Chapter 506

The prison of Lei Ming City, a hall buried deep underground, where the air still retains the cold of winter, unlike the spring breeze on the surface.

There are no torture instruments here, only cold stone walls and dozens of bloodshot eyes.

Approximately fifty prisoners in prison uniforms are gathered here.

Among them are hereditary knights, children of wealthy commoners who long to rank among the nobility through military exploits, or mercenaries who were swept into it by the illusion of wealth.

In that catastrophe that occurred in winter, it was precisely these people who held torches borrowed from the Ryan Kingdom, giving the northern vassals the courage to raise the banner of rebellion, and burning the flames of war to the abdomen of the Campbell Duchy.

It's just a pity that the sun of the Ryan Kingdom ultimately couldn't shine on them. Theoden celebrated the "Winter Victory" in another way, while the failure in the south was treated as if it didn't exist.

Those captives trapped in the enemy camp were naturally forgotten by this usurper.

The prisoners were ashen-faced, waiting for their fate to come; they always felt that the Campbellians couldn't keep feeding them, but no one knew which day they would be dragged out to be sacrificed.

Perhaps, it is now.

Just when everyone was uneasy, the heavy iron door slammed open.

Edward Campbell, wearing dark blue sportswear, strode in surrounded by two rows of fully armed guards.

His boots stepped on the dry stone floor, making a heart-palpitating sound, as if stepping on the uneasy hearts of the prisoners.

Walking to the front of the prisoners, Edward scanned them, that cold gaze sharp as a knife, almost everyone moved their eyes away guiltily.

It wasn't just fearing the Grand Duke, what they feared more were the eyes of those soldiers... those Campbellians simply wished they could tear them apart.

Without pause, Edward opened his mouth.

"Gentlemen."

"You all know me, but this is the first time I know you. I think you must have many words to say to me; now you can open your mouths."

The hall was dead silent.

No one spoke, only the resignation of accepting the bet and admitting defeat.

Seeing no one speak, Edward no longer wasted his precious time, opened his mouth with a sneer.

"You don't speak, I'll speak instead."

"As soldiers of the Ryan Kingdom, you crossed the border without declaring war, interfered in the internal affairs of the Campbell Duchy, and assisted the rebels in slaughtering my people."

"Whether according to the laws of the Empire or the laws of the Campbell Duchy, you have no qualification to be exchanged back as prisoners of war. To put it nicely, you are war criminals; to put it harshly, you are bandits. Even if I hang you, no one else will shed a tear for you."

His voice was cold without a trace of temperature, as if reading a death sentence that had long been drafted.

And the last sentence made people's hearts tremble, cold from head to foot, and cold to the ground.

"You, deserve to die."

The hall was dead silent.

Several knights standing in the front row straightened their backs, although their faces were pale, their eyes were still stubborn.

They are true nobles, and they indeed harbor knightly spirit; since they were captured, they were prepared to be killed or carved as they pleased.

This is the fate of a knight.

Even though no one acknowledges their glory.

As for those commoner children who came for knight titles, or mercenaries bought by money, they were not that tough.

Fear had long broken their spines and climbed onto their brows.

Some were even shaking their legs; if it weren't for being locked by shackles, they would have already collapsed to the ground.

These soft-footed shrimps clearly hadn't experienced the baptism of feudalism. Or they had a few coins in their pockets and forgot where they lived.

Looking at this group of people waiting for death, Edward's mouth raised a sneer, but soon that sneer turned into pity within majesty.

"However—"

He changed the subject, the originally cold and ruthless tone suddenly becoming gentle, even carrying a bit of regret.

"I am a man who understands."

"I know, you are not born evil, you were just blinded, becoming pathetic pawns on someone else's chessboard; you even felt you were sacrificing yourselves generously. I am a devout believer, unlike your King. Since Saint Xisi teaches us to forgive the stupidity of the ignorant, I am also willing to give you this opportunity."

He walked to a young knight, stared into the other's eyes and asked: "Tell me, what did your King promise you? Titles? Land? Or glory?"

That knight gritted his teeth and didn't speak, but the wavering in his eyes betrayed his forbearance.

Edward smiled.

He knew clearly what Theoden would say.

They are all monarchs, and the cheapest promise is the land in someone else's hands.

"... He must have told you that the Campbell Duchy is vulnerable, that the Duke and the Counts are at odds, like a dilapidated house that is about to collapse. You can kick it down with one kick, and then move in with your luggage."

That knight's eyes widened, looking at Edward in astonishment.

