Kill Nick

Leona planned to come out and visit the conscripted soldiers from her own unit who had been drafted.

Some of the guards from the Vidal Chamber of Commerce were also conscripted. As imperial citizens deeply hated by the Goth People at this time, they naturally received considerable preferential treatment.

Therefore, Mayor Nick assigned him to the theoretically most dangerous southern wall.

The mayor's honesty and sincerity were simply beyond words.

Unexpectedly, the elves planned a sneak attack, heading straight for the west wall, which is theoretically the safest place. Arranging the members of the Heaven and Earth Society here could even be considered a gesture of goodwill from the mayor towards Kang De.

This act of goodwill did indeed have an unexpected outcome. If the Heaven and Earth Society troops had been stationed on a different city wall, then what would have happened after the elf raid and the cavalry's magical charge through the wall is anyone's guess.

The problem is that this goodwill seems to have failed to achieve its intended purpose.

While it temporarily protected the city from danger, it also created a rift in Kang De's heart.

During the earlier siege, Leona heard reports that the elves were attacking the western wall and that her own merchant guild's able-bodied men were unharmed, which put her at ease. She then realized that Kang De and his men were guarding the western wall.

Then I heard that a mighty man from Cathay had killed all the elven cavalrymen who charged onto the wall, smashed the earthen mound built by the elven mages with a single punch, and then threw down two giant alchemical bombs that looked like maces, killing a whole group of elves. He was incredibly fierce. This rumor was obviously inaccurate, but it was normal for it to be passed down by word of mouth.

The key is that the techniques and art style are very familiar.

She and the old steward exchanged glances, this clearly matched Kang De's methods within the empire... so they drove westward.

According to reports, the casualties on the city walls were heavy.

Then they saw Kang De carrying Hong San slowly down the street, his expression neither happy nor angry.

Upon seeing this scene, the girl's heart clenched, and she began to imagine all sorts of things.

She opened the car door, and the old butler helped Hong San into the car and laid him down. Leona glanced at him and saw that Kang De had no blood on him, while Hong San only had a few spots of blood on his chest and no open wounds. She breathed a slight sigh of relief, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "... Is he injured?"

Kang De frowned and replied, "A depressed mood is a form of mental trauma."

Leona cautiously pressed him for details, and Kang De recounted what had happened, especially the mayor's choice and plans—upon hearing this, the girl launched into a tirade of profanities.

Throughout history, the female relatives of the Valentan Family have developed ambiguous and complex relationships with all sorts of men, including beggars, servants, coachmen, mercenaries, bandits, savages, and dwarfs.

"That goblin's pretty boy is really going to use our lives as cannon fodder!"

She was both shocked and furious. If the elves chose to launch a direct attack on the southern city wall, her guards would likely suffer heavy casualties, just like the militia of the Heaven and Earth Society.

What's even more infuriating is Mayor Nick's attitude. He was clearly doing it on purpose, and he had already divided all the military forces into different classes and assigned a specific purpose to each one.

Her chest heaved, her expression agitated, and she suddenly cried out sharply, "We can't just sit here and wait to die! The elves will come again! That bastard has gone mad; he doesn't care who dies!"

The girl was probably furious and also terrified. She raised her hand, made a fierce slashing motion, and said hatefully, "Well, think of a way to kill him!"

Kang De glanced at Hong San a few times, checked his pulse again, and found it was alright, so he was relieved.

He sat to one side, leaning against the carriage wall, and said calmly, "Calm down. If we kill him, the city will be leaderless and without command. If the elves come again, it will most likely be unable to hold out, and will probably collapse at the first touch..."

Leona was an Imperial citizen, Goth's defeat in battle had nothing to do with her. At most, she would sigh for Tina, since it wasn't Tina who lost.

Moreover, Mayor Nick's disgusting behavior aroused her extreme revulsion...

So she said, "If the city falls, so Heaven and Earth Society are disgusting; there's no point in saving them. You and he can hide in the merchant guild. The elves, out of respect for Vidal, shouldn't make things difficult for you..."

The girl was unaware that Nick had ordered the desecration of the fallen elves' corpses, intending to gradually turn the entire city into a bloody grinder of those who fought to the death. She thought Kang De would hesitate, worried about the lives of the city's inhabitants, so she said, "As for the massacre... don't worry, elves don't usually do such things."

She explained carefully, "After all, they also have a sense of face. The Dusk Moon Dynasty also tries to maintain a facade of morality. Besides, the royal court is full of factions. These sharp-eared people have lived a long time and love to devise schemes and plots, such as stirring up conflicts among the various races on the continent and dividing forces. They're pretty much like troublemakers..."

"Under such circumstances, if a general were to massacre a city without cause, he would certainly be subject to moral condemnation from hostile forces, and even his superiors would suffer losses... unless there is a legitimate reason, or the general has immense influence and powerful backing."

