As Murphy had predicted earlier, when Marshal Loren, representing the Goldflower Kingdom, engaged in diplomatic talks with him as the lord of Transia, the topic of that batch of Computation Beads was unlikely to be brought up. After all, the means by which Marshal Loren had acquired those beads at the time were not entirely aboveboard.
The core bead in Murphy’s possession even had a ring “Loot” tag on it.
Since both parties were thieves, it would have been better to let bygones be bygones. However, unexpectedly, the half-dwarf opposite him mentioned the matter without any concern. This fellow reallycked discretion and had a truly narrow perspective!
“It seems the continental legends about dwarves being narrow-minded are all true! Who knows if this guy has a book of grudges in his hands?”
After a moment of contemtion, Murphy responded in kind without any courtesy, maintaining a slightly stiff smile:
“Hello to you too, shorty!”
“?”
Marshal Loren, on the other side of the spirit projection, waspletely stunned.
His eyes widened as if struck by lightning, while Tris, who was maintaining the spirit projection,ughed hysterically, her entire body shaking with the effort to contain herughter, her enchanting expression contorted.“Hey, hold it steady! Why does the image keep flickering?”
Murphy called out with a ventriloquism. Tris rolled her eyes and said, stifling herughter:
“My technique is steady. The problem is on the other side. It seems the destructive power of your joke is truly immense! Oh my, today I finally learned how to make a dwarf hold a grudge against me for a lifetime with a single word.”
“What the hell kind of address is that! Take it back!”
Marshal Loren shouted, somewhat flustered, his mustache bristling:
“You are provoking a dwarf! No, you are provoking all dwarves! You must apologize for the dignity of all dwarves offended by that damned word! You are instigating a war you cannot possibly win!”
“You said that word yourself. It has nothing to do with me.”
Murphy maintained the iconic posture of a certainmander, with his elbows on the table and his inteced fingers pressed against his nose.
He steadied his mind and said to the other party:
“It was your subordinate who warned me in advance not to say that word in front of you. You know, I racked my brains for a long time toe up with a recement word. So, are we going to continue arguing over some trivial matters, or start discussing business, Marshal?”
“You stole 3,000 Computation Beads from me, enough to equip a legion!”
The talks began so explosively that Marshal Loren simply dropped all pretense. He took out a pipe, clenched it between his teeth, and assumed the posture of a big shot, saying to Murphy:
“And that core bead prototype our country obtained at a tremendous cost, the very thing hanging from your chest. Murphy, you mustpensate for this! Until this condition is met, I refuse to engage in any diplomatic negotiations with you.
Don’t think that ‘Acting Governor’ title of yours can intimidate anyone. The cost for the Pioneer Army to cross the Transia border and overthrow your little faction is nothing more than a sincere letter of apology written by my subordinates and sent to the Winter Pce.
All I need to do is sign it.
You!
Young but cunning and evil vampire, you need to recognize your current strength. You and your little domain are just a small problem that can be solved with a mere ‘military conflict’.”
“You can certainly say that. With your position and the power you wield, you have enough confidence to make such threats to me. Then let’s do this: have your army set out right now!”
Murphy waved his hand and said:
“I await in Crimson Citadel to be the ‘military conflict’ you speak of. But I hope you are prepared to directly trigger the ‘Third Night War’ before making your decision. Because in addition to being the governor of the Transia region, I am also the first in line to inherit the Blood Vulture n and have already reached a strategic cooperation with the Thorn n.
At the same time, a vanguard of the Blood Pact Knights is crossing the Foul Swamp.
If you have heard even a bit of stories rted to the blood ns from old Edward, you should know what thebination of these three factions means.
Your any irrational act is not only bullying the weak Blood Vulture n but also pping Lord Payne in the face.
Of course, I also admit that I am now pretending to be powerful by borrowing the prestige of the lord. The lord may not necessarily fly into a rage over the destruction of Crimson Citadel. Perhaps the Thorn grand duchess will onlyment that I inadvertently angered the great Marshal Steelheart, leading to my self-destruction.
All of this could happen.
But until they truly ur, the hidden danger in your heart cannot be eliminated.
So the question is, will you start another war for your king now when the ck Disaster is about to erupt?
Are you such a madman who indulges his emotions to the detriment of important affairs?”
Murphy spread his hands and said frankly:
“If you are, then we don’t need to continue this verbal sparring! See you on the battlefield. Do you know what vampires and barbarians, both abundant in thend of Transia, have inmon?”
This speech did not conceal Transia’s weakness and even carried a hint of helplessness and tragic desperation.
But when it was spoken by Murphy, the acting governor, even the dismissive Marshal Loren had to seriously consider the implications within those words. He puffed out a smoke ring and stared at the excessively young and handsome vampire in the image.
The spirit projection maintained by three Spirit Masters had a frighteningly high resolution, allowing the marshal to clearly see Murphy’s eyes, the red glints within the ck.
