Section 155 Design

"Master Duke," the guards at the door came in. "Master Essin is back."

"Let him come in!" Byron finally suppressed his anger and turned his attention to the latest news. He had sent someone out of the city to inquire about the news before. This was a dangerous task, and only Essin volunteered among his subordinates.

A few minutes later, Essin came to Byron. Essin obviously hurriedly reported the news to Byron as soon as he came back, so he was dressed like an ordinary mercenary and wearing a set of rusty mail.

"Master Duke." Essin bent down and saluted by Byron.

Byron nodded.

From an objective perspective, Essin had put forward the correct opinions at the military meeting before, but now the facts proved Essin's inference, so Byron should use him more. Even if it is not important, at least he should look up to him a few times and ask him for advice on military issues. But in fact, this is not the case. From the despicable instinct deep in human hearts that refuses to admit his own mistakes, Byron did not take any attention to Essin. In other words, Essin's current situation has not changed at all, and he is still the excluded and marginalized little officer.

If Essin had not stood up again this time, mainly demanding to accept this dangerous inquiry task, he would have not been qualified to enter the Byron Council Hall at all.

"How is the situation? Is there any major news?" Byron asked. For some reason, when he saw Essing, he remembered the fact that Essing took the initiative to ask for a closure when he retreated in Eagle City. This young man was actually very loyal. Perhaps it was an opportunity to promote him when the main officer was completely destroyed?

No, the next moment, Byron himself denied this idea. Although Essin was loyal and capable, it was not the time to promote him... The military situation was urgent now, and because of the collapse of the main force, there was no suitable military vacancies for Essin to serve as the one.

Essing looked at Byron, and he noticed that Byron's eyes were flashing, and he should be thinking about what he was thinking. If it were the past, Essing would carefully consider what Byron was thinking, or try to hit the side to know this. But now, Essing is too lazy to think about this.

"As far as I know, the Lauder family has betrayed you," said Essin. "The old man Lauder knelt in front of the queen who was younger than his granddaughter, holding her feet and crying while kissing her boots. That scene has become a big joke that people talk about."

"What..." Byron himself was surprised that he was not angry or surprised. Lauder was one of his subordinates, with two solid family castles and a territory in a critical rush of transportation. He originally thought that Lauder could not rebel because the Lauder family was strictly a distant relative of Byron and a branch of the Byron clan. "So... what kind of judgment did that little girl make?"

"She forgave him. Lauder temporarily saved his territory, title and wealth." Essin replied. "Although the scene was unsightly, it was indeed effective. The little queen personally promised not to pursue his crimes for the time being and demanded that he make meritorious service. Many people thought she would not let Lauder go, but she still did this. Duke, I think that little girl...is probably concentrated all the hatred on you alone."

Byron took a deep breath to calm his mood. Although he had known this result long ago - the rebels were either successful or perished, and there was rarely a third way to go - at this moment, he still felt a surge in his heart.

"Is the way out smoothly?" someone asked next to him. "How is their defense and alert situation?"

"When I went out, the enemy was still in a mess, and there were still many loopholes to take advantage of." Essin replied. "My subordinates and I dressed up as a mercenary team and slipped out smoothly. But when we came back, their defense became much tighter. I had to disperse with my subordinates. I found a merchant who provided military supplies for the army and obtained the position of caravan guards for a sum of money, so that we could come back again."

"Where are the others?" Byron frowned.

"I don't know," Essin replied. "I came to see you immediately as soon as I got back to the city, without any stop."

Byron nodded. In order to obtain outside information, this was an acceptable loss. He arranged enough eyeliners and funds in Eagle City to convey various messages back with magical communication. However, in his own territory, he did not make such a thorough arrangement. This is not that Byron did not arrange personnel, but that he could not keep the eyeliners loyal under such circumstances. Even the most trusted vassals turned against each other, and those eyeliners were all dispersed.

Even those eyeliners are still loyal, it is useless. Now it is during the siege... It is an amazing expense to keep the inside and outside information smoothly with magic communication (the messaging scroll is not cheap). Things have changed too quickly, and Byron has not arranged the money.

"Is there any other big news besides the Lauders? I mean, how many people are still faithful to me?"

"Sir Duke, according to my inquiry, your two castles still hold the banner of loyalty."

