Heart of the Castle

Chapter 780 Prelude to the Great Counterattack

Just after noon, the sweet smell of toasted bread with butter and the mouth-watering aroma of beef stew with many expensive spices was still in the air. The young regent of the Kingdom of Arthur, Lee Viston, walked by in a hurry. In the deep corridor of the Green Castle, I am going to attend a routine meeting held by the ministers of the Round Table Council.

Sir Rodriguez followed closely beside the Griffon Lord, his right hand was always pressing on the hilt of the star iron giant sword, and his black steel boots stepped on the ground paved with chlorite, making a series of heavy clangs.Not far behind them, a shadow was wriggling and deforming, and the flame of the torch was windless and automatic, clinging to the wall like a banner, adding a very mysterious atmosphere.

It has been nearly a month since the secret meeting between Levi Ston and the Burning Dragon King Dariga. Since then, the Scourge Knight Rodriguez and the legendary Shadow Assassin Alan Skett have been following the young The Prince Regent's side, even after nightfall.

Anyway, neither the Scourge Knight nor the Shadow Assassin needs sleep. Sir Rodriguez usually just reads all night in his bedroom, but now he just puts the reading place in front of the door of the regent's bedroom.

Of course, according to the description of Alan Skett, who has always been hiding in the shadows, a black-armored knight with a skull-shaped visor standing on the corner of the corridor like a statue, holding a thick sheepskin classic in his hand, looking through the hole There are two clusters of green undead flames burning in it—this image definitely has an abnormal sense of horror, and even Alan Skett reluctantly admits that after watching it for a long time, a kind of feeling suddenly arises in his heart. Creepy feeling.

Bamilian, the head of the palace, stood in front of the round table meeting room as usual, welcoming Levi Stern with a smile on his face.The Lord Steward looked like he had just taken a bath, and there was not a trace of wrinkle on his fat, powdered cheeks, just like an egg that had been peeled off its shell.

"Your Excellency the Regent, you look really radiant today." Chief Bamilian bowed slightly, and then motioned for the guards to open the two heavy doors behind him, "The important officials of the kingdom, such as Marquis Jelos and Master Sugard, have already left after lunch. We are all here, but Master Frederick is still busy at the newly built alchemy weapon workshop, so I am afraid he will not be able to attend the meeting until later."

Li Wei nodded, and at the same time stepped into the round table discussion hall, "Master Frederick has something he needs to be busy with, we don't have to wait for him, let's start today's topic right away."

Director Bamilian did not show the slightest surprised expression. Perhaps he could not understand the half-teacher, half-friend relationship between Li Wei and Master Frederick at the time when the capital of Fermeyer had not yet fallen, but since Dirk Since the night when the city was besieged, a whole new world has slowly unfolded in front of the court chief, making him even give up many things he had pursued in the past.

As a stronghold of rebel refugees in the past, all the rooms in the Green Castle have a strong utilitarian style-in other words, they are shabby and uncomfortable.The hall on the top floor, which is used as a round table meeting hall, is no exception. The high arched chlorite dome has not been decorated in any way, and there is only a pair of black iron cast multi-layered candlesticks hanging below it. Between the fireplaces on both sides The fire was burning brightly in the central furnace, but it was still difficult to drive out the chill because of the high, narrow windows and the many holes in the walls of this hall.

A huge cooking pot was set up on one side of the round table meeting room, and the beer soup with cheese was tumbling in it. The heat condensed on the pot mouth into a billowing white mist with the aroma of wine, making many people secretly swallow their saliva .Prohibition did not extend to the nobles of the kingdom who did not serve in the military, but almost all of them believed that voluntary prohibition of alcohol was a necessary gesture, and the hot beer soup, which had removed all alcohol components due to boiling, became the most appropriate substitute drink.As long as you drink a cup, the warmth will spread throughout your body, and many nobles who are not good at drinking have even fallen in love with its taste.

Li Wei walked to the huge round table, and then found the high-backed chair with the gold griffin emblem embroidered on the chair cover. Different from the usual conference table, this round table does not have primary and secondary seats. The important ministers at the meeting often can only rely on the family crest to find their own position.

The young regent has a pragmatic style and does not speak falsely. When he took his seat, the whispers in the meeting hall disappeared immediately. The important ministers who were about to submit issues at the meeting subconsciously checked the sheepskin scrolls in their hands, while the important ministers who had no issues went one by one. They all sat upright, their upright postures were somewhat military-like.

Compared with the noise and chaos when the first round table meeting was held, the current situation is simply much better.

There was a gleam of satisfaction in Li Wei's eyes, and then he nodded to Master Sugard, "Regulating the people's livelihood, reorganizing the army, and sharing the worries of Her Majesty Queen Fleisher, this is the duty of the Arthur Kingdom Round Table Council, Master Sugard, please read to your lords the preparations of the northern leaders during this period."

