Imperial Crown.

Chapter 298: Really fighting? Really fighting!
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……

Listening to Dalton's words, Little Peeler pursed his lips, grabbed a human leather glove next to him, and his brows were twisted like noodles stuck together.

He really didn't expect that the originally stable Nord Province would be thrown into turmoil by a statement from Raven.

Even he had never expected that Raven would dare to send troops to attack the Principality of Eivor.

This is absolutely crazy!
But, that's right, Raven should be crazy like this.

If he didn't have this crazy energy, how could he have acquired wealth and power that overwhelmed all the viscounts by virtue of his status as a baron?
"Raven..." Little Peeler's red and white eyes were filled with doubt: "What exactly are you planning this time?"

Every time, behind Raven's crazy behavior there is a very rational motive. So this time, it is impossible for him to really attack Eivor.

Raven must have something real that he wants, but it's just hidden behind this seemingly ridiculous behavior.

Power, wealth, women, status...

Xiao Peeler's eyes lit up.

Oh, yes, status!
Although Raven is now very famous, his financial resources, power, and land are among the best among the nobles in the province, but the only thing he lacks is status.

To be precise, it is a title.

He probably wanted to take this opportunity to show his worth to Marquis Anthony.

No, Anthony doesn't have that ability. The only one who can decide whether Raven can be promoted to a noble title is His Majesty the King.

"You are amazing!" Little Peeler slammed his palm heavily.

The empire has suffered defeats again and again recently. If His Majesty the King heard that there was a man who was so loyal to the country, he would definitely set an example.

Then wouldn't the title of Viscount be easy to obtain?
"Master Little Skinner." Seeing that his lord had not responded for a long time, Dalton had to bite the bullet and remind him: "There are only 13 days left before the time set by Baron Raven..."

"Heh, do you think I'm afraid of Raven?" Little Flay gave Dalton a look.

Just when Dalton was silent, he smiled again: "Yes, now that Raven has power and justice, I do have to be afraid of him."

"Reply... Never mind. Let's just tell these nobles on the Skyhawk Platform that Baron Raven is making such a grand move, so we in Hippoc County must give our full support."

"This time, you will be the one to lead 1000 soldiers and respond to our supervisor."

Dalton was a little surprised: "Are you sure you are not a serf soldier?"

"Serfs still need to grow crops." Little Skinner put on human leather gloves and said, "Take the ordinary soldiers with you and have them listen to Raven's orders. Food is always scarce anyway, so what's wrong with asking them to help raise some soldiers?"

"But you have to be smart. If Raven really attacks the Wall of Sighs for show, you have to run as fast as you can."

"Yes, Master Little Flay!"

As the news of Little Flay's response to Raven spread, the five northwestern counties basically reached a consensus.

The nobles generally have similar thoughts to Little Flay.

They all thought that Raven was just trying to put on a "patriotic show" to earn himself a little political prestige.

As the saying goes, he is crazy about the title.

Today, the nobles' territories have not yet fully recovered, and supporting the army itself is a burden.

If we give some of it to Raven, no matter how long it takes, even if it's only 3 or 5 months, we can save a lot of food.

After the news was brewing in the five northwestern counties, it soon reached the city of Mon'en.

At first, the citizens of Mon'en City thought it was just a silly joke.

After all, using the strength of five counties to attack a country is outrageous no matter how you look at it.

But the way things turned out next forced the citizens to take it seriously, and even to feel a little panicked.

As the locust plague gradually passed, the originally high food prices gradually fell to a level that citizens could barely accept.

However, soon after the news arrived, the price of malt rose sharply, from 2 copper coins per pound to 11 copper coins in just two days.

Businessmen are more price sensitive.

Food is secondary. The prices of strategic materials such as horses, leather, iron ore, etc. are also skyrocketing in the market.

Public opinion began to ferment in the city of Mon'en.

Citizens complained about the rising prices, while merchants began to inquire whether the war would really start and what the attitude of Earl Tyrone of the Slater family would be.

Just as discussions in the city were heating up and becoming increasingly heated.

Earl Tyrone and Archbishop Thomas, who had kept a considerable distance on the surface, came together.

The place where the two met was a secret manor on the banks of the Mon River.

