Chapter 265: An Unsettling Conjecture

In this social structure, small lords are usually vassals to great lords, and the relationship between them exists in the form of a contract.

While small lords obtain fiefs, power, and protection from great lords, they must simultaneously express loyalty to them.

The relationship between them is often composed of complex entanglements of alliance interests and power struggles.

Unlike knights, small lords often possess more autonomy and independence; when complex struggles involving politics, rights, territory, and personal ambition are involved, betrayal is not an impossibility.

Although betrayal carries huge risks, if not handled well, there is a probability of losing land, power, and even the lives of the lord's entire family.

But everything is a matter of interests; as long as the interests are great enough, taking a risk is not out of the question.

"From the initial relaying of intelligence to Wushan Castle, to the current deployment on the front lines, the intelligence we have received has all been provided by Keruien single-handedly. If he is truly hiding something, we really have no way of knowing."

As the seeds of suspicion took root and sprouted, the more Luoning thought about it, the more he felt that Keruien was extremely unreliable; the failure at Chishan Town was too sudden.

"If the other party has truly betrayed us, what is the purpose?"

"What scheme does he have by luring the Noble Allied Forces of Wushan Territory here?"

Luoning stood in the other party's shoes, putting himself into the role of the master of Jushi Territory, to see how he would act if he were to betray Wushan Castle.

Very quickly, a thread of logic became clear.

Since it is a betrayal, then Keruien must be in collusion with the Bolante Bandit Group.

And Lulansi had said long ago that the background of the Bolante Bandit Group is quite complex, and the one standing behind it is most likely the Count of Yueguang Valley.

If Keruien is cooperating with the Bolante Bandit Group, then he must have become involved with Count Hesusu.

One must know that at Lulansi's birthday banquet at the end of last year, Count Hesusu and Earl Aosen were already quite close, and coupled with the fact that the wars on the southeast and southwest sides of Wushan Territory broke out simultaneously this time.

Thinking about it this way, everything seems to connect.

With the backing of Yueguang Valley and Black Python City, Keruien also had the confidence to commit betrayal.

"If we look at these three parties together, what is the goal of their operation this time?"

Luoning thought of himself first; could it be that they united to pull out this thorn that might affect Buleidun's right of inheritance?

However, he quickly denied this guess.

Because Chishan Town was lost early, at that time there was no Noble Allied Forces, and he was not a commander; even if the war broke out, how could Keruien and the others be so certain that he, Luoning, would go to the front lines?

Therefore, eliminating Luoning should not be their goal.

Luoning concentrated and pondered, and suddenly his gaze became sharp: "It is the Noble Allied Forces, or more accurately, the Knight Squads of Wushan Castle!"

If the commander this time were not Luoning, but Tolu or Mawen, they would definitely have rashly led the troops to launch an attack on Chishan Town under Keruien's rhetoric that "the advantage is with me."

Once the battle started, if they then turned against them, they could definitely make the Noble Allied Forces fall into chaos.

At that time, with the enemy in front and the traitors behind, the two sides would form a pincer attack, and the Noble Allied Forces would have no way to escape.

Among the allied forces this time, the First and Fourth Knight Orders of Wushan Castle each sent half of their Knight Squads to Giant Rock Ridge, which together is equivalent to one Knight Order, plus the Fifth Knight Order that was already stationed at the border.

If they were all annihilated, it would be equivalent to Wushan Castle losing two out of its five Knight Orders at once, a heavy loss!

And the death of powerful knights like Tolu, Feilipu, Suoerstan, and Mawen, who are absolute loyalists to Wushan Castle, would be an even more immeasurable cost!

This is the situation on the western front, but what about the eastern front?

If a similar situation occurred there, Wushan Castle might only have one Knight Order left, and its deterrent power would decline sharply!

Such a heavy blow would also inevitably affect Lulansi, causing the old man's already short lifespan to reach its end even faster.

By then, although Weijinsi would still be there, he would likely only be able to rest easy as a puppet Marquis, and Keruien, who participated in the betrayal, would definitely find an opportunity to whitewash himself and advance further on the basis of being the Baron of Giant Rock Ridge.

"Hiss!"

Luoning gasped.

He was shocked by his own conjecture.

"I hope I am just overthinking it!"

He comforted himself this way, but the more he comforted himself, the more he could not suppress his suspicion of Keruien.

What Luoning needs to do now is to find evidence, either to prove that Keruien is innocent or to prove that Keruien is a traitor.

