Can't I develop my own character?

This is his lair. Once a siege occurs, the risk factor will rise sharply. In the face of tens of thousands of troops, extraordinary people below the fourth level will not be able to stop it, not to mention that the most powerful one on his side, "Lin Qi", has just reached the second level not long ago.

In addition, siege and sacrifice should be connected.

'Xia Li' needs a sacrifice to change her job, but the prerequisite is that the city gate cannot be broken. Judging from the defenders of Berman City, it is unlikely that they can stop the army of the Kingdom of Kainte.

Besides, in the game plot, Bill had no intention of stopping it at all. It was because of him that the city was broken, and in the end the protagonists had to step in to reverse the situation.

Sacrifice Jonathan in exchange for precious thirty minutes, counterattack, and break through the main line?

Ryan must be out of his mind to do that.

If the city is really breached, anything can happen. Games can be restarted, but there is no chance to start over in life.

So he decisively took out the mirror and contacted Maganna.

As long as the Iron Blood Legion is there to support them, even if the Kingdom of Caint attacks the City of Berman, the final outcome will be stable.

"...You mean the matter of Cainte sending troops? Yeah, I know." Maganna thought Ryan was thanking her for sending people over, but she didn't expect him to talk about this.

"Grand Duke, are you not going to send troops?"

"No," Maganna said. "I had plans before, but now I want to see if the Second Prince is behind all this and what he's planning. Don't worry, if Berman City really can't hold it back, I'll have Gluck and the others escort you away."

Ryan thought to himself, Grand Duke, you are a very nice person.

However, Maganna did not send troops in the game, otherwise the protagonists would have no chance to play.

But he couldn't figure it out. It was clearly a good opportunity.

"But Grand Duke, following the enemy's lead is a taboo." Ryan frowned. "Instead of being passive, why not take the initiative? Send troops under the pretext of resisting the Cainte Kingdom's army and quickly occupy the southern part of the empire. Then I can join forces inside and outside to capture Casradi. With the princess here, no one will accuse you of rebellion."

"Furthermore, with this place as our support, combined with your original territory, we can attack or defend, and at least remain invincible."

"Hmm...you have a point."

Magna crossed her arms, wrinkled her small nose, and turned her head to look to the side.

"Creed, what do you think?"

Not far away, Creed, who was wrapped tightly in clothes, shook his head at her.

"Grand Duke, the situation in the empire is not chaotic enough. If the Iron Blood Legion takes action, it will give the old emperor an excuse."

"That's right, Ryan, you heard it too. Now everyone in the empire is afraid of me. The old emperor wants to drag me down to hell with him to create opportunities for his children."

Although the Iron Blood Legion is not weak, it is not enough to support her in seizing the throne.

"I think exactly the opposite." Ryan shook his head. "It's precisely because the empire is not in chaos that the old emperor won't act rashly. With the Iron Blood Legion's reputation, which legion in the empire is confident of defeating the Grand Duke? None! And Grand Duke, you have a legitimate reason to fight. As long as you can mobilize the army here, there's no need to fight. Those lords will pledge their loyalty to you. This is a great opportunity to grow and develop."

"When the time comes, you can just find an excuse and say the army is staying here to prevent the Kingdom of Kainte from committing further offenses. Even if the old emperor is angry, he won't dare to do anything to you. If a war breaks out, both sides will suffer losses, and the empire can't withstand such a turmoil."

To be honest, Ryan hoped that Grand Duchess Maganna would come.

Rather than being caught between three forces, it is better to go all the way and let Maganna occupy this area.

At least the Grand Duke was really that good to him, and this could be considered as repaying the Grand Duke's kindness.

Anyway, he won't reveal his identity, so he will still be a member of the Fire Covenant and a good citizen of the empire.

Casradi will be forced to leave under pressure, and as for Bill, he will be taken away to be sacrificed to the gods, leaving the second prince to go home and play in the mud.

Grand Duke, I have a plan that will allow me to rest assured from now on!

"That's true. If we can capture Kasiladi, then there's no need to worry about failing to accomplish our goal." Maganna's eyes lit up, and she felt that what Ryan said made more and more sense.

"Grand Duke," Creed whispered, "No! If the Second Prince or anyone else has a backup plan, this will make you a target of public criticism."

tmd!

Ryan could hear Creed's words, and he was the target of public criticism? Come on, you're fighting for the throne, not playing house. If you don't fight for it, will you give it to someone else?

