"Anytime?" The guard was stunned. "What if it's now …"
"Of course."
This was not a polite answer. According to the rules, he should let the other party rest for a day or two before holding a sumptuous banquet. If not, he should at least set a time, such as at night. After all, the other party represented the king of Graycastle, so it was reasonable for him to be serious.
However, Baron did not want to wait any longer. If it were not for the fact that it was raining outside, he would have taken the initiative to go to the dock to have a look. Without a doubt, such a large fleet would definitely attract the attention of the envoys of Tusk and Redstone Gate. If they got in touch with the other party first, things would get complicated.
"By the way," Jean Bate hurriedly said to the guard, "tell the people of Graycastle about the other two families. Tell them that I'm the only one who can make decisions in the Sedimentation Bay."
"Yes, sir."
After the guard left, Baron suddenly regretted his decision.
Perhaps he should not have said "anytime". What if the other party followed the etiquette and came one or two days later?
At the end of the day, it was all because of the trace of self-esteem at the bottom of his heart. He should have been more straightforward.
The rain came at this time of all times. It was as if the rain was against him!
Baron looked at the heavy rain outside the window and fell into a dilemma.
However, the guard came back faster than he expected. It took him less than half an hour, and he brought him a piece of delightful news.
"Sir, they're here."
Jean Bate suddenly stood up from his seat. "Quick, bring them to my parlor."
…
Very soon, Baron met the guests of Graycastle in the parlor of the Governor's Mansion.
There were only ten people in total. Half of them were probably guards, standing outside the door. The rest of them were dressed more formally. They were probably clerical assistants. The one sitting in the middle should be the representative of the king of Graycastle. He noticed that the coats they took off and hung on the wall seemed to be waterproof. Even though it was raining heavily outside, there were no traces of wetness on their bodies. Furthermore, the coat was bright in color. It was neither leather nor felt, so it was obviously a good item.
It seemed that the rumor that Graycastle had produced many strange objects in recent years was true.
However, when he looked carefully at the person in charge, he frowned inwardly. He was clearly a Mojin Clan member. Such barbarians usually appeared in slave markets. How did they become the upper nobles of Graycastle?
However, the Baron did not show his surprise on his face. He put on a warm smile and spread his arms. "I'm the lord of the Sedimentation Bay, Baron Jean Bate. As you can see, this city is prosperous and beautiful, very suitable as a place to rest after a long voyage. May I know why all of you have come from afar? "
Even if the other party was a duke, he should still be able to accept it with a smile.
However, the Mojin remained expressionless. "I'm Iron Axe, the commander of His Majesty's First Army and the person in charge of this expedition. Let's skip the formalities and make a long story short. The Kingdom of Everwinter and the Kingdom of Wolfheart are likely to become bloody battlefields. I'm here on behalf of His Majesty Roland Wimbledon, the King of Graycastle, the chief of the Mojin Clan and the ruler of the Fertile Plains. "
"What's going on?"
For a moment, Jean Bate doubted his own ears. Great … chief? What kind of title is that? Where is the Fertile Plains? " "Putting aside these details, does he mean that the Kingdom of Everwinter and the Kingdom of Wolfheart will become a battlefield by force?" "Why did he say that at the beginning? Shouldn't he say that after I refuse?" "But he has not asked me whether I agree or not."
"Uh …"
The clerk continued, "Excuse me … Is the First Army the one that defeated the church?"
"Yes," the Mojin nodded.
"Sir Iron Axe, of course we don't want the war to spread to this land, but it's not up to the Sedimentation Bay to decide. There will always be people who want more. If you can convince them, the Kingdom of Wolfheart won't become a battlefield. "
"Good job!" Baron thought. "In this way, I can naturally drag the other two families into this mess." He pretended to be regretful and nodded. He looked at Iron Axe, but unexpectedly saw a trace of sarcasm on his face.
"It's not up to you whether it will become a battlefield or not. When the enemy comes, the entire human race will fight for it. In fact, the war has already begun — in a place you don't know, "Iron Axe said calmly. "I think you've more or less heard some rumors about the church, the Divine Will, and the invasion of foreign tribes."