There was no sign of being ravaged by a locust plague. The grass and trees were lush and the flowers were in bloom. The three-story building was covered with vines, just like the residence of the legendary forest goblins.

The third-floor tower has a wide view and overlooks the sparkling river.

The sun is warm and the breeze is gentle.

Earl Tyrone poured Thomas half a cup of fragrant tea, looked at the river and said, "I used to think that the kind of people in the story who usually live in seclusion but can shake the world with a single word do not exist."

"But today, I have to say I admire you."

Although the secret meeting between Raven and Thomas was never made public, the fact that the church provided Raven with a large amount of food in various ways could not be hidden from those who were interested.

Thomas adjusted the bowler hat on his head so that his smooth forehead would not reflect the clear light on the dome: "Then you admire the wrong person."

"There are only you and me here, and you know that I am not the kind of person who would tell tales." Tai Long said, "What's more, we now have a common enemy."

Thomas nodded slightly.

That's how politics works, there are no eternal enemies, nor eternal friends.

Although Thomas had tricked Tyrone once before with the Hand of Death incident, causing Tyrone to suffer a serious setback, Anthony was now dominating the Nord province, which was a situation that neither of them wanted to see.

"My Lord Earl is so frank that it makes me look less honest." Thomas smiled softly: "But I really didn't hide it from you. Raven's decision to send troops has nothing to do with me."

Tyrone's eyebrows trembled, and he put down the cup that was raised to his mouth, looked at Thomas and said, "Really?"

"I'm more surprised than you." Thomas smiled bitterly: "Originally, I thought this was your idea."

Otherwise, Thomas would not have met Tyrone on this occasion.

"Then it seems that this idea was really thought out by Raven himself." Tyrone completely forgot that the tea was hot. He put it into his mouth, and his brows furrowed even more tightly.

"What an amazing young man." Thomas said with emotion: "He is only 27 years old this year, right?"

"26 years old." Tai Long also sighed: "Are we really old?"

In order to maintain his authority and his position in the eyes of His Majesty the King, Anthony's administration in the province of Nord was extremely harsh.

Not only was there no tax exemption, but in order to please His Majesty, a "spear tax" was even levied in the spring of this year, extorting 40 gold coins from nobles at all levels.

But he still has a righteous reason - this money is for "full support of this war". As an old noble in the Nord Province, Earl Tyrone has the obligation to lead the Slater family to stop Anthony's perverse behavior, but he cannot offend Anthony who represents His Majesty the King.

Originally, the Slater family was greatly disappointed by keeping silent about the demise of the Fox family. If Anthony continued to cause harm like this, the Slater family's reputation would only get worse and worse.

For Thomas, who represents the Church of Light, Anthony, the representative of royal power, is also a thorn in his eye. As long as Anthony is still here, Thomas will not be able to do anything.

At this moment, Raven jumped out and wanted to unify the armies of the five northwestern counties to attack the Principality of Eivor, and his reasons were impeccable.

Neither Tyrone nor Thomas believed that Raven's move was purely for show as the nobles had rumored.

Raven will definitely fight.

Although it is impossible for Raven to take down the Wall of Sighs with his strength, the Principality of Eivor, as a ally of the Fitun city-states, will inevitably encounter a series of diplomatic incidents as soon as the war breaks out.

Dragging the neutral city-states of Fitun into the battle would also distract Insa's attention, which would indeed be a powerful support for the frontal battlefield.

This pushed Anthony into a corner. All his previous efforts to please the King seemed extremely pale in comparison to Raven's action this time.

"What are you going to do next?" asked Earl Tyrone.

"Nothing," Thomas replied frankly. "What about you?"

Tyrone nodded approvingly, thinking that Thomas was really an old fox.

The existence of the Church of Light has always been feared by His Majesty the King. At this time, whether Thomas shows support or opposition to Raven, it will arouse suspicion and give Anthony an excuse to attribute Raven's actions to a conspiracy of the church.

Do nothing and there will be no trouble.

As for the fact that the church had previously supplied food to Raven, Anthony would not mention it - after all, Anthony had also asked Thomas for food.

No one's ass is clean.

"I want to make a difference," Earl Tyrone said, "providing all support other than material support."

After saying this, the two smiled at each other, understanding each other tacitly.

On the other hand, the busyness of Eagle City did not stop.

