As the emperor said, every lord and noble present had been briefed on the situation before they arrived at the great hall. Thus, there was no confusion regarding the topic of their discussion.
Nevertheless, with hundreds of nobles and lords gathered in the great hall, each with their own opinions and thoughts on the matter, their discussions were bound to be chaotic without order.
“What do you think, Baron Chalfont?” Emperor Renardier sought the war hero’s opinion first as the person was the chief informant of the situation.
“Permission to speak freely, Your Imperial Majesty.”
“Permission granted, Baron Chalfont. Please speak your honest thoughts.”
“Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty,” Baron Chalfont expressed his appreciation before saying, “To be honest, I feel like the letter was a trap. There isn’t much information on the seven witch kingdoms, especially their inner conflicts.”
“Thus, for all we know, the seven witch kingdoms could be pretending to be at odds with each other and baiting us into invading. If that happens, erasing our empire’s image as a warmongering country will be difficult.”
“At the same time, we would be giving the witch kingdoms the moral high ground to launch a counter-invasion on our empire,” Baron Chalfont stated.
“I also have similar doubts.” Emperor Renardier nodded before asking, “But what about your daughter? Don’t you want to save her?”
“Of course I do, Your Imperial Majesty. However, I shouldn’t let my personal interests threaten the stability of our empire,” Baron Chalfont replied, winning the approval of many nobles and lords.
That said, he was only able to act reasonably because his daughter was said to be still alive.
If she had died, he would have likely rallied up an army and started a war with the witch kingdoms impulsively without notifying the emperor.
At the same time, there were a few nobles and lords that doubted Baron Chalfont. Still, they didn’t say anything and patiently waited their turn to speak.
“As I would expect of a war hero, always putting the empire first. You’re a role model for all who wish to serve the empire, Baron Chalfont.”
“Your words are wasted on me, Your Imperial Majesty. I am underserving of such praises. I am not as selfless as I seem.”
“I can see that much,” Emperor Renardier replied coolly before moving on. “Does anyone else have anything to add regarding the seven witch kingdoms?”
“Count Normand, feel free to speak,” Emperor Renardier selected after seeing the person’s disapproving look.
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty!” Count Normand obliged, stepping forward before condemning Baron Chalfont, “First off, I want to question Baron Chalfont’s faith in the empire. How did his daughter end up in the Kingdom of Black Rose’s custody in the first place?”
“To begin with, I have never heard of Baron Chalfont having a daughter. For him to suddenly have a daughter implies she had been living outside our empire, beyond our notice. I really wonder if he had something against our empire to send his daughter away.”
“Baron Chalfont’s loyalty to the empire is unquestionable. Get to the point, Count Normand,” Emperor Renardier coolly stated.
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty!” Count Normand obeyed, no longer questioning Baron Chalfont’s intention. “Although we can’t confirm the truth behind Transcendent Sybil’s scheme, we know the Kingdom of Black Rose has illegally crossed our borders to deliver their letter to Baron Chalfont.”
“Additionally, they have one of our empire’s noble’s daughter hostage. These two points give us enough justification to wage war against the Kingdom of Black Rose. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Kingdom of Verdant Woods.”
“Even if Transcendent Sybil plotted against our empire, we have solid proof to justify a war against them. It’s a pity that Baron Chalfont’s daughter isn’t royalty. Otherwise, we would have a very solid justification for waging war against the Kingdom of Black Rose,” Count Normand stated.
“That can be easily solved. I just need to announce Baron Chalfont’s daughter as my twenty-fifth concubine or adopt her and give her the status of an imperial princess. That will strengthen our justification,” Emperor Renardier casually said.
“If Transcendent Sybil wanted to force our empire into a war with the Kingdom of Black Rose, she should have accounted for Transcendent Henrietta and the other witch kingdoms. But, alas, we don’t know what she has prepared. We lack reliable information.”
“I wonder if the northern border lords have something to add?” Emperor Renardier glanced in the direction of Marquis Salazar’s group.
Baron Aderlard and the other northern border lords subconsciously sought Marquis Salazar’s opinion with their gazes before the latter gave them an approving nod.
“We actually have something important to add, Your Imperial Majesty…” Baron Aderlard took the lead in speaking before he spilled everything he knew.
Everyone in the great hall listened with rapt attention when the hidden conflicts between the seven witch kingdoms were revealed.
And when they heard Transcendent Sybil could keep the other witch kingdoms from intervening in the war between the Holy Knight Empire and the Kingdom of Black Rose, their eyes sparkled with greed.
The most surprising news was Transcendent Henrietta, a Peak-stage Transcendent Witch, getting trapped under the holy tree.
