The nobles of Iffta all knew that the Duke of Angmar's right-hand men, namely the two guardian knights, "Wellington" and "Titus", had been "suppressing bandits" recently. For the two knights who had been famous for a long time, this kind of thing was really beneath their status, but it also fully showed that the Lord had no one to use and was in a predicament of lacking resources …
Angmar, who had been in a deep sleep for many years, had lost almost all of his allies in Efta. The first thing he did after waking up was not to try and repair his relationship with the nobles, but "absurdly" chose to send more troops to the border.
This kind of behavior was really laughable to the nobles. Today, they saw Angmar pay for it as they wished. The Lucifron Family was inevitably heading towards decline. Not only did they not intend to help, but they were also secretly prepared to swarm and divide the Lucifron Family.
The invitation for the banquet had been sent out. As for the theme or content, the only thing that was mentioned was that the "Rose Cross" Sect would also participate in the banquet. It was called "collecting donations for the development of the sect."
Perhaps Angmar wanted to use the power of the "Rose Cross" to make a final threat?
The nobles all expressed their disdain for this kind of bluff, but each of them was wondering if they should attend this grand banquet that had not been held in Efta for many years. No matter whether Duke's influence was declining or not, he was still the most powerful person in Efta at this moment. Before everything was settled, no nobles would openly embarrass Duke …
Even if they were always making things difficult for Angmar.
While these nobles were thinking hard, Roddy, as the "Captain of Duke's Guards", was not worried at all. He was sitting leisurely on the second floor of the first wooden villa in Ersa Village, chatting with Village Chief Brudy about business income.
"Currency has begun to be widely used in the village. Food, clothing, and other aspects have also greatly improved. I think … the decision to open Ersa Village to humans is perhaps the best decision I've made in my life. This winter, all the children survived safely, and none of them froze or starved. This is very rare."
Brodie was filled with emotions. His coarse clothes with torn leaves had been changed into a well-fitting robe, and he was no longer holding that bumpy wooden staff in his hand. Instead, he was holding a staff made of platinum metal.
"This staff is not bad."
Roddy sat at the side. Because he was under heavy protection, he had also changed out of his thick leather armor and put on a simple cloth robe. He looked like a descendant of the nobles who traveled around as described by the bards.
"Henry brought it here last time. He said that it was a gift from the Dukes Of Angmar. I thought it was good, so I accepted it." Brudy did not hide the origin of the staff. With this simple explanation, Roddy knew that he was right. Back then, the Dukes Of Angmar brought him to the arsenal of the Lucifron Family, and this staff was among them … Since it could become a family collection, the quality of the staff was self-evident.
Giving away such a valuable item so casually naturally meant that the Dukes Of Angmar had some attitude.
"Ersa Village will develop even faster in the future, and it is estimated that more craftsmen will come here to build new buildings. This is all planned, but I still want to ask … What do you think about this?"
Roddy looked at the Ersa Village outside the balcony. The originally empty land was now filled with stables, warehouses, and simple inns. Members of the caravan were busy sorting out the goods. Occasionally, there would be Wood Elves who came to trade with coins or goods. The two parties were no longer communicating with hand gestures like before, but had started to have simple conversations.
Further away, there were Wood Elves with bows on their backs and caravan guards armed with crossbows on the treetops. The entire village's defenses had been strengthened several times, and the vigilance was far greater than before.
"We definitely welcome you. Of course, the premise is that you don't force us. However, there is something I want to tell you …" Brudy sat up slightly and said in a low voice, "The other Wood Elf villages in the Silent Forest already know what I've done, but … they obviously don't agree with my idea."
"Oh? I'm afraid the only thing they can think of is envy, jealousy, and hatred. You said that they don't agree, but in fact, there are people who came over to make sarcastic remarks, right? "
Roddy wasn't surprised. Ersa Village wasn't the only village in the Silent Forest. There were at least six other Wood Elf villages of different sizes, but they were extremely cold towards humans. They would never trade with humans, and would even attack players who approached them. These Wood Elves' attitude towards Ersa Village had been very clear since 590. Therefore, when the game was launched and players came to Ersa Village, the most quests they received were Brudy's errand quests about promoting the village's trade …
Roddy remembered that Brudy didn't shy away from saying that he was mocked by the village chiefs of other villages. He was dissatisfied and wanted to use the rapid development of Ersa Village to slap the faces of the other village chiefs. The Wood Elves never beat around the bush and were straightforward and honest. Therefore, players were very happy to run errands for this village chief in exchange for generous rewards.
