Alan and Roger brought to a cubicle in the White Castle, which was adjacent to the conference room, separated by only a wall. The cubicle has a viewing hole for a panoramic view of the room. The location of the sight hole is a self-portrait of the Count of Auban hanging high on the wall of the chamber. No one would look at the Count's portrait, because it was disrespectful. And even if there is, it will not be able to see the peep behind because of the angle and some arrangement reasons.

As for the Count's significance in designing this compartment, perhaps only he himself knows. But suspicion, distrust of subordinates has always been one of the qualities possessed by nobles, so Alan is not surprised to see a room with another purpose.

Soon, footsteps rang out in the conference room. Roger pressed his face to the sighthole and saw someone walk in through the door.

It was a fat man, over 100 years old. Bald, his clothes are exaggerated. He wears a golden necklace around his neck, and his hands and ten fingers are covered with gemstone rings of various colors. The fat man is full of jewels, like an upstart. Roger said, "This is Baron Eni, who is one of the shareholders of the Emerald Pearl. He is timid and afraid, but his territory is rich. However, due to the lack of strength of the army, they could only choose to attach themselves to the count in order to obtain asylum. ”

Baron Eni seemed to be very hot, and his forehead was covered with beads of sweat. He was wiping a silk handkerchief in his hand, and someone behind him snorted, "You better hurry up, Eni." Damn, I smell your sweat from afar. ”

The baron turned awkwardly and said to the man behind him, "I'm sorry, Viscount Grar. ”

The man who passed by the baron was tall and thin, and his clothes were decorated with exaggerated floral patterns. Wearing a fluffy blonde wig, and even eyeliner on his white face, he snorted, and without looking at the fat baron, he sat straight to the first seat on the left side of the table.

That represented his second only power to the Count of Euban.

The fat man glanced at him, and then lowered his head to hide the thick resentment in his eyes.

"What is this?" Alan stepped back a little from the sighthole and gave up space to Roger.

Roger looked at it and said, "This is Viscount Glaar, who is inextricably linked to the Ridley family. The two families have been married for several generations, so the power is only under the earl. This viscount himself is also one of the major shareholders of Emerald Pearl, and he loves literary salons, haunting the stage more than the battlefield. Well, I've also heard that he's so manly, I don't know if it's true. ”

Then people entered the chamber one after another, Roger introduced them one by one, and Alan kept them in mind, and had a preliminary understanding of the earl's team and power structure. In short, Count Obana's relationship with these dependents was different from that of other nobles. As far as Allen knew, most of the high-ranking nobles firmly controlled the dependents with their own strong strength, but the relationship between Count Oban and these people was more like a partner.

This led to a number of problems, as the structure of power was loose and the orders on behalf of the Count could not be carried out thoroughly. The Counts were more important to them in terms of business and money than in terms of personal strength and a strong army. In other words, this loose structure can easily collapse, after all, there are no permanent interests in this world.

From this structure, it is not difficult to see the dilemma faced by the Earl of Obana, with mediocre personal force, and even the title of Earl was obtained by relying on huge taxes and generational contributions from the family. As for the army, it is even more worrying, it is a county, and the main composition of the army in the territory is actually a mercenary group. Perhaps the Ridley family's wealth can afford to hire three, or even more, large mercenary groups.

But such an army is bound to lack loyalty, and an army without loyalty can betray, and it will never fight for the earl in the face of a desperate situation. So from the structure of power alone, Alan saw that the pyramid of power of Count Oban was crumbling. The reason for this is still the Count's own force. With his personal strength, he is more than enough to be a viscount, but he can run an earl's territory, but he is unable to do so.

