His Majesty's sudden departure sent the nobles in the hall into an uproar.
"What does His Majesty Llane mean by this? Are our lands not part of the king's domain? We haven't been paying our annual taxes for nothing!" one noble declared indignantly.
"Exactly! Exactly! He has no regard for the kingdom at all. Now that foreign enemies have invaded, he's still sulking at us. He has none of Emperor Soladin's magnanimity. I used to think he was a wise ruler, but now it seems he amounts to little more than this."
The nobles fiercely condemned Llane's discourtesy. None of them could understand his utterly dismissive attitude.
The Old Duke's face darkened. Did His Majesty truly believe that those heretics alone could defend the kingdom? In the end, he would still have to rely on the nobles. A vague sense of foreboding stirred within him. The clamor of accusations in the hall grated on his nerves. "Silence!" the Old Duke roared, and the hall instantly fell quiet.
"For now, we can no longer count on the kingdom's troops. Everyone must commit their private soldiers! Stop holding them back. If we want to resolve the troubles in our respective domains, we must stand together."
The moment the Old Duke finished speaking, the nobles in the hall grew agitated. What were their private soldiers? The very foundation of their rule! Without them, how would they maintain order in their domains? Besides, they had seen how vicious those monsters were. Sending ordinary soldiers against them was simply sending them to their deaths.
"Isn't that going too far, Old Duke? We pay taxes to the kingdom every year! Yet now you're asking us to deploy our private soldiers. They are our personal property. Will the kingdom compensate us for our losses?" one noble asked