"Marshal, we just received word.
Palma City fell last night, and Duke Ernst was killed in battle!"
As Marquis Simoni delivered the news, his feelings were complicated.
Palma City had fallen too quickly. There had been no time to send reinforcements, so no one could accuse him of standing by and watching them die.
Yet even as one burden was lifted from his mind, Marquis Simoni was filled with boundless sorrow. How long had it been? Another great noble of the kingdom had fallen.
By the numbers alone, more great nobles had died in battle in the Black Forest Kingdom over the past decade than in the previous century.
"Mm, I understand.
The dead cannot be brought back. What we need to do now is use the Underworld passage as bait to draw over the main force of the Magic Crocodile Tribe and avenge Duke Ernst!"
Hudson replied calmly.
It was only the death of one great noble. He had seen similar scenes too many times to feel much sorrow anymore.
Perhaps it was a disaster for the individual and the family, but for the decaying Black Forest Kingdom, such sacrifices were an opportunity.
Only the repeated deaths of great nobles could awaken their martial spirit and force the remaining nobles to take military preparedness seriously.
A setback for the collective of vested interests was likewise good news for the reformists. Only when everyone felt the pain to the bone would they support reform for survival.
Still, he would only think such things in private. He would never say them aloud.
The Black Forest Kingdom had countless problems, but was the Alpha Kingdom any different?
Its current strength had been built upon constant victories in foreign wars.
His own kingdom's problems had yet to be solved. Hudson had no intention