Chapter 78: Fuse, conspiracy, overt plot, civil war will begin

Winter is coming.

The northern orcs who invaded in the autumn either robbed enough food or consumed enough people.

But as soon as the first white ice crystals fell from the sky to the ground, all the orcs and trolls stopped their invasion and began to return to their own habitats.

Because all creatures that live in the North all year round know very well that from the moment the first snowflake falls, the biting cold wind will soon blow across every inch of land in the North.

The cold will freeze the soul as well, and if you stay outdoors for less than an hour, you will turn into an ice stick.

Even in places too far to the north, there is a spectacle of eternal night that lasts for nearly a month.

The cold and darkness will turn everything into silence.

Therefore, even orcs and trolls would not launch attacks at this time of year. Instead, they would spend every cold night in their houses after storing sufficient food.

But in comparison, it is not particularly cold, and there is no eternal night. The Frost Moon Kingdom, which is located in the north and is further south, is about to start a war.

The two factions of nobles, who had been trying hard to suppress their tempers and maintain superficial peace, were almost reaching their limits.

The troops sent by the Northern Alliance to support the defense of orcs and trolls in the north gradually began to withdraw. The military strength of the nobles of the Frostmoon Kingdom was gradually increasing. At this time, visitors also appeared at the manor of the fourth prince.

The fourth prince is very young, and looks less than twenty years old, but he is undoubtedly an adult. If the eldest prince and the king had not died in the war with the Kingdom of Lensa, although he might not have a good life as an illegitimate child, he would have no problem going to the border to become a real viscount.

As long as he doesn't appear in front of his brothers all the time, with the royal blood flowing in his body, there will be no problem for him to become a powerful nobleman without worries for the rest of his life.

But now, he can only be under house arrest in the manor to prevent any unexpected events from happening, although no one thinks this will happen.

In the shadows, a tall and strong man and a short and fat middle-aged man walked into the Fourth Prince's manor.

No one openly supports the Fourth Prince, but that doesn't mean he is worthless. His long-term life in the palace beside the old king has made him familiar with the aristocratic structure and various domestic secrets.

The followers of the God of Struggle took advantage of this and got involved in the situation in the Frost Moon Kingdom.

Without intelligence from the higher-ups, it would be very difficult for a cult to disguise itself in the normal human kingdom.

As the two countries of the Southern Kingdom tore up the armistice agreement and ignored the mediation of the Torch Church, war broke out again. Before, these two countries had tried to put aside their disputes and jointly develop.

But as the gold mine was dug, magical metals were also produced. In the face of huge profits, all rationality was melting away.

But this is undoubtedly a provocation to the dignity of the Torch Church, which the Torch Church absolutely cannot tolerate. If the previous mediation was just habitual work, even if it failed, it would only be a loss of face.

Now, not long after the successful mediation, the fighting broke out again, and the Torch Church was a little embarrassed.

Now the Torch Church has begun to mobilize the church knights and prepare to start military mediation. Moreover, with such a large gold mine and magic metal mine, the Torch Church may not be uninvited.

At this time, in the hideout, Rand was sitting on the lord's chair covered with fur, listening to Ellie's report.

Earlier in the bathhouse, Olenna's description of what Canwell had informed on was relatively brief. After sorting out and analyzing it, Ellie reported it to Rand again.

"So in short, the followers of the God of Struggle will start a war this winter, right?" Rand concluded.

"Yes." Ellie nodded. As it was winter, she changed into furry fur clothes, but she didn't look bulky and stood there gracefully.

For the believers of the God of Struggle, any dispute, controversy, or fight will make them happy, and will also make their gods happy. In particular, a war that is destined to be filled with blood and fire is undoubtedly the sweetest cake for the God of Struggle.

Moreover, the people of the Torch Church focused their attention on the two warring kingdoms in the south, which was a perfect opportunity to stir up trouble.

Ellie then turned a page of the parchment in her hand and said, "The Black and Brown Earl also sent a letter, inviting the Feng Rang Mercenary Group to meet the Second Prince. The civil war is really about to start."

Due to the good harvest, Rand opened up the hunting rights in the mountains. With sufficient food and oil, the Fengrang Mercenary Group and the soldiers in magic steel armor would train every day during this period.

With the dual blessing of honor interests and religious ideas, coupled with reasonable training, Rand believes that the combat effectiveness of this army is already quite good.

After winter, the affairs of the hideout will decrease a lot. Rand decided to take the soldiers in magic steel armor to participate in this war. The fate of the hideout will be decided in this battle.

In fact, if Rand had not known that the Fourth Prince was the final winner in the original history, Taner alone with the Feng Rang Mercenary Group would have been able to gain legal control of the hideout after the victory of the civil war.

But now the conspiracy of the God of Struggle sect has begun to show signs. They want to cause trouble, and his Rand's Abundance sect also wants to cause trouble.

Rand's expectations for the hideout are more than just a small crescent-shaped collar.

Although as a cloud player, he did not know the specific details of the plot, but he had watched the promotional cgs of several expansion packs. Faced with such a magnificent and dangerous future, Rand was not prepared to let himself and his hideout drift with the tide of the times.

He wanted to seize the initiative.

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But now, everything is not very clear, and Rand is going to meet the second prince first.

At this time, at the border of Crescent Moon Territory, followers of the God of Struggle had already led people from Huyuan Territory in the northeast into Crescent Moon Territory.

Since defeating Baron Lake Source, Lake Source Territory has become Rand's back garden. Rand has been arranging people to absorb the population of Lake Source Territory. Together with the population absorbed in the buffer zone with the Kingdom of Lunsa during this period, Crescent Territory has successfully exceeded 3,000 people.

But the population of Lakehead was smaller than Rand had imagined. Rand initially thought that it was because of the invasion of the Kingdom of Rensa and Baron Lakehead's poor governance that the population absorbed from Lakehead was far smaller than he had imagined.

Although he felt that something was fishy, ​​Rand could not send too many people to Lake Source Territory to investigate. Now he could detain Baron Lake Source and refuse to release him on the grounds that no ransom had been paid. If he directly occupied Lake Source Territory, it would be very conspicuous. In name, Lake Source Territory was also under the jurisdiction of Earl Black and Brown, and belonged to the Second Prince's faction.

Baron Huyuan was the one who started the war, so there was nothing wrong with Rand beating him, but if he forcibly occupied Huyuan Territory, he would be breaking the rules.

If they could annex each other without declaring anything, the world would have been in chaos long ago.

Rand's covert absorption of population is already a very dangerous behavior.

After the discussion, Rand, Ellie and Olenna briefly reviewed today's affairs.

After the winter came, everyone stayed at home and went out less often. Various projects were temporarily halted, which made the office much quieter.

The clerical apprentices who helped out had also been given holidays long ago.

After finishing the work, Rand lay on the bench, resting his head on Olenna's soft thighs, and said, "There is still some time before I set off to meet the second prince. I recently thought of a delicious dish. Do you want to try it?"

Since the last bathing pool incident, Rand and Olenna have become closer. At least she can shamelessly experience resting her head on Rand's knee.

There will be additional updates tomorrow as usual. I hope you will read on. Thank you!

(End of this chapter)