The cold wind blew through the lush treetops, gently brushed the thick brown tree trunks, and swirled and danced in the courtyard in front of the banquet hall.
Several armored knights drove horses and patrolled the courtyard vigilantly, the sound of horse hooves echoing in the quiet night.
The eldest prince secretly avoided everyone's sight and quickly hid in a hidden corner of the banquet hall.
Only then did he dare to talk to Victor in a low voice.
"So, what do you want to tell me?"
Victor squinted his eyes, examined the eldest prince in golden clothes in front of him, and asked.
"There are some things that are not suitable to be discussed in front of Miss Liya, nor are they suitable for other nobles to hear."
The eldest prince looked at Victor's concerns and thought about it for a long time before continuing:
"I feel that there must be some reason behind the strange movement in the southern rift and the overflow of monsters."
The eldest prince also thought carefully about revealing this news to Victor.
Since returning to the royal capital, this matter has always lingered in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more wrong he felt.
Originally, the situation in the southern part of the empire was stable, with adventurers and monsters in a delicate balance.
But when did the problem begin?
The eldest prince fell into deep thought.
If I had to find a starting point, it might be the time when Victor took the princess to the kingdom.
Immediately afterwards, news came from the royal capital that Princess Aurelion had been named by Oberly to succeed the emperor.
In fact, the stability of the Southern Monster Rift is extremely important to the empire.
Not only did it provide a livelihood for adventurers to the south, it also ensured the security of the empire's southern borders.
These adventurers regard every monster that emerges from the rift as wealth, and they will fight tooth and nail for generous rewards.
At this stage, the royal family has relatively little interference in the rift, leaving adventurers free to carve up the benefits.
At this time, the adventurers' satisfaction level was undoubtedly full marks.
Because they can make a lot of money here.
But as time goes by, the number and intensity of monsters in the rift continue to grow.
This makes it difficult for adventurers to deal with it alone.
The Empire was forced to send troops to the southern border to tighten control of the Monster Rift.
Even if the army intervenes, the adventurers' profits will still be considerable due to the large number of monsters.
However, although the adventurers did not have many objections to the existence of the army, there was obvious polarization within the group.
The monsters become more powerful and difficult to deal with.
Therefore some adventurers choose to join or create a guild.
Joining a guild not only ensures their safety, but the rewards are not necessarily higher than those of a ranger working alone.
But they are more stable.
Even so, the situation in the south could have maintained a certain degree of stability.
But now, monsters are continuously spewing out of the cracks, and the adventurers cannot penetrate deep into the cracks no matter how hard they try.
Monsters gathered in groups outside the rift, and their violent attacks continued to impact the strong defense line established by the army on the southern border.
The adventurers had no choice but to fight side by side with the army to protect this front line.
But the problem now is.
When did you lose your original balance?
Before the riots broke out in the Monster Rift, a tacit understanding of order was maintained between the adventurers and the army.
The adventurers are responsible for going deep into the cracks and clearing out most of the monsters, while the army guards the front line to prevent the breeding of edge monsters.
Now, however, things get complicated.
Only with the help of a large number of main forces can the stability of the south be guaranteed.
If you ask the adventurers how satisfied they are with the South at this time.
The answer is undoubtedly utter dissatisfaction.
They came here with no righteous intentions, and they never considered protecting the safety of the people in the south.
Simply because it makes more money.
But now, even making money has become difficult.
The harvest on the battlefield is much less than when we went deep into the rift before.
The eldest prince realized this, held his chin, and said to Victor while thinking:
"So, I wonder if someone deliberately expanded the monster rift, leading to the current difficult-to-defend situation."
Victor opened his eyes and looked at him, stared at him, and asked:
"Do you already have suspicions?"
The eldest prince lowered his head, his brows furrowed, and a trace of heaviness and pain flashed in his eyes.
He didn't want to reveal his inner speculation easily, because that name meant huge contradictions and pain to him.
But in the end, he slowly said:
"All I can think of is Owesser."
A month ago, although the lower level monsters in the monster rift began to surge up, making the upper level monsters become more numerous and stronger.
But with the army present, the situation can still be controlled.
But this has also led to a sharp drop in the income of some adventurers.
The eldest prince felt that this situation may have intensified the adventurers' dissatisfaction with the army, and their resentment may gradually accumulate.
After all, they came to the South to make money, and now they can't do that.
But the military's first priority is to protect the safety of those who live in the South.
In order to maintain the stability of the southern front and ensure the safety of the people, the army had to take such action.
