingdom of the North Sea and the North in the north, the Devil Sea and the Sea of Despair in the west, the dragon's kiss land and the thorn land on the coast of the promenade in the south, and the misty sea and even the kingdom of stars in the southeast.

Until the rise of the Commath Alliance in several continental wars, the corridor was known for its large number of small states, separate and self-governing powers, and away from the influence of powerful powers. When several city-states further west, later known as the Commas, began to trade the continent, they called this intricate overland corridor full of goods to the nations the "Golden Corridor."

The Freedom Alliance mentioned by Kambida and Lisbane is located at the northeast end of the Golden Corridor, bordering Qiyuan City in the west of Exter in the east and Shanliu City in the west of the Comas Alliance.

For a long time, the land that was the end of the Golden Corridor was in chaos, until after the Fourth Continental War, when a multi-party power compromised and co-governed regime, the Freedom Alliance, emerged: for more than 100 years, it had barely survived in a complex situation of entanglement between many internal and external forces.

Obviously, from Lisbane's words, it is clear that the Freedom Alliance has fallen to the Kingdom of Exeter in the latest struggle, and the powerful Northlanders have seized influence and dominance over the Freedom Alliance by violently subduing the stars and Commas, and also possessed a large amount of interests in the northernmost part of the Golden Corridor.

So to speak, if the Liberal League tries to break away from Exeter's control...... Tails thought: Rumba is this, going to war to the west?

But it is clear that the people led by Archduke Ronnie are accusing him of his rule, is the king still counting on this doomed thankless battle to wash away his reputation?

Since that scene six years ago, the contradictions between the king and the grand dukes have long been irreconcilable, haven't they?

Viscount Cambida raised his head and looked at the thoughtful Selma with an expressionless face: "Madam, this is King Chaman, and it is important information that His Majesty has entrusted me to bring. ”

"Northland human dignity...... It can only be maintained with blood. ”

Kambida's gaze condensed, with a faint sense of oppression: "What about Long Xiaocheng's attitude towards this?"

Thelma frowned at Kambida's seemingly polite but aggressive question.

At that moment, Tails saw a flash of helplessness and hesitation in her eyes.

But the girl quickly coughed lightly and looked habitually at the Regent of Lisbane.

I saw the Count of Lisbane muttering for a long time.

"It's really hard for your information," Finally, Lord Regent raised his deep eyes, which seemed to have a thousand weights, "The Black Sand Collar is obviously far away from the desert, far away from the Golden Corridor......"

"But for such a big matter, you actually reacted earlier than Qiyuan City, which is adjacent to the Freedom Alliance, and sent someone to inform us earlier. ”

"Is Grand Duke Ronnie overlooking, or are you too careful?"

Lisbane especially bites the accent on "having a heart".

As soon as these words came out, Tails couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly.

Viscount Cambida couldn't help but move slightly, and looked at the Count of Lisbane again.

I see, the Prince of the Stars figured out the suspicions of the envoys from the Black Sand Collar - this should not have been notified by them, and they should not have been so zealous.

Kromhi, who was behind Kambida, snorted lightly and said coldly: "To serve a king with ambitions in all directions, of course we must be worthy of his ambition and ambition. ”

Kambida tugged at the corners of her mouth and nodded lightly at Chloehi, but the warrior didn't look at him, just stared at the Grand Duke.

Lisban snorted faintly.

"Regardless of Exeter's influence on the Golden Corridor ......for the time being," the Count of Lisbane's waist straightened slightly, and his tone was solemn: "The Liberal Alliance is connected to abundant goods and large profits, and it is adjacent to the city of Qiyuan, once it is out of our control, the person who suffers the most, the person who worries the most, should be Archduke Ronnie?"

"You are so generous to work for his business. ”

In the increasingly depressing atmosphere of the meeting, Lord Earl directly pointed out the suspicions.