The busiest one is old Gordon. Not only does he have to count the inventory and sort out the supply, he also needs to balance the allocation of resources between the various territories. He can be said to be very busy.

However, after chatting briefly with Fiona, he took the time to find Raven.

Raven was in the conference room at this time, staring at the huge map of the Principality of Eivor, with various materials at hand.

Not only those shown in the previous meeting, but also many important people from the Principality of Eivor, including Grand Duchess Tracy and everyone in the Duchy's cabinet.

Next to Raven was a thick manuscript with many names written on it. Each name was circled and then linked to a keyword.

"Greed can be bribed", "Cowardice can be threatened", "Honesty can be framed"...

Seeing this, Old Gordon waited quietly by the side.

After a long while, until Raven reached out for his hand, old Gordon quietly handed him a cup of warm milk.

"Why are you here?" Raven took the cup and took a sip. "What problem did you encounter?"

"There is one thing, Fiona reminded me of it." Old Gordon pushed his monocle.

Seeing his action, Raven couldn't help but shake his head and smile.

This pair of grandparents and grandchildren are simply cut from the same cloth. Their movements in pushing their glasses are exactly the same, both using the joints of their index fingers to push gently.

"Master, what's wrong?" Old Gordon felt a little uncomfortable with the laughter.

"Nothing, just keep talking."

"Okay." Old Gordon sorted out his thoughts and spoke out his prepared speech: "My Lord Baron, after the locust plague, they flew to the Bloody Highlands and must have caused considerable damage."

"Last year, we heard that horse thieves had been harassing several surrounding counties. The Principality of Eivor was also attacked by horse thieves."

"The reason why our territory has not been affected is because we have two legions of fresh troops, which prevents the horse thieves from invading."

"You attacked the Principality of Aiwoll this time and took away all the troops at once, leaving the defenses empty. If bandits attack us, it will be difficult to deal with."

"Well, it seems that Fiona's vision is still as sharp as ever." Raven said half-jokingly: "I almost want to take her with me on the march."

Old Gordon's expression turned serious.

Raven knew that whenever this happened, Old Gordon would start to give him serious advice, but Raven didn't want to listen to Old Gordon's nagging: "Don't worry, I have already made arrangements for Bloody Highlands."

"Where do you think the grain I shipped out last year went?"

Old Gordon frowned and thought for a while before he relaxed his brows.

As he grew older, his memory began to deteriorate. When Raven mentioned it, he remembered that the master had indeed transferred a batch of grain last spring. Now thinking about it, it should have been sent to the Bloody Highlands.

"Firebeard and Steelfang have been in contact with me." Lei Wenxiong said confidently, "If something really happens, they can lead the bandits to other people's territory."

"Besides them, I also have a hidden hand."

The bloody heights, one bright and one dark, are enough to serve as two lines of insurance.

And even if these two insurances fail, there is still Nancy, a third-level magician, in Eagle City.

No matter how many horse thieves come, they cannot break through Eagle City where Nancy is stationed.

Not wanting to continue on this topic, Raven asked, "How is the logistics work going?"

Old Gordon took out a notebook and said, "The food has been half loaded onto the truck, and I am also organizing manpower to make a batch of field rations. It will be completed in eight days at most."

"The hay and soybeans used by the horses have also been sorted into bags."

At this point, Old Gordon smiled slightly and said, "Of course, there is also the special food supply for the logistics troops as you ordered."

Raven nodded in satisfaction.

His food was not so abundant that he could not finish it all. The soldiers recruited from the five northwestern counties had no time to integrate and train. Raven would only let them be responsible for logistics or serve as cannon fodder.

Only the Eagle Army is the real main force.

Therefore, the food given to the troops in the five northwestern counties naturally did not have to be too good. It was reasonable to mix some bran and sawdust into it.

"Okay, if you have nothing else to do, go ahead and do your work. I still have some plans to make." Raven said.

"Yes, sir." Old Gordon bowed, turned around and took two steps, then suddenly turned back and asked, "Is it really okay for you to rush to the battlefield without consulting the governor?"

Raven raised a finger. "It's precisely because I really want to send troops that I can't communicate with him!"

As the two were talking, news that Raven was about to send troops finally reached Fox Castle.

After receiving the news, Akori nervously knocked on Anthony's bedroom door.

……

(End of this chapter)