Masked Knight

In the morning, Seth and Old Mark saw that both Rody and Mouse looked infatuated. They knew Rody went to Mouse’s room the previous night, which was why their eyes were filled with various conjectures.

Mouse looked embarrassed while Rody was calm. Rody had talked with Mouse until it was almost daybreak. As the conversation weighed heavily in his mind, he was not bothered by the dubious thoughts of others.

That day, the only important thing was to go to the Palace and officially sign the peace treaty.

Since the peace negotiations involved a vast majority of the other kingdoms on the Roland Continent, the cost of the peace negotiations was also shared. As a result, the signing ceremony was conducted on a large scale.

Including King Sauron, a total of ten representatives signed the peace treaty. The contents of the treaty mainly had two points. The first point was that the ten kingdoms would provide six hundred warships in exchange for the several hundred thousand prisoners of war. The second point was to maintain a ceasefire.

Those diplomatic envoys of the other kingdoms all had different intentions. Although they definitely wanted the peace treaty, they harbored shady intentions when it came to the conditions for the peace treaty.

After all, everyone had expected that the Radiant Empire would definitely demand a large price for peace. As the cost of it was to be shared, almost every kingdom hoped they could pay less.

Similarly, there were also a few kingdoms that took the stance of acting according to the situation. They thought that they might be lucky and wanted to see the situation first before deciding. However, after witnessing the competition between Rody and Leho at the Crown Prince’s Palace, a few of those whose hearts were still uncertain made up their minds.

'Even their Earl is already so powerful. Needless to say, there is also their legendary Duke of the Tulip Family whose strength is incomparably tough! Right now, we are facing the crisis of being annexed by the Temple. It will definitely be a great advantage to court such a powerful foreign ally.'

The peace negotiations went well and the distribution of the six hundred warships was soon settled. The Sauron Kingdom became the leader of the Roland Continent for the peace negotiations and it alone provided two hundred ships. Such a resolution was likely to make the Crown Prince, the Regiment Commander of the Navy, unhappy.

The old Senior Prime Minister also attended the signing of the agreement. When Rody, on behalf of the Radiant Empire, signed his own name in the papers, everybody raised their glasses to a toast in accordance with the established practice. The Senior Prime Minister, who was standing quietly at Rody’s side, softly said, "Congratulations, Your Excellency the Earl for fulfilling the mission."

Rody was already cautious of the Senior Prime Minister. He lightly answered, "The strength of the nation is the one that guaranteed the success of this diplomatic mission. I really do not deserve your praise."

It should be noted that out of the thirteen kingdoms on the Roland Continent, only ten kingdoms participated in the peace negotiations. The remaining three kingdoms did not participate in the peace negotiations.

The three kingdoms were Gordon Kingdom, Teuton Kingdom and also the dwarves' Hakone Kingdoms.

The Gordon Kingdom and the Teuton Kingdom had always been firm supporters of the Temple, especially since Prometheus was the Chief Elder.

When the Gordon Kingdom was experiencing drought, it was Prometheus who prayed while he traveled for thousands of kilometers. Finally, his actions touched the Gods and it started to rain. Since then, he was called 'God’s Chosen One'.

As for the Teuton Kingdom, when it was experiencing a plague, Prometheus had also given his aid and ended up going blind in one eye. In return, he received the title of 'One-Eyed Saint' in the Teuton Kingdom.

The Temple had the most authority in these two kingdoms. As a result, they had always sided with the Temple, or rather, they were always on Prometheus' side.

As for the dwarves’ kingdoms, the position was somewhat ambiguous.

As everyone knew, the Roland Continent had a huge inland sea in the middle of the continent as if it was a large hole in the middle of a paper. A river flowed from that sea to the Straits of Thunder.

The dwarves’ kingdom was on a huge island in the middle of that sea. Perhaps it could also be considered as a small continent.

As they were of a different race, the dwarves seldom came into contact with the other kingdoms on the Roland Continent. The dwarves had fought against the other kingdoms several times in the history of the Roland Continent. Later, the dwarves pledged allegiance with the Temple and expressed their willingness to believe in God. The Temple then officially accepted the dwarves’ kingdom as a legitimate kingdom on the Roland Continent.

More importantly, the dwarvs' Hakone Kingdom controlled the production of a very important strategic raw material...

Ironwood.

Ironwood, the material required for building the sturdy Roland warships!

Perhaps because of the special climate which resulted from the special terrain, the ironwood that grew in the dwarves’ kingdom was extremely lush. The vast majority of ironwood from the Roland Continent came from the dwarf kingdom. Ironwood was an essential material for the Roland Continent. Without ironwood, solid Roland warships could not be constructed. Without solid Roland warships, they would not be able to defend the Straits of Thunder. Without a strong navy, the Radiant Empire would have already invaded the Roland Continent hundreds of years ago.

