Chapter 176: The Big Fish

Although the air still smelled a bit of rotting flesh, it was much better than the past few days.

This was because most of the Barbarian corpses had been cleaned up. Today, the defenders only sent out a few light cavalry teams for reconnaissance, so they did not need to send a large number of laborers and soldiers to handle the aftermath outside Brandenburg. Just to be safe, the North Gate, which had just been opened, was quickly closed again.

Because the weather was too cold, the wind in the valley was like knives, scraping against people’s faces. The watchtowers, which were supposed to be dismantled after the city defense battle, were kept instead. Even the section that had been destroyed by House Cranston was now being rebuilt with new watchtowers. From this, it felt like the war had not yet subsided.

The biggest problem was that although the watchtowers successfully reduced the invasion of the cold wind, the leather nailed on the outside, besides being fireproof, also had good water resistance to prevent snow water from eroding the Ebony planks, effectively extending the life of the watchtowers. However, the snow on the watchtowers had to be cleaned regularly, and the impact of the heavy pressure might be greater on the wooden structures.

After just experiencing a great battle and without the threat of enemies, the soldiers also seemed to become a bit lazy for a while. The way to manage subordinates sometimes requires a balance of relaxation and tension; being too tight is not good. So, under the guidance of Knight Ahuatan, George turned a blind eye to some of the soldiers’ minor laziness today.

However, those who eat the army’s pay must be able to hold the gun, and those who relaxed too much still had to be scolded. Of course, since the great battle had just passed, there would not be any too severe punishment. Fortunately, the soldiers in Bolerum Territory were all elites, or rather, experienced, and no one did anything too outrageous. This left George with no opportunity to make an example of anyone.

In this atmosphere of everyone relaxing, George suddenly had the thought of stealing a half-day of leisure. But before he could put it into practice, he was suddenly attacked.

“You bastard, George!” With that shout, Aldred hit George hard like a human cannonball. Then Aldred grabbed George’s neck with both hands, squeezed with his legs, and climbed on top without getting down.

Following Aldred, Chrispian, Green, and Ben also appeared in front of George. They all had expressions of gritting their teeth, and those who did not know might think these four had a deep grudge against George.

Hiren, on the side, seemed weak and listless because he had not killed enough in the previous battle. Yawning, he didn’t even have the energy to watch the show, let alone notice George’s gesture for help.

“What are you guys doing!” George pretended to ignore the big burden on his back, turned around, and greeted his close friends as if nothing had happened.

“Jamón Ibérico!” The first thing George heard was Aldred’s mournful whisper in his ear while he was lying on his back.

Chrispian squeezed his fists, which he had been holding alternately, and then glared at George, saying: “Jamón Ibérico!”

“Jamón Ibérico!” Green’s words seemed slightly off-key because he was gritting his teeth.

“Jamón Ibérico!” Although Ben’s words did not reveal too much resentment, his constant wiping of his throwing axes always gave a bad feeling.

It seemed that George’s lavish military treat last night had quickly caused trouble for himself. Fortunately, George had quite rich experience in dealing with these foodies. Although they made a visual threat with their actions, they had not even made verbal threats, which meant there was still enough room for negotiation.

“I remember that the Jamón Ibérico last night seemed not to be finished, right!” As soon as George said this, Aldred, who was behind him, obediently let go and slid down automatically.

George, taking advantage of the heat, touched his chin and said: “It is said that vegetable soup made from Jamón Ibérico bones tastes quite delicious! I can already imagine the feeling of the warm grease sliding through the mouth.”

“Gurgle—” The sound of swallowing saliva kept ringing in George’s ear. Ben spoke first: “George, your restaurant wouldn’t mind adding a few more plates, right!”

“We don’t have any extra tableware!” George said, squinting his eyes and teasing them.

“Tableware is not a problem! We can bring our own.” Chrispian turned to the partners on both sides and asked, “Right?”

“Yes! Yes!” These nearly unanimous words completely exposed the thoughts of the four.