Kang De thought of the massacred village and the dead elven soldiers, and shook his head, saying, "This is no just war. I don't believe the elves are innocent. They conquered the city, did they really not commit any crimes?"

Leona sighed, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Of course not."

"They'll do it all: plunder food, seize supplies, loot property..."

"After all, the Dusk Moon Dynasty is rife with extravagance and hedonism, and war is a bottomless pit with an insatiable appetite. For both public and private reasons, once the elven army conquers a city, in addition to trying and executing 'war criminals,' they will also thoroughly 'requisition' supplies on the spot. Many Goth People are passionate and have extremely strong self-esteem; how could they possibly cooperate obediently?"

The girl sighed, "So the elven commander would hand over the garrison and requisitioning duties to the auxiliary troops that arrived later... These were native armies conscripted from the vassal states and colonies of the Dusk Moon Dynasty, weaker and more cowardly than the elven troops, but also less honorable and more brutal and tyrannical than the elves."

She looked at Kang De and asked, "You understand, right?"

Kang De nodded.

Elves are long-lived and born extraordinary. As previously explained, in terms of physical fitness, magical affinity, and even combat talent, they surpass humans in every aspect. It is not an exaggeration to call themselves a superior race. They were the first to establish settlements, the first to establish nations, and the first to have Civilization. Their culture, military, history, and society are so prosperous that they are naturally extremely proud.

So you have to save face.

Destroying entire families and looting every inch of land is acceptable in private, but to do it on an entire military scale, plundering all the food, supplies, and wealth of cities and leaving the Goth People to starve to death, is simply unacceptable and would tarnish the Civilization glory of the world's guardians.

Such things as sergeants randomly shooting harmless Goth in the streets are unacceptable. Even if recorded by war correspondents and military judges, they would be carefully sealed by the Royal Army Headquarters to prevent some young man looking to make a big story from suddenly revealing them—although there would be no real negative impact, it would still be embarrassing and would be ridiculed by a certain restless superpower.

The Royal Army can't do this properly, but the auxiliary troops can. These lowly scoundrels, though respectful to the immortals, are undoubtedly vicious dogs, tearing apart outsiders without mercy. They are very useful, and if things go too far, they can be killed to take the blame and quell the trouble.

As for how these vassal troops wreaked havoc on foreign lands, how they looted and plundered everything in the city, how they abused women, how cruel and tyrannical they were, and the cries, hunger, violent deaths and suffering of the Goth people, as long as the confiscated supplies were delivered on time and in full, it was all of no concern to the elves.

Although they did not commit evil themselves, they were even more despicable and deserving of death.

Because behind such behavior lies cold arrogance and condescending cruelty.

"It's like this all the time... and it's not just Valentan that's being treated this way," Leona sighed. "Quite a few Germany have already fallen."

She looked at Kang De and said calmly, "I am not a cruel person. In fact, I am safe. No matter how crazy Nick is, he wouldn't send a woman like me to defend the city with a spear."

"After the city falls, I can rely on the reputation and status of the Vidal Family to save my life and return to the Empire. Not to mention that my father and brother must have received the news and are already making efforts to put pressure on the elves with the help of the Empire's diplomatic power. Perhaps the elven army outside the city has already received the orders."

The girl leaned towards Kang De and said earnestly, "But after listening to you, I had this idea—to get rid of Nick."

"First, it's to save our family's guards and staff. They work for Vidal, and I can't just watch them sacrifice themselves in vain. Second, it's to protect you and get you out of this mess as soon as possible so you can go find Tina. Third... it's also to protect the people of this city."

She sighed. "I always felt that Nick would do something even crazier, dragging the entire city down with him to their deaths. Compared to that, it would be better to be conquered early on, even if it means being exploited and ravaged by the vassal army, than to have the entire city slaughtered by the elves, right? Choosing the former, at least there's still hope for reconquest."

Saying she wanted to kill Nick wasn't just a momentary outburst of anger from this socialite with a strong underworld aura; it was a well-reasoned and far-sighted plan... quite decisive indeed.

She stared at Kang De without blinking.

Clearly, in her plan, Kang De, this brilliant and capable man, was the obvious choice to assassinate Mayor Nick, given his terrifying track record.

He single-handedly confronted the Glittering Sand Territory, overturned the luxurious pursuing force, and easily blocked the elves' fierce offensive.

This goes beyond the description of a "macho man".

Although Kang De knew in his heart that, apart from the victory at Glittering Sand Territory, the other two victories were somewhat exaggerated...

But that's not the point.

The key point is Leona's plan... it's a bit delicate.

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PS1: First update, 3,000 words. I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm not feeling great today, but I still have to keep my word. Also, I was originally planning to combine the two chapters, but I can only post one chapter here first, since I said I would update two chapters... Damn it, I should have just mentioned the word count.