Ever since Henry left for Am, all the affairs of the Duchy have fallen on Hawke's shoulders. This old man, who is over sixty years old, trembles, and spends almost all of his days on official business except sleeping. After all, it was still a time of war, and the sawa-fish-man raiding party in the sea would occasionally come ashore to fight the autumn breeze.

Suddenly, a guard appeared at the door of the office. He knocked on the door, then walked straight to his desk and pulled out a letter.

"Sir, our airship carrying supplies has returned. There is also a letter from the Council of Lords of Waterdeep, who want to increase the supply of military supplies such as food, wine, arrows, javelins, and magic potions, and as for the price, it can be settled by five times the usual amount. In addition, the Open Lord Piergalen wants to rent our military airship. He fired a high price of 300,000 gold coins, and this letter needs your approval before the next batch of supplies can be delivered. ”

Hawke took the letter without raising his head, and directly crossed out the food. After thinking about it for a while, he said to the guards, "Don't think about food. Before the autumn harvest, we don't have enough food on the continent. I need to ask for the advice of the Mage Tower, there is nothing wrong with the wine, as for military supplies and airship rentals, you go directly to Commander Corey, and the Duke will put him in charge of military affairs before leaving. ”

"Understood, I'm going to find Knight Corey." The guard bowed, and then headed straight to the barracks outside the city with the letter.

Glancing at the stack of official documents on the table, Hawke couldn't help but smile bitterly. Although it is said that it is a good thing to be trusted by the monarch, such a large amount of work is obviously beyond his bearing. Especially before the subordinate town councils were established, almost all trivial matters had to be sent here.

Due to the closure of maritime trade. It is expected that the tax payment for several years will be only one-third or even less than last year. But fortunately, Waterdeep has been in need of a lot of supplies. So now the three iron mines under the Principality are working at full capacity. In particular, javelins and arrows are in the greatest demand. You can earn tens of thousands of gold coins in profit on every trip.

According to the latest information, Waterdeep is now surrounded on three sides, and even the Desarin River has been blocked. No one dared to take the trade route to the west near the coastline, and the caravans heading south from the direction of Neverwinter could not even cross the Dead Swamp before they would be intercepted by the Sawa Fish. It can be said that if the supply from the airship is lost, the army guarding the line will starve to death in a few days. Now in order to pump food to support Waterdeep City, the Duchy can be said to have racked its brains. After all, with such an ally at the forefront of the front, the fish-man's eyes will not be shifted to other places.

Just as Hawke pondered where to get food. Corey and Robert hurried in through the doorway, and judging by their gloomy faces, something must have happened.

The leader of the thieves put a note on his desk and said, "This is the latest information I have gotten, and there are some not very honest guys who want to carry out a coup d'état while the duke is away. They now united several medium-sized chambers of commerce, and they also ambushed an armed force of more than 500 people in the city. ”

"What?!! What kind of person has such courage! I remember that in the turmoil of the previous period, almost all the nobles and big businessmen died. Hawke's hands trembled in shock. He couldn't imagine what would happen if there was turmoil at this time.

"Just look at the information on the note. We must act now, and if the number exceeds 1,000 then the situation will not be easy to manage. According to the arrangement made by the duke before leaving, I need your signature and authorization, otherwise the army will not be able to enter the city. As he spoke, Corey handed over an order for the movement of troops.

Hawke cautiously opened the note, only to see that it was densely filled with a spy named Piero at what time, where, and in connection with those merchants. Even the other party eats, drinks, meets lovers, and so on. Seeing this information, his face was much better. This shows that the other party is always under the control of the thieves' union. I can't turn the sky over for the time being.

"Have you found out which force sent this Piero?" Hawke asked cautiously. He knew that all the troops in the principality would not exceed 10,000 now, and the limit of what could be mobilized was about 5,000 people, and the rest would have to be responsible for the security of various towns. In this case, if the other party's background is too strong, then it is necessary to contact the mage tower on the island.

Robert thought for a moment and replied, "I've sent someone to dig up his old bottom, but there is no news yet." From what I've observed, Piero is most likely the Iron Throne people, and of course the Santarin. With the exception of these two groups, the rest of the forces in the Baldur's Gate region have been largely expelled or exterminated. ”

Hawke got up from his chair and circled around his desk a few times, a little hesitant. If the other party is from the Iron Throne, it's okay to say, after all, it is a merchant organization, and no matter how rich and powerful it is, it can't confront a country. But Santarin will be different, especially in recent times, and has begun to become more and more crazy under the influence of Ciric. In many cities, so-called mad priests have appeared, and they go around preaching and forcing people to believe in the only true god of the universe, Shirek, and will immediately kill people at the slightest suspicion of language.

