You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 182 You say yours, I say mine

Two weeks later, Roman learned of the events at Dragon Castle.

Gael Riftarms became the new Grand Duke.

The first thing he did was to write a letter to all his vassals and sons.

They were asked to send three-quarters of their forces to aid the Grand Duchy and avenge Duke Ulster.

The target of their revenge is all the witches on earth.

He vowed to make those filthy female rats who poisoned people pay the price!

For the old vassal, sending out birds to deliver messages was sufficient.

Those birds are specially trained to travel along fixed routes and land on the shoulders of specific individuals.

However, this method cannot notify everyone; messengers need to be sent to remote fiefdoms that birds cannot reach.

By this time, the other vassals and their descendants had already led their troops into battle.

Roman, however, overheard Seth reading the contents of the letter aloud in the manor hall.

He sat in a chair, elbows on the armrests, head tilted to the side, right hand covering his face, so no one could see his expression.

“It was Gael who did it!” he said, his tone cold and hard.

Upon hearing this, Seth exclaimed in horror, "That's impossible!"

"It must be him! He's forcing the emperor to abdicate! He'll benefit the most!"

"Sir, please calm down. Lord Gale couldn't possibly be the murderer..."

"Then he's one of the murderers!"

Roman roared, raising his head, his crimson eyes blazing with fury.

"Dragon Keep! That's the Dragon Keep of the Cracked Armor Duke! A Dragon Keep with a family legacy!! And someone infiltrated the Dragon Keep and murdered its master! Is it really that simple?! Why didn't anyone use this method to kill the Black Iron King! They might as well have let that damned assassin kill all the Earth Kings!!"

Seth was filled with turmoil; he wanted to refute, but didn't know where to begin.

Something must have happened at Dragon Castle that night. The family's inheritance failed to take effect for some reason, allowing the assassin to seize the opportunity—the Grand Duke's defenses have always been very tight.

"Idiots! They're all useless!" Roman stood up angrily.

He suddenly kicked the long table in front of him, knocking it to the ground and scattering decorations and tea.

Roman roared, "I'll hang them! I'll definitely hang them!"

He cursed and swore through gritted teeth, his face contorted with rage, uttering a few words of his native language that no one could understand.

Sais stared at him blankly: "Sir, you've lost your composure."

Roman covered his face with his hands, a gesture that seemed to indicate pain.

He pursed his lips tightly, turned and left with a cold expression.

Not long after.

Upon receiving the news, Aaron, Green, and others rushed back from the military camp.

They were all quite surprised to see the mess everywhere.

"Where's Roman? What happened?"

Seth relayed the message from the letter to everyone; there was nothing to hide. It concerned all of them.

"Lord Gale has summoned us back?"

Aaron and Green looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Yes, all of them, three-quarters of the troops."

Dick and Jet remained silent.

The town of Sige has entered the consolidation phase, a time for laying the foundation.

Which way do we go now? They just had a battle.
The consequences of a vassal not responding to his lord are even more severe, amounting to betrayal.

"This is a matter for Roman to decide," they all thought.

Even the pressure from the recent invasion of a large army was far less terrifying than this transfer order. If the wrong choice is made, all efforts will be in vain.

Roman returned quickly, looking perfectly normal, and took his seat as lord again.

“I’m not going!” he said.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Only Seth's expression was grave. "Sir, do you know what this means?"

Roman looked at him, wanting to say something, but finally closed his eyes and spoke:

"The only person I owe in my life is no longer here... Gail has no right to order me around."

“I hope you can reconsider. I stopped Lord Gael’s messenger at the dock. You still have time.”

Seth would never stand idly by and watch Roman bring about his own destruction.

"Then let's just leave it at that." Roman calmed down and regained his composure.

How to drag it out?

Roman asked, "What else did the letter say?"

"Lord Gale wants you to explain the current situation in Sig Town, the salt mines, the raids on Kande Territory, and the war with the five noble families. He needs to know everything here, including details of all our troops."

Those things couldn't be kept secret, and the six major families suffered a defeat, something no one had anticipated.

Roman knew it, and Gale knew it too.

In theory, Roman has the right not to explain, but Gale also has the right to give Sgar a new lord.

So he said, "I won't explain."

Seth was taken aback: "Then how do we reply?"