His Majesty...

Promised him exactly this.

Even word for word!

Edward sneered, looked up at the crowd behind him, and continued in a voice without a trace of emotion.

"However, what is the fact? You have been rotting here from winter to spring, has that Theoden Majesty who promised you everything sent his envoy to talk to me about your ransom?"

"He hasn't!"

"At least I haven't even seen a word of apology, only a letter that angered me!"

Commotion began to appear in the crowd.

This is precisely the question they fear most and dare not think about.

"And I can tell you clearly, he never will! He would rather take the money to ransom you to celebrate a fire he set himself, and then use the singing of the celebration to embellish your funeral!"

Edward suddenly raised his volume, mercilessly tearing open the heart walls the prisoners had built for themselves, nailing the cruelest truth into their hearts.

"That King never intended to ransom you at all; he won't give a single cent, even if he and I don't care about that bit of gold! At this very moment, he is sitting in his warm palace, drinking red wine, full of anticipation for the angry Campbell Grand Duke to chop off your heads! And throw them to his citizens!"

"Impossible!" A knight subconsciously retorted, but his voice was without any foundation, trembling with his shoulders. "His Majesty would not abandon his knights..."

"Would not?" Edward let out an undisguised laugh, his contemptuous gaze like looking at a stupid donkey. "You don't know your King too well, and you overestimate your own value; your corpses are far more valuable than you alive!"

It's not just necromancers who can manipulate corpses.

Power can too.

"He will take your heads, go see your fathers, go see your wives and children, and wrap your corpses in his robes. He will cry bitterly and accuse the Campbellians of cruelty, saying I violated the tacit understanding of 'no killing' between nobles, saying I am a bloodthirsty tyrant, and not mention a word about who sent you here!"

"And then?"

Edward scanned his surroundings, his gaze still pitying, but his voice was like a devil's whisper.

"Your children will hate me to the bone; they will offer loyalty to your King, just as you offered loyalty to him in the beginning. As soon as he needs them one day, just like he needed you to stand out that day, your sons will die again under my guns!"

"Wait until the men of your families are dead, wait until your family property has no one to inherit, he will then eat up the accumulation of your generations, and throw the fish bones he doesn't like to the next warrior he chooses... and to do all this, he only needs to shed a few tears at your funeral. I must say, your loyalty is truly cheap to the extreme."

Logic formed a closed loop, the hall was silent, but not because of magic, but because of the cold human nature.

The knights' faces turned pale, the castle of faith slowly collapsing under the heavy hammer.

They couldn't believe their monarch would be so insidious, yet they couldn't find any reason to refute it.

They could only silently pray in their hearts, praying to Saint Xisi, trying to find the answer from that nothingness—

Why does His Majesty want to do this.

And those officers from the commoner class were much clearer.

They knew Theoden too well; that was indeed something their King was capable of doing.

Why ask?

Because a so-called King is just that kind of thing.

Morality and belief can constrain specific individuals, but they can never constrain abstract power. If Edward were the King of the Leon Kingdom, he would do the exact same thing.

Because he is also a smart man.

When the cattle and sheep in the pasture form a pattern of "killing each other," who kills whom is not the problem, not killing is the problem.

Edward looked into their eyes, watched their faith collapse, watched new things being erected on the ruins.

A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

This wild fire blown to the Campbell Duchy by the winter wind was finally blown back by the spring breeze.

Listening to the increasingly heavy breathing, he threw out the olive branch he had long prepared in a majestic voice.

"... Killing you is equivalent to hitting Theoden's trap, so I won't kill you, even if I have already chopped off your heads ten thousand times in my heart."

"However, although I have pardoned your sins, your shame can only be washed away by your own hands. That is not just for yourselves, but also for your families, for the continuation of your families... and even more for all the Ryan people who submit to the feet of that tyrant, if you have this concept in your hearts."

The hall fell into a short silence.

Finally, the knight who first retorted raised his head.

There was no longer the weakness of wishful thinking and the compromise of self-comfort in his eyes, replaced by two revenge fires burning fiercely.

"Campbell's Duke..." the knight's voice was hoarse, "since you know everything, then please tell us directly. We... what should we do?"

He knew he couldn't go home.

Even if Grand Duke Edward let them go, the King of the Leon Kingdom would have ten thousand ways to make them die on the road.

He heard that he had a group of assassins under his command, specifically to clear out those "unclean people" he deemed so.

This dagger could of course also be used to remove these unexpected "survivors."

Edward looked at this knight who abandoned fantasy, a satisfied smile on his face.