Kambida smiled slightly: "The loss of the Ronnie family and Qiyuan City is the loss of Exeter......"

But Lisbane interrupted him in a loud voice: "Even if Ronnie the Great is tireless and unequivocally accusing King Chaman of the rule, even if he calls on us to refuse to pay taxes to the king, to that apostate who does not respect tradition?"

Kambida also seemed to be aroused, and his originally smiling expression cooled: "The Exeters have no distinction between each other, one is prosperous, and the other is lost!"

"This is the future that His Majesty hopes for, and strives for—and we certainly hope that Archduke Ronnie will understand his painstaking efforts, and we hope that you will. ”

"That's a strange thing. The Count of Lisbane seemed to be ready to take all the pressure off the other party and let the overwhelmed Grand Duchess relax: "The family killer is actually a patriot!"

The moment the Earl of Lisbane said that nickname without hesitation, the faces of Cambida and Chloe Aihi turned cold.

Tails sighed secretly: "Relicide, this is probably a stain and shadow that Rumba will linger for the rest of his life.

But—Tails remembered Charman Rumba's expression in the firelight—the shadow was greater than what others thought of him, and he must have been in his own heart.

This can be said to be the imprint left by King Nun to Rumba, and it will accompany him throughout his life.

"Believe me, His Majesty Chaman always has Exeter's dignity and interests at heart," Kambida's face was cold:

"I can't tell you how much Your Majesty wanted to gather all of Exeter's forces and tear down the walls of the Freedom Alliance to make them their tombstones at the moment of receiving the news......"

But Lisbane snorted unceremoniously.

"Put away those pretty words," said the old regent, in a flat, but seemingly breathless tone, "when Grand Duke Ronnie of Qiyuan City leads the crowd in the midst of all expectations, and calls on the whole nation to prepare for the king's injustice......"

"The Freedom Alliance west of Qiyuan City has inexplicably become internally unstable and is causing trouble for Ronnie?"

Lisbane's straightforward attitude made Tails frown.

But the prince couldn't figure out what Kambida meant: it was a fight between the king and Ronnie, but why did he specifically tell Longxiao City?

Does King Chaman still expect Longxiao City to be on his side?

"Ronnie has to choose, right?" Risban withdrew his hands from behind his back, clenched them in front of his chest, and took a step forward, looking at Cambida under the steps with great pressure:

"Under the general righteousness, if he wants to solve the immediate worries and maintain his prestige as the Grand Duke of Qiyuan City, he must give up his protest and opposition to Chaman, and even cooperate with the king, so that he can free up his hands to deal with the civil strife of the Free Alliance and regain the interests that belong to Qiyuan City. ”

Kambida was silent for a few seconds: "I don't understand what you mean, Lord Count. ”

Lisban snorted coldly: "We are all from the Northland, so stop playing the imperial power trick of the Star People." ”

Star people?

Imperial power?

Tails couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: the prince swears, he saw the corners of Selma's mouth tugging upwards.

"Tell me," said Risbane solemnly, "how will King Chaman react if Ronnie doesn't make the choice you expect?"

Cambida stared at Risban for several seconds.

Eventually, the messenger of the Black Sand Collar laughed:

"I think Your Majesty still has to respect the oath of co-governance: after all, the Freedom Alliance is the closest to Qiyuan City, so in terms of how to deal with the alliance, he respects the attitude of Grand Duke Ronnie, and even more respects the interests and autonomy of Qiyuan City—it is one thing to denounce those children, but it is undoubtedly unwise to rashly meddle in the internal affairs of the Grand Dukes. ”

"Hey!" exclaimed Risbane sarcastically, "At this time, our king remembered the oath of confederation, and remembered that it was the 'internal affairs of the Grand Dukes.'" ”

Kambida didn't answer, he just bowed slightly, and the Lord Regent kept his mouth shut.

The hall returned to an eerie calm: Tails saw Nicolais frowning, and Thelma seemed to be in deep thought.

