Jefferson, as usual, was eating beef, singing songs, and enjoying life with his wife.
He was intrigued to see the messenger’s face turned a color of anger resembling a beef liver. What could have happened in Graywhite Territory to make that messenger so furious?
Moreover, after the messenger left, Wisk immediately sent letters to all the nobles in the western part of the Northern Border, setting a time and place to prepare for a joint expedition against the rebellious old Lars family.
It seemed even Wisk was furious, which brought immense pleasure to Jefferson. Although Jefferson had also joined Wisk’s camp, the Champagne Nobility maintained only a superficial harmony; privately, they were not getting along.
Furthermore, Jefferson had been threatening Wisk’s position for a long time, so their relationship was not good at all.
However, as a classic fence-sitter, Jefferson was still invited by Wisk to join the expedition against Lars. But Jefferson, being the farthest from Wisk and closest to Graywhite Territory, didn’t need to gather; he just needed to wait until the army arrived before joining in.
Still, since Fasen Town was closest to Graywhite Territory, advance preparations were necessary. At the same time, Jefferson was calculating how to ensure the battle wouldn’t affect Fasen Town; if it did, how would he seek compensation?
His merchant mind quickly took over Jefferson’s thoughts.
At that moment, a flustered attendant burst into Jefferson’s dining room.
“Lord Viscount, there’s bad news!”
Jefferson looked up at the attendant and reprimanded, “What’s with the panic? Did you forget what I told you? As a noble’s servant, one must maintain elegance! What exactly happened?”
The attendant immediately stood up, elegantly bowed to Jefferson, and said, “It’s bad, my lord, they’ve attacked from Graywhite Territory!”
Crash!
Jefferson was so startled that he fell off his chair.
“They’ve attacked? Are you sure? Graywhite Territory not only didn’t retreat but has come to attack us?”
What the hell, is Lind insane?
That was Jefferson’s first reaction.
After all, the allied forces had gathered the strength of the entire western Northern Border, with Wisk claiming over fifty thousand men. Anyone hearing this would have long been scared off.
Though there were many exaggerations regarding these fifty thousand troops, even if they were just fifty thousand pigs, if Graywhite Territory deployed everyone, it would be an impossible task.
Jefferson originally thought Lind was going to mock him and then retreat into the Giant God Mountain Range to directly ally with the elves, since it seemed the elves had a decent opinion of Lind. But unexpectedly, Lind was going for a direct confrontation.
And Jefferson quickly realized that if it was a direct confrontation, then the nearest point downstream, Fasen Town, would have to be taken. If Fasen Town fell into the hands of the allied forces, it would serve as a base from which they could attack Graywhite Territory at any time.
But if it remained in Graywhite Territory’s hands, Lind could even consolidate Graywhite Territory and Fasen Town into one, making Fasen Town a stronghold for Graywhite Territory, allowing it to launch proactive attacks.
Jefferson had always believed that even if Graywhite Territory dared to attack, they would surely adopt a defensive strategy, holding onto Graywhite Territory and relying on the Giant God Mountain Range to conduct guerrilla warfare while waiting for the Lars family’s remnants for rescue.
He never expected that Graywhite Territory would actually consider a proactive offensive to seize Fasen Town.
This idea was extremely radical.
One must understand that Graywhite Territory’s population was not large enough, and the intention to split off troops to seize Fasen Town implied they would have to throw aside defense to launch an assault. This completely exceeded Jefferson’s expectations.
Realizing this, Jefferson jumped three feet high, shouting, “Get the horses ready, flee, hurry!”
Fasen Town was essentially a commercial city, nestled in the comfortable western Northern Border, lacking any defense. There was only a knight regiment led by a second-tier professional. He had heard that a squad of demon clan soldiers that had appeared near Graywhite Territory had mysteriously disappeared, and later there were many masked sisters in Graywhite Territory; Jefferson actually knew something was amiss.
