Low Dimensional Game

In the capital of Crete, a large number of high-ranking officials were having a tense discussion. Many people were arguing about the contents of the intelligence report, particularly the demands posed by the Holy Seville Empire. Crete needed to make a decision fast.

Prime Minister Tembor was quite concerned about the situation. After all, he was the main advocate of the Orc Slavery Bill that the Holy Seville Empire wanted to abolish. As such, he would likely be held responsible for the whole debacle!

No one would remember that many people had benefited from the passage of the bill. They would only remember that Tembor had brought war and strife upon them!

While many of the nobles were expressing their displeasure with Prime Minister Tembor, the emperor was also secretly trying to undermine him. The emperor had no sentimental feelings for his uncle.

In fact, he only felt complete hatred towards him. Moreover, as soon as there was the slightest chance, Zolman II would immediately remove Tembor to regain his full power.

On the central table, there was a map of the Crete Empire that showed the troop movements of the Holy Seville Empire. Many generals and nobles crowded around the table, trying to plan out the possible routes that Holy Seville would use for their invasion.

One of the officers took the lead, saying, “Holy Seville claimed that they mobilized an army of 800,000 troops. According to our intelligence, there should be at least 340,000 men there. Of those men, there are over 100,000 knights. Against that many elite troops and such a huge army, it would be very difficult to face them without adequate preparation.”

He continued. “With three or four hundred thousand troops, these two places would be the only possible routes. No other places can accommodate such a military advance without being vulnerable to our interceptions. Thus, the route that they are most likely to take is the one along the Red River Plains, right by the Depps Grand Canyon.”

Someone immediately replied, “But, we have a dozen unbreakable fortress cities blocking that route. As soon as we mobilize for war, we can send enough soldiers to deal with them, so that we would then have nothing to fear from the Holy Seville Empire!”

“Yes! We have strong soldiers and legions, and we are the powerful Crete Empire. We are not afraid of anyone!” At this time, Cardinal Leon from the Church of Light stood up in the back.

He wore solemn red and black robes that were embroidered with the sigil of the sun on the front and back. He looked at everyone, then said, “I am here today on behalf of the Pope to declare that the Church of Light will not participate in this war.”

This declaration caused an uproar. The Church of Light’s support was very important to the Crete Empire. As the Church of Light had directly announced that it did not support the war, Crete had just lost a powerful ally!

Emperor Zolman II stood up, immediately asking, “Why should there be a war at all? Have you all considered the opinions of the nobles and civilians in the entire Crete Empire? What we need is peace and stability. Why should we make such stupid choices for foolish reasons? We can choose to live in peace with the Holy Seville Empire instead!”

As Zolman II strongly criticized Prime Minister Tembor, most of the nobles also began to whisper among themselves.

After all, it was not in their interests to launch a war. In fact, it was completely unnecessary.

Though many of them were the confidants of Prime Minister Tembor, they also had their own interests to consider.

At this time, a guard rushed in. He was holding a letter from Urabell.

“It is a letter from Count Tito! What happened with the slave rebellion in Urabell?” The emperor immediately took the letter from the guard.

Count Tito was Tembor’s nephew and a cousin of Emperor Zolman. He was a stalwart ally of Duke Tembor, so he had been placed in charge of suppressing the rebellion.

As such, he had steadily annihilated the rebellion in Urabell. However, while doing so, he had also weakened Zolman II’s power within the province.

By the time he finished this conquest, it was likely that the royal family would have lost complete control of the province. This made Zolman II hate his own cousin quite a bit.

But, when he saw his letter, he began to laugh. As long as Count Tito pacified the rebellion enough to negotiate the exchange of the 200,000 slaves with the Holy Seville Empire and weakened the power and influence of Duke Tembor enough to drive him away, Zolman II would be delighted.

However, after reading the letter, Zolman II’s face turned blue. The letter slipped from his fingertips, while a sinister smile appeared on Duke Tembor’s face.

Duke Tembor picked up the letter, looked at it, then passed it to the other nobles around him. He tapped the gem above his cane and said, “We are past the time for negotiations! The war between us humans and the orcs is unavoidable. Since we have received this letter, the orcs at the border should have also received this news. As such, they will immediately cross the border and launch the war.”

He paused, then said urgently, “We have no time to hesitate! I strongly suggest that we draft a war mobilization order immediately to deal with this war.”

—————

Maples was a low-lying city that was located near the lower reaches of the Nami River. It was originally a beautiful and large city that overlooked the mountains and the river. Yet, right now, the whole valley within a radius of a hundred miles had been reduced to a soggy marshland.

Countless dead bodies floated in the water. They were pale and bloated and emitted a putrid stench.

These bodies extended all the way to the horizon. There were so many of them, it was impossible to row in and out of the city without dragging along the clothes of the dead.

Several fishing boats carried more than a dozen soldiers into the city. Along the way, they paddled past hundreds of thousands of dead bodies.

Even the sun seemed dimmer here. It was as if the entire population of Maples had been eradicated.

The group stood up and saw the peaks of Maples’ city wall in the distance. It stood in the center of this vast swamp, surrounded by piles of the dead. There was not a single living soul in sight.

The water for the city had been diverted. The city was originally the last stop that was connected to several large lakes that passed through Crete and ended by the Red River. Count Tito had redirected the canal and flooded the entire city, thus drowning all of the orcs that were inside it.

Without sacrificing a single one of his men, Count Tito had easily killed more than 100,000 orcs. If they had engaged in direct combat, it would have taken far longer and resulted in far greater casualties. Thus, Count Tito had gotten rid of his enemies with the most expert method.