When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 895 - 846: The Blame-Shifting Conference
Pulling open the tent flap, in front of a group of nobles seated on velvet cushioned chairs, Raffel walked in without any regard for appearance.
Bang! The old Knight Commander angrily slammed the battle report onto the table.
"People ran off, just let it be." Raffel pushed away the maid who came to help him remove his cloak, "We lost a battle at Tinker's Crossing, and the Holy Alliance Army managed to ambush and retreat twenty miles?! Can we even fight?"
Raffel originally thought that these newly arrived River Island nobles would argue back a bit as usual.
But now, they obediently sat in their chairs, as if they couldn't hear Raffel's words.
As if a sudden intuition struck him, Raffel quickly raised his head and looked toward the end of the long table.
Where there had been an empty main seat, a young man wrapped in a mink scarf now sat.
Compared to the Ginijis Raffel had seen earlier, this young man's hair was much sparser.
"Your Majesty..."
Raffel was about to kneel halfway in salute, but Ginijis interrupted him: "Untimely rituals, don't perform them. Tell me, what happened in this battle?"
The young king snapped his fingers, and a maid, whose arm wasn't broken from a single push, cautiously came up to change Raffel's clothes.
"Raffel, have a seat."
Raffel hesitated before sitting down, and only then did Ginijis officially announce the start of the meeting.
This time, even sugarcoating defeat as victory was futile because Ginijis was on the front lines.
He could basically figure out what happened by asking the lower-ranking knights and junior officers in the camp.
According to the original plan, the Holy Alliance was supposed to only know he was coming with his vassal army, unaware of the Border Knights' actions.
Because they came from two directions, the Pope's army advanced from Thorn Garden, while they advanced along the Nao'an River.
The Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance initiated the attack, luring them into attacking.
Once they left the smooth Nao'an River routes, they couldn't quickly deploy or move troops.
So Raffel aimed to swiftly attack the Wild Wolf Battle Group in the Redway Manor battle, forcing the Chongxin Battle Group to cross the river.
Afterward, with the Border Knights present, they'd cut off Tinker's Crossing, effectively encircling the elite thousand-man Thousand River Valley forces.
Whether consuming them in one bite or besieging points to strike reinforcements, for King Jiji, it was an unprecedentedly brilliant opening.
Sadly, he awaited no cheers or applause.
Firstly, internal leaks led to the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance's early warning and investigation of the Leia population.
Then, in the Redway Manor battle, two thousand faced five hundred, morale plummeted, making pursuit difficult.
Finally, the River Island nobles disobeyed orders, fearing stolen glory, and directly attacked the Chongxin Battle Group at Tinker's Crossing.
Over two thousand attacked five hundred in a sudden assault, yet suffered a large field defeat and faced the river in a standoff.
Subsequently, they were engaged by the joined Wild Wolf and Chongxin Battle Groups, resulting in a battle damage ratio of seven to one, leaving how to explain such a setback?
"Shameful!" As the strategist for this operation, though Redway Manor was pulled, he at least bit into the Thousand River Valley people along the way, causing significant casualties.
However, the leaks and disobedience rendered his words completely disregarded.
Having thoroughly listened to the reports from nobles and commanders at various levels, Ginijis gripped the armrests of his chair.
His knuckles turned white from the pressure.
The perfect opening was gone, the Red Knight was captured, seventy thousand gold coins were deducted, and no achievements were made.
No matter how composed he usually was, upon first hearing the news, King Jiji furiously smashed his favorite porcelain cup.
The nobles whispered among themselves, and hot-tempered Thorn Garden nobles pointed at the River Island nobles, cursing.
"You were told to wait for the Thousand River Valley people to pass before attacking, why didn't you follow the orders?!"
"They were loitering at Tinker's Crossing. I had reason to suspect they already knew about the approaching army. If we didn't hold them, should we have let them escape?" The River Island nobles, raised in Changge City, the capital, naturally wouldn't take the insult.
Another River Island noble spoke with grievance: "My group clearly stalled the Chongxin Army of Thousand River Valley. Why did you let the Wild Wolf Army through?"
"Stop the nonsense!" Blacks, as the representative of the Oslar Clan, was known for speaking his mind. "The Wild Wolf Army retreated to join with the Chongxin Army. Why did you guard Tinker's Crossing instead of coordinating to intercept?"
"Who would have thought you couldn't stop just five hundred?"
