Over the past few days, Maltz Kent has been feeling increasingly irritable.
It stands to reason that the development of the situation has not deviated from the planned track. The only hiccup is that Henry Ferdinand ran away.
But this should be irrelevant. As a prisoner who was personally ordered to be imprisoned by Duke Ferdinand, after he escaped privately, he could only spend the rest of his life in exile. Henry's family has been arrested, and his territory and property have been confiscated.
Just one thing, how did he run?
This matter that has not yet been investigated clearly seems to indicate an unknown future and has become a nail in Maltz Kent's heart.
It's true that whatever you're afraid of comes to you. Two weeks after Henry escaped, Earl Kent gradually heard some rumors - it seemed that someone was secretly liaising with the lords from various places to oppose him.
Earl Kent, who was suspicious by nature, immediately sent spies to inquire around, and the situation gradually became clear: a despicable and shameful conspiracy was brewing, and the initiator of the conspiracy was Earl Price Parker, who had a secret rift with him.
"This old guy really doesn't know how to live or die!"
After reading the secret report, Earl Kent roared and kicked over the table in front of him. The servant beside him was so frightened that he was at a loss and knelt on the ground.
The count walked several times around the room with a heavy heart. He originally wanted to summon the army immediately and catch all these sneaky villains, but after thinking about it carefully, he gave up.
First, determine who are enemies and who are allies.
Now Maltz Kent has stayed in Center as the duke's heir to handle various affairs for Duke Ferdinand. He immediately wrote a letter and asked his men to copy many copies and send them to lords everywhere, inviting them to come to Center to discuss important matters - whether to continue sending troops to help Royal Family suppress the rebellion.
As a result, only half of the lords came to attend the meeting in person. The others either excused themselves from the meeting or simply sent representatives to deal with the problem.
Among the lords who did not come, naturally included Plath Earl Parker, who had been identified as the initiator of the conspiracy.
There's even that little bastard from Greiman's family, who shouldn't have been let go last year.
There must be something wrong with these lords who didn't come.
The lords who came to Cent City debated for a whole day without coming up with a result, and the meeting broke up unhappy. Maltz Kent didn't care at all. The meeting itself was not his purpose. The real purpose was to estimate the range of the enemy.
When everyone left, he said in a warning tone, "Those who dare to challenge the authority of Duke will definitely not end well."
The lords thought sourly, "Sooner or later this one won't be yours?"
After roughly locking the range between the enemy and ourselves, Malz began to gather his confidants, contact potential allies, and build his own alliance. He was originally Ferdinand Family's biggest vassal, but now he controlled the duke and became the duke's heir. A large number of people quickly gathered around him.
With the strength of the Kent Family, it is no problem to face any family in the northwest alone, but when facing an alliance composed of many lords, he has to think carefully, so he also needs to organize his own faction.
As a result, the lords of Northwest Bay took sides one after another, and gradually formed two camps. Both sides were preparing vigorously, waiting for the time to strike a fatal blow to the enemy, and a small-scale civil war was about to break out.
What shocked Maltz Kent was that his enemies revealed what he had secretly been doing, including using witchcraft to kidnap the Duke, plotting to betray the kingdom like Giles, etc.
How did they know? Earl Kent was puzzled. He had always been very secretive. Out of his admiration and confidence in mysterious magic, the count did not suspect Duke Ferdinand, who was already dying.
However, these things were spread through the grapevine. The enemy has not yet made a big fuss about this, but it has already made Earl Kent restless.
On the surface, the count pretended to be dismissive of the "rumors" and was too lazy to defend himself, but privately he became suspicious, suspecting that a spy was planted around him.
Many of the servants and guards who had served the count were in bad luck. They were imprisoned and executed. The Duke's Residence where Malz lived was in a state of constant panic.
After returning to Lakeheart Town from Earl Parker's castle, Paul devoted himself to preparations for the upcoming war. The southern border of his territory is adjacent to Maltz Kent's hometown - Emden. He will bear the brunt of a war and has to prepare in advance.
But in the days that followed, he saw how the lords of this era fought.
It has been nearly a month since the meeting organized by Price Parker ended, and the war still has not started.
During this period, gossip was flying all over the place. I don't know which guy with a loose mouth leaked out several major crimes of Maltz Kent. It was also spread that the lords were plotting to overthrow Parker Family.
Naturally, this kind of news will definitely reach the ears of Maltz Kent, so he also began to organize his own forces.
Now everyone around the world knows that there are two powerful factions in Northwest Bay who are working hard to kill each other.
"The sense of confidentiality in this era is really bad! I was thinking of waiting for our side to prepare a sneak attack."
Paul expressed this emotion at a meeting at the Staff Department, and once again emphasized the importance of confidentiality.
Both sides were slowly gathering troops. Paul considered whether to take advantage of his own Standing Army to immediately raid and capture Emden in the south, but gave up this idea due to the objections of the officers.
What if the opponent's assembled force is stronger than your own, and your allies still can't come up with enough strength to support Arda, then it's all over. It's better not to be the one who stands out.
So Lakeheart Town makes full use of this calm before the storm to strengthen himself. Both the regular army and the Militia troops have increased the amount and intensity of their training. The Soldiers in the army were drilled to the point where they no longer had the energy to visit the brothels, and fell asleep on the bed as soon as they returned to the dormitory.
Under the organization of Government Affairs Council, the population of the southernmost villages began to migrate to the north to prevent the plundering of the Kent Family.
Franklin Harbor's shipyard began to work overtime to build merchant ships suitable for transportation. If the war went unfavorable and the trade routes on land were cut off, shipping would become the life link between Arda and Bairdin. Now these two places are too dependent on foreign trade.
The iron factory in the valley has also been expanded again. After the war breaks out, the demand for iron from the surrounding lords will greatly increase. Paul plans to use low-priced iron to sell favors and strengthen his voice in the alliance.
The sword has been unsheathed, waiting to stab the enemy.