When the Saint comes, she does not collect food.

"Cici, up so early, brother?"

With a bright future within reach, Horn's mood improved considerably. He completely shed his previous indifference, becoming almost overly cheerful.

"Haha, I drank too much last night and woke up a little late. Remind me to wake up if I doze off, hahahaha."

Cici wore a faint smile and said politely, "You're so humorous."

"Is everyone here?"

"Yes," Armand, who was in charge of counting, said.

"Come on, Cici, brother, we have no outsiders here. Speak freely."

Scanning the people sitting around, Cici closed his eyes for about two seconds before opening them:

"Everyone, I'm afraid I have to tell you some bad news. Almost all routes leading to Black Serpent Bay are impassable."

Horn, who had been leaning lazily in his chair, shot forward as if the backrest had a spring: "I don't understand. What does this mean?"

"I'm stuck in Thousand River Valley, just like you," Cici said, spreading his hands. "The entire Thousand River Valley's secret societies have either withdrawn or gone into hiding. Those routes have either been destroyed by floods or were destroyed before the withdrawal."

"Why? Why would the secret societies all withdraw? Just because of the flood?"

"Yes and no." Cici scanned the people present, seemingly contemplating how to explain it to this group of elementary school graduates with advanced degrees.

Later, he simply gave up and stared directly at Horn, saying, "Do you know why there's a flood this year?"

"Is it related to the Church?" Horn quickly grasped the key point.

Cici smiled: "I enjoy talking to smart people; not that I'm praising you smart people.

Upstream of the Nauan River, near the Gravel Plains, there's an Innocent Dam, or rather, a Joan Dam.

This dam began construction during the reign of Pope Joan, but it wasn't officially completed until the time of Pope Innocent.

Including your Hedge Weir, it's also a gift from this dam.

You should know that before this, Thousand River Valley was in a state of three years of drought and two years of flooding. After the dam, there was a flood only once every one or two decades.

Last year, His Holiness the Pope, in order to win over the nobles and bishops of the Northern Four Territories, renovated the Joan Dam, hoping it could divert some water to the water-scarce north. Then, this year, it collapsed."

Horn's face immediately turned ugly. He realized what would happen next in this cliché plot.

Everyone is responsible for this, and no one will be responsible for this.

"Cardinals, led by Grandival, began to attack the Pope's selfish actions because he was from the north.

The Pope, in turn, said that the dam was sabotaged by Grandival's people.

This flood also affected the Golden Five Territories downstream. The nobles complained, and the Franks gloated."

Leaning back in his chair, Horn rubbed his temples. He knew that the Pope's side definitely wanted to put out the fire quickly, while Grandival's side definitely wanted to fuel it.

No wonder, no wonder, even if there were mobs and bandits after the flood, it wouldn't have fermented so quickly.

Moreover, Juanno and Constance's old grudges were more than just one or two decades old; how could they suddenly explode?

It turned out that there were several invisible hands stirring the abyss.

But those small fish and shrimp on the surface of the abyss couldn't see anything. They only knew that when a dark tide surged, they would all be crushed to pieces.

"That's the first problem. The second problem is the internal crisis of the Kingdom of Leia." Cici took out a map of the empire from his pocket and spread it on the table.

"Our king, the old King Thomondgis of the Kingdom of Leia, is already 72 years old this year.

The Kingdom of Leia has a total of 42 Edict Companies. Prince Condé controls 9, old King Thomondgis controls 13, Prince Inberra controls 4, and the two royal dukes control 6 and 10 respectively.

As for their disputes, let me put it this way: except for Prince Condé, the rest are eligible to inherit.

And to be honest, Prince Condé is a descendant of the previous dynasty's royal family, so he is also qualified.

But Thomondgis insists on passing the throne to his youngest son, Ginigis, and doesn't want to split the kingdom."

At this point, the entire Stag Room was silent.

"But what does this have to do with us?" Madeleine couldn't help but ask.

Ignoring Madeleine, Cici just stared at Horn; he knew Horn would understand.

"Behind the empire are the Elves. They need a stable Thousand River Valley to facilitate their plunder of profits.

King Thomondgis of the Kingdom of Leia is nearing the end of his life and hopes that the throne can be handed over normally without any accidents.

The people of the Church hope that this matter in Thousand River Valley will not detonate the conflict between Grandival and the Pope."

The latest novels are first published on [Six] [Nine] [Book] [Bar]!

"These are the fundamental factors," Cici said helplessly, pointing to the High Fort on the map with his finger. "Many people don't realize it, but there's one thing they do know."

"What?"

"Lion Knight Prince Condé has already come to Thousand River Valley with nine Edict Companies."

"A mere nine Edict Companies..." Bunyan, accompanying Madeleine, sneered dismissively.

Cici glanced at Bunyan in surprise and asked, "Do you think that's few? That's 900 Edict Knights, 900 Banneret Knights, and 900 Squire Knights, along with 5,000 infantry.

The number of knights alone is more than the population of your little Papal State."

Madeleine slapped Bunyan on the face, blushing, and warned him not to talk nonsense.

"To avoid the royal succession dispute?" Horn pressed.

"Yes," Cici said with a wry smile. "Prince Condé's great-grandfather's throne was overthrown by these nobles of the Kingdom of Leia. They won't let a Plantagenet land on the Scales Crown again.

So Prince Condé knew early on that he had no chance. After declaring that he had no intention of taking the throne, he brought the Edict Companies to Thousand River Valley, under the pretext of suppressing heretical rebellions."

Horn felt his throat was a little dry: "Could it be that..."

"That guy named Bonnerd." Cici stood up. "He told me that Prince Condé's first stop is High Fort. He studied martial arts here in his youth and considers it half his hometown."

Horn collapsed into his chair.

Not only Horn, but everyone else fell into dead silence.

That's 2,700 knights. Even if Horn appointed everyone under his rule as Edict Companies, they wouldn't be a match for the opponent.

Most importantly, a new official always starts with three fires. They had just annihilated nearly a hundred Church troops, which was like sticking their heads out for the opponent to target.

"Is there any possibility..." Not a drop of saliva in Horn's throat.

"Impossible." Cici shook his head and said, "Near High Fort, you are the largest group of rebels. According to the news released by Bishop Barnifos, you have tens of thousands of people.

No matter how you look at it, Prince Condé has to deal with you first. Even if you're not the first, you'll definitely be in the top five."