Berserk, Total War: Second Son of Nobles

The king took the check and saw that it was indeed Yoda's check. He couldn't help but get furious. Although he knew that someone had taken the money, who would be stupid enough to carry such evidence outside every day, and it was seen by his allies. What would you make your allies think?

The king was so angry that he almost had a heart attack. After a while, he said, "Arrest those who advocated signing the peace treaty!"

Peace advocates:

Soon, all the ministers who advocated peace were taken outside by guards, awaiting the king's punishment.

"I'm so sorry, Governor John, I didn't expect things to turn out like this. Please don't be angry. Balden's people and I definitely want to resist the invasion of Yoda's army." After King Balden finished the punishment, he quickly turned around and apologized to John.

John didn't bother talking to him anymore and asked directly, "I want to ask you where the eldest prince is. I have something to ask him."

"Oh, the eldest prince is now receiving the refugees at the east gate of the city wall. If you want to find him, I can give you a notice." King Balden said.

"Then please issue a notice. I have to go find the eldest prince immediately," John urged.

A few minutes later, an envelope with the royal emblem of Balden was handed to John by the Prime Minister. After receiving it, John walked through the palace without looking back, and rode to the east gate outside the gate.

At the east gate of the royal capital, due to the large number of refugees gathered here, the inspection work was too slow for a while even though there were many soldiers doing it. But the refugees could not wait any longer. Every minute of delay would mean that Yoda's troops would be dozens of meters away from here.

"Report, more and more refugees are gathering. It may be difficult for the soldiers at the east gate alone to evacuate so many refugees," the soldier guarding the gate said to a middle-aged man with brown hair wearing armor. It was obvious that this was the eldest prince.

"Why not open other city gates, but only the east gate?" the eldest prince was puzzled.

"According to your majesty, the South Gate is for the Midland army. The West Gate is closed to prevent the people in the city from escaping. As for the northern port, according to the information I have inquired, it has been blocked because a large number of merchants have fled." The guards could only guess based on some information.

"Report, Your Highness, a man who claims to be the Governor of Midland is looking for you with a royal letter." At this time, a soldier found the eldest prince and said.

"Bring him up quickly!" The eldest prince was overjoyed. This was the only good news among a pile of bad news. He quickly asked John to come up.

John saw the iconic brown hair as soon as he climbed up the city wall. After performing the noble ceremony with the prince, John asked, "Prince, I want to ask how the refugee problem is being handled now."

The eldest prince told him about his troubles, and John said after listening:

"Your Highness, it will take some time for our Midland army to arrive. We can open the south gate to let the refugees in. There are too many people, so let them go south. They can just meet our army heading north and cross the river to West Barden. I have built many new villages there to accommodate the refugees."

When the eldest prince heard this, he quickly ordered someone to tell the guard of the South Gate to open the South Gate and check the refugees. At the same time, he sent people on horseback to the refugee group and told the refugees to go south, where there would be an army to pick them up. As for whether they could go or not, it was up to them to choose, because if they didn't go, they would be caught up by Yoda's troops.

After working for a while, John was invited by the Grand Prince to have dinner together and talk about how to fight a defensive battle.

Although they were the royal family, it was wartime and the battles on the front lines were almost all lost, so even the nobles could not eat very well. The most they could have was stewed meat, pickled sea fish with sauce, and bread made from wheat.

"Governor John, would you like to drink? Although Balden does not have as many vineyards as Midland and Yoda for making wine, we have wine made from rye here," said the eldest prince, holding a bottle of wine.

"What a guy, here he comes to sell something," John thought.

"Thanks, I don't drink," John replied.

"Oh, this is the first time I see an officer who doesn't drink. Even the priest drinks wine. Are you a child?" The eldest prince joked. After getting a positive reply, he immediately expressed his surprise:

“Oh my God, you became the governor before you even reached adulthood, that’s amazing. At that time, I was still studying and teasing my two younger brothers…” The eldest prince said this about his two younger brothers and then fell silent.

"Um, Your Highness, did you know that the Third Prince and the Second Prince both want to become King of Balden?" John asked.

“If I say I don’t know, I’d be a fool. I really don’t know what they understand about the king. They don’t think that once they become king they just have to leave all the work to their subordinates and then they can enjoy themselves,” the eldest prince complained.

"I have a way that has a high probability of preventing this from happening, or making the war more effective for you." John suddenly thought of a way.

"Ah! If you have any method, please tell me quickly." The eldest prince said quickly without eating his meal.

"Let's guess. The reason why the second and third princes want to seize the throne is largely because you haven't been crowned. The three of you are all heirs. If you inherit the throne and then announce that you will give the two princes titles, then from a legal point of view, if they don't accept it, it would be treason. You can more reasonably imprison them. If they are sensible and no longer want the throne and accept the title, then a bloody battle can be avoided. If the war continues like this, the people living in this land will suffer the most."

"Then I have a question. If the second prince agrees, won't you, Midland, suffer a loss?" asked the eldest prince, because he believed that Midland was the same as Yoda, except that one invaded late and the other invaded early.

"Your Highness, my position is the Governor of the Forest. My main task is to guard the forest territory. I came here to cooperate with Count Milo. If the king wants to blame someone, he will definitely find him instead of me. He gets the lion's share anyway, so why should I work so hard?" John replied. Of course, there was one thing he didn't say, which was that Sibalden had almost been controlled by his people.

"Oh, I see. Then we should tell father and the archbishop about the coronation as soon as possible. How long do you think it would take?" asked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"Tomorrow noon at the latest, because if we fight with Yoda, it will be too late even for the coronation. It is best to quickly send the information of the coronation to mainstream countries such as Midland, Yoda, and the Hall of the King of Law, and obtain recognition from most countries, so that you have legal basis." John suggested.

"Okay, I'll tell father right away," the eldest prince said, and took John to the palace.

Palace Courtyard

"Is it really going to come to this?" The king had a dejected look on his face. He did not expect that the neutral policy that had lasted for a hundred years could not be maintained any longer. He was probably the first King of Balden to abdicate in nearly a hundred years.

"I think this is a good idea. If you can avoid killing in this way, God will definitely agree, and you will go to heaven," said Archbishop Balden.

"Then let's do this. The coronation ceremony will be held tomorrow morning. I'm really old and useless." King Balden sighed and turned away.