“First, acknowledge Gael’s ducal title; second, express condolences for the old duke’s death… ask him if he will fulfill the old duke’s promise: three years of tax exemption for the town of Sig. I am willing to contribute to Duke Liejia, but with the army pressing in, I cannot leave. When the time is right, I will send troops to his aid, so Gael doesn’t need to wait for me; they can act first.” Seth was stunned again.

These reasons are untenable.

Not paying taxes is normal, but now it's wartime.

A large army pressing in is not a valid reason.

Sais was confident that once Roman sent troops away from Sig Town, the five great families and Earl Conde would have to withdraw their troops.

Unless Roman returns with his troops, they cannot touch anything in Sig Town.

There was at least some consensus among the nobles.

The two dukes fought side by side, but in essence, they were fighting to maintain the order of the conquerors.

Once the vassals send troops, it is certain that their fiefdoms will be left vulnerable.

But no one dared to covet those fiefdoms, otherwise they would offend the Cracked Armor, Raging Tide, and Dark Iron royal families at the same time.

No one can withstand this kind of pressure.

The question is, when is the right time to send troops to provide assistance?
"I...I don't quite understand what you mean." Seth was confused.

Roman said, "It's all just for show, without actually doing anything."

send troops?

What a load of crap!
If Ulster can't even survive, what is Gale anyway?

"Is this okay?"

"why not."

"What about Lord Gale's question?"

Roman said, "He can say what he wants, and I can say what I want. When have I ever openly disobeyed the Grand Duke of the Cracked Armor?"

“Seth, you must understand, Sig Town is very poor. Green and Aaron have contracted malaria and are bedridden, they're about to die. Because of the recent battle, I don't know which nobleman slashed me, I'm seriously injured now. We're short of soldiers and generals, and there are wounded everywhere... But I will overcome these problems one by one, Sig Town will send troops soon!”

How fast is "very fast"?

Roman didn't know either.

"You're to write this letter, so make sure your attitude is on point."

He was afraid that in a moment of impulse, he might write profanities on the parchment, which would cause trouble later.

Seth thought that doing it this way wasn't a bad idea.

At the very least, it appears to be in accordance with legal principles.

These days, it takes a month or more for letters to go back and forth; it's too easy to delay things.

With such a large-scale operation by the two dukes, it's impossible for tens of thousands of troops to wait for a minor vassal in a remote place for ten days or half a month.

In fact, they couldn't wait even a day longer and would probably set off now.

Come or don't come, it's up to you.

But the call to action has been issued, and those who don't come just need not worry about being punished later.

"This won't last long," Seth said.

If Roman failed to participate in the war in time, he would have no room for excuses once the Duke of Gael returned in triumph.

Roman shook his head and said, "I only need six months."

But he had a premonition that the conqueror order that Fury Tide and Rift Armor needed to maintain would probably not be resolved in half a year. The pirates alone were coming on strong, and it would take half a year to suppress them.
Roman didn't believe it at all.

You have the Conqueror Knights, and the pirates aren't without superhuman units; otherwise, how would they be able to plunder the land?

War is a quagmire and a whirlpool.

There have been no large-scale wars for decades, but now we need to consume our population.

Some people had been waiting in the wings, eyeing the opportunity, and now that the time was right, they rushed in without hesitation, hoping to drag more people into it.

Therefore, the vortex grew larger and larger, and the gravity became more and more terrifying.

Only after devouring enough lives can the living step over the dead to escape the quagmire and settle down again.

But Ulster's death made Roman feel that the whole thing was shrouded in conspiracy.

The old duke died, and the new duke blamed the witch.

Yes! The evidence is conclusive!

But how could a witch possibly make enemies on both sides? That doesn't make sense.

He had an extremely terrifying thought.

The conjecture remained unconfirmed, and Roman could only wait.

He believed that the truth would eventually come out.

The conspiracy will eventually be exposed, and when that happens, he will execute everyone involved in Ulster's death.

"And what about six months from now?" Seth asked.

They will eventually have to face the new Grand Duke of Cracked Armor.

An even worse outcome would be that Gael would directly strip Roman of his rights as lord.

Therefore, he believes that procrastination is simply a form of slow death.

"Six months later..."

Roman paused for a moment, then spoke.

"I will establish myself as king."

(End of this chapter)