Chapter 2807 - 1201: Scheming and Infighting (Part 2)

Chapter 2807: Chapter 1201: Scheming and Infighting (Part 2)

"As long as Prince Harried isn’t foolish, he surely won’t rely on these ships for sailing; they’re likely just to help these mercenaries get accustomed to the water environment. When it’s really time to set sail, he’ll definitely buy or hire bigger and more sea ships."

In a casual manner, Duke Sigfried asked, "Old Duke, assuming the Prince’s mercenary army really took the sea route, what’s the likelihood they’d be attacked by pirates from the Islands of Nelanser? If they were attacked, how many would survive?"

"You should ask that question to the pirates; your Willen City is closest to them and deals with them regularly," Duke Walter responded expressionlessly.

Keep pretending, keep pretending; everyone knows your Zaze Sibo City is the largest fence for the pirates from the Islands of Nelanser.

Many goods that leave your Zaze Sibo City are returned in a few days, auctioned for a second, third, and even fourth time.

Can you say you know nothing about it? That you have no dealings with the pirates of the Islands of Nelanser?

Who would believe that if you said it out loud?

After silently despising the other party, Duke Sigfried smiled and said, "I was just hypothetically speaking; based on the old Duke’s understanding of those pirates, what’s the likelihood they’d launch an attack?"

"Hard to say," Duke Walter gave a direct answer this time. "With the discovery of the New Continent, it’s not just us shifting our focus of development; those pirates’ attention has also turned there.

Many pirates have transformed into explorers of the New Continent; after all, plundering from the New Continent is safer and more profitable than attacking armed merchant ships, not to mention the retaliation they’d face afterward.

Unless they were certain that Prince Harried’s fleet carried great wealth.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t risk attacking an army.

Pirates are greedy but not stupid."

Both parties are old foxes, speaking with hidden meanings.

Hypotheticals could become reality.

All four of their ducal family backgrounds are tainted, involved with foreign powers outside the Theser Kingdom.

Duke Walter of Zaze Sibo City has ambiguous connections with the pirates of the Islands of Nelanser.

Duke Zeber of Myratma City is closely associated with the Pashas of Karinshan, engaging in numerous trade exchanges; it’s rumored they’ve also dabbled in the slave trade, turning many people of Tesser into Karinshan slaves.

Duke Sigfried of Willen City is a trade partner with those treacherous merchants of the Amm Kingdom, with half the wood needed by their shipyards coming from the Willen Peninsula.

Duke Francis of Saladas City seems the least problematic; the city-state alliance on the North Shore of Steam Lake has always been weak, it’s always Saladas City invading them; they can hardly pose a threat to the Theser Kingdom.

Yet the world isn’t flat; it’s dimensional.

Saladas City doesn’t have large iron ore fields, yet it’s famed for its heavy cavalry armor, possessing not only the Theser Kingdom’s best heavy cavalry regiment but also exporting quite a bit.

At least before Colossus City was restarted by the Conqueror, they were the largest exporter of heavy cavalry armor.

This indirectly proves a rumor, that beneath the Omuran Mountain Range lies a group of dwarves, likely remnants of the Dwarf Empire Shanata; even if they haven’t aligned with Saladas City, there’s tight trade between them.

"It’s time," Duke Francis softly reminded.

No matter what scheming occurs between them, that’s internal to the Theser Kingdom; now they must unite externally.

As they watched the mercenary camp, it had already taken action.

A group of three soared out of the camp, flying towards them.

The three were highly distinctive and easily recognizable.

Leading the group was one dressed as a spellcaster, adorned with expensive trinkets, naturally exuding an air of regal elegance.

He wore a monocle, adding scholarly charm, resembling a Mage Scholar from the Mage Tower.

Yet no one would foolishly think it’s an accessory or for vision correction; there’s no such thing as shortsightedness in Felen, especially for mages, with a low-level vision correction spell permanently optimizing their sight.

If more powerful, one could even affix a series of special abilities to their eyes, like Dark Vision, Eagle Eye Technique, X-ray Vision, etc.

Glasses and similar accessories typically signify potent magic equipment, possessing unique magical effects and at least surpassing regular items, like the Dragon’s Sight Glasses once providing great convenience to Gaven in the early days.

Though he intentionally grew a short black beard to appear mature, these old foxes discerned his true age at a glance, not surpassing thirty.

This person was their objective, Prince Harried, carrying the purest royal bloodline of the Tesser Kingdom.

To his right followed a knight, at least dressed as one, but with a physique far from typical, astonishingly obese.

Apart from the head, his body seemed almost uniformly thick from top to bottom, with everyone seemingly able to hear the strained whimpers of his knight’s armor, every clasp taut to the limit, giving the illusion they might burst at any moment.