MTL - Tome of Blood-Chapter 253 -103- Castel's Rebellion

   A familiar voice came, attracting everyone's attention.

  The door of the meeting hall was gently pushed open, and Charlotte, who was wearing a black noble dress, appeared in everyone's sight.

   Sebastian was the first to react.

  I saw that the flame elf stood up from his seat almost instantly, his expression full of surprise.

"Owner!"

  He quickly knelt down on one knee, and saluted with his right hand in front of his chest.

  Seeing the girl pushing the door and entering, the knights and nobles closest to the door were also slightly stunned.

   Then, they also stood up one after another, bowing and saluting:

   "Your Earl!"

   "Your Earl!"

   "My lord..."

   Respectful voices resounded in the chamber one after another like echoes.

  As if there was a chain reaction, the nobles and knights in the hall were like a wheat field blown by the wind. They stood up first, and then bowed and saluted one after another:

   "Your Earl!"

  Charlotte's eyes slowly swept across the hall.

  She nodded slightly, as a response to everyone's respect, and then walked towards the front of the meeting hall.

  The personal guard knight who guarded the door consciously greeted him.

  They lined up on both sides, held their swords high, looked respectful, raised their heads and chests, and followed closely behind Charlotte.

  As Charlotte entered the arena, the nobles consciously gave way to the sides, making way for a direct path to the front.

  Charlotte passed through the crowd calmly, and the nobles on both sides bowed their heads in greeting.

  She came to the front of the meeting hall, and her blue eyes glanced at Viscount Leon-Castel who also stood up with a half-smile.

  The old Viscount saluted equally tremblingly, and said respectfully and excitedly:

   "Count... my lord!"

  Charlotte glanced at him quietly, nodded slightly, and then naturally sat down on the main seat.

  Looking across the audience, she said gently:

   "Sit down, you don't need to stand."

   After receiving Charlotte's order, the nobles sat down again.

   The hall was extremely quiet, completely different from the noise of the vegetable market before.

   Obviously, although Charlotte has only been in Castel for a few months, she has already established a certain authority among the nobles by virtue of her work of eliminating infiltrated vampires!

  At least... the authority has been established among the nobles who are still surrounded by the banner of Castel!

   "Where did you discuss just now? Oh, yes, don't worry about me for now. This should be a temporary aristocratic meeting called by Sebastian, right? You continue to discuss first, and I will listen in for a while."

  Charlotte sat on the lord's throne, moved her buttocks left and right to change to a more comfortable sitting position, said.

"Owner…"

  Sebas stood up slowly, his scarlet eyes fell on Viscount Len-Castel, and he said with a chuckle:

   "As you can see, just now we are listening to His Excellency Viscount Leon-Castel's proposal to form a temporary regency cabinet!"

  Charlotte's eyes naturally fell on the old Viscount.

  Her expression did not show the slightest bit of dissatisfaction, but even a little curiosity.

  However, being watched by her pair of beautiful blue eyes, Viscount Leon Castel felt a great pressure.

  The old Viscount stood up again almost immediately, and quickly explained:

   "My lord, please forgive my recklessness."

   "You haven't shown up these days, and the people in the territory are fluctuating. My proposal is only to integrate the power of the Castel nobles..."

   "Of course, since you are safe and sound, there is no need for the so-called regency cabinet. After all, you are the backbone of Castel."

  Charlotte nodded slightly:

   "Your Excellency, Viscount, don't be so panic-stricken. As the lord of Castel, I understand your approach."

   As she spoke, she looked at Sebastian again:

   "Sebas, you have been the one who has been presiding over the work of the territory on behalf of me recently, so you can continue to preside over today's meeting."

   "Yes, Master."

  Sebas saluted respectfully.

  He looked back at the nobles in the venue, and his confidence was much stronger:

   "The master has come, I don't think you will continue to have doubts about the Earl's Mansion, right? Now... everyone should be willing to follow me and fight against the rebels of the Legolis family, right?"

  After listening to Sebastian's words, the nobles in the hall looked at each other, and then nodded one after another:

   "Since the Earl is safe and sound, then we must fully support the Earl in suppressing the rebellion."