Although his voice was as cold as ever, like the cold wind sweeping through the winter moon.

"Very simple, kill your way back."

"Take your swords, take our guns, from where you came, go back there."

"That is your Kingdom, you must go and ask for the justice that originally belonged to you from that tyrant who betrayed you; the only ones who can do this are yourselves."

This is a road of no return.

But everyone also knew that this was their only choice.

The knight took a deep breath, knelt on one knee suddenly, the chains hitting the ground making a crisp sound.

"I swear! My sword will be your sword, and I will use it to claim the justice that belongs to me."

Immediately after, the second, the third... until all the prisoners knelt on the ground.

"I swear!"

They are all young officers of the Ryan Kingdom.

However, because the court of the Ryan Kingdom was too crowded, there were not enough vacancies to accommodate them, so they climbed over mountains and mountains to their neighbor's home.

Whether they succeed or fail, it doesn't count as a loss for the King of Ryan. However, he probably didn't expect another situation, which is that they lost, but still survived.

They will go back.

As the sharp blade stabbing at the throne.

Looking at the prisoners prostrate on the ground, Edward was expressionless, but a sense of satisfaction surged in his heart.

The crossbow arrow shot at him by the enemy was finally forged by him into a bullet shot at the enemy.

He said he would make that old guy pay the price.

Everything has just begun...

On the outskirts of Lei Ming City, the morning sunlight passed through the damp and cold thin fog, sprinkling on the busy Running River riverside.

Long before the rooster's crow sounded, the melodious boat song had already knocked on the door of the river port, surging into the bustling street market with the people rushing to the market.

The peddlers' shouting sounded one after another, and there was also the sound of repairmen hammering horseshoes ding-ding-dang-dang.

Everything is here.

Whether it is the dried fish that Sarah loves to eat, or the dried figs that Ailin likes.

Here, compared to that cold dungeon, it is completely another scene.

Just in that bustling street market, a low-key but clean black carriage passed through quietly, without disturbing anyone, and finally stopped by a stone bridge.

Baron Alaric Valerius hurried off the carriage, his tone of saying goodbye to the coachman slightly awkward.

As the Viceroy of Twilight City, leaving the jurisdiction without the King's permission is itself a betrayal, not to mention coming to a neighboring country that is at odds with the King.

For this secret visit, he almost bet his life and family.

Alaric looked around, looking for the person who was meeting him, and soon his eyes lit up.

The Campbellians were even more punctual than he imagined, Sir Wei Sili was already waiting there, and walked toward him with a smile.

"Baron, welcome to Lei Ming City."

He was in his thirties, dressed appropriately, his short brown hair gleaming with golden luster in the sun, his expression confident and capable.

Although born a commoner, he had a calm and composed manner, not losing to the heritage of famous families at all.

Alaric nodded, secretly marveling in his heart, while politely responding with forced composure.

"Sir... very happy to see you here, but please also understand my concerns, I don't want to stay here too long."

"Of course, the carriage to pick you up has been waiting for a long time," Sir Wei Sili nodded happily, making a gesture of invitation. "Please this way."

A small short-distance carriage stopped on the side of the road, and the driver was the Grand Duke's personal guard.

A servant opened the carriage door for the two of them, Alaric hurried up, and Sir Wei Sili followed calmly.

The carriage passed through the stone bridge, the wheels pressing on the clean stone surface, making a soothing crisp sound.

Its speed was neither slow nor fast, moving forward slowly along the crowd, as if deliberately letting this visitor from Twilight clearly see the Lei Ming that woke up at dawn.

Leaning on the soft velvet chair back, Alaric finally relaxed his tense scalp, his gaze cast randomly on the streets on both sides of the carriage window, wanting to take a good look at this place.

Before coming to Lei Ming City, he thought this city was

However, the moment his carriage drove onto the main road, he was stunned on the spot.

The wide paved road stretched straight ahead, actually spacious enough to allow four carriages to travel side-by-side without obstruction!

What surprised him wasn't just the road, but the buildings on both sides of it.

They weren't the common wooden shacks or dilapidated stone houses, but rows of three-story brick buildings.

They were uniform and neat, the window frames were painted cleanly, and the house numbers and owners' names were written on the doorplates; this alone was enough to be astonishing.

And this place, it seemed, wasn't even the downtown area of Lei Ming City!

Alaric had only seen similar scenery in the murals of a cathedral.

He remembered that the mural depicted the streets of the Holy City, and yet the wealth here was already no less than that place, which was the dream of countless residents of the Old Continent!

