Chapter 517: Chapter 251: The Knight Orders of the Nations

The Griffin Knight landed swiftly, delivering the letter to a Gray Dwarf official before taking to the skies again.

The Gray Dwarf official didn’t dare keep his king waiting. He promptly took the letter and came before King Monroe.

The letter was sealed with a crest depicting a ginkgo flower that also somewhat resembled a phoenix.

King Monroe recognized it at a glance: the family sigil of Robson.

King Monroe eagerly tore open the envelope. As he read its contents, however, his expression grew increasingly grim.

"Damn it!"

King Monroe crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it to the ground.

"Damn humans! How dare they go back on their word!"

Going back on their word!

The Gray Dwarf official at his side dared not speak. He couldn’t help but feel that such an accusation, coming from King Monroe, was somewhat comical.

King Monroe, however, saw nothing wrong with it.

The Gray Dwarves’ way of life was built on shamelessness and treachery.

But King Monroe had never imagined that one day, he would be on the receiving end of such treachery.

He had just been thinking about how he would watch from the sidelines when the humans and the Beast Emperor finally came to blows.

The letter didn’t say much else.

It boiled down to two main points. First, army logistics were insufficient. There was a shortage of armor and weapons, and the soldiers were timid and fearful of battle. As a result, the army’s marching speed was alarmingly slow, and Robson claimed there was nothing he could do.

This was utter nonsense. Timid? How could they be timid when they had just annihilated two Royal Cities?

It was as if Robson was blatantly saying, "Old man, cough up some equipment."

It was pure, shameless extortion.

However, Robson had managed to hit King Monroe right where it hurt.

It might be extortion, but the Gray Dwarves just so happened to have the equipment!

They might be called Gray Dwarves, but they were still Dwarves, after all.

Moreover, Iron Dome Castle was the largest iron mine in the entire Beastman Empire, and the Gray Dwarf Royal Family was its biggest arms dealer.

The second point was about the route through the Demon Beast Mountain Range.

The human nobles were extremely distrustful of the Gray Dwarves. They were in unanimous agreement that they would only come to their aid after the Gray Dwarves handed over the route map.

"Hmph!"

"A route map..."

A sharp glint flashed in King Monroe’s eyes.

Monroe did have a map, but a map alone wasn’t enough to open the trade route.

’Originally, I planned to use this map to string those humans along for a while longer,’ Monroe thought. ’But now... I’m rather curious to see the look on that human’s face when he sees where the route leads.’

The only thing that pained King Monroe was that he would have to part with another portion of his precious armor and weapons.

Fortunately, Robson hadn’t been too greedy; the request was still within a range King Monroe could bear.

Three hundred sets of iron armor.

The Gray Dwarves supplied arms to the entire steppe, so naturally, they had armor suited for human builds.

Robson probably didn’t realize it, but he likely thought three hundred sets of armor was a huge amount. After all, a complete set of even average-quality armor cost a dozen Gold Coins or more.

"You. Go prepare one hundred and fifty sets of armor for delivery to the humans."

"They leave tonight. Make sure your movements are kept secret," King Monroe commanded.

"And tell those humans that if they want the rest, they’d better get a move on."

"As you command."

...

Robson had dispatched two griffins. One flew to the Gray Dwarf camp, delivering a letter into the hands of King Monroe.

The other griffin flew on, eventually reaching the Bronze Plains.

Here, upon the vast plains, banners snapped in the wind: the Royal Knight Order of the Algeria Kingdom, the King’s Knight Order of the Comian Duchy...

And not just them—several renowned Family Knight Orders could also be seen among the ranks.

And at the head of all these knightly orders was none other than the Royal Knight Order of the Frank Kingdom.

The man leading this army was none other than Prince Noah, who had recently made a name for himself on the central front.

Marquis Oscillate was not among the army.

The Marquis knew this expedition was meant to build Prince Noah’s prestige. If he were present, it would dilute the effect.

Oscillate didn’t care for such empty vanities.

"Your Highness, according to the previous plan, General Robson should be intercepting the Beast Emperor at Camille Mountain right about now.

At our current pace..."

Lumian Knight Commander was explaining intently.

Prince Noah listened attentively, offering no opinions of his own. Ever since the war on the Western Front, Prince Noah had come to have a decent understanding of his own military capabilities.

’Not terrible—a bit better than Louis III, but not by much.’

Prince Noah wasn’t bothered by this. He was a prince—and just a few days ago, the kingdom had formally announced him as the Crown Prince, a motion the Kingdom Council passed unanimously.

He was the future King, and a King didn’t need to lead the charge himself.

Just as Lumian Knight Commander was speaking, the cry of a griffin suddenly echoed from the sky.

’A griffin’s cry?’

Prince Noah looked up. Faintly visible, a Griffin Knight bearing the crest of the Fengman Clan was descending from the sky.

’The Fengman Clan!’

Prince Noah’s heart skipped a beat. It went without saying who the Fengman Clan represented these days.

The sudden cry of the griffin interrupted Lumian Knight Commander mid-explanation.

The Knight Commander and Prince Noah exchanged a glance, both deciding to see what was happening.

Their confusion didn’t last long. Soon, the Griffin Knight stood before Prince Noah himself.

The Griffin Knight lowered his head and bowed.

"Your Highness, I come under orders from General Robson."

The Griffin Knight spoke loudly, clearly intending for everyone nearby to hear.

Hearing Robson’s name, many of the assembled lords began to murmur amongst themselves. Robson himself probably had no idea just how much of a legend he had become within the kingdom.

Prince Noah didn’t mind these little theatrics; it was clear Robson just wanted to build his own reputation on the international stage.

’In the future, Robson will be a blade in my hand, the very face of the Frank Kingdom’s military might. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes famous anyway.’

Tearing open the envelope, Prince Noah began to read carefully.

The letter was, of course, about the recent war between the Beastmen and the Gray Dwarves.

But then, Robson’s tone in the letter took a sharp turn.

He had originally changed destinations on a whim, hoping to squeeze some benefits out of the Gray Dwarves.

In the letter, Robson implied, both directly and indirectly, that he had been worried the Beast Emperor wouldn’t hold out until Prince Noah’s arrival, and had therefore deliberately eased the pressure on him.

To this end, he, General Robson, had even gone against his principles as a Knight and betrayed his Gray Dwarf allies.

The letter was signed "Valentino," but from the shameless tone, Prince Noah knew at a glance it was penned by Robson himself.

"Uncle Lumian, I think we need to accelerate," Prince Noah said.

At the same time, his heart began to race with excitement.

’Whatever else Robson wrote, one thing must be true,’ he thought. ’Beast Emperor Kemel isn’t getting away!’

’Slaying the Beast Emperor!’ A fanatical gleam appeared in Prince Noah’s eyes.

Lumian Knight Commander finished reading the letter and nodded.

"Very well. Have the men prepare. We’re making a forced march," Lumian Knight Commander said.

"However, since the Beast Emperor is already engaged in battle, we should moderate our pace. We don’t want to arrive on the battlefield too exhausted to fight."

"I will follow your instructions, of course."

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