Charles bid farewell to his brother and sister-in-law, then made a decision—to evacuate from Mostar Fort that afternoon.
He had a premonition that if he stayed any longer, sothing unfortunate might occur.
Mostar Fort now lacked a duke, and also lacked a duchess. The Duke Ferdinand couple had no surviving children who reached adulthood; it was said the Grand Duke Joseph couple had a daughter currently enrolled anonymously at a university.
Charles did not believe that this unknown noble girl could inherit the Behemoth Duchy.
The attitude of the Empire had beco quite clear—they intended to transform Behemoth Duchy into an imperial direct-controlled territory, which could be managed by appointed officials, just like what happened at Silver Pigeon Fort; they had not allowed Baron Ferland's relatives to inherit but had let Baron Fabolais, an outsider, take over.
The local forces of the Empire were divided into imperial direct-controlled territories, locally-autonomous territories, the nobles' lands, overseas territories, and overseas protectorates.
As an empire, of course, the more direct-controlled territories, the better. It would be ideal to have none of the disobedient autonomous territories and noble lands, but the Empire itself was governed by high nobility, creating a contradiction between the needs of the Empire and its administrators.
At Charles's command, the Westwind Knights imdiately sprang into action. Now, after leading his subordinates to several victories, Charles's prestige had grown daily, and mbers of the Knighthood, irrespective of their background, were willing to obey his orders.
Charles's target was still Machu Picchu; he had nowhere else to go.
When Charles was directing the army to prepare to march, the Augusladin High Priest descended from the sky. Despite having just been through a battle, the High Priest was calm and composed, with not a crease on his priestly robe.
Charles bowed respectfully, yet wondered internally, "Could it be that soone from my Westwind Knights has caught the eye of the Augusladin High Priest? To openly stop us, this young lad must have so charm."
The Augusladin High Priest declined Charles's invitation to board the military carriage and said with a slight smile, "Mister cklen, do you know why Cyrus withdrew his troops?"
Charles shook his head to indicate he did not know. The High Priest said indifferently, "It's because the battle between Byron and us has intensified. Both empires have already deployed over five hundred thousand troops in total to Ferlanden and committed at least ten of each side's Sacred Order, with dozens of High Order warriors. The casualties are increasing severely, and both empires are pulling troops to reinforce Ferlanden."
Charles was startled; the Sacred Order could easily crush an army, and so many had been deployed to Ferlanden? Not to ntion the dozens of High-Level Transcendent beings—this level of power was not common. Neither Behemoth Duchy nor South Serif had more than ten High-Level Transcendents combined.
Charles asked, "Does the High Priest have any advice for ?"
The Augusladin High Priest said, "You have three or four options. For example, you could go to Ferlanden, but I highly advise against it. Or you could stay in Behemoth Duchy, though you might not be able to compete with Baron Fabolais, and you would miss the opportunity to build your own legacy. Or perhaps…"
"Embark on a mission to the Inglima Empire!"
Charles was sowhat puzzled and asked softly, "Isn't my rank too low to be an envoy of that level?"
The Augusladin High Priest laughed and said, "Yes! Your current rank certainly isn't enough to serve as the Fars Empire's ambassador to Inglima, but it's enough to be my assistant."
Charles's eyes lit up, saying, "I am willing to serve diligently before and behind the High Priest, to do these insignificant tasks."
War was cruel; Charles would certainly not refuse the chance to leave the battlefield.
However, he had so doubts and cautiously added, "Will my Westwind Knights serve as part of the escort?"
The High Priest shook his head and said, "The envoy team doesn't need that many people; you can bring at most fifty people. Strasbourg will also send another group, and we will et there first before setting off."
Charles hesitated slightly. He didn't want to lose the Westwind Knights. Though the knighthood wasn't considered among the strongest, they had been together for quite so ti and had acquired a group of Transcendents. After all, which transmigrator didn't have dreams?
The Westwind Knights were the seeds of Charles's dreams.
Seeing through his thoughts, the High Priest chuckled and said, "Your Westwind Knights can have two choices. Entrust them to Baron Fabolais..."
"Alright, I know you would refuse."
"Then there is another option, stationing them in Cappadocia City."
Being a university-educated man, Charles quickly recalled the information about Cappadocia City.
It was a small coastal city but not a famous seaside resort like Cannes; it was a port with a small population of only a few thousand people.
Originally, Cappadocia was a pirate fortress. After it was captured, the occupying pirates were hanged, and it transford into an ordinary city. However, what was important was that it was within the borders of the Inglima Empire.
Charles instantly understood and said with surprise, "Are you asking to turn Cappadocia into a maze?"
The Augusladin High Priest subtly nodded. Charles truly understood then. This High Priest was about to embark on a mission to the Inglima Empire but was worried about being captured and executed, so he wanted to secure a backup plan.
Without hesitation, Charles responded, "I will devote myself to protecting your back, High Priest."
The Augusladin High Priest nodded with satisfaction and said, "Child, I am very pleased with your wisdom."
Charles and the High Priest didn't discuss how to get the Westwind Knights, a group numbering in the thousands, into the Inglima Empire and take over Cappadocia, because they both knew it was impossible.
What Charles needed was to firmly control the Westwind Knights, and the Augusladin High Priest had given him a "pretext" to maintain control of the knighthood. As for where this knighthood was stationed, it didn't really matter, and nobody cared about their location. Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire
The Augusladin High Priest said to Charles, "I must start for Strasbourg now. You should also quickly lead your n back to Strasbourg; our duties are not yet fully secured and require operation. There is no ti to waste."
Only then did Charles understand that the High Priest had given him a blank check; nothing was certain yet, and he suddenly felt the urge to stab the "grand swindler" of The Lord of Radiance several tis.
Forget it...
He wouldn't win just yet.
The Augusladin High Priest smiled slightly, without a trace of sha for just having drawn a "big pie in the sky," and with a graceful gesture, he was enveloped in brilliant light and said, "Child, I'll be waiting for you in Strasbourg."
As Charles watched the High Priest transform into a shooting star and disappear into the sky, he imdiately chose to leave; he no longer wanted to stay at Mostar Fort.
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