He couldn't find the words to describe the shock in his heart, especially since he saw something at the end of his field of vision that wasn't even in the cathedral mural!

It was a giant clock, or to be more precise, a clock tower.

The outlines of four clock faces were embedded at the top of the tower, and what surrounded it was scaffolding cast from steel!

Alaric couldn't help but swallow, his low voice trembling slightly.

"Is this... Lei Ming City?"

He actually wanted to ask if this was the downtown area or the suburbs, but the bit of self-esteem in his heart made him too embarrassed to ask too carefully.

Wei Sili smiled slightly, not grasping the deeper meaning of this sentence; after all, everything here was far too familiar to him.

"Of course it is, my lord. This is Lei Ming City; we haven't come to the wrong place."

Alaric finally couldn't hold back, casting his gaze toward the giant high tower in the distance to ask.

"What is that thing under construction?"

Sir Wei Sili explained with a smile.

"Its name is the Zhong Lou, and it seems to belong to a bank. I'm not too clear on the specifics, but I've heard that once it's finished, the whole city will be able to hear its timekeeping chimes."

Alaric's face was filled with confusion.

"What is the point of this?"

He knew what a bank was; although Dusk City was backward, it wasn't some primitive society. It had what it should have, including kerosene lamps, steam engines, and factories.

It was just that he really couldn't figure out why a bank would want to steal the church's job. Ringing bells on time had always been the church's business; what was the point of fighting over such an unprofitable task?

Sir Wei Sili shrugged lightly.

"I don't know either, Baron. I am a soldier; I don't understand the minds of designers. But I think... the person who built it must have already thought of its purpose. Let's not worry about it for them."

That also sounded reasonable.

Baron Alaric, who was accustomed to planning everything, nodded in relief and withdrew his misplaced curiosity from the clock tower standing in the morning mist.

He soon discovered that even without casting his gaze toward that distant place, he could feel the incredibility of this city at close range.

The carriage continued forward, the streets became increasingly busy and crowded, and the buildings were filled with the atmosphere of daily life.

Pedestrians shuttled back and forth; the most eye-catching here were the well-dressed gentlemen and ladies, but the majority were still the most ordinary commoners.

Their complexions were ruddy, their spirits full, and although their clothing wasn't luxurious, it was basically kept neat... at least in the eyes of the slightly fastidious Baron Alaric, it was neat enough.

Several carriage drivers sat by the side of the road, holding bread and sausages in their dirty hands, with cups of black tea in paper cups placed beside their rolled-up pant legs, laughing and talking continuously, seemingly replenishing their strength for the new day about to begin.

Alaric was expressionless, but his heart was shocked beyond measure.

In Dusk City, even small vendors had to save on drinking water, and drinking tea was a refined hobby for nobles. As for carriage drivers, being able to drink a bowl of hot porridge was a stroke of luck they dared not hope for, and soft, baked bread was a luxury that even decent citizens would swallow their saliva over.

Saint Xisi above, they could actually drink black tea too!

Who gave this to them as charity?!

What shocked the Viceroy even more was that a gentleman standing in front of a public carriage station waiting for a ride actually took a bronze pocket watch out of his wool coat to check the time.

From the movement of taking out the pocket watch, Alaric could tell at a glance that the man was a commoner.

Yet precisely because of this, he widened his eyes involuntarily.

In the Leon Kingdom, clocks and watches were toys for nobles; no commoner would pay two or three years' salary just to check the time, merely to satisfy some unrealistic affectation in their hearts.

Yet in Lei Ming City, commoners could actually afford the punctuality that only nobles were worthy of possessing!

It was too incredible!

Before Alaric could withdraw the surprise in his heart, he soon saw another driver sitting in a carriage reading a newspaper while waiting for a customer.

This guy was actually reading a newspaper himself!

He felt like he couldn't handle the shock anymore...

Wei Sili glanced at the Baron beside him, seemingly knowing what he was thinking, and said with a smile.

"We still need to look at watches now, but I think before long, we won't even need pocket watches."

Baron Alaric was confused.

"Why is that?"

Sir Wei Sili said with a smile.

"Because once the Zhong Lou is built, we only need to look up to see the time."

As a young talent of the reformist faction, his original intention was to show off the achievements of the Campbell people to this noble from the feudal era, but to be honest, this act of showing off was still a bit deliberate.

Technological innovation will change people's lives, but it cannot change people's spirits.

Even if one day in the future Lei Ming City has a taller and bigger clock tower, gentlemen will still take out their pocket watches to check the time when dating ladies.