At that moment, Brody naturally did not know what Rody was thinking. He just gave a wry smile and said, "Buta and Zara Village have indeed said some unpleasant things. However, I feel that I have done the right thing. The children are eating better food and wearing better clothes. Now, they do not even have to face the dangerous prey in the forest at all times. Compared to these, being said a few words by them is nothing."
"Zala Village? Aren't they at the northernmost part of the forest? Why are they meddling in other people's business? "
Roddy, who didn't intend to say anything, replied in surprise. 'Zala Village' was the furthest Wood Elf village from Ersa Village in the Silent Forest. Even in 597, it seemed to have no connection with Ersa Village …
"You know Zala Village?"
Brudy looked at him in surprise and then nodded. "You even managed to settle Elson City. This is indeed nothing."
"I only know the location. I'm not too sure about the rest."
Roddy knew about this village because a player received a hidden mission called "Meeting Dragons" in 596. At that time, many people were extremely curious about the mysterious' Dragons' and accepted the mission according to the method shared by this fellow. However, he never heard of anyone completing the mission. Instead, the large amount of money and items they spent to accept the mission accumulated to an astronomical figure. This made Roddy feel that some people really had too much money to spend.
"Forget it. Don't care about them. Let's continue planning the village as it should be. I think that's good. " Brudy turned his head and asked, "But I want to know … what will become of Ersa Village in the end?"
Brudy had his own philosophy of life, but no matter how high his level of thinking was, he couldn't hide his lack of knowledge. Brudy had never seen the prosperity of a real top city, so naturally he couldn't imagine how great the development potential of Elsa Village was.
"According to the plan, this place will first develop into a town that is about five times larger than it is now, and the resident population will increase by about ten times." Seeing Brudy's surprised expression, Roddy continued to explain, "In order to maintain the operation of a commercial town, there must be enough infrastructure and construction personnel. The benefits that Ersa Village can bring far exceed that of any town in Efta, so it must have enough defense forces to ensure that it can resist any possible invaders.
"But in this way, a more complicated problem will be highlighted: the proportion of the Wood Elf population will be diluted, which means that there will be more and more humans here, and you … will feel 'isolated' and find it hard to accept the fact that your home is' occupied 'by a group of alien races."
"If that is really the case, what should we do?"
Brudy's fingers stroked his magic staff, his eyes revealing some worry.
Roddy exhaled slightly and said helplessly, "In the human way, there is only one best way left: alliance by marriage."
This was the most direct way for nobles to obtain benefits or land, and it was also the most commonly used method to maintain alliances. However, everything that this word represented was completely opposite to Roddy's view of love.
Although Roddy had never been married, he obviously would not accept a marriage that was interfered with by others.
But thinking from another perspective, he had to admit that "alliance" was still the most effective way of "alliance". Not only in this medieval era, but even in the 21st century where "free love" was prevalent, the children of the top nobles still did not have any autonomy over their own marriages, and basically all of them ended up in "arranged marriages".
"You want Wood Elves to marry humans? I know about the alliance between humans, but … "
Brudy hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Can this really be exchanged for stability?"
"Perhaps not in the beginning, but once both sides have children, the relationship between humans and Wood Elves will truly change … Because a mixed-blood child means that the boundaries between the two races will start to blur, and both sides will gradually let down their guard." Roddy combined the information he knew and continued to deduce, "There are too few Wood Elves. If they continue to live like this in the Silent Forest, the only outcome will be death."
"There are only around 300 Wood Elves in Elsa Village. Including all the villages in the Forest of Silence, the total number of Wood Elves is less than 10,000. If they want to continue their bloodline, they can only choose to mate with humans."
After saying this, Roddy shut his mouth, and the atmosphere in the room sank into silence.
Brudy frowned in thought, and Roddy quietly waited for him to make a decision. But after a moment of thought, the village chief said something that left Roddy completely dumbfounded.
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