The Anju Kingdom quickly determined a new strategic direction, and unlike the orderly changes following Alberto’s order, the Cape Royal Capital was in chaos.
There was currently no reliable detailed battle report from the Cape side. After all, the information system in the Cape Royal Capital was originally quite lacking, coupled with the numerous factions within the capital, where internal thoughts could not be unified. Everyone only accepted the information they wanted to hear, resulting in a tremendous confusion regarding the northern border.
Although Lilith previously said to first consider the southwestern border issues, over time, the northern border problem was brought back into discussion.
At this time, Monroe was dominating the round table meeting.
“The Demon Clan is almost unifying the northern border. Why are you still unwilling to admit that the Demon Clan is indeed stronger than us humans?”
The other nobles at the meeting were silenced by Monroe’s outburst and did not know where Monroe got the information claiming the Demon Clan had defeated the Graythorn Territory and intended to push forward through the Jinshui Plateau across the entire northern border.
According to information received earlier, the Demon Clan’s relentless monsters indeed achieved their goals.
Many nobles believed that peace talks with the Demon Clan should be initiated quickly to assess the situation, urging Lilith to take action soon. If they did not delineate boundaries with the Demon Clan now, it was possible that the Demon Clan would truly encompass the entire northern border, and by then, even if Lilith wanted to negotiate, it would be too late.
Seeing Lilith still sitting calmly in her seat, Monroe could not help but sigh and said, “What is wrong with this country? Your Majesty, at this time, shouldn’t we take action? The territory the Demon Clan desires is not extensive; just surrendering a small portion of the current northern border would suffice. This way, we could let the Graythorn Territory continue to struggle against the Demon Clan, and once both sides are exhausted, we can swoop in and reclaim the northern border. Wouldn’t that be better?”
Lilith did not rush but asked, “Sir Monroe, where did you get this information?”
This was information that the Demon Clan had conveyed solely to Monroe, so he certainly could not state this and instead explained, “Your Majesty, after all, our eastern border is adjacent to the northern border. This is information I obtained through personal channels.”
“I am acting solely for the sake of this country, Your Majesty. Please take action and negotiate with the northern border! Do you really not care about this country?”
Monroe continued to urge, and although he appeared polite on the surface, his words began to attack Lilith, which dissatisfied the new party’s radicals who, like Monroe, believed they should move quickly to assess the northern border situation.
“But since the Demon Clan is almost unifying the northern border, what use is our intervention? Do we really have the capital to negotiate with the Demon Clan?”
Lilith pointed to the core of the problem; even if the information was true, would the Demon Clan, if they really were the good guys, sit down to negotiate nicely with them?
“Of course!”
Monroe was very confident, standing up to say, “Your Majesty, although I know you are dissatisfied with the loans given by the Demon Clan in the capital, but isn’t lending very normal? Among everyone present, who dares to say their family has never lent money? Are you all that clean? The Demon Clan merely has a higher interest rate. Why should they receive discrimination?”
Many participants started to sweat with concern; only a little higher interest, huh? How much benefit had Monroe received from the Demon Clan to start speaking such nonsense?
Many recalled the former chancellor, Caudic, who also liked to speak blindfolded, and back then, quite a few people genuinely believed in those claims.
Monroe, unfazed by the nobles’ complicated glances, continued, “The Demon Clan is different from us humans; they are not greedy. What they seek is merely a peaceful territory. As long as Your Majesty is willing to grant the Demon Clan a piece of land, then the kingdom will surely achieve everlasting friendship with the Demon Clan.”
“You’re talking nonsense!”
At this moment, someone from the Church could no longer hold back and stood up to shout, “How could we possibly have everlasting peace with those man-eating monsters from the Demon Clan? Don’t you know what the Demon Clan fights with?”
At that time, Claire suddenly perked up, and the voice that spoke was not only the church representative, but also Josephine, the assistant Lilith had arranged beside Claire. She was a female paladin who detested evil and posed significant trouble for Claire, who had complete control over the palace defense.
