In the city lord's mansion in Broken Bridge City, the young city lord Huck Holden slammed the table, stood up angrily, and said angrily to the dozen or so nobles in front of the table:
"The untouchables of Cold Wind City will not succeed. They cannot defeat my father. What do you have to worry about?"
The dozen or so nobles present were all elderly, with old faces and gloomy eyes. They remained silent to the young city lord's loud assertions and only communicated with each other with their eyes.
The ornately decorated living room was quite dull. The waiters standing in the corner did not dare to show their dignity. The crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling illuminated the faces of everyone present, but it could not illuminate what they were thinking.
Huck Holden stood up and glanced around. He fully thought that his speech would be echoed by everyone, but the situation was the opposite of what he imagined.
The nobles who controlled the fate of Broken Bridge City all avoided looking at him, and no one wanted to look at him.
The Young City Lord glanced around and pointed at a person nearby, "Sir Brown, what's your opinion on the current situation?"
The nobleman who was pointed out was immediately embarrassed, neither sure nor denying. He reluctantly glanced at Harding, but after all he couldn't say anything useful, he hesitated a few times and quickly shook his head.
"There is too little information currently known and my opinion is not yet mature. We can discuss it further and it is better to stay on the right side of things."
The young city lord was impatient and quickly ordered another person, "Sir Sidings, you have been my father's friend for many years and have been friends for more than thirty years. You should have some say on the situation."
The second nobleman who was singled out coughed slightly, but said a few useful words, "It's too dark now, so it wouldn't be a good idea to leave the city rashly. We don't know where the Lord of the City is?"
Sir Sidings seemed to have some status, and other nobles agreed.
"Yeah, going out at night is really not a good idea."
"We have absolute trust in the strength of Your Excellency the City Lord."
"Hanfeng City doesn't have enough troops, so we definitely won't be able to hurt him."
"Let's wait until dawn. Maybe at dawn, the Lord of the City will be back."
Everyone was in a commotion, and Harding Holden became anxious. He banged the table again and shouted loudly: "Master Banke of Longlegs can use arcane magic to find my father. Since you have confidence in my father,
Why not send troops?"
The young city lord pointed to the old wizard Bank sitting next to him, and tried to use various reasons to persuade the dignitaries in the city who had gathered late at night.
The chief prophecy sat aside expressionlessly, sighing in his heart.
Compared with Victor Hugo, who acted quickly and decisively, the nobles of the North were too slow.
The situation in Coldwind City developed rapidly, forcing the Longlegs family to plan in many ways. Old Bank arrived at Broken Bridge City shortly after nightfall, hoping to join forces with the Holden family.
But the city lord Kyle Holden took the main force of the family and ran to resist the invaders from Cold Wind City.
It's been a day since then. Before dark, some messengers came back to ensure safety, but after dark there was no news.
After entering the city, Old Bank went to visit the Holden family, and happened to meet the young city lord Harding. Holden gathered all the nobles in the city and asked each family to send troops overnight as backup.
But all the nobles in the city were evading it and wanted to wait until dawn. Their reasons were various, including 'it's inconvenient in the dark', 'worried about the lack of troops in the city', and 'very confident in the Lord of the City'.
When everyone was avoiding the quarrel, the chief prophecy touched Harding's arm with the ring in his hand. An ox-hair needle popped out of the ring and pricked a drop of blood.
The excited Harding did not feel any pain and did not notice at all. Through this drop of blood of a close relative, Old Bank secretly cast a spell to spy on Kyle Holden's current situation.
The result... was very bad.
There were tense emotions in his blood, including anger, regret, and horror. This was by no means a sign that everything was safe. Kyle Holden must have been attacked.
The situation is quite bad.
After taking several deep breaths, Old Bank calmed down. He couldn't say anything and had to remain calm. When Harding asked him to express his position, he said in a deep voice: "Everyone, I understand your hesitation. There are difficulties in sending troops at night.
But you must not take Victor Hugo lightly. He sent people to attack your manors and villages outside the city. This is definitely not a good sign."
A noble asked in a deep voice: "This is what we are worried about. Who knows who the monster in the Black Forest wants to attack? Maybe he just wants to lure us out of the city? Where is the team of the Lord of the City?"
"Twenty kilometers east of the city, near Green Valley Town." Old Bank raised the staff at hand, "I have cast a spell to lock the location of the Lord of the City. All you need to do is lead your troops and rush there."
