Chapter 171

This afternoon, the Northern Coalition's troops withdrew.

After a day of debate, the allied forces seemed to have finally reached a consensus: since no one dared to take the lead in the attack, they would retreat.

Since even the Moonlight Knight Order have failed, who could have predicted this outcome? If Elvian is to blame someone, she should first berate her own people for their incompetence, and then everyone should share the remaining responsibility.

In reality, Elvian had clearly abandoned the offensive plan. She seemed to have no expectations for the remaining Allied forces, and after the defeat in the main battle, she did not even issue a support order.

The main problem is that Veldria is quite far from the Kingdom of Lotte, which is Elvia's biggest weakness. Otherwise, the main force of the Moonlight Knight Order would have come to avenge Kossol long ago with a single order.

At this moment, 'Shally' was leading three thousand Holy Blood Army forward, seemingly preparing for a pursuit.

"Shally is already level 48. After we finish this wave, she'll probably reach level 50 and unlock the Advancement Quest."

Ryan thought to himself.

The Blood Knight's ability to level up by killing is so overpowered that the battlefield is practically her training ground, and the stronger the opponent, the more experience she gains.

However, once you reach a higher level, the leveling speed slows down considerably. Before, killing 888 or 8888 was unbelievable, but now? It would take at least five 8- Ryan to even get a little shocked.

"Once this allied army is destroyed, Elvian will definitely send people to attack, so Lot must immediately form an alliance with Augustus. However, this will only protect Lot; it won't be so easy to advance eastward and take over the Northern Coalition."

Ryan glanced at the Token of the Tainted Knight in his backpack and considered creating Alts to use in Wilderia. However, he had no foothold in Wilderia, and it would be troublesome if the new Alts had a bad start.

Want to take a gamble?

Hmm... It makes it sound like I have a choice.

Ryan shook his head inwardly; he was the Earl of Augustus, not the Earl of Wildea.

"Wow! Is that Grand Duke Magana?!"

A gasp of surprise rang out.

The carriage left the camp and turned onto the main road. The streets became more crowded, and Ryan realized that the civilians on both sides were looking in their direction.

The carriage was semi-open and quite high. Ryan and Magana sat side by side with no curtains or other obstructions in front of them, so outsiders could see them if they looked up.

Then, Magana's appearance immediately elicited gasps of surprise.

Although the Grand Duke attended the Imperial Conference in civilian clothes last time, she has not appeared in public, so most people's impression of her is still based on her iron-blooded armor and blood-stained battle axe.

"Hey, is that really Magana?"

"It's fake! It must be fake!"

"This must have been made using some mysterious alchemy technique. I simply don't believe it!"

"Magana? Isn't that the blood-covered, laughing, bloodthirsty psychopath who goes around killing people with a battle axe?"

"Bang bang bang! Iron Blood Army, open the gate!"

Ryan saw the white-haired loli sitting next to him and got hard, his fist hardened.

"Your Grand Duke, don't bother with these commoners. They're just jealous of your beauty."

Although most of the exclamations were not pleasant, there were still genuine compliments.

"Grand Duke Magana is so beautiful."

Really.

Aside from those who were afraid of the Grand Duke's name and were just spouting nonsense, many people were actually amazed by Magana's first appearance. Ryan's current task was to try to appease the Grand Duke, otherwise she would definitely stand on the carriage with her hands on her hips and start yelling.

When the Grand Duke is enraged, rivers of blood flow!

That would completely ruin your image.

Amidst a stunned gaze, the carriage finally arrived at the castle.

Then, unsurprisingly, the Grand Duke stepped down from the carriage, astonishing the group of nobles.

"My God, that's Magana?!"

"She looks like a doll."

"What are you looking at! Look again and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Magana gave a cold snort without any politeness.

The nobles immediately looked away.

"Hey, Ryan!"

Not far away, Jonathan stood at the castle gate, where he was stopped by the guards.

"Over here! Help!"

"Old Joe can't get in?" Ryan was somewhat surprised.

"What, is there a problem with me not being able to enter because I don't have a title?" Jonathan finished speaking, then saw Magana following behind and exclaimed in surprise, "Grand Duke, you are truly the most beautiful girl I have ever seen!"

Magana remained expressionless, unmoved by Jonathan's sweet talk.

"I remember you. You were the one who stopped that old bastard Kahn's blood sacrifice, right?"

"It was purely a coincidence," Jonathan chuckled. "I was just lucky to run into him."

"If it were just luck, you would have died long ago. You Son of the Sun don't utter a single truth."

"Uh... Ryan knows me. I never lie."

Ryan thought to himself, "That's the most insincere thing you've ever said."

However, few people knew Jonathan's true identity, not even Magana. She only knew that Old Joe was quite capable, but had no intention of recruiting him.

Jonathan was invited by Ryan and brought some of the Burning Covenant investigators with him to deal with today's unexpected situation. He also took the opportunity to tell Ryan about what he had talked about with 'Vainay' before.

Ryan told the Grand Duke to go to the banquet hall first.

