Rhodes didn't take Marlene's affairs too seriously, and he vaguely sensed that something was not quite right with Marlene, but he only thought that she felt that she didn't have a fair relationship with Lijie. In fact, it is not difficult to give Marlene a contract, Rhodes has already decided, if there is no problem on the side of the Shania family, then he will give Marlene a temporary contract, this contract will give some provisions, but unlike those mercenaries, she will not be given an exact date, which can facilitate Marlene's stay. In other words, this contract is not strictly speaking, it is not too coercive, and it is more like a tool used by Rhodes to appease Marlene.

But now Rhodes didn't bother to think too much about it, because he had more important things to do, and he received an invitation.

An invitation from Krause, Lord of Deepstone and District Governor of Parfield.

Rhodes wasn't familiar with this man, but he wasn't too unfamiliar with it.

As the lord of Deepstone City, and also the political officer of the Pafield region, Krause is undoubtedly a very capable person, and in fact, this is also the template for most of the officials in the Duchy of Moon, some of them may be deviant in character, some are not very popular among the people, but they all have quite outstanding talents, and the reason for this situation is largely due to the unique hobby of the Lord of the Duchy of Moon, Archduke Lydia, she likes to collect talents, And she likened these people to precious stones, and according to her words, the whole country was a treasure chest, and she, as the master, naturally wanted to collect the most dazzling and beautiful gems.

On the other hand, Lydia hates the most is a pile of gems mixed with a stone.

In addition, this archangel does not look like an angel at all, so Lydia has never hesitated to take these stones mixed in her gem box and throw them away

And if you change it, you will go to it in reality......... Those who have no skills and are mediocre and unbearable have all been removed from their posts and turned into civilians again. That's a good thing, and if the Grand Duke finds out in the middle of the investigation that you've done something to tarnish her aesthetics, then I'm sorry, so get ready for a close encounter with the guillotine.

This is also a big reason for the controversy caused by Lydia after she came to power, although the royal party has the most power in a country, there are other forces as well, and they all need some of their own agents to fight for their own interests in the country. Compared with those who have skills and ambitions, it is naturally better to control those who are timid and mediocre. In her own opinion, Lydia's actions were dusting and dusting the gem chest, but in the eyes of many nobles and powerful people, it was a move by the royal party to dominate the family and remove all their agents from power. After all, no matter how talented and ambitious those people are, their ultimate goal is to serve the country, which is consistent with the goal of the royal party that rules the country. But on the other hand, if they are allowed to unite with those nobles and chambers of commerce, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not have any thoughts.

And Krauser also belonged to a royal party with a very deep mark, he was cautious, cunning, prudent, laissez-faire, and low-key in the Pafield area, although he was not well-known, many people were not familiar with this administrative officer, but for those merchants, mercenaries and other powerful forces, they were very well aware of this administrative officer's energy.

It can be said that Krauser was very clever in his administration, and he knew that directly managing the people would not have much effect. But on the other hand, if the forces that are close to the people are well managed, then the people themselves will naturally not have any problems. It's a top-down management model, and it looks like Krauser is doing a pretty good job. …,

However, this does not mean that he has no shortcomings, and Rod knows very well that Krause's biggest problem is his caution and prudence, which is sometimes a good thing, allowing him to make a calm judgment when facing some difficult problems. But sometimes it's a big problem, and it can make it impossible for him to keep up with how things are going, and things get out of hand. That's the way it is in the game, because of the sudden attack under the leadership of the Kingdom of Light, the Pafield region centered on the entire Deep Rock City began to get out of control, and at this time, in Rod's opinion, it should be done quickly to get rid of the source. However, Krauser is very cautious, and he hopes to use the chaos of this time to thoroughly investigate the forces behind the scenes, and then catch them all. However, he didn't expect the final development of the situation to exceed Krause's expectations, and the matter became bigger and bigger, but when he was about to force it, he couldn't control it, and in addition to the sudden attack of the country of light, which had been prepared for a long time at that time, the problem that originally belonged to the territory became a diplomatic problem between the two countries, and at this time it was no longer something that a political official like Krauser could handle. So in the end, he still made a bad move, and was very badly harmed by the Land of Light. Although Lydia did not punish him, the administrative officer seemed to have lost confidence in himself and finally chose to leave.