He couldn't help but curse inwardly. This guy kept trying to stop him again and again. Was he an idiot or a traitor?!

...

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Chapter 53 Ryan: The Grand Duke's heart is reassuring! The blood sacrifice begins! [6k5]

The debate never stopped. It was impossible for Ryan to convince Maganna to send troops in just a few words. After all, Creed was nominally the Grand Duke's military advisor. The latter had followed her for many years and fought in many battles. His status was obviously not comparable to Ryan's.

But Ryan always felt that there was something wrong with Creed.

War is a double-edged sword. Maganna will indeed face some pressure when sending troops, but the benefits are also visible to the naked eye.

Creed only talks about the disadvantages and not the advantages. Even if you are conservative, you shouldn't do that.

It’s not that Ryan is paranoid and shouts "traitor" when he sees someone. It’s really because of the experience with Kesha that made him feel that the circle of traitors is not that simple. Who knows, the person you trust the most may be a damn traitor!

Huh? Wait, I'm a spy too? That's fine.

In short, if Maganna does not send troops for the time being, it will not be so easy to fight against the Cainte army.

He suddenly remembered that Bill had mentioned to him on the day of the banquet that Casradi would leave. Perhaps he said that because the army of the Kingdom of Caint would attack.

Of course, Bill couldn't possibly know Ryan's situation. He developed Ryan just because he didn't want to be poached by Casradi and wanted to hold all the power in Berman City in his hands.

But, will Casradi leave?

the answer is negative.

Ryan suddenly thought, what is he doing here? If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. If it really can't be supported, the worst thing that can happen is to find another place to develop.

Anyway, Casradi will definitely take the lead, but it is not clear whether others will take the lead.

"Perhaps you could consider telling Leah the location of Cazorla Prison."

Ryan thought about it.

Leah originally came for the Blood Archbishop. This was her trump card. The opponent's strength was at least at the top of the third level, maybe even the fourth level. Once 'Xia Li' completed the job transfer task, she could use Leah to help her escape.

Of course, if Xia Li is judged to be the chosen one of the Blood God after her job change, she must not be seen by Leah, otherwise the high priest will immediately take out her big stick and kill Xia Li.

...

Here.

A mountain range in the western border of the empire.

Inside the military camp.

Maganna closed her spell, her delicate brows slightly furrowed, revealing a pensive expression.

Although she did not agree to send troops, Ryan's analysis did make her excited. If she could occupy the territory around Berman City and then unite with the Western Border, having these two territories to manage, she could attack and capture them, which would be very beneficial to the subsequent situation.

"Grand Duke, sending troops is not advisable," Creed said softly. "The situation is unclear. The Emperor sees you as a thorn in his side. Any rash action could put us in trouble."

"So you think Ryan's idea is wrong?"

"Not really. Ryan's analysis is correct. If we can really capture a new territory, it will be of great significance to us. But we must also be careful. What if we can't take it? The emperor, the princes, and those nobles and ministers are all watching you. Even if we can take it, if the Kainte army really continues to attack the empire, the Iron Blood Legion will be held back by them, and the advantage will instantly turn into a disadvantage."

"Um..."

Magna said nothing.

What Creed said made sense but... these were not things she should consider.

Who is she? The Iron-blooded Grand Duchess Maganna.

What she has the most is enemies, whether they are princes or emperors. It is because of these threats that she has become stronger and stronger that she has become the Maganna of today.

As for the attack of the Kainte army, there is no need to worry about it. Who gave the Kainte people the courage to fight her?

Rather than thinking about what would happen if she failed, Maganna preferred to think about the benefits of success.

Creed is the one who knows her best, so he can develop strategies that suit her style and help her win victory after victory.

But this time, the other party acted out of character.

Everyone says that Maganna only knows how to fight and leaves the thinking to others, but is the Grand Duke really brainless?

"Creed, how many years have you been with me?" Maganna suddenly asked.

Creed was silent for a moment, then said, "Three years."

"Three years, not too long or too short. I never doubt anyone I employ, but I've always been curious about what you look like under that mask."

"Grand Duke, I told you that my face was burned and looked ugly, and you promised me that I wouldn't have to take off the mask, so I followed you."

"Oh, that's right... I'm just curious. If you don't want to, forget it."

Maganna waved her hand and said, "Go down and rest. Don't worry about the affairs of Berman City for now. Instead, these Western Barbarians have started clamoring again. One day I will kill them all!"

