Hearing Landen's new explanation, Andrew suddenly found himself unsure. By Landen's account, he had dismissed Denver for betraying the principles of knights and lords, and only after learning of it had Denver gone mad and attacked Yawenni. Whether Ochimaru had colluded with him or not, he could no longer remain a knight viscount.
Yet Landen's cunning lay precisely here: with this, he had seized complete control of the entire affair. White Tree City lay west of Night-Kirin City, under his jurisdiction; both Yawenni and Gleia had been sent by him.
He had dismissed Denver himself, and even the Legend could be said to have been summoned by him. From Landen's perspective, there was no conflict at all between the Imperial Capital and Dragon Tooth City, because both factions present were his people—except Andrew.
"Count Landen truly plans far ahead," Andrew said. Realizing that he had been put somewhat on the back foot, he decided to say something to salvage the situation. "Then does Count Landen intend to place White Tree City under the jurisdiction of the Gallop Knight Order?"
Landen shook his head and said calmly, "Of course not. The Gallop Knights and cavalry in the city will be redeployed within a week. The Bristle-Wolf Knights will move into White Tree City. In addition, Lanyuan and Whiteowl will each dispatch a squad of knights."
Long before meeting Yawenni and Andrew, Landen had already coordinated with Count Bristle-Wolf, the Kingdom's Prime Minister Richelieu Lanyuan, and King Dusen Whiteowl.
"The garrisons of Bristle-Wolf, Whiteowl, and Lanyuan are not here for nothing. There are more than seventy thousand Gold Coins in White Tree City's Lord's Manor. In addition, I purchased a plot of land southwest of the city and paid another three thousand Gold Coins. All this money will be used as public