They might even be like the nobles and have diamonds inlaid on them too.

However, even though Sir Wei Sili's showing off had deliberate elements, this sentence still deeply shocked the Baron sitting beside him.

Alaric was speechless for a moment.

He thought of his own city.

Although Dusk City legally belonged to the King of Leon, he had stayed there for so many years that his feelings for it had long surpassed those for his own fief.

The streets there were dilapidated, the houses were old, only the nobles' mansions stood out from the crowd, and the commoners were neighbors with rats.

The citizens were in rags, lining up in long queues in front of the church just to receive the food that the Inquisition had robbed from the countryside. And while enduring this food of charity, they still had to be pious and grateful to the scholars, treating the porridge in their bowls as a gift from the gods.

That was clearly grown by another commoner!

Alaric suddenly understood why the Green Forest Army, which the nobles couldn't handle, was so vulnerable in front of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

It wasn't a gap in training, but a generational gap between eras!

Standing in front of the commoners of Lei Ming City, the commoners of the Dusk Saint Saint Xingsheng were like beggars.

Of course they could defeat the feudal lords, because the lords' subordinates were also a bunch of beggars, and angry beggars at that. Those high-and-mighty banners were naturally vulnerable in the face of the beggars' fury.

However, when the opponent became the lord of a neighboring country, it became another situation—why would they fight so hard for land that had never belonged to them?

Just as his emotions were surging, a deafening whistle sounded from ahead.

In an instant, a giant beast cast of steel roared deafeningly, and long carriages whistled over with the momentum of thunder.

It carried a chimney like a cannon barrel on its back, and steam rose into the air. The friction between the wheels and the steel rails made a thunderous roar, as if even the distant mountains were trembling under its majesty.

The passing pedestrians seemed to have long been accustomed to this, but Alaric was so frightened that he sprang from his seat.

"That... what is that?!"

Looking at the train whistling over, an unconcealable pride flashed in Sir Wei Sili's eyes.

"This is a train, my lord. A new tool we just introduced from our allies. It can transport the cargo of a hundred carriages from the south of Lei Ming County to the north at once, and then transport the things people produce back here."

Alaric opened his mouth wide, speechless for a long time.

"You... have so much cargo that needs to be transported?"

Sir Wei Sili's smile was gentle and confident.

"Of course, our factories are monsters that devour resources; they eat a lot of things every day."

Alaric stared blankly at this knight.

Compared to the roaring train and the factories that ate a lot of things every day, he suddenly realized that the truly terrifying thing about the Campbell Principality was sitting right beside him.

If he remembered correctly, this Sir Wei Sili had only obtained his knighthood because of military merit; in other words, he had neither land nor money, and was just a commoner who had just obtained noble honor.

Whether it was that clock tower, that train, or those factories that ate many things every day, none of it belonged to him, yet he could proudly puff out his chest for all of this.

He was proud of the Principality's wealth from the bottom of his heart, and was willing to contribute his strength to his Grand Duke.

If he were just a fool, being deceived would be enough to explain it, but it was clear that he, who had led commoners to crush the Trident Knights, was not.

By contrast, his own King was surrounded by a bunch of parasites who ate inside and out, and even he himself, who had appeared here behind the King's back, was one of them.

Alaric was very ashamed, but he had a clear understanding of himself, except for one thing he didn't understand.

This... why?

Seeing that Alaric had suddenly stopped talking and was just staring at him intently, Sir Wei Sili coughed lightly.

"What's wrong? Baron."

Baron Alaric came back to his senses and smiled somewhat awkwardly.

"Nothing... I just thought of some things, my lord, don't mind it."

His family had a long history and also possessed considerable background and wealth. However, in front of this knight, he felt like a beggar, unable to puff out his chest no matter what.

The carriage continued forward.

However, for the second half of the journey, this Viceroy from Dusk City appeared silent, as if many worries were weighing on his heart.

Sir Wei Sili pondered whether he should say something to comfort this friend who had come from afar.

However, just as he was about to speak, Baron Alaric raised his head and spoke first.

"Sir Wei Sili, I want to know what exactly happened here? Why in just a few short years... have your changes been so great."

After a pause, he continued.

"I've heard many rumors, and at first I thought they were exaggerations. But now it seems that the Campbell merchant who came from afar was looking after my feelings. In order to take the gold coins from my pocket, what he said was still too euphemistic."

Hearing this feigned lighthearted mockery, Sir Wei Sili laughed and said in an easygoing tone.