It was only after the men had arrived that the Count of Oban entered through a side door. He glanced at the crowd and sat down in his place: "Everyone, I invite you to come today, I think everyone knows the reason. Yes, our territory is being watched by the shameful Daniel. Although this has been the case for a long time, recently, Daniel's behavior has become more and more impudent, and his ambitions are swelling. And as his neighbors, we are under real threat. ”

The Earl glanced at the butler, and the steward of Mace bowed to everyone in the seats and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, just three days ago, Sir Daniel's Duruff, the powerful baron known as the 'Hungry Wolf', suddenly launched an attack and occupied the three villages adjacent to Ser Daniel's domain in our territory. This was a blatant act of aggression, and Lord Count was very angry about it. ”

"So I'd like to hear from you." Count Oban spread his hands and said, "You can speak freely. ”

Everyone at the table looked at me, I looked at you, but they couldn't say a word for a long time. Viscount Glaar, who was sitting in the first seat on the left, frowned and said, "Lord Earl, such a thing has happened, I think I should inform the Imperial Legion." ”

Hearing this, Alan almost didn't laugh, and even Roger shook his head. The two exchanged a look, and both saw the helplessness in each other's eyes. The Imperial Legions were indeed stationed in various places, but their duty was more to guard against the invasion of foreign aliens than to settle the feuds and personal feuds between the nobles. If the Empire had to intervene in this kind of thing, then the Imperial Legion, which was known as a million-strong division, would not have idle time at all.

Every day, the private fights of the nobles that broke out in the territory of the empire were innumerable, and the empire could not control it at all, and it would not take care of it. The Balgaon Empire was strong, and the royal family didn't care about this kind of war between nobles at all. At the beginning of the founding of this human empire, it advocated the law of the jungle to ensure that the empire continued to have fresh blood and strong force, which was also the cornerstone of the empire's millennium.

Unless the war between the nobles affects the country, the royal family will only turn a blind eye. Therefore, as a viscount like Glaar, he uttered these undoubtedly weak words. If you are not naïve, you are ignorant, and in vain it makes people laugh.

Of course, Count Auban couldn't laugh. Instead, he glared fiercely at Glaal with anger in his eyes.

Graal hurriedly turned his face away and pretended to be confused. Then the knights below began to talk about it, and put forward some strange constructions, among which there was even money to buy Duruff to withdraw his army. The jazz who proposed this kind of construction added afterwards: "Anyway, we are not short of money, and it would be better if we stayed and solved it with money." ”

In this way, the jazz could not come up with a really useful proposal. Orban closed his eyes, as if he had allowed the knights to speak boldly, and only the butler, who knew him well, saw the count constantly clasping his knuckles on the table. It was the Earl's angry expression, and Steward Mace couldn't help but take two steps back.

Without the Earl's interference, the knights below became more and more distant, and began to draw from Duruff's invasion to each other's grievances and interests. When it comes to the heat, two of the jazzes are ready to rise from a verbal quarrel to a martial fight. At this moment, the atmosphere in the conference room froze, and Count Oban finally opened his eyes. He snorted, and the knights below sensed that something was wrong and closed their mouths in understanding.

"I've given you enough time to discuss, so what about now?"

A baron stood up and was about to speak, when Oban shouted: "Shut up, if we are reduced to the point where we have to buy Duruff with money, what is the difference between that and redeeming our own land with money?" ”

"Gentlemen, if you can't come up with a feasible proposal, then let me do it." Count Oban stood up and said loudly, "What we need is not bribery, let alone avoiding war. Instead, it was to repel Duruff head-on and warn Daniel that bastard not to mess around. If we back down this time, let Daniel see our weakness. Trust me, he won't stop, his appetite will only grow! ”

"So, all of you, who can fight Truf for us. Drive the hungry wolf back to his den! The Count waved his hand vigorously, and looked at everyone at the table.