"The key is to find the eyewitnesses or participants from that night and interrogate them strictly."

The eyewitnesses would be those commoners of Chishan Town, but they have likely all been dragged to the iron mine to dig for ore.

But thinking about it, this group of people probably doesn't know any inside information; after all, on such a chaotic night, all they could do was hide in their homes and tremble.

Luoning set his sights on the participants.

This involves two aspects: one is the people from the Bolante Bandit Group, and the other is the five Knight Squads that were led by Keruien at the time and are now under Tolu's command.

Luoning frowned: "I wonder if these five Knight Squads have betrayed us?"

The Knight Squads belong to Wushan Castle and are not Keruien's private property. Unlike lords, the motivation for knights to betray is smaller.

But over these years, these Knight Squads have all been under Keruien's leadership, so it is hard to avoid the possibility of traitors appearing.

"It seems I must appropriately remind Tolu to keep a close eye on the leaders of these few Knight Squads."

"In addition, it is best to capture someone from Chishan Town for interrogation."

Whoever knows the inside story of that night is definitely not an ordinary character; Luoning needs to find someone with status.

While Kaierluosi circled above Chishan Town to observe the terrain, Luoning was also paying attention to the enemy's deployment of Knight Squads.

Most of them were arranged in the north, which is the side closer to Jushi Territory.

What Keruien said, that there hadn't been time to set up defensive works here, was clearly incorrect intelligence.

Arrow towers, trenches, and even simple defensive earth mounds had been built.

He locked onto a few people as targets, but these people were surrounded by many others, and forcibly grabbing them would definitely attract others' attention.

After several searches, Luoning still set his sights on the "overseer" of the Chishan Iron Mine.

Although this person also has "underlings," his underlings were all holding whips and scattered across the iron mine watching the miners to prevent them from slacking off, while he sat comfortably under a sunshade outside the mine, drinking water and eating fruit.

Besides that, when patrolling cavalry passed by here, they would greet and salute him; it could be seen that this person should have some status.

"Kaierluosi, do you see that person in the sunshade below? Do you have the ability to grab him when he is not paying attention?"

Kaierluosi looked over with its enormous eyes, "A scrawny human, Master, I should have no problem."

Luoning looked at the sky; after some reconnaissance, several hours had already passed, and it was not far from nightfall.

"We will wait until it is darker to act; pay attention to the timing, and I will use Magic to assist you."

Luoning reminded, "If the opponent escapes, we will retreat at the fastest speed."

Borrowing the cover of twilight, combined with Light Refraction and the speed of a dragon, the opponent should not be able to see clearly.

At this moment, Warwick, who was drinking water in the sunshade, suddenly felt a chill all over his body.

"Why do I feel so uneasy?"

He put down the cup in his hand, walked out of the sunshade, and after walking around outside for several laps, he looked at the sky.

"Hmm, it is already getting late today."

Looking back at the mine, after being exploited day and night, the output of these Miners had decreased a bit more today.

However, there was no other way; if the whip were cracked a bit too hard, it could send a person to their death, so rather than that, it was better to let them dig what they could, and if it really came to it, kill one or two to scare the others.

"It's dark, I won't play with you all today."

Warwick stretched, and compared to Gilbert and Lanweisa leading troops on patrol, he still preferred this job, as it was leisurely and carefree after all.

"Eh, he's leaving?"

Luoning, in the air, unexpectedly discovered that the opponent had mounted a horse and left the iron mine along the mountain road.

"Good opportunity, Kaierluosi!" Luoning reminded in a low voice.

Kaierluosi did not roar, but descended in altitude unhurriedly; when the target's figure disappeared from the sight of the people at the mine, it suddenly accelerated.

Whoosh~

Warwick only felt the sound of the wind growing louder, and at the same time, alarm bells rang in his heart, as if he sensed danger approaching him.

As a Silver Knight, he still possessed alertness.

But before he could even turn his head to check his surroundings, several cyan ribbons bound his limbs.

"Enemy attack?"

Before Warwick could react, Kaierluosi had already opened its giant maw to bite the horse's head, holding the warhorse in its mouth, and then grabbed Warwick, who was bound by the Wind Tentacle, with its sharp claws and took flight.

In the span of a breath, they were already high in the sky.

"What, what is this thing!"

Warwick was already scared out of his wits, his face pale, and he did not dare to offer the slightest resistance. (End of chapter)