Seeing the four people in front of him with their eyes shining, George knew that if he continued to tease them, he would not get a good outcome. So, after his expression changed several times and he pretended to make a very difficult decision, he said in a heavy tone: “Forget it, come if you want to.”

“Hooray! Long live Jamón Ibérico!” The cheers of the young men almost overturned the roof of the watchtower.

This exaggerated, game-like interaction was a special way for these close friends to get along, and it also helped to relieve the stress accumulated in daily life. In front of others, the four would never behave in such a way.

Next, these four minors should have been together bragging and talking nonsense. But just then, a glimmer of light appeared in the clouds in the sky. That golden bright light added a few more colors to the gray sky.

When they got closer, George confirmed through the observation window of the watchtower that the visitor should be Knight Val. Although the distance was too far to see the visitor’s face, that Sunlight Warhorse was the best sign. Although there was more than one Knight Val who owned a Sunlight Warhorse in the Prime Material Plane, who else would appear near Brandenburg at this time?

When it became clear to the naked eye, George found that Knight Val seemed to have brought back two captives on his horse. He quickly turned to Hiren on the side and said: “Hiren, snap out of it! Knight Val has returned. If you don’t want to be scolded again, don’t let him see you like this.”

Hiren, who had been sitting on the ground weakly, jumped up as if there were needles under his butt. Then, in front of everyone, he stood like a soldier at attention, showing his Billheilington-like posture that could bring pressure to others.

By lunchtime, Knight Val, who was like a divine dragon appearing at the head and disappearing at the tail, finally appeared before everyone. Seeing his radiant face, it was clear that his mood was very good.

After everyone sat down, George asked tentatively: “Are the two you captured really key figures?”

“Your previous guess was not wrong at all. The value of these two loot items is greater than anything else! Let’s eat first, and we will talk about the rest later.” Knight Val said, stuffing bread into his mouth. From this somewhat rude behavior, it could be seen that his mood was very pleasant.

Getting a confirmed answer, George’s heart beat a few beats faster. Because if his previous guess was true and Knight Val had succeeded, then the benefits that these loot items could bring were indeed shocking even to George, who was used to big scenes.

At the very beginning, George had guessed about the possible cooperation between the Barbarians and the Kingdom of Lucia. Such cooperation must have key liaison and supervision personnel. The Kingdom of Lucia would never let the Barbarians act freely after providing them with supplies. Even with the guarantee of a contract, it could not prevent the other party from working without effort.

So, it was decided that the Kingdom of Lucia would send personnel to the Barbarians. Such a secret agreement between countries, no one could rely on the other party’s credit for execution, right! And the two loot items he mentioned were not just the two captives in George’s previous question. That was just one of the loot items; the other important loot item was the contract document between the Kingdom of Lucia and the Barbarians. With both human and physical evidence, there would be plenty of ways to bargain with the Kingdom of Lucia.

After lunch, George immediately drove out the few foodies who were almost licking their plates. He prepared to understand the specific situation from Knight Val and the scope of what could be done.

After confirming that no one was outside the room, George got straight to the point: “In your opinion, if this matter is made public, how much impact will it have on the Kingdom of Lucia? Can it stop its outward expansion within a certain period of time?”

“From the evidence obtained so far, there is no such possibility. Because the contracts signed personally by King Pastfield III of the Kingdom of Lucia have mostly been sent back to the Lucia territory. The remaining ones, from the content, cannot serve as key evidence. Of course, there are also many signatures from the ministers of the Kingdom of Lucia, but the specific effect is really hard to say.” The message revealed by Knight Val was not as optimistic as George had previously thought.

“Is it because there are no strong powers around the Kingdom of Lucia that can pose a sufficient threat to it?” George immediately understood the helplessness. For a regional power with no strong enemies around, such a scandal, although having an impact, what effect it can have is still debatable.

After thinking for a while, George spoke again: “So we can only bargain privately.”

“Yes! And the negotiations in this aspect must be led by the Duchy. We, Bolerum Territory, do not have this qualification yet.” Knight Val sighed and said.