"We've brought everyone and positioned them around here. Is something really going to happen today?" Jonathan, somewhat doubtfully. "You're not going to die again, are you?"

Is this the same engagement party you had last time? Are you coming again this time?

"No, it's just in case. I'll leave it to you then."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on things here... Oh, right, about that thing we talked about last time."

Jonathan said he would stay in Baron for the time being to lead the Burning Covenant, but he would not reveal his identity publicly; he would just be an ordinary investigator.

How to manage Ryan after that is something that will have to wait until 'Vainay' takes office and reforms the Tribunal.

"... You're really something, kid." After getting down to business, Jonathan gave a thumbs up. "You did everything that every man in the Augustus Empire wanted to do but would never dare to do."

Ryan was speechless. "Old Joe, don't talk nonsense. The Grand Duke is just fulfilling a previous promise."

"I understand, I understand. You've surpassed your teacher. Back in Berman City, you were a bit of a naive kid, but now you've dared to climb into Magana's bed. Fate is such a strange thing."

"What the hell? I'm innocent with the Grand Duke!"

"Don't worry, I didn't say it's bad. Some people are just born to do this." Jonathan stroked his stubble and chuckled, "You have the charm I had when I was young, hahaha! Keep it up."

Old Joe patted Ryan on the shoulder, then swaggered off to chat up the single aristocratic women.

Tch~

"Am I born to do this? Am I made this job?"

Walk into the lobby.

Many nobles were already present.

Holman, who was in charge of the Imperial Army, was not there, and the Holy Blood Legion had already been mobilized. Ryan glanced at his pocket watch; it was still early for the banquet, but the time he had agreed to meet with Kalkart was approaching.

"Earl Ryan, congratulations."

The nobles around him cast 'friendly' glances.

"Ryan, you've certainly got a good master," a nobleman teased. "Your heroic deeds have already spread throughout the noble circles."

"Marquis Russen?" Ryan's eyes lit up. "What a coincidence to meet you here. Didn't you tell me last time that we were planning something big together? Come, come, let's discuss it again today."

Lu Sen was taken aback, then flew into a rage. "I... when did I ever discuss such a thing with you! Don't slander me!"

Ryan laughed, "Don't worry, Marquis. Even if that woman, Vainay, finds out, what can she do? Our Western Territory is now militarily strong and well-equipped; even the new emperor has to be wary of us. Rest assured, after this is done, I'll have the Grand Duke bestow upon you the title of Duke!"

"Marquis Russen, you..."

"Marquis Russen, this is treason! How could you..."

The nobles who were following Lusen began to distance themselves from him.

Lu Sen panicked. "Don't listen to his nonsense! He's slandering me, this guy is outrageous!"

Ryan sighed softly, "Oh, Marquis, that's not very nice of you to say it like that... Never mind, since you want to keep it a secret, I won't force you. Let's have a team-building event at your house later."

Luxen looked bewildered. "Team building?"

"We'll raid your house."

Ryan turned and left after accomplishing his mission, leaving Lucien standing there dumbfounded.

Heh~

You idiot, how dare you mock me?

Labor and management are now the darlings of the villainous leader. With a single word, I can declare anyone an accomplice!

No?

Who would believe that?

The new emperor will definitely intensify the crackdown, and anyone suspected of any wrongdoing will not be given important positions even if they are not dealt with.

Hmm... Ryan suddenly realized that his status as a villainous leader's favorite was actually quite useful. He'd better dig out those suspicious people and try to win them over.

Realizing this, some nobles who had just been thinking of greeting Ryan ran away as if they were avoiding a plague.

Well, now I'm just like the Grand Duke.

"That guy Vainay, should make his move soon."

In a corner of the hall, Magana sat down with a glass of red wine.

Ryan sat down opposite her.

"We should have news soon."

After a while, Caslathdi and Haino came over.

Would you mind if I sat down?

Magana glanced at it but didn't pay any attention.

"Please sit, Your Her Highness the Princess," Ryan said.

"Thanks."

Caslathdi smiled and nodded. She was wearing a white dress, her long, smooth golden hair cascading down her back. With a smile on her face, she looked elegant and noble.

Haino, dressed in a dark blue suit, glanced furtively at Ryan as he sat down, then looked at Caslathdi, seemingly a little guilty.

Ryan was speechless. The vice dean's mental fortitude wasn't very good either. No wonder a dignified Seventh Tier Transcendent was easily manipulated during the sprint.

Caslathdi was just bored and sat down to kill time. She didn't care what others would say about her, even though Magana didn't give her a friendly look. She just wanted to chat with Ryan.

After chatting for a while, a gasp suddenly rang out in the hall—

"Kalkart has led his troops to attack!"

Whoosh~

The harmonious atmosphere was instantly shattered.

"Kalkart?!"

"What's going on!"

"He's leading the imperial army in!"

"A signal flare! I saw a signal flare launched from inside the city!"

"Could someone be working on him from the inside?!"

Whoosh!

Almost everyone in the hall was looking at Ryan's table.

Magana (oへo╬): "What are you looking at? If I were in charge, I would have killed you all right now!"