Like a dancing me.
This vampire sissy doesn’t seem to be joking, and his decisiveness when issuing threats is more like a genuine dwarf.
“Heh, you’ve mastered the art of borrowing the tiger’s prestige, but a fox will always be a fox. Don’t bring out your underhanded cleverness that can’t be presented in public!”
The half-dwarf marshal’s aura did not yield in the slightest, but he very smoothly changed the subject, saying:
“My friend old Finoch died in your ce. This greatly saddens me.”
“Who caused his death?”
Murphy retorted:
“It shouldn’t have been us, right? I even took in his daughter and followers, granting them the status of citizens as a group of homeless people and protecting all their rights on thisnd. I thought doing this was enough to make up for my guilt in identally taking what belonged to you in a ‘ck-on-ck’ incident that was not of my own decision. I didn’t expect you to still be unrelenting.
You haven’t even spent a single penny for the future of your friend’s daughter and followers, while I have to be responsible for supporting them in the face of the ck Disaster.
You see, I haven’t even asked you for guardianship fees. I thought we had an understanding between us.”
“So, are all vampires so formidable with their tongues?”
Marshal Loren once again puffed out a smoke ring. He said:
“You and old Edward, both have a tongue that can turn right and wrong upside down. Alright, do me a favor, Lord Murphy, so that I can convince myself to forget this matter that makes everyone unhappy.”
“Please go ahead.”
Murphy turned his ear to listen.
Marshal Loren looked at the scenery outside the train window. He casually said:
“Old Edward dispatched his n elite to the eastern front under the pretext of defending against the ck Disaster, but I know what he wants to do. The rampant spread of the Wolfsbane n on Greenleaf Ind has be a social problem. I don’t want the lethal poison they spread in the night to spread back to the continent again.
Unfortunately, old Edward has already obtained ownership of the entire Cato region in the dark zone from my king by pledging allegiance.
Sigh, it’s a pity that the ‘Wolf Disaster’ 70 years ago failed to eliminate them.
I heard that there is a feud of over several hundred years between your Blood Vultures and the Wolfsbane, and the Wolfsbane n was indeed deeply involved in the disaster of Kadman City. So it should be reasonable for you to ‘purify’ the night, right?”
“But we can’t cross the border into your defensive zone to hunt the Wolfsbane pups.”
Murphy frowned and said:
“And we are short on manpower.”
“What are you thinking?”
The half-dwarf sneered and said:
“I’ll deal with the Wolfsbane pups in my defensive zone myself. It’s just those wolf descendants’ vanguard that are about to enter Transia under the name of aiding the ‘ck Disaster War’, you have to take care of them! They are doing evil everywhere under the guise of war.
They are belittling this serious matter of war, so they need to be punished.
As for me, I don’t really like having vampires in mymand system. It makes me ufortable all over.”
“Likewise, Marshal.”
Murphy smiled and said:
“I’m not joking. Although I’m also a vampire, I don’t like my overly vicious brethren. Alright, I ept your request. I’ll give you a satisfactory ount.
Now, can we start talking about business?”
“In your dreams!”
Marshal Loren patted the table and said solemnly:
“Apologize to the dignity of all dwarves for your unseemly remarks just now! And swear to your Night Mother that you will never utter that sphemous word again!”
“Uh.”
Murphy didn’t expect Marshal Loren to be so stubborn in this regard. He apologized very seriously:
“I’m sorry, I offended your taboo. I offer my most sincere apologies for my rudeness. I will not utter that sphemous word again in the future.”
“But I can’t control what my little yers want to say.”
He said this in his heart.
Seeing Murphy’s sincere expression, Marshal Loren finally nodded. He ced his pipe back on the table, leaned on his marshal’smand sword, and said with a solemn expression:
“Just a few days ago, Lord Pnno, the first lord of the Blood Pact Knights, visited my king. He brought prophecies rted to the ck Disaster and urged us to release the 10,000 armed blood servants captured in the previous war. I guess this is your request, you want to use this batch of blood servants to fill the manpower?”
“Well, to be honest, I am in urgent need of arge amount of manpower now, whether it is to repair the city or build bases on the Foul Swamp front. I need a lot of people.”
Murphy also said solemnly:
“So you must send those 10,000 prisoners back to Transia as quickly as possible, just as I agreed with the Nordtov Kingdom. I don’t care what kind of losses they caused on your side for whatever reason. 10,000 people means 10,000 people!
I won’t ask for more, but I can’t ept less.
You just wiped out 150,000 people in Transia in one go, putting tremendous pressure on the defense of thisnd.
Also, the Winter Wolf Legion of the Nordtov Kingdom has already upied Fort Crimea. They will assist our defense there. What about you?
Marshal, how is the Goldflower Kingdom’s army preparing to assist us?”
“You also want themand of the war in Transia?”
The half-dwarf was once again shocked by Murphy’s audacious request.
