Alien Knights

Cumberland and Emerson could not fully understand Todd's decision, but this did not prevent them from carrying out the king's order.

Taking aid to the Holy Acropolis as a premise, Emerson began to think about a series of preparatory measures: "Since we have decided to provide food aid to the Holy Acropolis, we must first determine the amount and time of the first batch of food supply."

Cumberland added: "The quantity of the first batch of food should not be large, but the time must be as soon as possible. It is best for the food convoy to arrive at Fort Watcher under the jurisdiction of the Holy Acropolis before the first snow falls."

Emerson nodded and said, "I agree, I always have a hunch that this matter may not be as simple as it seems on the surface."

Todd asked the guards to recruit the monks in charge of agricultural development, and called the person in charge of the management station, and asked them about the grain reserves and transportation capacity of Muxi City. Finally, he integrated multiple departments and jointly finalized the delivery of the first batch of grain and the departure time of the convoy.

After confirming the scale of assistance and itinerary, Cumberland said: "There is one more problem, the person in charge of the accompanying mission. If an embassy can be established in the Holy Acropolis, on the one hand, it will help to negotiate with the locals, and on the other hand, it will also be able to obtain information in a timely manner. However, the choice of the embassy is a trouble..."

Following the old knight's train of thought, Todd continued: "The person in charge of the mission to the Holy Acropolis this time will not only be responsible for food delivery, but also be responsible for future diplomacy with the Holy Acropolis. This person should be outstanding in etiquette, good at handling complex international relations, and must have the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. There are not many such people in the entire Muxi City..."

Emerson looked at Todd's hesitant expression and volunteered, "Your Majesty, let me go."

The latter frowned and looked at the chief privy envoy of the kingdom, neither agreeing nor refusing.

Cumberland looked Emerson up and down, shook his head and expressed his disapproval: "You are not suitable."

Seeing that Emerson's eyes were round and ready to attack, Cumberland crossed his arms and looked at the former in a leisurely manner: "The people in the Holy Acropolis are a group of lunatics who advocate force. If you insist on running over, old tortoise, with your body and your fists and kicks, the shell of the tortoise will probably be torn apart!"

Looking at the two elderly people in front of them, who together were nearly a hundred years old, they were arguing endlessly in the meeting hall with red faces. Todd, who had a headache, stretched out his hand to stop the argument between the two, and said his decision: "Emerson, you should stay. There are many government affairs in the kingdom that need you to coordinate."

Cumberland scratched the back of his head: "Then what about the candidates for the mission?"

Todd looked up at the ceiling and took a long breath: "Let me think again."

As the government affairs were dealt with, the officials who came to discuss the matter gradually dispersed. In the huge hall, except for the guards, only Todd and Huggins remained.

Turning his body to Todd, Huggins whispered, "Your Majesty, it's time for lunch."

Todd looked at the porch at the end of the hall, and asked softly, "On the way back from the dinner party, did you find out what I told you to check?"

Huggins trembled slightly, pursed his lips and said, "I found out, the report has been placed on your desk, and those two people have been controlled at home."

"Is the matter confirmed?"

"They've admitted it themselves."

Standing up from the throne, Todd walked slowly to the door of the hall.

Huggins thumped his numb thigh after standing for too long, and followed Todd with a limp: "Your Majesty, where are you going?"

Glancing back at Huggins, Todd deliberately slowed down and said, "Bring them here."

Sitting at the desk in the audience room, Todd was eating a simple lunch while flipping through the investigation report just handed in by the Muxian Bureau. He only saw half of it, so he pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers and closed his eyes depressed.

There was a light knock on the door, and Huggins' voice came over: "Your Majesty, the man has already been brought."

"Let them in."

Huggins led the two men into the room, and gestured for them to come forward with his hand, while he guarded the door.

The Raglans stood not far from the desk, staring at the carpet under their feet, with panicked expressions.

While nibbling the honey bread in his hand, Todd continued to turn the pages of the report, as if he had completely forgotten about the arrival of these two people.

Compared to her sweaty, crumbling husband, Mrs. Raglan seemed calmer. She said with a pale face and anxiety, "Your Majesty..."

Looking at the data in the report, Todd smiled and said, "It's only been five months since you took office, and the royal industry you run has earned 670,000 Jinxu in perfume alone. What a remarkable achievement!"

What sounded like a compliment made the Raglans tremble with fright.

"Let me see, next to Muxi Harbor, a 28,000 silver moon house with a sea view; "Liliel" clothing store, accumulating 7,600 silver moon clothes; investment in nearly ten shops in Muxi City..." Todd flipped through the paper faster and faster, and finally threw the report on the table.

"In order to earn a commission, you wantonly oversold perfume products under the condition of insufficient production capacity! Because the factory couldn't fulfill the order at all, you spent money to bribe the supervisor of the gunpowder production line, and secretly smuggled raw materials from the factory to increase the production of perfume."

"Not only that, but you two also recruited people, under the guise of free meals, instructing your subordinates to add beans to the guests' meals; you even went to the aqueduct in the immigration area at night and poured medicine into it!" Todd rubbed his temples vigorously with his fingers, and growled angrily: "These things you have done have far exceeded the authority I gave you!"

There was a deadly silence in the room.

Looking at the terrified two people in front of him, Todd suddenly sighed dejectedly. He gently picked up the report from the table and shook it vigorously in his hand: "You two may want to say, why should I be blamed for bringing huge profits to the entire kingdom?!"

"Listen! What I am angry about is not the behavior of the two of you. What really annoys me is your unscrupulous nature to seize wealth!" Shouting these words, Todd seemed to be drained of all his energy. He waved his hand in a dispirited way: "Both of you, suspend your duties from now on to investigate. Before I think about how to arrange for you, just wait at home and think about it behind closed doors!"