Seeing Hawke's tangled expression, the other two looked at each other, and then shook their heads in unison. They all felt that the chief minister in front of them was good at everything, but he was a little too indecisive. In the end, Corey couldn't bear it anymore and stood up and owed a slight debt. "Sir, I must remind you that the enemy's strength is increasing by the moment. Especially those merchants who have lost their power are very easy to be co-opted by the other party. ”

Hawke sighed involuntarily, picked up the quill on the table, and signed his name under the army transfer order. He said very solemnly to the two people in front of him: "I want you to move as quickly as possible, and don't let any news leak out." ”

"Don't worry, my thieves will cooperate with this operation. None of the guys involved in this tandem could escape. After saying that, a cruel smile appeared on Robert's face. At Henry's direction, he has begun to convert the Thieves' Guild into a national spy agency. Compared to other criminal organizations in the Feron Continent, they are more tightly structured and more efficient.

In fact, as soon as Piero stepped on the land of the principality, he was already targeted. It is said that he was allowed to roam freely in Belgoust, in order to find out those who were not very peaceful, and then catch them all. You must know that the merchant who was originally closely related to the Iron Throne did not die in the turmoil, but actually changed his identity and lurked secretly. These guys are all safety hazards in Robert's eyes, so he hatches a plan to lure the snake out of the hole.

However, the development of the situation is obviously beyond his control, this guy named Piero is not only capable, but also has a lot of businessmen who are dissatisfied with the current political environment. In the name of the guards, they secretly began to recruit adventurers and mercenaries everywhere, and in just a few weeks, they gathered more than 500 people, so they had to turn to the army for help.

After receiving the signature, the two men in charge of the operation left Hawke's office. On the way, Corey said to Robert as he walked, "I hope this is the first and last time." You're playing with fire, and if you don't get it right, the whole country will be in chaos. If there is a similar action, it is best to say hello to me first. In addition, when the property of merchants is confiscated, I hope that some of it will be used for military expenses. ”

It can be seen that this stern and old-fashioned knight is very dissatisfied with the private actions of the leader of the thieves. It's no wonder that no one likes to wipe someone's buttocks.

The corners of Robert's mouth twitched slightly, and finally nodded helplessly. "Don't worry, knight. I'm here to assure you that there won't be a next time. As for the question of the merchant's property, I intend to divide it equally into four parts. One for the thieves' union, one for the administrative system, one for the duke, and the last one for the army. I don't know if you're still satisfied? ”

"Fairly fair, I'm completely out of the question. You don't need to give me cash, though, just swap them all for drakes. You must know that the combat effectiveness of the Duchy's army is somewhat unsatisfactory, and it is basically supported by the strong personal strength of the Duke and his followers, which is not a good phenomenon. I thought about it for a long time, and I felt that a fierce and powerful drake cavalry could solve this problem very well. ”

"Well, I'll send someone to the countries to the east to buy some. But this matter has to be reported, it's the rule, you should understand. ”

Hearing Robert's promise to Charlie, a smile appeared on Cory's face. "Of course, I don't think the Duke will stand in the way. He had been disappointed by the poor performance of the ordinary army. ”

"Then it's settled. The assault is scheduled for midnight today, and your men are responsible for the encirclement and frontal assault, and my men will otherwise assassinate and sabotage the interior. Remember, don't let any of your enemies go because you're soft-hearted. After saying that, Robert gave the other party a meaningful look, turned and left to gather his elite assassins.

"Hehe, soft-hearted? Rest assured, never again. Corey couldn't help but smile wryly.

He never considered himself a soft-hearted man, especially in his attitude towards his enemies, which had always been a more radical one. However, everyone has a moral bottom line, and not harming pregnant women and young children is Corey's bottom line, but it is this that makes him pay a terrible price.

During the years favored by the god of the goal-conceding guard, his wife and children had a very miserable life, and even became a beggar for a while. Fortunately, he was finally appreciated by Henry, and he became a noble knight in a wealthy territory and also served as a military commander. In order to repay the monarch for his kindness, he had already prepared and was ready to abandon this bottom line at any time.

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

Bow and thank the four book friends who voted for the deep sea mud beast, skyfishno, Dana さま, and the scholar is useless. (To be continued......)