What Essin mentioned was the territory border castle that Byron had been strengthening before. That place was the battlefield where Byron originally planned to fight the Little Queen - of course it is no longer the case. Both castles had thousands of elite defenders, who had stockpiled enough food and supplies to last for a long time under the siege. However, at present, the Little Queen directly ignored the two castles. She prepared a small army there to monitor the defenders. The defenders did not make any attempts to fight because of Byron's previous order of "staying the castle as the first priority".

"Very good, very good." Byron breathed a sigh of relief. He still had the capital.

In fact, he really didn't expect the situation to be so bad. At the beginning, Byron knew the news of his main force's destruction. Although he was gritting his teeth and full of anger and hatred for being teased, he did not have that sense of crisis in the true sense. This is because his strength is indeed very strong. Even if his 60,000 main force disappeared from the world, if he could summon vassals and gather his other remaining troops, his military strength would still be no less than 25,000. In addition, due to sufficient combat preparations, all the castles and cities in his territory, including Fornoros, had abundant defenders and supplies, and the little queen could be dragged to death by defending alone.

From a simple perspective of military numbers, even if Byron's main force is destroyed, he still has a certain advantage. Unfortunately, war has never been a game that relies solely on numbers. The news of his defeat directly disintegrated the fighting spirit of his subordinates - because no matter what, the little girl is an open and legal monarch in this country, while Byron is just a traitor. The reason they supported Byron in the past was entirely because they believed that Byron's strength could win this victory.

But once this concept changes... people will immediately overestimate the power of the queen. In the logic of ordinary people, there is no chance of winning against the queen with a Fornoros City. No matter how strong or loyal the city is, it is still just a city. Yes, Fornoros City is a big city. But in Groney, there are still more than ten cities that can compete with Fornoros City.

"I have written the other things into a report for you to read at any time," said Essin.

"Essin, you're doing a great job," Byron praised.

"It is my honor to serve you." Essin bowed again and thanked.

"Okay, you can step down. I guess you're tired, go and have a good rest." Byron replied. Essin was a little surprised by this reply, and then came back to his senses and looked around for a while. He saw Byerheim, Byron's eldest son, who was looking at him with a sarcastic smile.

After performing such a dangerous task, he only received a "well done" evaluation... I guess this one was doing something bad behind the scenes. But who made them father and son? Although Essin was capable, could he be comparable to Byron's heart? This answer is obviously no.

Essin smiled slightly, saluted again, and turned around and left.

"By the way, Lord Duke." Essin seemed to have thought of something before leaving the house. "I forgot something just now."

"Oh, what else?"

"Sir Duke, I met an old acquaintance in the military camp before when I entered the city."

"Old acquaintance?" Byron was very interested. He knew that Essing was a mercenary, so he knew that Essing, the "old acquaintance", meant friends he met in his mercenary career. For mercenaries, it is common for two friends to be different on the battlefield. This basically does not affect their loyalty, but will allow them to connect in the gaps in the war.

"Yes, an old friend. He was a middle-level officer under the little queen." Essin said. "I think this might be an opportunity."

“What kind of opportunity?”

"Well... Lord Duke, he owes me a great favor," said Essin. "If possible, I believe... he will let me go. In other words, if you need someone to go out and ask for information, you can let me go again. I believe he will let me go through the barracks."

"Oh..." Byron seriously thought about this new gain and considered various possibilities.

"If it's a small amount of supplies, I think it's definitely not a problem with him if he helps."

"I get it." Byron nodded to Essin, signaling that the other party could step down.

When Essin left, Baierheim immediately spoke, "My father, I think there is something wrong with this Essin."

"Why?"

"He's the only one who went out to have a whole squad now." Baierheim said. "There's no such coincidence in the world. He may have betrayed him as a counter-espionage..."

"Bayer, there is no need to think too much about this," Byron said. "Essin's reliability is beyond doubt."

"Why are you so sure!"

"Before, he was the little girl's personal bodyguard. But I sent him... there was another one named Cleo who was responsible for arresting the little girl at the palace. Essin did not turn around because the queen could not forgive him... it would be fine for others, but Essin... I'm afraid that the little girl would hang him directly when she saw him, and would not even give him a chance to speak."
Chapter completed!