The old scholar wearing a red velvet robe stood up slowly, and the scholar necklace inlaid with various metals and precious stones made a little friction sound with his movements, "My lords, since the round table meeting proposed, Since the general mobilization order issued by Her Majesty Queen Lehir was issued, the northern territories have entered the stage of full-scale war mobilization. More than half of the [-] second-line troops originally belonging to the local defense forces of the northern territories have completed their garrison and defense work. It is expected to end before the end of this month; the militia convening and training work is also very smooth..."

Li Wei had already reviewed the preparations mentioned by Master Sujiad as early as last night, so when he heard these boring numbers again, he couldn't help but find it hard to concentrate, and drifted involuntarily to other things. The warm applause jolted him out of his thoughts.

Li Wei raised his eyes strangely, just in time to see the flushed face of Marquis Jerome, "Your Excellency the Regent, I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect it!" The senior diplomat's eyes flickered With bright sparks, his tone completely revealed a rare sense of excitement, "In half a month, 5 people responded to the call of the general mobilization order. This is simply... unbelievable!"

The general mobilization order issued by the Kingdom of Arthur was a decision made by the round table after many discussions, because many important ministers were worried that calling the militia to participate in the war would delay the cultivation of the next year and bring hidden dangers of turmoil to the situation in the northern county.The Marquis of Geralds was the one who advocated the most fiercely. He even disregarded the common rules in the power game, and started a heated debate with Li Weiston in an abrupt tone.

After all, in their view, slogans such as expelling demons and recovering lost land can make nobles and knights feel excited, but they will not arouse the patriotic enthusiasm of those bumpkins at all.This kind of statement is not unfounded. The results of the general mobilization orders issued in the history of the Kingdom of Arthur are not very satisfactory. There are often very few people who respond. resulting in bloodshed.

The Marquis of Geralds originally thought that he would at least be severely reprimanded after his heated debate, and maybe he would be expelled from the round table council seat. For the sake of the revival of the Kingdom of Arthur, he also carried out a An adventure that surprised even himself.However, Li Weiston acted as if this incident had never happened, and even stood up to relieve the Marquis of Geralds when another important minister accused him.

On the contrary, this made the Marquis of Jerome uneasy for a while, and it was not until Master Sugard paid him a private visit that he was completely relieved.

"5 people is not bad." Li Wei nodded in agreement. Considering the sparsely populated area of ​​Beijing County, this achievement was hard-won.

"It's more than good? It's a miracle, a miracle!" Marquis Geralds almost yelled, "Your Excellency the Regent, do you know that after His Majesty the Dragon King Arthur XII issued a general mobilization order last time, the entire Kingdom of Arthur How many people in the eight counties across the border responded?"

Li Wei regretted that he didn't pay much attention to memory when he was studying the kingdom's history with Master Sugard, but he resisted the urge to scratch his hair.This action that does not fit the status of the regent has been nagged many times by the Bamilian chief who pays attention to etiquette, but Mr. Dish, who is also familiar with the ancient noble etiquette, always responds with a tolerant smile. A ray of nostalgia.

"It seems that Master Sugard once told about this period of history, but I can't remember it clearly." Li Wei sighed with some annoyance and said, "But 12 years ago, shortly after the Dragon King ascended the throne, the Kingdom of Arthur's national power was the strongest in the past century. During the period, plus the four southern counties and Xifeng County with a large population, I feel that the number of people who responded to the general mobilization order should be more than [-], right?"

"One hundred thousand? Ha! Your Excellency the Regent, you really should read that period of history carefully." Marquis Jerome said while grabbing a cup full of beer and hot soup from before him, and took a big gulp. Then he rudely wiped the residual liquid from his mouth with his sleeve. "Even if you include those who were forced to enlist in the army later, the total number of militiamen called in that general mobilization order did not exceed [-], and there were many old, weak, sick and disabled among them. There may not even be [-] real young and middle-aged people."

"Not even [-] young and middle-aged people?" Li Wei couldn't help showing a surprised expression at this unexpected number,

"Because His Majesty the Dragon King Arthur XII had just ascended the throne at that time, and he had seized the throne from his own father. He hadn't had time to grasp the hearts of the people, let alone establish his own prestige." The fire wizard Juno Ameris Master Te said in an unmistakable tone, "Your Majesty the Regent, you are in a different situation than the Dragon King. Although the kingdom is currently only a small part of the northern border county, it is far more united than before, and it also has a stronger elite knight force." .”

"This is what the people want." Master Sugard added on the side, his eyes filled with smiles, "Your Excellency the Regent, victory is not far away, please lead us on the road to the dawn of revival of Arthur's Kingdom!"

　Depressed Xiaoshen announced... there will be another update as much as possible in the evening

　　
　
(End of this chapter)