There is no doubt that his words are full of incitement. However, the knights below bowed their heads, and Viscount Graar coughed lightly and said, "Dear earl, you should be clear. The title of Sir Duruff is preceded by the word strength. With all due respect, there are so many people here, and only your strength can defeat him. So you see, wouldn't it be better for Lord Earl to handle this matter himself? ”

The other barons nodded in agreement. Count Oban looked at them with a look of disappointment in his eyes. He shook his head, as if he had lost the strength to support him, and the Count sat back. After a moment, he sighed, "I'll think about this matter again, you guys...... It's OK to go. ”

Graar was the first to stand up, bowed to the Count, and withdrew. The other jazzes followed suit, and after a few moments they were gone. There was a huge conference room, and only the Count of Oban and the butler of Metz were left. The Earl shook his head helplessly and said, "Sir Allen, you can come out." ”

Walking in through the side door of the chamber, looking at the silence on the count's face, Alan and Roger glanced at each other, both feeling the danger of the territory.

Count Oban laughed self-deprecatingly: "I think my family has taken root in this land, and hundreds of years have passed in the blink of an eye. But now, there is a feeling that a big tree is about to fall. We have earned enough riches in the world, but we are not even able to keep our own territory. ”

"These wastes are only greedy for pleasure. As soon as I encounter something, I want to use money to pass it, but I don't know that sometimes, money can't buy things. Just like this time, even if I could send Duruff away with money and buy my territory back, I couldn't buy back the dignity of being an earl! ”

Speaking of anger, the Count slapped his hand on the table with hatred, making a muffled sound.

Alan stepped forward and said, "Is Lord Earl preparing to face the battle himself?" ”

Oban smiled wryly: "Do I have any other choice?" Is it by that kind of shit? ”

"Maybe there ......," Alan smiled faintly, "for example, me." ”

"What do you mean?"

"I'm willing to fight for you, but I need an identity, one with enough right to fight in your domain, Earl."

Steward Mace thought of Alan's bag of gold coins, and immediately whispered in the earl's ear: "This is not difficult, as long as Sir Alan officially joins your camp, it can be regarded as justified." ”

Count Oban nodded, "This is not difficult, then, what do you hope to get from me?" ”

"A piece of territory." Alan Dao.

"Territory......" Oban thought for a moment and said, "Well, if you repel Duruff, then the village he occupies will be your territory in the future." Of course, they are too small to be commensurate with your baron's status. But that territory is adjacent to Daniel's viscounty, and since Truf has started, I can naturally return it with color. Then I will assign you to be in charge of the attack, and as long as you can eat Daniel's territory, then I will recognize its legitimacy as yours. ”

"Thank you, Lord Earl, it couldn't be better."

Oban laughed, "I also want to have someone like Sir Allen who is good at fighting war, you see, I'm not stingy." So as long as you have enough strength, I will give you what you want. ”

"In that case, I would like the Earl to provide some information. For example, information on Viscount Daniel, as well as maps and other related information. ”

"I'll ask Steward Mace to hand over the information to you later." The Earl smiled, "By the way, I heard that your territory was attacked by several coalition forces not long ago. Coincidentally, Bauhinia and the city lords of Castle Dawn are both Sir Daniel's dependents. As for the unicorn army, it is directly subordinate to that powerful viscount. Perhaps in this way, Sir Allen will be more motivated. ”

After hearing this, Alan smiled heartily: "If that's the case, then it couldn't be better." It just so happened that they still owed me a debt, so I took this opportunity to let them pay it off. This qiē starts with repelling the hungry wolf Sir Knight. ”

So Opan ordered Mays to prepare materials for Alan, and Alan and Roger took their leave. After they left, another man came in the side door of the chamber. He has a rare oriental face, black hair and black eyes, and a handsome appearance. There was even more subtlety in the movements, and Count Oban said lightly: "Mr. Long, what do you think of this young knight?" ”

"He's ambitious, Lord Earl." The man said in a deep voice: "He will be your right-hand man, but when you can no longer satisfy his ambitions, be careful that he will bite you in turn." ”

"It's good to be ambitious, I like young people like that. What do you say, Mr. Long? Count Orban smiled heartily. R1058