Chapter 437: Sold Without A Bid
Phield had no interest in playing the diplomatic game anymore. He casually exchanged a few words, then took Charlotte around for a brief stroll. Using the excuse that he was exhausted from the journey, he returned to his bedroom ahead of everyone else and called Ashina over to discuss their countermeasures.
"That damn bitch. We’ve never wronged her. We contributed heavily to both rebellion suppression campaigns."
Ashina was furious when she learned the contents of the military summons. Her teeth practically itched with anger.
"She gives us nothing in return and actually wants to harm us! We should just..."
"Shh."
Phield looked around and signaled for Ashina to calm down.
"With our current strength, we can’t do that yet."
Even if they wanted to rely on Night Owl’s influence, they could not. Nightfall Domain was too far from the Western Three Provinces for them to provide any support. As for their current military strength, the Empress could simply summon some powerful great noble, and that alone would be enough to deal with them.
"Ah, this feels so awful."
Ashina sat down angrily.
"We finally got a chance to come out and have some fun for a day, and that damn woman ruined our entire mood."
Phield paced back and forth twice before gradually calming down and thinking for a moment.
"I have a guess as to why the Empress proposed such outrageous conditions."
Ashina tilted her head in confusion.
"Why?"
"This is a test. The Empress doesn’t know me at all. The person she actually wants to deal with is the family behind me."
Phield took out some paper and a pen and quickly drew a simple relationship diagram.
"This is an overt strategy. She intends to strike at the ox by beating the cow from a distance."
"The Empress wants to use me to force the Ross family to contribute, which is why she is demanding an amount of money far beyond Nightfall Domain’s actual value. If I comply this time, she’ll assume I’m an heir whom the family values greatly and therefore a weakness. From then on, she’ll squeeze me even harder."
"If swallowing one fortress makes the Empress come looking for a bribe, then if I swallow an entire territory, won’t she send a whole wagon to run me over?"
Ashina looked sorrowful.
"Everyone knows you’re not doing well within your family, right?"
"No one will believe it. People of their status don’t believe anyone. They throw suspicion and mistrust at you, so you throw lies and empty answers back at them. In the end, everyone simply moves forward because they’re bound together by Benefits."
Phield paused.
"But the Empress’s methods are even more childish and foolish than I expected."
"She only tied everyone to her own interests while completely ignoring whether our territory lives or dies. She must treat everyone else the same way. No wonder the entire Empire is already filled with the smoke of war!"
If the Empress had given him even the slightest benefit, Phield would not have been nearly this furious.
A seed of rebellion had quietly taken root in his heart.
"I’m so angry. Let’s just refuse."
Ashina spoke indignantly.
"What if we simply don’t participate in the war and don’t provide the supplies?"
"That would be no different from openly rebelling. We’re nowhere near strong enough yet."
Phield narrowed his eyes.
"This is the Empress’s scheme. We have to provide the supplies. But whether I provide them is one thing. Whether she can actually get them is another."
Phield quickly formulated a plan in his mind.
"If you dare make my life miserable, then prepare yourself to have every tooth knocked out. I’ll make you spit everything back out a thousand or ten thousand times over, no matter how high and mighty you think you are!"
Ashina nodded solemnly.
"I’ll fight with everything I have."
It was truly something to see. No one else had managed to push their gentle lord to the point where he nearly radiated murderous intent.
"What disgusts me most is the family."
Phield tapped his fingers against the wooden table.
"They’re truly ruthless."
"What do you mean?"
"Because of the principle that the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal, the Empress first needs the Ross family’s approval before she can conscript me."
Phield’s voice turned cold.
"The family sold me out without hesitation. If they had been willing to shoulder even a little of the Empress’s suspicion themselves, this special military summons would never have landed in my hands."
The family had completely washed their hands of the matter, leaving Phield to bear all the consequences.
It was utterly disgusting.
"For the next two months, we’ll maximize our territory’s military strength. As for that damn family and that damn Empress, sooner or later, I’ll send them all flying!"
After deciding on their strategy, the two of them began discussing their plans for the coming days.
The next morning, Phield was awakened by the sounds of battle outside.
"There are many Divine Chosen training outside."
Ashina was wearing a maid uniform as she walked over and helped straighten his clothes.
"They’re all wearing matching uniforms."
After developing their strategy, Phield had already returned to his usual calm. He no longer allowed his anger to show on his face.
"Uniforms? It’s probably Sherry’s newly established Hunting Squad. I’ll go take a look."
To counter the terrorist attacks carried out by Night Owl, Sherry, as the Empire’s most loyal and courageous female knight, naturally wanted to ease the Empress’s burden.
She was not afraid of Night Owl’s retaliation and had personally established a Hunting Squad.
After leaving Bull Castle, Phield arrived at the training grounds.
Three Divine Chosen were fighting one another. Aside from Sherry’s Divine Chosen, the other two were unfamiliar faces.
They were not using divine skills, relying solely on martial techniques. Sparks flew everywhere as their figures constantly dodged and clashed, making it almost impossible to follow their movements.
"How do they look? They’re all third-tier Divine Chosen!"
Sherry walked over in gleaming armor, full of confidence after receiving the Empress’s attention.
"My Hunting Squad even has a fourth-tier Divine Chosen. We have enough strength to form an entire army, although she has another mission right now."
Phield was envious.
"Where did you find so many Divine Chosen? Give me two."
"Recruitment, of course. Some are from my family, while others are righteous individuals we recruited. We’re going to eradicate evil organizations and restore peace and stability to the Empire."
Sherry proudly raised her head.
"As expected of you."
Phield sighed.
"If only this woman were loyal to me. I’d gladly spend every last coin I had just to keep such a subordinate working for me."
"Exactly. We’ve already killed two members of Night Owl, and I believe we’ll be able to kill the third very soon."
Sherry happily snapped her fingers and hummed a tune.
"Every time we eliminate another vicious criminal, the Empire becomes a little cleaner."
"We’ll be able to kill the third one soon?"
Phield suddenly felt uncomfortable.
Perhaps subconsciously, he simply felt that the people of Night Owl were not all bad.
He smiled.
"Tell me more. I’m very interested."
"Sorry, that’s a secret. But you can come with us. It’s nearby and won’t take much time. I’ll show you what the Hunting Squad can do."
"I’m looking forward to it."
Phield readily agreed.
If he could recruit members of Night Owl and put them to work, he would do so. If he could not, then he could at least observe how the Hunting Squad fought. Either way, he would gain something from the experience.
Strictly speaking, Night Owl was still an enemy. Their members had also been bound by contracts, so if Phield captured them, he could simply put them to work.
"Oh, right. My best friend MaryRuth specifically wrote a piece of music for you. She’s from the Imperial Royal Academy of Music, you know. She asked me to bring it to you."
"Consider yourself lucky."