Seeing the Raglans being led out of the room by the security guards, Todd cast his eyes on the remaining person in the room, and said softly, "Hudgens..."

"His Majesty."

"You already knew that, didn't you?"

"I……"

"The Grand Court has also found you and mentioned the behavior of these two people to you."

"..."

"These two are old friends of the monastery assembly, the first batch of officials appointed by His Majesty, and also trustworthy people in my circle... I'm afraid that's what you were thinking at the time?"

On Huggins' forehead, cold sweat slowly overflowed, his mouth wanted to speak, but his tongue didn't work.

Todd's body is facing away from the sun outside the window, his face can't be seen clearly, but his voice is cold and piercing: "I am a nostalgic person, but this does not mean that the longer the person who stays with me, the greater the privilege!"

Todd, who walked out of the audience room, went to the outdoor garden, looked at the neatly trimmed flower branches, and muttered in his mouth: "Is it a good thing or a bad thing to show the knowledge of my previous life to this other world?"

A white figure flashed quietly from Todd's sight.

Looking at the "woman" in military uniform wearing a rapier and wiping her hair with a dry cloth among the bushes in the distance, Todd was taken aback for a moment, and then said, "Dion?"

Dion, who had just finished his swordsmanship practice, wanted to take a shortcut back to the mansion from the palace garden when there was no one around at noon, but he didn't want to run into the king here.

"Your Majesty, what a coincidence." Dion straightened up, with a look of surprise on his face.

Looking at the saber on the opponent's body, Todd asked with a smile: "How about the work of teaching swordsmanship in the palace?"

"Honestly, it's boring."

Seeing Todd's surprised expression, Dion shrugged his shoulders: "Since taking this position, I have a decent salary, but I have nothing to do. The guards usually hone their martial arts in the barracks, and the only member of the royal family doesn't seem to be very interested in my swordsmanship."

Speaking of this, Dion gave Todd a sideways look, and the meaning in his words was self-evident.

Todd scratched his head in embarrassment. Dion was assigned the position of palace swordsmanship instructor, just to stabilize him.

After all, no one knows better than Todd how much disaster Dion, the "pheromone" walking on the ground, can bring to Muxi Kingdom (especially in terms of the relationship between men and women).

Todd quickly changed the subject: "I remember you have another job, the executive judge of Muxi Grand Court?"

Talking about the work of the court, Dion looked even more depressed: "The executive judge is just a nice name. Inside the court, this position is also called a 'debt collection judge'."

"Debt collection judge?"

"In Muxi City, there are always some unscrupulous traders or scoundrels who deliberately default on other people's debts and refuse to repay them. At this time, those guys in the big court come to me. Their most common method is to bring me and the creditors, find the debtors and tell them that as long as they can beat the "weak" judge in front of them, the debts can be completely forgiven."

Todd listened with relish: "This sounds like a good way to collect debts."

"Your Majesty!" Dieng took two steps closer to Todd and puffed up his chest: "My family has always been engaged in foreign affairs and legal work in Tyrodu City. The profession in my mind is not such a low-level thug!"

Dion's face was close at hand, looking at the other's delicate skin, the crystal sweat hanging on the collarbone, and the picturesque facial features, Todd's heart swayed for no reason.

After a while, Todd realized what happened, and quickly stretched out his hand to give Dion a back gesture.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Your Majesty, my ability..." Dion quickly took a few steps back, blushing and covered his neckline with a cloth scarf.

Looking at the guy who looked more like a woman than a woman in front of him, Todd rolled his eyes speechlessly, repeating a sentence in his heart.

"This is a man, this is a man..."

After waiting for his brain to clear up, Todd asked Dion: "You said your family used to work in foreign affairs?"

Dion seemed to smell a whiff of opportunity: "Your Majesty, it's not just that my family has worked in foreign affairs. Before I left Taylor City, I was a trainee secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs."

Finding a bench in the garden, Todd sat on it, and asked with a smile, "How much do you know about the envoys from the Holy Acropolis coming to Muxi City for help?"

"Not much, but enough to make some inferences."

"Oh? Tell me."

Dion thought for a while and began to analyze: "As early as two years ago, the Holy Acropolis formed an alliance with the church to jointly conquer the barbarians and the Silver Ring Kingdom. But last summer, when the battle was at its most intense, the Holy Acropolis suddenly shrank its defenses and turned into a defensive position. Because of this incident, the Church issued a special official document from the Holy Ministry, sternly condemning this behavior of fearing the enemy."

"One week after the official document was released, the Holy Acropolis returned to the battlefield, but the relationship with the church quickly turned bad. No one knows the reason for this. But there is a very interesting rumor that the palace of the Holy Acropolis increased the number of guards, and all the windows were covered with curtains."

When Todd heard this, he asked curiously: "All the windows are covered with curtains? Where did you get this information?"

"Of course it's a tavern, Your Majesty. Grocery merchants from various countries and bards from all over the world gathered there. From their mouths, you can often learn some seemingly useless news that conceals the truth." Dion gently wrapped his fingers around his pale golden hair, and continued: "The next Holy Acropolis is gradually moving towards the direction of breaking with the church, demanding supplies and passively fighting. Returned to the city overnight."

"Your Majesty, when these things are connected, it looks like a food crisis on the surface, but in fact, a hidden inference can be drawn. Do you know what it is?"

Todd shook his head slightly with a serious face.

Dion clenched the scabbard around his waist, and his pretty face was full of confidence: "The old king of the Holy Acropolis is running out of time, and a battle for the throne will soon begin."