Taking a deep breath, Baron Bishop stepped out of the carriage. The guard stood outside the carriage to salute and greet him, and urged him a little - His Excellency the Lord of the City had convened a meeting in person and was waiting for him.
This winter has been particularly gloomy and desolate, and the entire Northland is not having a good time. The guards leading the way are still wearing last year's old uniforms, the outer walls of the city lord's mansion have not been repainted, and even one-third of the servants in the mansion have been laid off.
In normal years, the heads of the Buchi family would issue a new uniform to all civil servants in the city. Nobles do not care about a piece of clothing, but many low-level civil servants really need it.
In addition, some refugees are hired to maintain the city, pave roads, repair sewers and so on. At this time, the wages are low and it does not cost much. It is considered as work-in-relief to avoid chaos in public order. Otherwise, the hungry refugees will do anything.
As for the layoff of domestic servants, this is unprecedented. It often means the decline of a family - of course the patriarch will not say this, and the butler will only announce that these damn servants are not working hard.
Bishop doesn't know much about the specific situation in the city. The annual salary of the nobles this year is quite normal, and many nobles in Banshee Castle have made a lot of money from doing business.
But the fruitless war half a year ago was too costly and cost the family a heavy price.
Bishop later estimated that with more than 3,000 troops fighting outside for more than half a month, half of the city's material inventory was emptied. The compensation afterward was also terrible.
War is too expensive.
The guards of the City Lord's Mansion led Bishop to the inner chamber of the mansion, and the butler came out to greet them. The two parties met for a while, and Bishop asked in a low voice, "Who are attending the meeting?"
"Broken Bridge City, Horn Castle, Spire City, Night Owl City..." the steward announced a series of city names, "Special envoys from seven cities have arrived, and three more cities have sent messengers to inform them that they are willing to join.
"
Bishop looked sad, "Is the situation this year so bad?"
"It's very bad." The butler murmured, shaking his head and unwilling to talk more.
Half a year ago, Bishop led the team to evacuate the town of Dense Fog without receiving any orders. To put it mildly, it is said that he 'saved the main force', but at worst, he was driven back.
Friedman Butch was furious at this rout-like retreat and fined Bishop a large sum of money. However, the city lord later returned the money to Bishop privately and encouraged him to continue to forge ahead loyally and bravely to serve the family.
Effectiveness.
As the most powerful frontline commander of Banshee Castle, Bishop burst into tears with gratitude, and his original dissatisfaction disappeared. Looking back at the other selfish nobles, he was filled with hatred.
Now that the market is depressed, the family is in trouble. But many middle- and lower-class nobles are hiding in their homes and continuing to enjoy themselves and live a luxurious life.
Bishop knew very well that many nobles remained silent on the surface, but privately complained about the city lord. They held salon gatherings every day, hid and planned how to break through various prohibitions, and had no idea of loyalty at all.
Walking into the living room where a meeting was taking place, more than a dozen people were already sitting at the table. Friedman Butcher took the seat and introduced Bishop to the guests.
In addition to the special envoys from various cities in the North, Bishop unexpectedly saw Viscount Tarak of Greyhawk Castle in the Principality of Os. This tall and handsome southern nobleman had a smile on his face and seemed particularly close to everyone.
"Bishop, come and talk about the situation in Coldwind City." Friedman pointed to the map hanging opposite the living room, "We can no longer tolerate the situation to continue to deteriorate."
Compared with the map drawn by Cold Wind City, the map used by Banshee Castle is smaller in scale, and the roads and towns are also crude. Only the general main roads can be seen. The markers are even more abstract.
Bishop pondered in front of the map for a long time and gave his own judgment first, "I am very happy to see you all united with the Butch family at this moment. But I want to say that we are probably already a step too late."
Pointing to the Cold Wind City in the north of the map, he continued: "According to the information in the past six months, Victor Hugo has been expanding his military strength and trying his best to recruit high-level combat power from the North.
The heavy infantry in Cold Wind City is likely to exceed one thousand. The light cavalry has reached three hundred. There are one hundred wizards above level five. Hugo's own strength has also been promoted to level ten. This should be obtained by his collusion with the lower world.
This level of strength is already quite terrifying and even more destructive than it was half a year ago.
We have once again blocked trade with Cold Wind City and hope to complete our war mobilization in the spring three months later. But the monster from the Black Forest came out to fight with us half a year ago, and he will not stay in the cold wind now.
Windy City.
I must warn you that the war is likely to break out within a month in advance. Hugo's mobilization speed is faster than ours and his mobility is stronger. He is likely to gather local superior forces to attack one of our cities in a short period of time."
Bishop's words paused for a moment, and everyone present chatted with each other first, and then quickly fixed their eyes on the special envoy of Broken Bridge City - half a year ago, Victor Hugo picked on the weaklings and neatly defeated the Holden family of Broken Bridge City.
Destroyed.
The special envoy from Broken Bridge City turned pale and asked in surprise: "What should we do?"
"I don't know what to do?" Bishop shook his head.
"Unless the families in the North can speed up their mobilization and gather a strong military force to pose a threat, we will have to wait and see Hugo take action first. One of our families may not be able to withstand it."
The special envoy from Broken Bridge City quickly looked at the other special envoys present, and called out urgently: "Everyone knows what Victor Hugo has done in the past six months. He just wants to be the enemy of all nobles.
Everyone, the future of the Northland is in our hands. There is no doubt that our Broken Bridge City will be attacked first. Saving us means saving everyone. If Broken Bridge City is destroyed, you will be next. I am here
call....."
The various envoys were able to gather together because they saw the threat of Victor Hugo. But judging from the current situation, it is impossible for more than a dozen cities in the North to complete the mobilization before early spring.
Even mobilizing only high-level combat forces will take time and require mutual adjustment and coordination.
Friedman Butcher had also made up his mind long ago that he would never go to war without gathering enough troops. At this time, if Cold Wind City took the initiative to attack Broken Bridge City, the Butcher family would give strong verbal support, but they would not move.
Sure enough, the special envoys from various families gathered in the living room all stood up and expressed their willingness to help Broken Bridge City resist the powerful enemy. They also comforted the special envoys from Broken Bridge City not to be afraid. What Baron Bishop said was the worst situation, and it might not be that bad.
miserable.
Friedman Butcher even made a solemn statement that the attack on Broken Bridge City was a challenge to the entire Northland and would inevitably be strongly condemned and retaliated by all aristocratic classes.
But the more words of comfort came out, the paler the Broken Bridge City envoy's face became, and his head was covered in cold sweat.
Bishop himself stood in front of the map, looking at the Broken Bridge City envoy who was pitied by everyone, looking at the poor guy who thanked all parties for their support but hoped that they would implement the support, and felt sad.
Broken Bridge City is the bait that was thrown out. Everyone hopes that Victor Hugo will be able to stop eating this bait, and it is best to suffer from indigestion and provide time for the mobilization of the nobles of the North.