In the Name of Harboring Pirates

The priest was a good priest, at least not someone who caused trouble for everyone. After letting them in, the interrupted celebration resumed.

He was originally there to report and deliver a message for Ergons, but he had been shuttling between villages and strongholds intermittently during this period.

After the Chancellor mentioned two magic items to him during that evening's banquet, Ergons discussed the matter with the priest, Adam, and William.

Ultimately, the divine miracle was classified as a magic item. As for whether anyone would covet it, that wasn't the issue, because he had plenty of things worth coveting.

His territory, his noble status, his young and brave body, his handsome appearance – he didn't need this one rumored magic item.

There had always been people who coveted things, it just depended on their own leverage and whether the gains were proportional to the effort. When the gains were proportional to the effort, even without a magic item, they would still be attacked.

Just like now, as the news brought back by Priest Ramses Bolton indicated.

"Baron Nordsa Tervain is actively building momentum, vigorously promoting the danger of pirates within Count Anduin's County of Hefenm, and pointing out that the pirates have never dared to raid Viscount Cortez's neighboring territory."

Priest Ramses Bolton's words caused the expressions of everyone at the main table to slowly turn cold. All eyes turned to young Master Ergons.

"It's time for war again! I had a premonition about this. This was decided three weeks ago, but I didn't expect it to progress so quickly that it's already common knowledge?"

At the young master's words, Elisa tightened his hand. No one was not nervous about war.

Priest Ramses Bolton also said nervously, "It seems the matter of the Betredan pirates' invasion has become the trigger. Judging by the current situation, it's not just the Baron unilaterally declaring war on a neighboring territory, but rather a battle that will determine the grand structure of the North Province. It's Count Anduin's war against Viscount Cortez's small alliance."

"War?"

"Heavens, we've only been at peace for a few years, and now another major war is coming?"

"Are we going to participate this time too?"

Everyone in the hall quietly listened to the conversation between the priest and the young master, so the word "war" touched everyone's sensitive nerves.

Ergons stood up to reassure them, "No need to be nervous. Private wars can occur between nobles of the realm, but a large-scale war is absolutely impossible. All of this is merely to build momentum. It's just the Count and the Baron finding a legitimate pretext for deploying troops. Fighting will definitely happen, but it won't escalate into such a massive war."

This statement settled the nature of what was about to happen, and only then did everyone truly relax.

The feast continued. The ten new militiamen and three light infantrymen also blended into the atmosphere. Regardless of their individual thoughts, once integrated into the group, it was easy to be influenced.

This was destined to be a joyful banquet. The Northern Legion's food could never be bad, not to this extent. What was caviar? What were dried meats? Whole chunks of cured meat, piles of fruit, cheese, and honey were provided for everyone.

This way of eating, although it lacked the pretense of sophisticated cooking to elevate its status, was enough to make these low-ranking soldiers feel like it was a land flowing with milk and honey.

Especially when they found out what they were celebrating and how often such celebrations occurred, they felt it was simply paradise.

Look at the half-bag of fried wheat and the small piece of hard bread in their backpacks!

That was their three-day ration. From the moment they left the castle, the Northern Legion had only issued them five days' worth of provisions.

On the way, they thought Priest Ramses Bolton ate particularly well, assuming it was preferential treatment for clergy.

Which of these soldiers hadn't secretly envied him in their hearts? Upon arriving here, they discovered this was apparently the most basic welfare.

Furthermore, before coming, they had heard they would be serving under the most famous Sir of the Northern Legion, a Knight tested by sword and fire. When they actually met him, they found this superior to be so approachable.

Therefore, the soldiers easily developed a good impression of this place.

They had no idea what kind of malicious fun was hidden beneath the eager smiles of the veteran soldiers, nor did they know what kind of training courses awaited them after dawn.

Regardless, they were quite happy at the moment.

The night, with its faint moonlight, cooled the lingering warmth of the bonfire. Still in the granary, a few people sat on the scale used for weighing grain, using gossip and news about the Counts, Barons, and Viscounts of the city to aid digestion.

Priest Ramses Bolton had brought back a lot of news from the city, which he hadn't discussed in detail during the bonfire party.

Now, he naturally revealed everything clearly, and everyone understood the extent to which the situation had developed.

His urgent return with his men was actually a rush to get back before the mobilization order arrived.

"The 13th soldier this time, you can all see they are actually new recruits. He told me the mobilization order is imminent, and I don't plan to take them out because it would be a waste."

After the priest explained everything, the young master was silent for a moment before speaking, "The commotion is so big precisely to turn a private war into a public one. The Count has a good plan; he wants to use the Northern Legion's troops to suppress the rebellion. Now, all that's left is to define the neighboring Viscount."

"Not necessarily," William scratched his head and frowned, "Our own hands aren't clean. I think it's unlikely that a Baron and a Count would suddenly take a high moral ground to accuse a neighboring territory and truly want to escalate the matter to attack the neighboring territory with the Legion's strength."

William's words suddenly enlightened Ergons. He nodded; it was indeed like that.

This was because the Bishop of the County had previously initiated a joint invasion with the County of Tervain pirates from above. The alleged purpose was to devastate the region and then regain control of the Northern Legion, re-establishing Knightly Orders within the Northern Legion.

Using this method to change the feudal system back to a centralized Knightly Order system, to achieve what grand objective, it was essentially going against the current system of the Hundred Kings.

And the result of the plan progressing to this stage was that the County itself was suspected of colluding with pirates. Therefore, they were preemptively accusing the other side of colluding with pirates.

In reality, it was just to create the impression for the realm that both sides were just biting at each other?

Using the method of escalating the war to offset the other party's potential to escalate the war – a good strategy!

"So, does that mean this is most likely a private war as well? Then we can still preserve our strength and only bring 12 people?

However, the final outcome will depend on the fate that is delivered."