"Ha! Who would have thought you'd be repelled by five hundred at Tinker's Crossing? Who would have thought you'd be driven back twenty miles by ten thousand Thousand River Valley people at Tinker's Crossing?"
"In the end, it's due to poor command." Raffel stood up, "I hope you all can consolidate command authority and act in unison, such as sending a Royal Messenger to supervise..."
"That's not necessary."
"This defeat isn't due to battlefield faults."
The two groups of nobles, who were just about to come to blows, changed their expressions in an instant and joined hands with smiles.
Watching the raucous scene, Duke Omes glanced disdainfully at the wooden Ginijis on the throne, a slight sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"I think the reason for this battle's failure is ultimately due to the leak." As soon as Duke Omes spoke, the tent fell silent.
As if in coordination, a noble from River Island coughed and said, "Shouldn't we investigate where the leak started?"
"Start with the Church investigation."
"No, no, let's start with the Royal investigation."
"No, no, no..."
As the royal nobles and Church were pulling at each other, Ginijis knocked on the table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I've already investigated the leakers on my way here." Ginijis' words remained calm, but those familiar with him detected a trace of hidden anger.
After a gentle call, a dozen nobles escorted seven or eight people dressed as servants inside.
"For freedom! Long live the Holy Path! Long live the Saint's Grandson! You nobles, possessed by demons, all deserve death!"
The usually docile maid now appeared disheveled, like a witch.
They gasped, different from their past meekness and apathy.
The leakers bore marks from hot irons and whips, and several fingers had been crushed.
Their eyes shone with an unprecedented light, a light daring to meet the nobles' eyes, a light refusing to bow to kings, a light glaring to all nobles.
"Modors! You!" A River Island noble shot upright.
No matter where they came from, people whispered among themselves, faces grim.
Evidently, these servants were their close attendants.
And the monks wearing the embroidered royal crest handed the interrogation documents and evidence to the table.
"You fool, who do you think gave you your life? Dare not bow?" Seeing evidence of his manservant's leak, a knight burst into rage.
He crossed the long table, kicking one of the manservants.
The manservant's chest deformed as he spat out blood, collapsing.
The knight was about to kick again, but was stopped by a monk with a cane.
"Sir, are you trying to kill to silence witnesses?"
The knight suddenly broke out in cold sweat.
This was the most feared assassination and espionage organization under King Ginijis, said to be modeled after Thousand Threads Spider.
Compared to Thousand Threads Spider, these monk spies preferred creating secrets over uncovering noble secrecy.
Kidnapping, theft, poisoning... merely routine for them.
Backed by most edicts and sheltered by Red Knights, these great nobles could only grit their teeth in silence.
Not to mention, aside from the Norn people, the three powers east of the Dragon Sleep Mountain Range coincidentally adopted espionage politics.
The only difference lies perhaps in the depth of involvement.
The black-clothed monk approached a noble steward: "How much did the Cheka of the Thousand River Valley Holy Alliance pay you to buy you off?"
"I didn't take a penny from them! Don't measure our sacred souls with money!" The steward stiffened his neck, looking at Ginijis.
"Since converting to the Holy Path faction, I truly feel alive."
"Miseria is the god of the poor, the impoverished god, but you are the rich, the demons."
"Kill me, you false believers will surely enter the Fire Prison, while I am the true devotee, without guilt, and will ascend to Paradise Mountain after death."
The other leakers behind him echoed in agreement.
"The heretical doctrines of the Holy Path have spread into Leia's territory," Ginijis stood, defining them—
foolish followers brainwashed and bought off by the Holy Path heretics.
"The fault lies entirely with me." King Ginijis coughed, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, pacing around the long table.
Seeing the leak impacting themselves, the nobles closed their mouths.
"This battle demanded all your efforts, I know, but merit is merit and fault is fault; the main leakers have surfaced." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Circling the long table, his voice floated above the Leia nobles' heads.
As Ginijis returned to the main seat, he surveyed the surroundings: "For the sake of nobility's dignity, tell me how to prevent errors like this from happening again."
The scene fell into silence, and after a while, a River Island noble stood reluctantly: "We vow to follow orders next time."
"Is that enough?" Ginijis asked.
The nobles looked around at each other, and finally, a Shattered Stone Noble looked at Raffel: "Knight Commander, perhaps you should discuss the Royal Messenger supervision plan further?"