Facing Josephine’s questioning, Monroe appeared less than interested, saying, “They’re just a bunch of lowly creatures. Those mud-footed people are nothing but ants, destined to struggle in the mud. Compared to us, we carry an ancient bloodline with noble families, and the Demon Clan is eager to contact noble bloodlines like ours. What harm is there in sacrificing some mud-footed people for the sake of our mutual peace?”
As soon as these words were spoken, even many of the observing nobles felt Monroe had gone too far. Even if some thought he had a point, his facade still had to be maintained.
“They’re all living people!”
Josephine could no longer endure and directly confronted Monroe.
Monroe matched Josephine’s intensity, saying, “The suffering that the Demon Clan has endured over time far surpasses those mud-footed folks. Even the Demon Clan hasn’t complained, so what qualifications do the mud-footed people have to complain?”
Monroe immediately centered the discussion around this topic, fabricating history and launching an offensive against Josephine.
This move was a classic sophistry tactic, and Josephine, who was not particularly skilled in debate and did not understand much about history, was more devoted to her faith in the Goddess and her loyalty to Lilith. Soon, she was left speechless by Monroe’s barrage.
Seeing that, Monroe pressed on and directly began personal attacks against Josephine.
At this moment, sensing the atmosphere in the room was tense, Josephine seemed to reach the edge of fury, and Claire immediately intervened, saying, “Knight Josephine, let’s speak calmly; don’t let it escalate!”
With those words, many nobles were stunned. What does “don’t let it escalate” mean? Isn’t that fanning the flames?
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Josephine erupted in anger and drew her blade from her waist. The venue typically prohibited weapons, but Josephine was different; she was originally Lilith’s court guard and was also Claire’s deputy responsible for palace defense, which made it entirely normal for her to carry a weapon while staying close to Lilith.
However, Josephine did not intend to go all out; she did not use magic or divine skills but aimed straight at Monroe, showing a shred of sanity despite her fury by not striking at vital points.
Monroe was startled by this sudden flare-up and hurriedly stood up prepared to retreat back.
However, Josephine was immediately stopped by someone from the Church beside her.
“Knight Josephine, calm down.”
Josephine quickly regained her composure, realizing what she had done, and immediately knelt, saying, “I am guilty; please punish me, Your Majesty.”
This incident was indeed quite severe, yet Lilith decided to first protect Josephine, not only because Josephine was arranged by Lilith herself, but also because Monroe’s previous remarks were truly excessive. Lilith decided to symbolically punish both Josephine and Monroe together, defining this incident as a dispute of the meeting, lifting it high and then gently setting it down.
Just as Lilith prepared to jump down from her seat to announce the handling results, Claire jumped out again, also kneeling beside Josephine, saying, “It’s my fault as the supervisor; all of this is my mistake. Please do not blame Knight Josephine. She has always done her utmost to protect the palace. Today’s incident is merely a moment of impulse; the palace defense truly cannot proceed without Knight Josephine.”
“……”
Lilith fell silent for a moment. Although Claire stepped forward to intercede, could Lilith really punish Claire? On the contrary, Claire’s intervention somewhat changed the nature of the incident from a violent conflict at the meeting to whether Josephine was truly suitable to continue serving as the palace defense.
“Knight Josephine is temporarily relieved of her duties, and Sir Monroe is prohibited from continuing to speak on this topic.”
In the end, Lilith sighed and issued her judgment. Upon hearing this decision, Monroe clicked his tongue, appearing incredibly dissatisfied. Being prohibited from discussing this topic, where the capital had recently been revolving around this very matter, was equivalent to being silenced directly. Monroe considered himself the victim, feeling that this handling was clearly quite unfair, especially since he was a high-ranking noble from the eastern border; in the past, this female knight could have been executed without hesitation.
However, Monroe received a warning glance from Claire, and in the end, could only sit back down in resentment.
Meanwhile, Josephine believed Claire was helping her, and upon hearing that it was only a temporary relief from her duties, she cast a grateful glance at Claire.