Odd.

In this strange encounter, Tails quickly found several doubts that he couldn't figure out:

The Black Sand Collar has brought up the matter of a Liberty Alliance—but according to Risbane, this is just one part of the game between King Charman and Archduke Ronnie and other opponents.

But what does this have to do with Longxiao City, and why did Rumba send someone to inform Thelma about this?

More importantly, what does this have to do with himself, with Tails Bright Star?

If Gilbert's assertion that "there are no meaningless words in diplomacy" and "testing our steps and reality" is true......

Tails frowned: he had too little information.

After a few seconds, the Count of Lisbane's expression moved, and his gaze was raised.

"I know why you came to Longxiao City," Lord Earl solemnized: "And yesterday's incident......"

Lisbane narrowed his eyes: "You guys...... Sent Longxiao City into the center of the storm. ”

What the?

Put Longxiao City ...... Feed in ...... The epicenter of the storm?

Tails was slightly stunned, a little unable to keep up with their thinking.

Apparently, he was not the only one who did not understand Lisbane's words: Thelma's eyes widened - a sign that young girls often show when they were confused.

The girl and the boy glanced at each other, and saw the confusion and incomprehension in each other's eyes.

"'Dragon's Eyes' Charles Risban," Kambida's expression turned to a serious one, and he looked back at his opponent, "You really live up to your reputation. ”

At that moment, Tails had a feeling: today's meeting was a confrontation between Lisban and Cambida, a chess game that only they could understand.

"That's the end of the audience, my lady. Lisbane said coldly.

Thelma looked at Lisban in a daze, but she nodded obediently.

"Are you sure?" Cambida sneered, "It's about the dragon's honor and disgrace, and Your Majesty is waiting for the Grand Duke's reply." ”

The Viscount added meaningfully, "Not Lord Regent's reply." ”

Tails sighed inwardly.

"Enough. ”

"You know better than anyone how this is going to happen. ”

Lisban looked at Cambida with a cold face, and didn't bother to maintain even a little semblance of friendliness: "Your Excellency will give you an answer, but not now." ”

I only heard the earl say in a cold voice: "At least, not before the envoy from Qiyuan City came to visit. ”

Kambida took a breath, returned to his calm expression, and bowed slightly.

"Then we will take our leave, Your Excellency," said the Viscount of the Black Sand Collar softly, "by the way......"

I only heard Kambida glance at Selma, who was a little puzzled, meaningfully, and said:

"The new glasses are beautiful. ”

Thelma couldn't help but change her face.

Tails only felt a chill welling up: the Lord Regent's gaze on him was oppressive.

The Earl of Lisbane snorted coldly: "Enough talked, Your Excellency the Viscount. ”

Kambida smiled, deliberately bowed to the Star Prince, and turned to leave.

At this time.

"Starfaller, my boss sent him a greeting," Chloehi, who had been silent, suddenly raised his head and looked at the warrior on the other side of Risban, "'That knife is really hard to use', that's what he said." ”

Nicolas on the steps scoffed.

"This knife is pretty good," the Starfall shook his head, "It's a pity." ”

Croesy nodded and turned to the Grand Duke's seat.

"Your Excellency, please take care. ”

She looked at Selma's gaze with softness and hope, which made Tails slightly startled.

"Ah, thank you for your kindness. Thelma replied subconsciously.

"Believe me: your weight and value are far greater than you think," the warrioress seemed to only want to finish what she wanted to say, only to hear Chloehi whisper, "In any case, your presence is a miracle unseen in the Northland for thousands of years, and a banner that allows us to move forward." ”

"Seize your own power, become self-reliant, and become a true Grand Duke of Exeter. ”

"Because you're no worse than anyone else. ”

After saying this, Chloehi bowed deeply, and then ignored Thelma, who had not reacted, and turned away decisively, keeping up with Kambida's pace.

Leaving the hall full of astonishment and solemnity.

(End of chapter)