For these reasons, the dwarves’ kingdom had always had a special status among the kingdoms of the Roland Continent. On one hand, the people of the Roland Continent did not like that strange race. On the other, they could not avoid the fact that they needed their ironwood.

After signing the contract, Rody stayed back at the palace. He raised the issue about the three kingdoms who did not participate in the peace negotiation. "They are just waiting for the best offer!" the King answered.

Because that day was the formal signing of the treaty, Rody came alone. He did not bring along Mouse or ‘Miss Nicole’. After all, they lived in a world that regarded men as superior to women. Although the eldest daughter of the Tulip Family might garner a lot of respect, a formal signing of a national contract was not a place for women.

Rody pondered slightly for a while and asked, "Your Majesty, are you troubled by how to win over the dwarves?"

The King shook his head and replied, "No, I do not want to win them over."

At that moment, only the King and Rody remained in the hall. Even the Senior Prime Minister was not allowed to participate in the conversation.

The King lightly clapped his hands and a few servants immediately entered from a side entrance. They lifted up a large roll of cloth and then spread it out on the ground.

That was the topographic map of the Roland Continent. Different colors were used on the map to mark the territories of the Roland kingdoms, mountains, rivers, and seas.

Rody looked at the map as it was slowly rolled open. His eyes lit up.

The King got off his throne. He then walked over to Rody and stood beside him. "Earl Rody, please look. This is a treasured object I spent several years to obtain."

Rody squinted his eyes and probed, "This is a priceless treasure that can turn the tides of war. Your Majesty, I am a soldier of the Radiant Empire. Are you not afraid of showing me this?"

The King laughed as he gently patted Rody’s shoulder. He then walked on top of the map.

The map, which was over ten square meters in size, was spread on the floor. The King stood in the middle of the map. He was obviously standing above the territory of the dwarves’ kingdom which was located in the inland sea.

"This is where the Roland Continent’s valuable resources are. The land where ironwood flourishes." The King was solemn as he added, "Needless to say, I believe Your Excellency the Earl also understands the importance of ironwood to the people of the Roland Continent."

The King then pointed his scepter on the map and said, "The dwarf kingdom is not large. The Hakone Kingdom only has three cities. They are located at the top, the middle and the bottom of the island. The other areas are forests and mountains dotted with hamlets and small towns. Hundreds of years ago, during the war between the dwarves and the other people of the Roland Continent, the dwarves relied on this favorable terrain as well as the natural mountain passes to fight against us."

Rody realized something. He noticed that the King used the word ‘us’.

"The dwarves controlled two-thirds of the ironwood production on the Roland Continent. Another way of saying it is that the dwarves controlled the lifeline of the Roland people!" The King sighed, "The Sauron Kingdom may be the most powerful kingdom on the Roland Continent, but even then, we do not dare to offend the dwarves! This is because if we offend the dwarves, we would not be able to obtain ironwood! The ridiculous thing is that our territory is in the southernmost part of the Roland Continent. We almost bear the threat from the Radiant Continent alone! We need a strong navy to protect ourselves, therefore we are even more afraid of offending the dwarves!"

Rody coldly said, "Have the Roland people ever thought of subjugating the dwarves and firmly seize the natural resources in their hands?"

The King shook his head and replied, "We have already missed the best time!" He slowly said, "During the war hundreds of years ago, the Roland people had the opportunity to do so. However, the dwarves surrendered to the Temple and were then recognized by the Temple. With that, the war was forcefully stopped and the dwarves promised to trade with the Roland people. All the various kingdoms on the Roland Continent can buy ironwood from the dwarves."

Rody frowned. "Isn’t using money to buy ironwood still leaving fate in hands of others?"

The King sighed, "The funny thing was, our predecessors actually agreed to this. In their eyes, they only saw the problem temporarily resolved. However, they did not see what would happen in the long term!" He paused for a while before he continued, "The dwarves, because of their unique resources and after hundreds of years of development, have gathered a lot of money from their trade of ironwood! I can say without exaggerating that although the dwarves’ kingdom is the smallest, it is also the richest!"

Rody gave a deep sigh. Allowing the enemy to develop and letting them grow so powerful was really too stupid!

"The gold coins from the Roland Continent continue to flow into the pockets of the dwarves. They have enough money to build solid city walls and fully equip their elite soldiers. I can say that right now, it is no longer possible for any other kingdom to subjugate the dwarves on their own except for my Sauron Kingdom."

