Chapter 781: A Miserable Start

Even though it was said to be a misunderstanding, everyone knew that it wasn't. The Light Parliament that kept causing trouble for Rhode finally got the chance to interrogate him as to why he attacked their men. Not only that, but they also admonished him about the effects that this would bring to the united situation in the Winter Castle and made him the biggest sinner.

However, what infuriated the Light Parliament was that Rhode didn't defend himself at all. Instead, he responded simply—as a noble, overlord, and officially conferred Earl, he held the rights to punish those who disrespected and threatened him. Gorden disregarded his identity, continuously taunted, and even attacked him. No one could stop Rhode from exercising his authority.

Rhode spoke confidently and left the Light Parliament speechless because he was actually right. Besides, many among the crowd could testify that it was Gorden who spoke rudely first. Even though Rhode was young, this time he actually represented the Munn Kingdom as an emissary and in addition to his overlord and Earl title, his status was undoubtedly much higher than Gorden, who was only the leader of a legion. Although it was somewhat despicable that Rhode used his status to apply pressure on others, it was extremely effective. Of course, one could argue that Rhode, as a noble, shouldn't retaliate with violence and one could report this matter to the Light Parliament... However, Rhode disliked this style of method.

The Light Parliament let the matter off because there was another main problem that they could stir trouble with—his 5000 soldiers!

This was acknowledged in the agreement. Back then, the Light Parliament thought that Rhode only casually mentioned about the 5000 soldiers because they knew that even though his fortress appeared glorious on the surface, he had a hard time maintaining its operations. Apart from the Land of Atonement, the other regions under Rhode were basically uninhabited and there naturally weren't any sources for him to recruit new soldiers. Although Rhode rose from being a mercenary leader and Starlight had become popular in Paphield, the mercenaries didn't come from only one territory. Every territory needed a stable number of soldiers and financial support, but Rhode lacked them. This was why the Light Parliament instantly caught onto this and was confident to nullify the agreement as soon as Rhode failed to provide the 5000 soldiers.

But now, Rhode succeeded. However, the problem was—they weren't humans!

The Light Parliament initially publicized that 'all humans should join forces and fight against the Undead Creatures' and many regional overlords were aware that they held human supremacy. However, they didn't mind at all because they were humans, after all. Perhaps there were beings of other races in their territories, but they were the minority. Besides, even if the minorities joined the army, they would be assigned to special groups since, for example, there wouldn't be enough Elves to possibly form an infantry squad.

However, Rhode openly brought 5000 non-humans here, which was a slap to the Light Parliament's face!

Smack! Smack! Smack!

See, their cheeks were swollen already.

The Light Parliament claimed that the 5000 soldiers weren't humans, which violated their agreement, and they complained to the church. However, the church ultimately expressed that there wasn't any requirement for the race of the soldiers when both sides signed the agreement. Therefore, despite the race and as long as the soldiers weren't demons, Rhode wasn't breaching the agreement as long as he brought 5000 of them.

After getting the cold shoulder from the church, the Light Parliament wasn't discouraged. They looked for the Mage Association and requested for their Holy Knight to identify who exactly the soldiers that Rhode had brought were.

As a knight who fought against demons and devils, he definitely could differentiate between demons and the elemental creatures. As a result, the answer that the Light Parliament received was the same as what Rhode told them—they were fire elemental creatures and non-demons or devils.

This left the Light Parliament in mixed emotions. They initially thought that they could climb over Rhode's head, but ended up going for wool and coming home shorn again. They finally understood why Rhode was determined in making the Light Parliament compensate for the pensions of his soldiers. Back then, they were secretly excited that they could mess with 5000 of his soldiers, which would be a huge hit to his forces. When that happened, they wouldn't mind forking out the pensions. But now... they surely wouldn't be willing to anymore.

The Light Parliament's only mental comfort now was that ordinary people couldn't get their hands on 5000 elemental creatures (This was the truth. If not, the Light Parliament would have expected Rhode to do so back then). This time, Rhode led 5000 of them and if they were to all crumble, it would also weaken his forces.

Yes... Maybe... Perhaps... Should be...

This was still a mystery to them and the situation regarding the Winter Castle's front line was more serious for them. The Country of Light's army was responsible for the front line, but they had a huge headache because the situation in the Winter Castle developed in a direction they hated to see.

After Rhode's arrival, many of the anti-parliament forces instantly sided him. From the start, they felt uncertain, but to their surprise, Rhode was relatively passionate toward them—even though he put up a poker face, many had heard about this rumor of his and didn't take it too seriously. The representatives gathered around him as the core of their anti-parliament forces.

This led to an obvious division between two forces in the Winter Castle during the alliance meeting thereafter—the Light Parliament led by the alliance representative and the anti-parliament forces led by Rhode. Under such a circumstance, the hopes of them cooperating unanimously were dashed.

However, the military personnel were much more practical than the group of idiotic parliament members. Since they had lost their authority to command every troop, they might as well leave some rights to Rhode. The entire Winter Castle was divided into two fronts in the North and South. The military personnel handed over the commanding rights of the southern battlefront to Rhode while they led the Light Parliament's forces to the northern battlefront. This way, not only could they prevent communication errors, but could also minimize any possible conflicts.

The Mayflower Legion was furious after Rhode injured Gorden and couldn't wait to start a fight with his troops. However, the military personnel weren't willing to witness such a scene, so they separated them. Although this wasn't beneficial for the battlefronts, it was still better than keeping the foul atmosphere between both rivals.

However, this also posed a difficult problem for the alliance representative. After receiving this news, the anti-parliament forces instantly mobilized their troops to the southern battlefront, which left him in an extremely awkward position. The communication between both sides was also a crucial problem. Although separating them had indeed removed the uncertainties, a war needed cooperation in order to succeed. But...

"Who is willing to take up this responsibility?"

The alliance representative puckered his brows and gazed at his companions. However, all he saw were troubled expressions. After all, they knew that whoever became the liaison officer between the alliance and Rhode would have to deal with the terrifying young man. The thought of Gorden groaning in bed sent chills down everyone's spines. No one wished to risk their lives!

"The Undead Army is slowly approaching. I guess all of you are aware that we must work together in order to win."

The alliance representative puckered his brows, spread his arms apart, and gazed at everyone helplessly. This time, Rhode brought the Holy Maiden Statue and the side that needed its support would need to interact with him. But the problem was that... This young man wasn't easy to approach.

Could it be that no one is willing to step up?

The alliance representative knitted his brows. Then, a crisp voice sounded.

"Please leave it to me."

"Miss Sonia?"

Many turned to her in astonishment. Sonia stood up and gazed silently. Andre couldn't conceal his surprised expression.

"Sonia, you..."

"I led the investigation team and met Sir Rhode before, so we're no strangers. Therefore, I think I'm capable of taking up this responsibility."

Sonia placed her hand on her chest.

"May I ask if there are any objections?"