"Thank you for having such a high opinion of us, but I still have to say that Lei Ming City wasn't built in just these last few years; it's just that it completed the change from quantity to quality in these last few years... and all of this must be attributed to the wisdom of our Grand Duke and Princess Ailin."

Baron Alaric said immediately, even straightening his body.

"What I actually want to ask is this: what makes you... so united? Is it money?"

Sir Wei Sili grinned.

"Some people think so, but others have different understandings. For example, my understanding is... wealth is the result, not the cause."

Alaric looked at him with an inquiring gaze.

However, Sir Wei Sili shrugged, indicating that he didn't know how to explain it either.

"I am just a soldier, my lord. You should leave your questions to our Grand Duke; with his wisdom, perhaps he knows why."

When fighting the Demon King, he didn't have many thoughts, and it was the same when fighting the rebels.

This place was his home, and he was the master of this home. Someone wanted to turn him from a citizen into a slave, so he naturally had to stand up and fight that guy, telling that guy he had to beat him first.

Whether the Leon people were scared by guns, he didn't know, but he and his neighbors weren't.

This might not have much to do with whether there was a Grand Duke or not.

After all, when fighting the rebels, what he thought about most wasn't the Grand Duke, but his wife and children.

The person who bestowed his knighthood wasn't Edward at all, but the late King Aaron Campbell... that late King was also the father of the rebel leader Jelock Campbell.

Alaric looked at this young knight for a long time, then cast his gaze toward the distant Running River, muttering to himself.

"Then, my lord, do you think... the Dusk Saint Saint Xingsheng can also have a day like this?"

Today, that land is already devastated.

The Green Forest Army and the Inquisition, arriving in turns, have destroyed the accumulation of more than a dozen generations, and the Dusk Forest has become a hell more cruel than a battlefield.

The accumulation that Lei Ming City needed more than a dozen generations to complete, they didn't know how long it would take them to complete; perhaps they would never complete it.

As long as the King is still there.

Wei Sili, however, was not as pessimistic as him, nodding without hesitation.

"I think you can."

Alaric looked at him in surprise.

"Why?"

Sir Wei Sili smiled, his gaze cast toward the river water Baron Alaric had just been looking at, drifting away with the rushing river.

"Because a thousand years ago, our ancestors drifted down the Running River. At that time, you were our dream land, and this place was still a desolate swamp. Today's situation is just the opposite; now it's our turn to help you."

Alaric's expression moved slightly.

He thought for a long time, and at this moment he finally understood why he, as a "transient official," had such deep feelings for that land.

Perhaps it was because, like the people living there, his sweat had also been sown there, only to be reduced to ashes by a foolish fire.

That was his life's work.

He had walked on thin ice his whole life, but in the end, he had to bear the infamy of being incompetent, and perhaps a "benevolent" King would come to judge him.

After the Inquisition leaves, that is something that will definitely happen.

The responsibility for this great fire hasn't been settled yet; how could there be any reason for the King to judge himself?

He only had one choice, and that was to scrape together the last bit of wealth from the hands of the serfs in the Dusk Saint Saint Xingsheng and go far away, abandoning his fief and title to become a rich man in the New World.

That was actually the prize the King had promised him by turning a blind eye—

If you don't want to be judged alive, then roll away with the money and the infamy. Otherwise, be pushed onto the gallows and die in disgrace amidst the curses of the people.

By the time Alaric realized it, he had already changed from a diligent and conscientious Viceroy of the province into the "parasite" he himself had spoken of.

The true purpose of his trip was to prepare for the establishment of a "Dusk Saint Saint Xingsheng Council."

This was Edward Campbell's proposal; in order for the Dusk Saint Saint Xingsheng to become the Dusk Principality, he intended to replicate the Campbell Principality's model there.

And before establishing this council, he had to first unite the people who truly held real power locally, especially those persecuted by the King, to establish a "shadow cabinet" capable of resisting Theoden's rule.

Once, he doubted whether Edward's ambition could succeed.

After all, the Lionheart Knights stationed in the Dusk Saint Saint Xingsheng were the most elite force in the entire kingdom, and the commander of the Lionheart Knights even possessed demigod-level strength!

But now he had no doubt that Campbell had the strength to fight.

Alaric took a deep breath, as if putting the courage that had been dormant for many years back into his chest.

"Sir Wei Sili," he said in a low voice, "I look forward to meeting the Grand Duke."

Sir Wei Sili nodded happily.

"I think our King is also looking forward to your arrival just as much."