The King used his scepter to dexterously draw a circle around the dwarf kingdom. He then smiled and said, "All of us understand that this is a huge cake! If we were to conquer this land, we would have the dreamed resources that we have been yearning for. We would then be able to control the lifeline of the Roland Continent!"

Rody smiled, "Has Your Majesty ever thought of eating this cake? Other kingdoms may not have the strength to do so, but shouldn’t the Sauron Kingdom be able to?"

"I have thought of it! I have thought of it many times!" The King sighed. "In fact, I already had this idea even before I inherited the throne!"

"Then why…"

The King laughed bitterly. "It is because I did not dare to!"

"You did not dare to?"

The King sighed. "This is certainly a captivating cake but at the same time, it is also a rope! The other end of this rope is connected to the nerves of the other kingdoms!" His scepter stopped moving for a while as he continued, "Everyone wants a piece of the cake, but they do not want to see anyone have the whole cake alone! Besides that, the dwarves have been trading in the Roland Continent for hundreds of years. Naturally, there would be a few very close customers."

"I understand." Rody nodded. "If the Sauron Kingdom takes this cake, then it would become the common enemy of other kingdoms on the Roland Continent! After all, other kingdoms could only reluctantly accept the dwarves holding on to those resources since they are not strong enough to threaten their positions. However, if the strongest kingdom on the Roland Continent takes this cake, the kings of the other kingdoms would not even be able to sleep at night."

The King laughed awkwardly.

Rody narrowed his eyes. He stared at the ambitious King and asked, "Your Majesty, today, you show me this map and tell me a lot of things, what are your intentions? I am someone slow and stupid. I cannot guess subtle ideas. It is better for Your Majesty to be more direct."

The King took a deep breath. His eyes flashed with ambition and he said, "Now is the best time for my Sauron Kingdom to take this cake!"

"Oh?" Rody’s eyes lit up.

"Prometheus’ ambition has tightly brought the ten kingdoms together. Whether we are willing or not, we are now all in the same boat. If I were to reach out to take this cake now, even if the other kingdoms are unhappy, I believe they would not turn on me!" The King laughed cunningly. "After all, the threat of the Temple is the most critical!"

Rody still did not speak and silently looked at the King.

The King’s face seemed to light up as he gently pointed at a spot on the map with his scepter. "After this peace negotiation, we will send your distinguished country several hundred warships from this harbor. It will sail from the internal sea and down the great river. It would then sail through the Straits of Thunder and go towards the Radiant Empire."

The King’s scepter moved down the map. However, Rody’s eyes lit up after he immediately understood the King’s intention.

The King smiled insidiously. "After leaving the harbor, our fleet would be divided into three. One hundred of the Sauron Kingdom’s warships would sail last and…" He pointed at the map. "Its route would pass through about fifteen nautical miles off the dwarf kingdom."

Rody then said, "The main army will then turn around and launch a surprise attack on the dwarf kingdom. They would subjugate the dwarves within the shortest time possible…Is that Your Majesty’s intention?" Rody suddenly glanced at the King and said, "Surprise attack…haha, attack a king and then conquer all its territory within a short time. Is this possible? Is Your Majesty certain? If the war does not proceed smoothly and turns into a stalemate, it will become dangerous."

The King looked dignified as he said, "I have three reasons! The first is that I have this map. It clearly records most of the Eight Branch Kingdom’s military positions and distributions! If the Commander leading the troops makes use of this properly, it is possible to defeat the enemy army within the shortest possible time! The second reason is the timing! All this while, nobody has touched the dwarves because the other kingdoms subtly put on a psychological pressure. Everyone deliberately protected the dwarves from the violations of the other kingdoms. The current situation is already different! My army will take advantage of the fact that they are delivering warships to the Radiant Empire and then start a war so that the others do not have enough time to react! There is no better time than now. Lastly…"

The King looked at Rody and said in an unusually strange tone. "I happen to have a great general with me. I believe that this plan can be successfully carried out under the leadership of this peerless general!"

Rody frowned. "A peerless general? Are you talking about General Tiger who fought in the crusade? I have heard of General Tiger’s abilities, but I do not expect you to trust him so…"

The King interrupted Rody and said, "No, I am not talking about General Tiger. It is another person! I believe that Commander’s ability is ten times better than General Tiger! This is because, according to my understanding, that person has never lost any war! He has incomparable courage and formidable strength. He is also an outstanding military strategist...These advantages made him triumph in every battle since he entered the battlefield. He is invincible! His attacks never fail!"

Rody gradually felt that something was not right. He pretended to ask, "Your Majesty, this person is…"

"It’s you, Your Excellency, the Earl!" The King flashed a smile. His eyes were like blades and seemed like he could see through Rody. He added slowly in a low voice, "Or perhaps I should call you…the respectable Duke of the Tulip Family?"