Rockefeller's voice continued to the convinced crowd.
“And the Imperial Army will no longer have a reason to retreat, so they will immediately go on the offensive. Then, if the orcs have any sense, they will attack the dwarves who destroyed their totem. They'll do it out of anger. Weren't the orcs the most instinctive of all races?”
Rockefeller's smile deepened as if he was hammering in the nail of victory.
“And if things go as I expect, defending Montefeltro territory will become much easier. The crisis of the Empire has ended, and now the cornered ones are the dwarves who touched the orc totem again, aren't they?”
Thus, the meeting that began in fear ended in joy, and the Emperor's order led the Imperial Army to launch a massive counterattack.
At the same time, Isabella, who received a signal from Rockefeller, released the orcs they had captured, and they soon joined the orc army and contributed to reporting the fabricated facts to the orc chieftain.
The orc chieftain, who was already furious about the destruction of the totem, unknowingly poured out his anger on the dwarves and began to turn the orc army towards the mountains where the dwarves were.
As the orc army quickly retreated, the Imperial Army hurriedly divided its forces and advanced north, while the main force returned to Montefeltro territory.
In addition, the Pope's forces, which had been stationed outside Montefeltro territory due to his orders, returned to Montefeltro and began to help defend the fortress. Thus, the Empire, which was on the verge of collapse, miraculously revived.
The soaring price of imperial bonds was a bonus.
The three leaders of Goblin Bank, who had been busy profiting from the various forces, were left dumbfounded as the price of the bonds they sold skyrocketed due to the sudden change in the orcs' attitude.
“What is this? What is going on…?”
“No, that... how did it revive?”
The goblins, who had been busy inciting various forces to take care of their own interests, were ironically wrapped up in the Empire's scheme and suffered a huge blow.
"Something's definitely off. This doesn't make any sense. How could the dying Empire recover like that?"
"It really doesn't make sense."
"I've thought about it, but it's just weird. I mean, the orcs are moving like that?"
"Initially, it was the totem that made the orcs move."
"Could it be...?"
All three denied it simultaneously.
"No way. That's not possible. Would the Empire have done such a thing like us back then?"
"Would those worthless beings have strategized like us?"
"But they could have, right? We've done so much until now."
"Ugh... What should we do? This loss is too huge."
Nothing had gone right since their involvement with the Empire.
Just cutting their losses in the beer bubble would have drained their blood, but they were completely ruined in the bond speculation, making it difficult to even be called the richest in the continent.
They were just slightly better than a mediocre force.
"The dwarves are also hopeless because the orcs are invading their base."
"Damn orcs, they're robbing empty houses like that..."
"Ugh..."
Since they had cut their losses on the bonds, the Empire and the dwarves' story had become someone else's problem.
"Who's going to compensate for the wyverns that died protecting that cursed territory?"
"Since the Empire never agreed, it just means we screwed up, right?"
"Damn it!"
Then Goldman remembered a very arrogant man who had confronted him in the Empire.
"That's it. I understand now. It's all that devil's doing."
Having deceived many, he wasn't late in realizing that he had been deceived.
"What do you mean? That guy orchestrated it?"
"It's all his doing. That guy."
"Who are you talking about?"
"That Rockefeller or Rothsmedici guy. It's all the Empire's doing."
"What? Is that true?"
"What's your evidence?"
There was no evidence.
It was just a feeling.
"It's just my intuition."
Fire began to flicker in Goldman's eyes, which were crinkled in anger.
"These damn bastards. They think we'll back down like this. Fine, let's show them what we're made of."
* * *
"What brings you here? We don't even have your bonds anymore, so you're not a creditor, just a bystander, right?"
When the winner of the Gold Vein War was almost the Empire.
Goldman, who led the wyvern forces to find the Imperial Emperor, was blind with rage.
He had suffered astronomical losses in the beer bubble and bond speculation and was determined to make up for that loss by causing trouble at the Imperial Palace.
Especially when he saw Rockefeller, who dared to talk back to him without fear, he could feel rage welling up inside him.
"Why is there nothing to pay? We're not some charity volunteers. We sacrificed our army to protect Montefeltro's territory. We need to get compensated for our efforts."
The roar of the following wyverns echoed into the Imperial Palace.
Goldman had brought the wyvern forces with the intention of overthrowing the palace if necessary.
"Ahem! I see."
Rockefeller, along with the Imperial Emperor, couldn't be unaware of Goldman's intentions.
Almost all of the Empire's forces were focused on the Montefeltro territory, where they were confronting the dwarves in the Gold Vein War, and if there was a problem here, the Empire would have no choice but to deal with it.
"Depending on my mood, I could completely overthrow this place."
Goldman, who didn't bow down even before the Imperial Emperor, relied on the wyvern forces he had brought.
Seeing this, Rockefeller, who didn't like the situation, began to fiddle with the pendant he had received from Lee Han earlier.
'I didn't want to use the cheat key.'
However, depending on the situation, there was no choice but to use it.
'They must have suffered astronomical losses from the beer and bond speculation failures. That's probably why they're acting like thugs here.'
If the wyvern forces, which were their entire fortune, were slaughtered by a munchkin, what would their fate be?
'From today, they'll probably have to take down their sign.'
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