   "The Earl has appeared, and all the rumors in the territory are self-defeating. We are willing to follow the Earl and quell Legris' rebellion!"

   "The 800 soldiers of our Valais family have assembled and are always ready to fight for Castel!"

   "Our Long family has recruited a thousand soldiers and is willing to fight with the Earl!"

   "All for Castel!"

   "..."

  Even the Viscount Lien-Castel at the front looked respectful and authentic:

"The Len-Castel family has also gathered 600 light infantry, 200 heavy infantry, 200 archers, 100 cavalry, and a full three extraordinary knights, waiting for the order of the Earl's House... "

  The nobles in the hall showed their loyalty one after another, reporting the number of recruited troops one after another.

  Listening to the heartfelt oath of allegiance of the nobles, Charlotte nodded slightly with a satisfied expression.

  However, unlike the calm on the surface, sitting on the lord's seat at this moment, her heart is already in chaos.

  Especially after hearing that several towns in the north of Castel Territory have fallen:

   Good guy...

   This sounds like a discussion, has the Legris family in the north officially rebelled?

  How long has she been asleep?

  Charlotte doesn't know what's going on in her territory.

After waking up from the secret room, she changed her clothes and followed the call of blood and went straight to the council hall. When she came in, she only heard Viscount Len-Castle proposing some regent cabinet there, and the rest was completely Confused.

  However, she did not interrupt the meeting hastily.

   Falling asleep is her secret.

Although I don't know how the nobles found out that she was missing, and Nis, who was supposed to be a substitute, didn't know where she died, but as a lord, she must not show that she is ignorant of what happened in the territory .

  This not only damages her authority, but also makes some people doubt her after a long time...

  Charlotte still recognized Sebastian's ability.

  Since the authority was delegated to the other party, she might as well just sit aside and listen in, to understand the ins and outs of the matter.

  Charlotte became an audience in this way.

  As the nobles discussed in the hall, Sebastian deliberately guided and inadvertently explained, gradually, Charlotte also had a general understanding of Castel's current situation...

   First of all, four months should have passed since she fell into a deep sleep.

  During her third month of sleep, a major event happened in the territory.

   That is, the Legris family, one of the three viscount families, hired mercenaries to attack "her" when "she" went to inspect the Castel silver mine.

  Of course, what the Legris family attacked was not the real "her", but Niss, who was disguised as a substitute for "her".

  After that, the Legris family raised the banner of rebellion.

   They first claimed that Castel had been emptied by the nobles headed by the Leon-Castel family, and launched a rebellion in the name of "the side of the Qing Dynasty".

   After gaining the support of the neighboring lords of Castel, the Legris family even announced that Charlotte's bloodline was in doubt.

  They claimed that the real Charlotte had long since died, and that the fake Charlotte ruled Castel illegally and brutally, and formally waged war on the Earl's Palace in the name of overthrowing the rule of the hypocrites and tyrants.

  In a month’s time, they have assembled more than ten thousand troops, captured several cities in the north of the Castel Territory one after another, and the war spread all the way to the south...

If the Silver Mining City had not had Viscount Remisio and the Royal Army sitting in the town, and Viscount Remisio had repeatedly warned the rebels not to invade the Castel Silver Mine, which would affect the normal mining of the Crescent Royal Family, otherwise the neutrality would be lifted If the position intervenes in the rebellion... I am afraid that even the City of Mining Silver has already fallen.

   But even so, the rebels have already cut off the connection between the Earl's Mansion and the Silver Mining City, and North Port has almost lost contact with the Castel Silver Mine.

  After Legris in the north announced the rebellion, Sebastian also immediately summoned the nobles of the territory to call up troops in the name of Charlotte to suppress the rebellion.

   Afterwards, the lords from all over the country led their troops to Beigang.

  What happened next, even if Sebas and the nobles didn't talk about it, Charlotte could probably guess it all.

  That's right, she did hand over the management authority of the territory to Sebastian before she fell asleep, but what she herself firmly controlled was only the direct jurisdiction of Castel.

  Feudalism is not a county of the Celestial Dynasty, and the lord's constraints on vassals are not so strong. Although Charlotte has won the loyalty of many nobles, Charlotte is Charlotte, and Sebas is Sebas.

