Being a knight is not easy

Chapter 342 Joint Conference
Inside the study of the royal palace in the capital.

The candlelight flickered, shadows danced on the walls, and Emperor Rebaton stared coldly at Chandler, the Grand Speaker of the Wizarding Council.

Rebaton sat behind that huge, carved desk, his eyes like cold blades, exuding both authority and worry.

Rebaton asked coldly, "After the death of the Guardian Knight, the Three Realms are now in disarray, and even the Eastern Realm is starting to stir. What do you think I should do?" His voice echoed in the silent study, carrying an undeniable sense of oppression.

Chandler stood before the desk, head slightly bowed, hands clasped in front of him. After a moment of contemplation, he slowly spoke: "Your Majesty, the death of the Guardian Knight has indeed destabilized the situation. It is to be expected that there will be unrest in the Eastern Territory, given their long-standing ambition to rule the capital. In my opinion, our first priority should be to strengthen the capital's defenses."

Rebarton frowned: "Strengthening defenses? That's just a reactive measure. What I want is to be able to take the initiative and deter those restless forces."

Chandler looked up at Reibotton: "Your Majesty, we can proceed in two ways. First, we can gather other knights and nobles loyal to Your Majesty to form a powerful coalition and demonstrate our military strength."

On the other hand, Your Majesty, you can utilize the power of the Wizarding Council to have the wizards cast powerful magical barriers or early warning spells at the border. This way, we can be aware of any unusual activity in advance and take appropriate action.

Rebaton tapped his fingers lightly on the table, pondering Chandler's suggestion: "Will the Wizarding Council fully support me? After all, wizards are always solitary, and they may not be willing to get involved in such worldly disputes."

Chandler quickly replied, "Your Majesty, the Wizarding Council has always shared the same goals as the Royal Family. Although wizards cherish freedom, they also understand the importance of the Royal Family's stability to the entire kingdom."

"As long as Your Majesty makes certain promises, such as support for magical research or the supply of certain special resources, the wizards will certainly cooperate actively."

Rebaton nodded slightly: "Hmm, that's one way. However, the forces in the Eastern Territory are complex. Although there are no major nobles on the surface, there are many noble groups that have secretly united."

These measures alone are probably not enough to completely dissuade them.

A sly glint flashed in Chandler's eyes: "Your Majesty, we can also create some conflict within the Eastern Territory. The Eastern Territory is not monolithic; there are also conflicts of interest among various families and forces."

We can exploit this by using spies or secretly supporting certain factions to create internal chaos, thus distracting them from any threat to the capital.

Rebaton's lips curled into a cold smile: "That's a good idea. Chandler, I'll leave this to you. I hope you can stabilize the situation as soon as possible and not let those petty scoundrels think that I, Rebaton, am easy to bully."

Chandler bowed respectfully: "Yes, Your Majesty. I will certainly not fail in my mission."

The death of the Knights of the Nation slowed the offensives of the West, South, and North, and the nobles of the three sides decided to hold a joint meeting.

The meeting was held in an ancient and magnificent castle in the western border, nestled among mountains, a fortified and difficult-to-attack location, which was a secret branch of the Bauhinia organization.

Originally, there was no intention to include the Eastern Territory. In the eyes of the nobles of the other three territories, after the destruction of the Eastern Grand Duke, the Eastern Territory nobles became a disorganized mess and were unable to form an effective fighting force.

Not to mention that the Eastern Territory is still under the control of the Central Plains.

Therefore, when preparing for this joint meeting, they hadn't even considered the participation of the Eastern Territory. Unexpectedly, the Eastern Territory sent three representatives. These three, riding tall horses and dressed in magnificent attire, appeared before the castle, exuding the unique mystique of the Eastern Territory.

Their arrival came as a great surprise to the nobles of the other three realms.

The nobles of the Western Frontier stood in the castle hall, exchanging puzzled glances.

"Why would the Eastern Territory send people? What do they mean by this?" Viscount Wilke asked, frowning.

Viscount Wilke is now considered one of the great nobles of the West, not to mention he has the son of the strongest man in the West, so it's natural that he needs to be invited to this meeting.

Earl Lestin, the noble representative from the Southern Territory, crossed his arms and looked wary: "Hmph, they definitely don't have good intentions. Maybe they want to spy on us, or maybe they want to sow discord among us."

Langjing, the noble representative from the North, stroked his chin and pondered, "In any case, since they've come, we can't just drive them away. Let's see what they're up to first."

The three representatives from the Eastern Territory entered the hall, smiling and politely bowing to the nobles from the other three territories.

One of the representatives stepped forward and said, “My lords, I am Earl Anthony Levan from the Western Region of the Eastern Territory. The Eastern Territory learned of your joint meeting and felt that it was an important meeting concerning the entire kingdom’s situation, so we have taken the liberty of coming here. We in the Eastern Territory also hope to contribute to the stability of the kingdom.”

An older lord from the Western nobles stepped forward at the Marquis of Sonata's signal, and sneered, "Hmph, for the stability of the kingdom? When did you Eastern nobles become so kind?"

Count Anthony replied neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Gentlemen, although there are some misunderstandings between our Eastern Territory and other territories, in this time of turmoil in the kingdom, we should all put aside our prejudices and discuss ways to deal with it together."

After all, the death of the Knight Protector is a huge blow to our entire kingdom.

The other nobles from the three realms, though still filled with doubt, felt that what he said made some sense.

So they decided to keep the representatives from the East behind to see how they would perform at the meeting.

Thus, the joint meeting, which originally belonged only to the western, southern and northern regions, became more complicated and unpredictable due to the unexpected participation of the representative from the eastern region.

Two days ago, Viscount Wilke and Marquis Sonata arrived ahead of time so that the three of them could get to know each other better.

In the exquisitely decorated conference room, candlelight flickered, illuminating the solemn faces of the nobles.

“Middle-earth appears peaceful now, but it is actually in utter chaos. This is an excellent opportunity for us,” Viscount Wilke said with a determined look in his eyes, his finger lightly tapping the location of Middle-earth on the map.

Marquis Sonata nodded slightly, a hint of wisdom in his eyes: "That's right. The death of the Guardian Knight has weakened the capital's deterrent power. If we can join forces now and launch a fierce attack on the Central Plains, we will surely gain huge benefits."

(End of this chapter)