He said, bristling his mustache and ring:
“Do you think I would feel at ease handing my soldiers over to a vampire? Don’t even think about it! My Pioneer Army will reinforce the fortress cluster in East Prussia. If your defense fails, that will be the second line of steel defense against the gnoll scourge.
Completing the preparation of the defensive line within six months is no easy task, so don’t expect me to dispatch more soldiers to your ce.”
“But what about the border guards?”
Murphy retorted:
“In addition to the 50,000 Pioneer Army troops, there should be an equal number of border guards in East Prussia and the Anju region, right? Arge portion of them were ‘puppet troops’ you incorporated during the Ten-Year War.
They were originally local legions of the Portia Federation.
They were part of the forces used by this country to defend against the ck Disaster. Now, as the governor of Transia, there should be no legal issues with me taking back theirmand in the ck Disaster war, right?
If you are unwilling to let go, I can even sign an agreement with you.
After the ck Disaster ends, if you want those puppet troops back, I can return them to you!”
“Those newly formed border guard legions are indeed a problem. Their loyalty, will, andbat readiness are no different from refugees. Especially the military discipline problem is as disgusting as a group of gnolls.
If you really want them, it’s not impossible to give them to you.”
The half-dwarf marshal pondered for a moment and said:
“I have a requirement. Those people can be under your control, but I will dispatch a group of professional officers to train andmand them. You must not interfere with their wartimemand under any pretext and be responsible for their supplies, Murphy.
You are not a soldier.
It’s best for an outsider like you not to meddle in such professional matters. This is advice from a marshal.”
“Agreed!”
Murphy agreed to this harsh condition without hesitation, but the next second, he haggled:
“My territorycks various supplies. I need military support, but I know you won’t give me anything too good. So when those border guards are dispatched, bring their weapons along as well.
At least don’t make me issue each of them a wooden stick to charge into battle. That would be a bit too unseemly.
Even if they are cannon fodder, they shouldn’t be used in such a way.
Also, if possible, I need some machine tools, at least enough to satisfy the most basic military supplies like repairing and processing firearms, as well as self-producing bullets and bombs in the rear of the battlefield.”
“Ha, has Transia be so poor that you don’t even have these things anymore?”
Marshal Loren joked:
“Why don’t you pledge allegiance to my king, Murphy? Then you’ll get everything you want.”
“We originally had them! Seicob City was Transia’s manufacturing center and the pride of the entire Portia Federation. The firearms they produced were synonymous with excellence even among the halflings of the Genoa Penins.
Then, you destroyed it with a gue!
Just like when you destroyed Kadman City.”
Murphy responded in a cold tone:
“Do I need to repeat the reasons for Transia’s fall to this state one by one for you? Marshal, I know war is only about victory and defeat. For soldiers like you, victory is justice. Soldiers can abandon all morality for the sake of victory. That is your professional quality.
But for a group of plunderers to trample on a poor person who has just been looted and loudly mock their poverty and backwardness, I think even in dwarf social customs, it is not something worth advocating, right?
The war has ended, but a new war is about to begin!
Regardless of how you personally view Transia and me, this vampire lord, we arerades-in-arms you can’t shake off in the ck Disaster war.
Unless you are willing to destroy us before the gnolls and have the Goldflower Kingdom’s fellows shoulder the responsibility that should have been ours!
If you don’t want your citizens to bleed and sacrifice, then please fulfill my request, because the people of Transia are about to shed their blood for your safety.
We may still have opportunities to confront each other in the future, Marshal.
I swear!
At that time, I will return all the arrogance you have inflicted on me and Transia today. But the premise of us being able to confront each other is if we still have a ‘future’ to speak of.
Return those production lines you snatched from Seicob City!
Those are our things. They can y a far greater role in our hands than being idle in yours.”
“Very well!”
Marshal Loren nodded and said:
“Your current demeanor is much better than the Prime Minister of the Portia Federation who surrendered to me before and had rickets. Keep it up, young but notcking in courage vampire.
The things you want have already fallen into the hands of the Carpe family. They are preparing to build several new factories in East Prussia. You know who to talk to.”
After saying that, the marshal was about to end themunication, but Murphy stopped him.
“Onest thing.”
The vampire lord said:
“Regarding my identity, I hope King Louis can issue an imperial decree appointing me as the governor of Transia to ensure that Transia better fulfills its role as a strategic buffer zone between the two countries.”
“The ssic diplomatic flip-flopping of the Portia Federation. Of course, this has already be your tradition. So let’s converse using the traditions left over from the previous ck Disasters.”
Marshal Loren picked up a Transia governor appointment letter on the table that had already been stamped with the royal seal.
He pointed at the nk name field and said to Murphy:
“If you survive the ck Disaster and if the name ‘Transia’ still exists on the continent, this thing is yours. So, it’s a deal?”
“Hmm, it’s a deal!”