To the west of the Augustus Empire was an endless wasteland, and the northwest border was inhabited by countless nomadic peoples. These people made a living by raising livestock. They were numerous and diverse, good at fighting, especially riding and shooting, and existed in the form of tribes.

Because of their low level of civilization, they were called Western Barbarians by the Augustan Empire.

The relationship between the Empire and the Western Barbarians has always been bad, and war between the two sides is the norm. The Western Barbarians often use their mobility to enter the Empire's territory to burn, kill, and loot, kill people and steal supplies, and then run away, causing the Empire a lot of headaches.

The old emperor sent Maganna to garrison in the western border in order to use the power of the western barbarians to suppress her development. Unexpectedly, Maganna became more and more courageous in battle, and over the years, she even made the western barbarians dare not invade.

However, the Western Barbarians have recently begun to stir again. Maganna's Iron Blood Legion has had several small-scale battles with the Western Barbarian tribes. She has to solve the problems here as soon as possible before she can fully join the fight for the throne.

At the same time, there were some things she had to figure out.

Looking at Creed's departing back, Magna snorted meaninglessly.

......

For the next two days, the atmosphere in the entire city of Berman was extremely depressing.

When the war broke out, there was no movement within the empire, and the gates of Kosotho were closed, with no intention of sending troops to stop the war.

The army of the Kingdom of Kaint was divided into three regiments, two of which consisted of 2,000 people each. They began to plunder the surrounding towns and villages. As expected, the remaining 6,000-man group attacked the city of Berman.

Troops plundered, a common occurrence on the border.

Most of the time when two armies fight and friction occurs, it is not for the purpose of occupying territory. After all, it is easy to conquer territory but difficult to defend it. This is what a qualified army should do, rather than plundering and seizing resources, killing people and running away.

As a result, the villages and towns on the southern border of the empire suffered.

They don't have as strong defenses as big cities. Most towns don't even have decent defensive equipment. The town guards are at most three to five hundred people, and their equipment is relatively backward. How could they possibly be a match for these Cairnt troops?

He has a gun in his hand!

Over here, they are fighting with cold weapons.

You are not a superhuman, and hand-to-hand combat tactics are facing musket fire. My lord, times have really changed.

Although the number of musketeers in Kainte's army is a minority, they cannot be stopped by any village or town. As for unity, it is even more impossible. The big nobles are trying to protect themselves, so can the small nobles risk their lives to protect their subjects?

Although there were some truly good nobles who swore to fight to the death, their fate soon became a negative example in the eyes of other nobles.

The border is in chaos.

The same was true of the city of Berman in the past, but it only improved with the expansion of the empire's territory.

But with the Caint army approaching, the nobles who received the news in advance were ready to evacuate. Some of them had assets here and could not evacuate, so they recruited mercenaries for protection. If Berman City really couldn't bear it, they could at least escape under pressure.

Unfortunately, there are only so many mercenaries in Berman City, and it is not enough for every noble to recruit enough people. In the end, those gangsters became popular and were bought by the nobles for a large sum of money.

What's even more outrageous is that some nobles came to the government office to ask for people, and asked Ryan to send people to protect them in the name of nobility.

According to imperial law, when the lives of nobles are threatened, the Administrative Bureau is obliged to do its utmost to protect their safety.

That's the truth, but isn't it still not threatened?

If Ryan were to allocate all manpower to the central city to protect the nobles, he would basically have to ignore other places, so Ryan did not intend to pay attention to these guys - even though they loudly condemned Ryan as unfit to be the director of the Administrative Bureau.

Do I need you to match?

"No one has even come to attack, and you're already in chaos."

Ryan was speechless about this situation.

He was now looking forward to what Casradi would do.

In the game, the protagonists exposed Bill's conspiracy. After defeating the main boss of Berman City, Casladi led the garrison to counterattack in the name of the princess and successfully repelled the Caint army.

Of course, this supposed exposure had a lot to do with Bill's own mindless face-off. If Ryan were to tell it, there would be no way Bill could have continued to hide the protagonists. But shooting games, the plot doesn't need to be delved into. Trying to find plot in adult content is like trying to find a plot twist in a story-based game.

Ryan was just about to call Jonathan to ask what the Fire Covenant would do next when Bloody Clothes suddenly appeared in his office.

This female killer seemed to be using a shadowy sneaking method to avoid everyone's sight.

"Master Ryan, Captain Gluck has made a discovery."