But ever since the second prince came to the south and was scolded by him and left.
Soon after, the number of monsters pouring out of the monster rift increased dramatically.
Well, from an adventurer's point of view, these people have made a lot of money.
All day long, as long as you want to kill monsters, you can kill monsters and make a lot of money. It is no longer a fantasy.
But if you have a life to make money, you may not have a life to spend it.
There were too many monsters, and some of the weaker adventurers had no chance of returning once they entered the battlefield.
The flesh and blood of the lost lives will remain on the front line forever.
Their bodies were scattered across the battlefield, and their deaths were brutal.
As the number of adventurers decreases, the constant flow of monsters makes the defense of the southern front extremely difficult.
Looking back now, if someone really artificially expanded the monster rift, what were their motives?
The answer should be jealousy.
Because those adventurers who make little money are jealous of their peers who make a lot of money every day.
They resent their peers who are still making a lot of money amidst the chaos, while they themselves can't even drink soup.
If there were more monsters, would it be fair to everyone?
So the monster rift was maliciously pried open, just because of the unequal interests.
But no one would have thought that the number of monsters would affect more than just the reward.
Whether you can make money depends on how much money you have.
Once upon a time, everyone could make a lot of money in the South.
But now, everyone is in trouble due to the malicious interference of some weak but jealous adventurers.
Now, even retreating to save one's life has become a big problem.
As soon as he thought of the second prince, Albany felt a sharp feeling spread throughout his body.
The jealousy that Oweser brought to him made him feel extremely disgusted.
It was like a stinking quagmire, placed in front of him, almost making him vomit.
With such a heavy heart of jealousy, it is not impossible for the second prince to influence the southern adventurers.
Albany fell into a deep tangle, then raised his head and said to Victor seriously:
"Count Victor, you must remain vigilant about Oweser."
"Although I don't know what's wrong with him, his 'jealousy' may be the key to this situation."
There was a hint of worry in Albany's eyes.
After hearing what he said, Victor was silent for a moment, seeming to sort out the information Albany said in his mind.
After a while, he asked in a deep voice:
"In other words, the second prince didn't come back at all?"
Albany was stunned for a moment, searching his memory.
Albany was stunned for a moment, and his mind quickly searched for memories.
Indeed, since the news of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the elves and the empire came out, there was news that the second prince left the south in a hurry and was about to return to the royal capital.
The eldest prince has always been worried about what Oweser might do in the south.
When he heard that Oweser was about to return to the royal capital, he felt a little relieved.
He waited until the war in the south stabilized slightly before he chose to return to the royal capital.
But now it appears that Owesser has not returned at all.
Because from beginning to end, he never got any news from Oweiser.
Thinking of this, Albany's face was filled with panic, and an ominous premonition emerged in his heart.
And Victor's calm voice sounded again:
"If things are as you say."
"Well, I guess it's too late now."
"Varied……"
The eldest prince's eyes widened and he was about to speak.
Suddenly, outside the banquet hall, the thunderous sound of horse hooves was heard.
A crisp and chaotic sound of footsteps came from the distance like thunder.
The copper-colored figure quickly swept across the ground and headed straight to the banquet hall.
When the knights saw the intruder, they drew out their weapons and tried to fend it off.
Gwen's pupils shrank and she quickly recognized this fast-moving warrior:
"He is an Imperial soldier and does not need to be intercepted."
The knights came to their senses in confusion, put away their weapons, and widened their eyes in shock.
Really Imperial soldiers.
However, shouldn’t the empire’s soldiers be stationed at the border all year round?
Feeling the breath of wind passing by them, the knights could only watch helplessly as he rode his horse into the banquet hall.
The horse's hooves stepped across the golden ground and burst into a thunderous explosion. It stepped across the red carpet and stepped over the steps into the golden forest.
The officer pulled the reins, and the horse raised its hooves and neighed.
The nobles were frightened, running around and falling to the ground, lying on the wall and shivering.
His eyes were full of shock and confusion.
Even the elves were frightened and crowded into the crowd, looking at the panting horses with some fear.
The officer had already dismounted, and the horse fell to the ground the moment he dismounted, foaming at the mouth.
He hurriedly opened his legs and ran towards the banquet hall.
The eldest prince saw everything and stared blankly at the intruding officer.
Seeing that the other person was covered in scars, he rolled and crawled in front of him:
"His Royal Highness the eldest prince!!!"
"The Southern Front has been lost!"