Although he was no stranger to this political official, Rhodes still didn't know why he would be invited by him. You must know that in this world, they are completely two kinds of people, and they have no communication at all.

Originally, Rhodes thought that Krauser was looking for him to kill people on the street, which was not a big deal, but it still had a certain impact among the people. He had also heard that Krauser had sent someone to express his dissatisfaction with the Mercenary Association during the mercenary joint meeting before, and now the Emerald Tears had been completely finished by himself. With the character of this political officer, there is not much fanfare, but this kind of private warning is very much in line with his style.

However, after being led into the parlor by the waiter, Rhodes realized that his idea was completely wrong.

At the moment, those sitting on the sofa are all old acquaintances.

Not only is Serek, the vice president of the Mercenary Association, there, but even the patriarch of the Keller family, who once had a relationship. Seeing Rod's arrival, both of them were a little surprised, but they also greeted him very politely, although in terms of status, Rod and them can not be compared, but he and these two have a good relationship, so they didn't encounter any trouble.

"You've been invited too?"

As soon as Rod sat down, Serek asked with some curiosity. Rod nodded slightly, then frowned.

"You were also invited by Lord Krauser?"

"That's right."

This time it was the patriarch of the Keller family who answered, and he put down the teacup in his hand, his face a little gloomy.

"We were invited here by Lord Krauser, and I don't know exactly what it was for, but I think it was because of ............."

Keller's words did not continue, because at this moment, as the door slowly opened, a man in a fine costume and a somewhat short stature slowly walked in. Seeing his appearance, Rod, Serek and Keller couldn't help but stand up...

On the surface, this man can be said to be a little unpresentable, with a sharp beak and monkey gills, and he doesn't look like a serious person. But there was always a faint aura in his demeanor, which was his temperament as a political official in the Pafield region, and it was also the unique charm that belonged to the lord of the city. Although it didn't look pleasant, the smile on the corner of his mouth could clearly feel his friendly and gentle attitude. …,

"Three, please."

Krauser slowly walked to the middle of the living room, and made a gesture at the same time, and then the three of them sat down again, looking at the city lord in front of them.

"I know you're all limited in time, so I'm not going to waste any more time."

Crouser coughed lightly, then looked up at Keller and Serek.

"There's been something unusual going on in the Pafield area lately, and I think you're aware of it......... The sudden increase in the price of ore in the entire Pafield region by 30 percent has had a considerable impact on all the industries in the territory, but our ore exports have not decreased...", right? Mr. Keller? ”

"Exactly, Master Krauser.

Keller nodded.

"I can assure you that the volume of ore exported from Deep Rock is very stable and there are no problems. And the demand for ore in the surrounding area has not risen recently, so the price increase is very unusual. ”

"Not only that......... but the mercenary group in the Pafield area has also had quite a problem lately."

With that, Krauser glanced at Serek.

"I've heard the report of the Mercenary Association for details, and this is indeed a very hard thing for you, but it is not that simple. Because according to my research, there are other problems in this. According to our research, many foreign mercenaries have recently arrived in this area, but they have not stayed here for long and left quickly. Although the movement of mercenaries is normal, this large-scale movement in a short period of time is very abnormal. I'm sure there must be other reasons for this. ”

"You mean there are other reasons for this?"

Hearing Krauser say this, Serek couldn't help but be stunned.

"What do you mean to .........?"

"That's not up to me to answer."

Krauser smiled and shook his head, and then he turned his gaze to Rod, who had been silent.

"I wonder if Mr. Rhodes would have a better explanation for this?" ）