Another noble asked: "Then where is the enemy?"
This question is difficult to answer. Old Bank pondered for a while, "In Green Valley Town. Hugo from Coldwind City used that town as a base to launch an attack on you."
Young City Lord Harding immediately said happily: "This is just right! We sent troops to cooperate with my father and captured Green Valley Town in one fell swoop. Everyone, haven't you always wanted that town rich in wine? Now the opportunity has come."
The dozen or so nobles in front of the table were whispering and discussing. The situation sounded good, but they each had their own plans, and no one was willing to take action easily.
The governance structure of the foreign world is like this. The city lord can only give orders to the nobles who are subordinate to him, but he has no way to deal with the nobles' subordinates. Every time he sends troops, he must mobilize his own family's manpower or discuss the matter with the nobles who are subordinate to him.
Therefore, the big nobles always want to annex the small nobles to expand their own power. On the one hand, the small nobles need the protection of the big nobles, and at the same time, they must avoid being annexed by the big nobles.
When Old Bank heard the quarrel among these people, he knew that they would not take any action until the situation became clear. A similar situation had happened to the Long-Legs family, as well as to the Butch family in Banshee Castle.
This mobilization efficiency is very poor.
Even if Harding succeeded in urging the big nobles in the city to mobilize at night, they would not be able to leave the city until dawn. If they gathered their troops again at dawn, they would have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to move out.
By that time, the day lilies were already cold.
But more than a dozen big nobles repeated Harding's words, "The untouchables in Cold Wind City will only run around and harass you, they can't deal with the Lord of the City. Harding, don't worry. Your father will definitely be fine."
of."
Just dragging and dragging, no matter what, the nobles in the city would not move. It kept dragging until the next day.
Early in the morning, Harding Holden ran to the top of the city and looked eastward in the bright morning light. Not only did he send out a large number of reconnaissance cavalry, he also forced all the dozen or so nobles last night to the top of the city.
"I hope everyone will be prepared. If it happens..." After staying up all night, the young city lord was in a really bad mood. But before he could finish his harsh words, the scout cavalry who had just left the city came back, bringing with him
A piece of good news.
"Your Excellency the City Lord is back. Your Excellency the City Lord is safe and sound. He severely defeated the enemy, killed countless people, and won a great victory."
The scouts galloped under the city, cheering loudly. The young city lord and a group of nobles at the top of the city were stunned. Harding, who had been worried all night, was overjoyed when he heard the news and went out of the city to greet him in person.
Kyle Holden rode a war horse and came back with dozens of family knights, majestic and high-spirited. Many of them were injured and their armor was stained with blood, but they were all in good spirits and in high spirits.
"Father...!" Harding galloped up on his horse and cheered, "Did you really defeat those despicable untouchables in Cold Wind City?"
"Hahaha...! Child, how can you be so suspicious of me?"
Kyle Holden sat upright on the horse, his whole body exuding the smell of blood. When he saw his son, he showed a loving fatherly manner and reached out to touch his son's head, "I fought with Victor Hugo.
He was completely defeated."
Harding saw that many people were missing from his father's side, and his armor was damaged. "Father, you are injured. Where are Uncle Sack and Uncle Hall?"
The victorious team passed through the city gate. A dozen nobles who had refused to send troops last night all gathered at the city gate to send greetings to the head of the Holden family. When they saw Kyle Holden returning with bloodshed, they were all shocked and suspicious.
.
When Kyle Holden saw this group of nobles, a stern look flashed in his eyes. He said loudly to his son: "The people in Cold Wind City were defeated by me. Sack and Hall led more than a hundred people to pursue them.
Green Valley Town. You don’t have to worry too much.”
What he said was very smooth and impeccable.
The news of the city lord's victory and return quickly spread throughout the city, and a trumpet was blown on the city wall to celebrate the victory. The young city lord said that he would have a good celebration and even forget about the unpleasantness of last night.
But when they entered the city lord's mansion, Kyle Holden was left with only his son. He suddenly held Harding's shoulders, his body fell out of strength, and weakly shouted: "Son, go find me a priest."
"Father..." Harding was shocked and reached out to hold his father's body, only to find that the clothes under the armor were soaked. He pressed a little harder and blood flowed out.
Kyle Holden had already fallen down and gave another urgent order: "You must save the face of the family and keep an eye on those..., those..."
Before he could finish speaking, he had already fainted.