Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Chapter 795- Raid On Castledor (3)

795  Chapter 795- Raid On Castledor (3)

How in the hell did she block the communication of the entire town? No, in the first place, why is she even talking like she was speaking on behalf of the entire? It couldn't be…

"That's right, after a unanimous agreement, Her Highness was chosen as the governor of the tower town. She is now the ruler of the tower town".

Alfred expected something along that line happening after hearing that the princess and her subordinates freed the tower town. However, when it was really told out loud, it finally struck him how incredible of a task Cynthia had accomplished.

There was many a time when he thought about raiding the tower town himself wanting to change the condition of his city. Nevertheless, every time those impulsive thoughts arrived in his head, he would immediately suppress them.

After all, being a noble who was close to adventurers, he knew how powerful the adventurers were. To be able to suppress all those powerful men and women, the organisations ruling the tower town from the shadows, had to be even more capable and dangerous.

What Cynthia managed to achieve was something that Alfred was incapable of. She deserved to be the ruler of the tower town.

"Your Highness, you are truly amazing. With the reopening of the trade routes between the two cities, the city Mountmend would once again be able to fend for its people again. The influx of merchants and goods would make sure that the populace wouldn't have to go to sleep on an empty stomach. I cannot express my gratitude to you enough. Truly thank you"

Alfred bowed his head deeply to express his gratitude.

"Raise your head count Alfred. Reopening of the trade routes will benefit the two cities equally, as such there is no reason to keep it close. And besides, I'm thinking about levying a new excise tax"…

"I agree with all of that. As long as Her Highness keeps the trade route open, the city of Mountmend will be able to survive" Alfred agreed before Cynthia could even finish her piece.

"I see... however, Count Alfred you are the ruler of the city of Mountmend and the regions surrounding it. As a ruler who supports his populace, you cannot simply agree on all of the terms without even listening to all of them"

"But be that may, we can leave that to our retainers to concretize the finer details. As I told you earlier, I have multiple objectives for coming here. One of them is to see you, the Count of Mountmend and reopen the trade routes between the two cities. The other is to find out something for myself"

Cynthia paused here before looking deeply at Alfred "I want to find out… where your allegiance lies and if I can trust you".

The room became suffocatingly silent the moment those words sounded out. Alfred looked around him, it had already been a while since he ordered his servants to bring in some tea and snacks.

However, there was no indication of them coming in through the doors. Not only that, it was also now that he realised he was completely surrounded by Her Highness's subordinates.

At some point in time during the discussion, they stationed themselves all around the room, cutting off all the exits and entrances to the room.

Alfred's experienced eyes landed on all these warriors that Her Highness brought over with her. Even though they were just standing around without exhibiting their power, he could tell from their demeanour that all of them were powerful and battle hardened veterans who had seen many bloody battlefields.

The air that they exuded couldn't be imitated. He could tell because he had seen and mingled with many adventurers over the years.

Haha… Alfred couldn't help but laugh inwardly. He felt like there was no reason for Her Highness to do something like this. Only a fool would try to escape when there was such a high level security.

Nonetheless, he got up from his seat and kneeled on his knees.

"My allegiance is always to Ellesmere. I am a noble of the kingdom of Ellesmere and loyal to the late King Henry" Alfred declared in an even voice.

Hearing his declaration, Cynthia arched her brows and smiled "Hoh, to still declare that your allegiance lies to the king even though he is no more, are you suggesting that you are not going to support the royal prince and princess' or should I see this as rebellion against the crown?"

 Even though she had fallen from grace and had to rely on a demon to save her kingdom, she was nevertheless still the most extraordinary princess of the kingdom. She knew the politics like the back of her hand and use the noble's weakness against them.

"I am sure you must have been approached by my brothers to join their faction many times. Yet despite that, you refuse to join any side. Why is that?"…

Alfred blinked his eyes and looked at Cynthia in confusion. How did she know that he hadn't joined any sides?

"How did you…" Before he could complete, his query was soon answered by the former

"It's not hard to know you haven't joined any faction. Just looking at the condition of your fief, I can tell that those dastardly brothers of mine did not take the news of your not joining their sides in a good way. Not only did they cut off all trade routes to your region, they are also sending all the injured and the destitute all the way over here to encumber and weaken your region"

"This must be Alstin's doing, he had been a very vindictive person since childhood. It looks like he is still alive. Anyways, the fact that he hadn't attacked you and is still tolerating your incooperation means that you haven't joined Aiden either".

 It needs to be mentioned that it hasn't been that long since Her Highness the princess arrived at the city of Mountmend. Yet in those few moments, she was able to accurately ascertain his condition just by looking at this place.

Alfred was left in awe of Cynthia's extraordinariness once again. 'No wonder she was called the light of Ellesmere' he thought inside his head.

 "It as you say, Your Highness. When I said the same thing to His Highness Prince Alstin, he was not too pleased. Although he did not attack me, he had been sending war threats through sound transmission"

"As for Prince Aiden, he got in touch with me through sound transmission. However, ever since I refused his offer, I haven't heard anything from him. That said, please believe me when I say it's not my intention to rebel against the crown. It's just that I wanted to keep my people and land safe from battle and wars"

"You have seen it with your own eyes, your highness, the state of the city and its people. In a situation where we don't even have food on our tables, how can I ask my people to go to war"

Alfred plead his case. Though he was bowing his head and was surrounded by all these powerful warriors there was not even a trace of fear that could be felt from his body.

It could be said that the count, Alfred was ready to lay down his life since the moment he opened his mouth to say all that.

"I thought as much. Count Alfred is not an enemy, everybody you can relax" On her words, her subordinates walked away from the exit.

"Please forgive our rudeness, your highness. However, to ensure that no leaks got out, we had to do something like this"

The old assassin Bert apologised. It was his idea that they should surround the count in case he turned out to be an informer of the other princes'.

"Well then Count, although I understand your situation, I can't just take your answer to stay neutral in this battle. You should know that this battle is no longer a fight between the royal siblings but a full blown war between kingdoms for survival. Now that the capital and multiple regions have fallen, we have to unite and fight them off. This is the reason why I came here. Count Alfred, I need your help enlisting all those soldiers and people who were pushed back from their homes".

Most of the destitute and homeless people flooding the town of Mountmend were soldiers who were injured in the battle or young people who got kicked out of their land.

If Cynthia could enlist all of these people under her banner, it would give her forces what they needed, numbers. She already had the quality, all that was needed to make her own army was numbers and the city of Mountmend was the perfect place to set her plans in motion.

Alfred was silent for a while as he contemplated Cynthia's words. Just like had said, this was no longer a power struggle between siblings but a war for the survival of their kingdom.

As a noble of this land, how could he not fight for it? In fact, he had mulled over this option for a while now; however, whenever he thought about Alstin or Aiden, those incompetent and arrogant princes becoming the ruler of the kingdom, he couldn't help but have double thoughts.

That said, it was before he knew that Her Highness the princess, was alive. If it was her, then it was a totally different case than with the princes'.

Not only was she extraordinary, she had all the qualities that a ruler of a country should have.