Moreover, based on what he saw last time in Graywhite Territory, Jefferson felt that Fasen Town couldn’t possibly hold out.
“Where are you trying to escape to, Lord Jefferson?”
As soon as the words fell, Jefferson saw Lind fully armed, directly leading a group of soldiers holding metal fire sticks burst into his dining room.
“Brother, why didn’t you tell me you were visiting? I haven’t had time to treat you yet.”
Jefferson immediately switched to a panicked expression, nervously rubbing his hands in front of Lind.
How could he have come so quickly? The attendant had just reported, and they were already here.
Lind was also a bit surprised; in a sense, they had already entered a state of war, but Fasen Town surprisingly had no defenses. When Lind and the soldiers entered the town, some merchants along the way were still busy marketing their goods.
It wasn’t until Lena’s knights began to control the situation and took over the town’s defenses that Fasen Town realized they were under attack from upstream.
As soon as the knight regiment of Fasen Town was about to mobilize, they were quickly suppressed by Lena’s knights, with no chance for rescue.
Lind sat directly opposite Jefferson and said, “I believe Lord Jefferson is already aware that some scoundrels in the Northern Border are colluding with external enemies, patricide and fratricide, which cannot be tolerated by heaven and earth. We should unite to oppose these unfilial and unjust individuals. However, some profit-driven people have been blinded by money and power and have become pawns for them, even attempting to attack us in Graywhite Territory.”
“You know, we in Graywhite Territory have always cherished peace and never provoke conflicts, but now that someone has set their sights on us, we must resist.”
Jefferson’s eyes darted around as he tried to stall for time, hoping to drag in those professional guards within his territory for rescue, thus launching a delaying strategy.
“Indeed, Wisk is really blind to act as a dog for such scum.”
“Oh, does Lord Jefferson think so too? That’s wonderful.”
After saying this, Lind pulled out a stack of letters he had written in advance and handed them to an attendant beside him.
“Find a few reliable adventurers and have them deliver this letter to Wisk.”
Having received the stack of envelopes, the attendant immediately left.
Jefferson, with keen eyes, noticed that those letters were all written in his name.
“Brother, what does that letter say?”
“Oh, nothing much, just stating that you have clearly recognized that Wisk and his gang are heartless scoundrels, and Fasen Town has decided to resist this group of dressed beasts to the end.”
A very low-level scheme of sowing discord. The message was not even sent by Jefferson’s servants but by a group of adventurers. To prevent any unreliable actions from the adventurers, Lind even sent a few more copies.
Jefferson chuckled inwardly; after so many conflicts with Wisk, did he really think such a low-level scheme would go unnoticed? At that point, Wisk would certainly find a way to rescue him.
At that moment, Lind suddenly said lightly, “Lord Jefferson, you aren’t still fantasizing that those guys from Wisk will come to rescue you, are you?”
Jefferson, who had been anxiously rubbing his hands, stopped his actions.
Yes, it was an obvious scheme, but so what? Wisk and those nobles would love to have fewer people to share the cake with. Besides, Jefferson had also become part of that cake.
Jefferson could even imagine that even if he did escape from Lind’s grasp, and made it to the allied forces’ territory, those beast-hearted individuals would only kill him and then tearfully dress him in enemy clothes.
At this moment, Jefferson finally realized that Fasen Town’s geographical position couldn’t act as a neutral ground; there truly was no neutral ground in this world, only places with backing and places without. Fasen Town had previously been able to hedge its bets because its geographical position could be considered expendable.
But things were different now.
Just then, several professionals broke through the window and guarded Jefferson’s side. Lind’s guards immediately raised their ray guns, preparing to shoot.
“Lord Jefferson, we’ve come to rescue you!”
It was clear that this professional was incredibly loyal; even though Fasen Town had been taken over, they still rushed to save Jefferson.
However, Jefferson slapped the person and revealed a resolute look in his eyes.
“Rescue? What do I need rescuing for? Don’t you see I’m having an important discussion with my brother?”