   Being in Beigang, perhaps Sebastian can directly mobilize the army in Beigang, but he lacks effective restraint on the nobles who follow orders from all over the place.

   Only Charlotte and the Castel family can restrain nobles.

  Charlotte has been "missing" for too long, and there are various rumors flooding the territory. Under such circumstances, unless Charlotte shows up, it will be difficult for Sebastian to win the support of the nobles.

  Even if they win support, it may be difficult to unite.

   Today's meeting was held under such circumstances.

  Sebas wants to use this meeting to integrate the power of the nobles and form an allied force to counter the rebellion.

  Without Charlotte's restraint, the nobles who were summoned were unwilling to bow to Sebas and give up the leadership of the coalition forces.

  Under such circumstances, the leader of the Loyalist nobles, Viscount Len-Castel, who had been completely bound to Castel, proposed to form a regency cabinet.

  Thinking of this, Charlotte couldn't help but glanced at the old Viscount who was discussing the battle plan with Sebastian.

  From this perspective, she had misunderstood the old noble just now.

   It is true that under the premise that the lord is missing, his approach is suspected of seizing power.

   But after traveling for more than a year, Charlotte is no stranger to the aristocratic system of Miria.

  Even if Viscount Leon-Castell has selfish intentions, if she really hasn't shown up all the time, forming a regency cabinet council is indeed the fastest way to unify the power of the nobility.

  Many things are difficult to tell right from wrong. It can only be said that even Charlotte didn’t expect that the lewd cat in Nice was kidnapped, which directly led to the disappearance of her substitute!

  However, although Nice's whereabouts are unknown, Charlotte can still clearly feel the connection between her soul and the other party.

   That guy is still alive.

   "My lord, we have finished our discussion. This is a rough plan, please review it."

  The words of Viscount Leon Castel interrupted Charlotte's thoughts. Charlotte nodded slightly, and took the parchment that recorded the battle plan from the other party.

   Looking at the numbers recorded above, Charlotte was a little surprised:

   "You pulled a total of 35,000 people?"

   Viscount Lien-Castel said respectfully:

   "That's right, there are forty-five aristocrats who came here this time. Each family brought at least one hundred conscripts and twenty private soldiers. The aristocratic army has assembled 22,000 people."

   "In addition, there are thirteen noble families coming, including three barons. They should be able to call up about 3,000 conscripts, and there are a total of 25,000 noble coalition troops."

  Sebas nodded:

   "Excluding the defenders on the front line, the direct-controlled territory can still mobilize a standing reserve of 2,000 people, 3,000 conscripts, and 5,000 mercenaries."

   "All the armies add up to thirty-five thousand men."

  Charlotte:  …

   Good guy, so many people were pulled out of an earldom at random. In her previous life, she would believe that this is a kingdom!

   Ah, no, even those countries in the Middle Ages in the previous life, it is not easy to gather so many armies. The mobilization ability of the other world really cannot be regarded by common sense...

   "My lord..."

  Viscount Leon Castel stepped forward and said respectfully:

"Our military strength is three times that of the rebel army, and our military strength has the upper hand. Not only that, although the rebel army is based on the elite private soldiers of the Legris family, more than 80% of them are conscripts and mercenaries, and their combat effectiveness is not strong. "

   "Currently, the rebels have attacked the upper reaches of the Dorn River in the north. I suggest that the coalition forces go north immediately after integrating their troops and station on the side of the Dorn River to prevent the rebels from crossing the river. At the same time, they will train in situ to seek possible fighters..."

   "His Excellency Baron Angus de Valais once made great achievements in the Star-Moon War, and he can lead the army as a commander."

  After listening to Viscount Len Castell's suggestion, Charlotte fell into deep thought. She glanced at Sebastian and said:

   "Sebas, do you have any ideas?"

  Sebas sighed:

   "Master, I still have some experience in managing territories, but I'm not good at leading troops in battle."

  Charlotte nodded slightly to express her understanding.

  Stop talking about Sebastian.

   If you really want to talk about war, she is also a layman herself.

   Not to mention fighting in the extraordinary world, everything happened so suddenly now...