Jean Bate was stunned. As the lord of the harbor, he had indeed heard similar things. Sea merchants had been to many places, and there were bound to be some strange things. However, these were only topics of conversation at the dinner table. It was inappropriate to bring it up in a formal diplomatic occasion. However, Iron Axe's tone was not sarcastic at all. "Could it be …"
"Yes, it's all true," Iron Axe said word by word.
Outside the window, there was a rumble of thunder.
…
"Wow, are these people made of iron?" Smarty exclaimed as he leaned on the fence of the stable and looked in the direction of the dock.
"Even iron will rust. I don't think they're human at all." After wiping the rain off the horse's back, White finally had time to tidy up his wet clothes. "No normal person would deliberately get wet in the rain. Only idiots and lunatics are exceptions. "
In just over half an hour, hundreds of people from the ship had quickly taken control of the entire port. The peddlers had all evacuated before the storm started, but they did the opposite. They set up tents one after another in the middle of the empty space. In the blink of an eye, the dark green tents covered more than half of the dock.
In addition, the Graycastle people also piled up obstacles at the intersection and higher places. Some thick and solid metal pipes were set up. They did not look like weapons, otherwise they would not have been exposed to the rain. However, looking at the cold, black reflections, White always felt uneasy.
There were people stationed in front of each of these "checkpoints". Although they had put on rain cloaks that covered their whole bodies, it was impossible to keep the rain out in such weather. The sea breeze that swept past the port from time to time would blow the rain away, and it was easy for the rain to pour into the gaps of their collars and cuffs. White could already imagine how their clothes would look like when they were soaked.
It must be a terrible feeling.
The Sedimentation Bay was humid and rainy, and the local lord had set up many temporary shelters in the dock area. However, these people did not seem to care. They did not even look at them, let alone take shelter from the rain. With their pitch-black cloaks, they looked like towering stones in the rain.
"The people of Graycastle have gone crazy …" White muttered in his heart.
"Hey, that's strange," Smarty suddenly said in a low voice.
"What's wrong?" White asked impatiently.
"Look at the ship they're using to transport the goods, and then look at those outside the port —" He pointed and said, "They're all three-masted ships, but the draught is so different."
"Draught? What do you mean? "
"Just take it as a standard for how much cargo they're carrying," Smarty said, waving his hand. "Even though they've unloaded so much cargo, their draught is still much deeper than those outside. It's hard to understand … why are the people of Graycastle doing this? Are they just trying to create a scene? "
"What the hell are you talking about?" White said impatiently.
"What I'm trying to say is — those ships might be empty!" Smarty said in a low voice.
…
When Iron Axe stopped talking, Jean Bate finally recovered from his disbelief.
He had heard about the long history of the war between humans and demons. Every 400 years, they would come back, and this time, the demons might launch an attack from the border of the Impassable Mountain Range!
"Are you … sure?" If he remembered correctly, to the north of the Kingdom of Everwinter was a towering mountain range, like a precipice rising from the ground. Attacking from there? Are you kidding me?
"I'm not sure, so we sent out a scouting team to make sure nothing goes wrong." Iron Axe shrugged. "But no matter which direction the demons invade from, it won't make any difference. If we don't gather all our forces, the border of this narrow continent will be engulfed in a sea of fire. Humans will cease to exist. "
Baron had a strange feeling of floating, as if he were in a dream even though he was sitting in the parlor. Not only him, but the clerk and the guards also seemed to feel the same way.
"Ahem, okay, I'll take what you said as the truth." After a while, Jean Bate cleared his throat and said, "Then why did the King of Graycastle send you to the Kingdom of Wolfheart? If he wants to fight the demons, shouldn't he go to the Kingdom of Everwinter? "
"Of course, the Kingdom of Everwinter is also in the plan. You don't have to worry about it. Our purpose here is very simple. We want to take away as many people as possible who might be affected by the war — freedmen, slaves, refugees, and Vagabonds are all on the list. "Iron Axe paused." The only exception is the nobles. It's up to you whether you want to leave or not. If you fully cooperate with the First Army, when we leave, everything here, including your property, your territory, your title … will belong to you. If you stop us … "
Baron swallowed hard.
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