Negotiations

"Welcome to Ethel Fortress, everyone!"

A hearty voice rang out, yet no one felt any warmth. The nobles sat firmly atop their horses, staring Count Pierce down. None was willing to lower his head first, making the atmosphere exceedingly awkward.

The fact that they dared to stand up to the boss head-on truly opened Hudson's eyes. Clearly, the status of nobles in this world was even higher than he had imagined.

Even with military and administrative power in his grasp and an exceptionally illustrious background, Count Pierce could still do nothing to the noble lords under his rule.

"Governor, please forgive our rudeness. We are clad in armor, after all!"

Viscount Oran was the one who spoke. The smug expression on his face made it clear that he did not feel the slightest bit apologetic.

As a noble who had joined the battlefield midway through, Iliya Oran had not been cheated, but that did not stop him from using it as an excuse to fight for benefits.

The unity displayed by the small and medium-sized nobles was, at its core, for the sake of securing benefits for themselves. Seeking justice for the fallen was merely the excuse they presented to the public.

The nobles' world was cruel. Strength had always determined the distribution of benefits. In this contest, small and medium-sized nobles were fundamentally unequal to the great nobles. If they wanted a share of the spoils, they could only band together.

As the alliance that had suffered the worst losses in this war, they should logically have been making the biggest fuss. Yet constrained by their strength, they could only follow along and wave the flag.

Knight Chels's gloomy expression made it clear that he was filled with resentment. He had wanted to speak several times, but ultimately chose silence.

A Great Knight was certainly impressive, but only in the eyes of minor nobles. His family was not strong enough, and he did not dare offend Count Pierce to the bitter end, so he could only hand over the initiative.

For Hudson, this was clearly not good news. The alliance's failure to gain sufficient influence meant that they would be forced into a passive position next.

Unfortunately, an arm could not twist a thigh. With none of his allies stepping forward, a rookie knight like him could not stick his neck out either.

After staring at one another for a while, Count Pierce leaped down from the Flame Lion and said coldly, "The cursed artifact, the Blood Moon Horn, has appeared. You experienced its power firsthand during the day."

"Impossible!"

"With the Pope's seal and the Order of Judgment Knights guarding it, who could take the Blood Moon Horn right from under their noses?"

Viscount Oran said in disbelief.

Hearing this shocking news, Hudson nearly fell from his horse. He was no longer the ignorant Little White who had just crossed over; he had long heard of the Blood Moon Horn's notorious reputation.

Among the few parchments in his family's Library Tower, one was dedicated specifically to introducing this thing.

Three hundred years ago, in order to quell the Blood Moon Calamity, the Coslo Family alone had lost thirteen knights, and several branches of the family had declined.

After being sealed in the Papal State for three hundred years, it had somehow emerged to wreak havoc again. Worse still, he had run right into it. Hudson was speechless at his luck.

Glancing at his companions, Hudson saw that aside from a few poorly read fellows who were waiting blankly for an explanation, everyone else was breaking out in cold sweat.

Seeing that he was not the only one making a fool of himself, Hudson relaxed slightly. Even if the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up first. The Blood Moon Horn was obviously not something a little knight like him could influence.

It looked as though the Skull Society was merely using a cursed artifact to cause trouble, but how the Blood Moon Horn had made its way out of the Papal State and arrived in the Southeast Province was the real key to the matter.

Too many things were entangled behind this. If things went badly, it might even trigger another round of conflict between Royal Authority and religious authority. Not to mention a nobody like Hudson—even a major figure like Count Pierce was likely walking on thin ice.

"I also hope it is false, but you experienced today's battle firsthand. When the horn sounded, the soldiers turned into killing machines. Does that not resemble the Blood Moon Horn of legend?"

Count Pierce's answer thoroughly extinguished everyone's hopes. They all knew that serious trouble lay ahead.

If the rebellion could not be crushed in time, the entire Southeast Province—and perhaps even the Alpha Kingdom—might be dragged down with it. No one could remain untouched.

No longer in the mood to keep picking faults, everyone dismounted and followed Count Pierce.

This was not the time for sulking. With the Blood Moon Horn involved, many things could only be discussed behind closed doors.

The moment they entered the main hall, an impatient young noble asked, "Count, what does the Church have to say?"

"How could there be an answer so quickly? I have only just sent the news to both the kingdom and the Church. Even at the earliest, it will be next month before the Papal State gives us a reply.

Distant water cannot put out a nearby fire. For the time being, we can only solve this ourselves—unless you are willing to invite wolves into the house."

Pierce's answer made everyone's expressions grow even uglier. They could not count on the Church or the kingdom for now, leaving them with very few options.

In theory, they could seek aid from the nobles of neighboring provinces, but the noble world was also divided into circles.

Within their own ranks, they fought one another constantly for resources. But when facing outsiders, the nobles of the Southeast Province were a united whole.

This was not merely a unity spoken of in words, but a political alliance. Within the kingdom's political system, the nobles of the Southeast Province formed a single bloc—what Hudson understood as regional factional politics.

At the center, they banded together politically to oppose noble factions from other provinces. Locally, they also formed their own system, ruling as petty kings over their own territories.

There was no free lunch in the nobles' world. They followed the principle of equivalent exchange. If they asked neighboring provinces for aid, they would inevitably have to pay a heavy price.

Unless driven to the brink, no one would take that step. No one wanted to see their neighbors reaching into their territory and throwing their weight around.

"Inviting wolves into the house is naturally not an option. The Skull Society alone is not enough to force us to go that far. The problem now is the Blood Moon Horn.

If we do not resolve this, the enemy can endlessly arm cannon fodder and wear us down. Everyone saw today's battle. The Rebel Army soldiers controlled by the cursed artifact were utterly insane.

We paid the price of dozens of noble deaths, yet failed to keep even the enemy's leaders behind. We merely wiped out a group of worthless cannon fodder."

Viscount Oran said with a grave expression.

The more one knew, the more one understood the need for caution. Compared with ordinary minor nobles, he clearly knew far more about the Blood Moon Horn.

"You need not worry too much. The Blood Moon Horn is indeed powerful, but it was sealed for more than three hundred years and continuously bathed in holy light during that time. It was inevitably affected.

If the Blood Moon Horn had been at its peak, today's battle would never have been so easy. According to legend, it could even transform corpses into Undead and continue fighting.

As long as we move quickly enough and deny the enemy time to gather strength and feed the cursed artifact, there is still room to turn the situation around..."