Chapter 63 - 61: Soft Target, Sovereign of a Nation

Chapter 63: Chapter 61: Soft Target, Sovereign of a Nation

In Roy’s opinion, it wasn’t strange that the four Dukes would make such a choice.

When he learned that the forces of the Royal Family and the four Dukes were to act separately, he had felt that something wasn’t quite right.

Although Baron Giant Monster had told him it was to force the Kalin Kingdom to choose between two options.

But he still felt the plan between the Royal Family and the four Dukes was a bit too careless.

For one thing, even if the four Dukes’ forces did catch the Kalin Kingdom off guard and conquered cities and territories in Oak Province, the troops of the four Dukes alone could never withstand a full-blown counterattack from the Kalin Kingdom.

On the surface, it seemed the Kalin Kingdom, forced to respond, could only choose between the Tulip Domain and Oak Province.

In reality, however, the Kalin Kingdom didn’t need to choose at all.

Even if it temporarily lost both the Tulip Domain and Oak Province, the Kalin Kingdom could take them back.

As long as the King of the Kalin Kingdom, Hiram Thompson, had a little patience and wasn’t blinded by short-term gains and losses.

The situation before him wouldn’t be a dilemma, but a single problem: how to drive back the enemies who had invaded the Tulip Domain and Oak Province.

In the first Tulip War sixteen years ago, the Kalin Kingdom had withstood the Laine Kingdom’s all-out assault. They had emerged victorious on the battlefield and in the clash of top-tier combatants, forcing William II to sign a peace treaty and relinquish the prosperous Tulip Domain.

The Kalin Kingdom had held the upper hand even without the Tulip Domain.

And now, after possessing the Tulip Domain for sixteen years, the Kalin Kingdom’s overall national strength had only grown stronger.

As for top-tier combatants.

That went without saying.

Even with the Flying Dragon Knight dead, the Kalin Kingdom’s High-Level combat power was no weaker than the Laine Kingdom’s.

Because even without counting the Flying Dragon Knight, the Kalin Kingdom still had four Silver Great Knights.

The Laine Kingdom, on the other hand, only had three.

Moreover, with the Flying Dragon Knight as a role model, many young nobles in the Kalin Kingdom who were far down the line of succession had embarked on the same path of training as him.

While none of these young nobles training abroad had yet been promoted to Silver Great Knight, a significant number had advanced to the rank of Great Knight during their journeys.

In other words, whether it was Silver Great Knights or the lower-Level Bronze and Black Iron Great Knights, the Kalin Kingdom held the advantage.

Roy didn’t know what William II and the four Dukes had discussed.

But he could vaguely guess at it. When William II approached the four Dukes and announced his intention to reclaim the Tulip Domain, they must have conceived the idea of joining forces to destroy the Royal Family and establish their own duchies.

For William II, losing the Tulip Domain to the Kalin Kingdom was an undeniable humiliation.

He couldn’t rest easy for a single day until the Tulip Domain was reclaimed.

But for the four Dukes, losing the Tulip Domain was not an unacceptable loss.

After all, even if the Kalin Kingdom hadn’t taken it, the Tulip Domain would have had nothing to do with them.

The Tulip Marquis was a Vassal of the Royal Family.

The taxes paid by the Tulip Domain went into the Royal Family’s coffers.

More importantly, compared to the Kalin Kingdom, the Royal Family was a much softer target.

The four Dukes weren’t sure if they could defeat the Kalin Kingdom in a second Tulip War.

But they were certain of one thing: if the four of them joined forces, they could absolutely destroy the Royal Family.

Furthermore, after dividing up the lands of the Royal Family and its Vassals, their power and status would allow them to establish their own duchies. They would transform from Dukes of a Kingdom into true sovereign rulers.

A Duchy’s status might be lower than a Kingdom’s.

Even so, a Duchy was still a country—a country where they would have absolute authority.

Having pieced together the whole story, Roy also understood why his Spiritual sense had given him a warning about Tony being killed and Erin, Aili, and the others being captured.

Clearly, it was because the four Dukes’ rebellion had plunged the entire Laine Kingdom into chaos.

William II’s importance to the Laine Kingdom was the same as Count Rock Lion’s to Yorkshire.

The moment they died, the fragile peace among the nobles would instantly vanish without a trace.

To say nothing of the fact that the Vassals of the Laine Kingdom were already divided into Royal and Ducal factions.

Even if all the Vassals in the Kingdom had been enfeoffed by the Royal Family, many of the families were still sworn enemies.

Once the restraint from above was gone, it was inevitable that these families would start fighting each other.

Take the Wesley Clan, for instance.

The successive Barons Red Eagle and Giant Dog had all harbored ambitions of completely wiping out the Wesley Clan and seizing the Ice Wolf Domain.

If the members of the Wesley Clan hadn’t been so capable, the family would have lost its noble status long ago.

Forget their noble status; it’s hard to say if they would even still exist.

After all, each generation of the Wesley Clan was never very large.

Having figured out the whole situation, Roy continued toward the military camp’s main gate without any hesitation.

If before he had been the only one who wanted to return to his family’s domain...

...then now, the vast majority of Knights in the vassal army wanted to do the same.

Like Roy, they had guessed the truth behind the Second Tulip War from the shouts announcing William II’s death.

Although there was no proof yet that William II had been killed, they were certain of one thing: the Second Tulip War was not going to happen.

The military camp, already noisy from the emergency assembly order, now descended into even greater chaos.

Soon, Roy reached the main gate of the camp.

Both the main gate and the surrounding walls of the camp were fifteen to twenty meters high.

Aside from Great Knights, only a small handful of the most exceptional Peak Knights could leap over them on their own power, without the aid of any tools.

This was the very reason the camp’s gate and walls were built to such a height.

For the vast majority of Knights in the camp, getting past the main gate—whether by leaping over it or forcing their way through—was an incredibly difficult task.

But for Roy, it was a simple matter.

In the blink of an eye, enveloped in a white, Flame-like Fighting Qi, he arrived before the gate.

Before the Royal Knights guarding the gate could approach, he pushed off powerfully with his legs and soared high into the air.

As the Royal Knights and soldiers watched, he effortlessly cleared the gate and landed outside the camp.

Then, he broke into a sprint, heading in the direction of the Ice Wolf Domain.

Only after he had vanished from the sight of the Royal Knights and soldiers on the watchtowers did Baron Giant Monster finally emerge from his tent, having donned his armor and Sword.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Allen, Miria, Bandi, and the others gathered before him.

’Where’s Roy?’

Noticing Roy’s absence, Baron Giant Monster’s expression instantly turned grim.

Before he could speak, Allen’s voice rang out.

"I went to Roy’s tent. He wasn’t there."

Allen said, his brow furrowed.

He hadn’t seen Roy leave, but he had heard the shouts announcing William II’s death, and a suspicion had immediately flashed through his mind.

Soon, his suspicion was confirmed.

As he, Miria, and the others watched, Baron Giant Monster spoke. "He’s gone back to the Ice Wolf Domain."

...