“There’s no need to hesitate. With Transcendent Henrietta out of the picture, the Kingdom of Black Rose stands no chance against us. So we should strike while they are still weak and unprepared!” an enthusiastic noble suggested.
Emperor Renardier glanced at the noble before the person’s excitement was quickly replaced by fear.
“I have forgotten my place, Your Imperial Majesty. Please punish me,” said the noble, but he was actually hoping for leniency.
Nevertheless, Emperor Renardier chose to postpone the noble’s punishment as they had more important matters to discuss.
“Forget it. That can wait,” Emperor Renardier stated before resuming the topic, “Now that the situation in the seven witch kingdoms is much clearer thanks to Baron Aderlard’s input, what does everyone think?”
“Why don’t you speak your thoughts, Marquis Salazar? I want to hear the opinions of someone who learns toward peace,” Emperor Renardier mentioned.
“Understood, Your Imperial Majesty,” Ulrich Salazar acknowledged his turn to speak and said, “I believe we should go ahead and attack the Kingdom of Black Rose.”
“Oh? That’s a surprise. To think we would get such an answer from you,” Emperor Renardier expressed his astonishment before asking, “Care to elaborate why?”
“It has become clear to us that the seven witch kingdoms are no longer qualified to be the defenders of humanity. Their development has stagnated and fallen behind the rest of the continent despite their access to vast resources,” Ulrich calmly mentioned.
“And despite all that resources, they are still competing with each other for more. Thus, if we continue to leave those resources in their hands, we are only holding back humanity’s development and heading towards an eventual doom.”
“So instead of letting that happen, we should replace them as the new defenders of humanity. It will give our empire more sway over the continent and perhaps let us become its leader. The Kingdom of Black Rose can only blame itself for giving us this opportunity,” Ulrich stated.
“Interesting,” Emperor Renardier rubbed his chin thoughtfully before shifting his attention elsewhere. “What about you, Lord Gibbon?”
“My thoughts are the same as Marquis Salazar, Your Imperial Majesty,” Lord Gibbon humbly replied.
“I would say the Kingdom of Black Rose won’t be the last of our conquest, but only the start. After all, it’s unlikely that Transcendent Sybil would release Transcendent Henrietta after we claim the Kingdom of Black Rose.”
“Thus, if we can launch a surprise attack on the Kingdom of Verdant Woods and secure the entrapment that holds Transcendent Henrietta, we can continue to conquer the rest of the witch kingdoms.”
“I believe we are capable of such feats with our current military might if we exclude Transcendent Henrietta out of the picture,” Lord Gibbon stated.
“You’ve made a valid point, Lord Gibbon,” Emperor Renardier acknowledged before suddenly shaking his head. “However, those are some dangerous assumptions you included there.”
“Even with Transcendent Henrietta out of the picture, the other Transcendent Witches are not easy to deal with. Each one of them could be even craftier than Transcendent Sybil. Don’t forget Transcendent Henrietta is a Peak-stage Transcendent Witch. And yet, Transcendent Sybil, a supposed Early-stage Transcendent Witch, could trap her. Her strength must be higher than it seems.”
“We don’t know much about the other Transcendent Witches. They could all be hiding their true power. If it wasn’t because of Furhengir’s incident and the Great Expeditions, even Transcendent Henrietta’s strength would have remained unknown,” Emperor Renardier mentioned.
“I apologize for my inadequacies, Your Imperial Majesty. I was too blinded by the glory that I underestimated by the Transcendent Witches,” Lord Gibbon reflected on my mistake.
Nevertheless, Emperor Renardier continued to seek the opinions of the nobles and lords present.
Before long, the collective opinions became clear. A majority of the present members were in favor of the war with the Kingdom of Black Rose.
In particular, the members of the anti-witch faction were the most passionate about the war. They wanted to free enslaved men.
“So it’s been decided then,” Emperor Renardier concluded the discussion and made his decision, “We will conquer the Kingdom of Black Rose first. Everything else comes after we stabilize our rule and gather more information on the other six witch kingdoms.”
“Marquis Salazar, as a northern border lord, you are one of the strongest in the empire and also one of the most familiar with the Kingdom of Black Rose’s borders. Therefore, I will appoint you as my advisor.”
“Do you accept?” Emperor Renardier asked shortly after.
“With honor, Your Imperial Majesty!” Ulrich answered, kneeling on one knee and placing a hand over his chest with his head lowered, seemingly subservient and overjoyed.
He received some looks of envy, but not that many.
Being the emperor’s advisor would mean Marquis Salazar wouldn’t get to fight on the front lines and accumulate battle merits.
At the same time, it implied the emperor’s intent to participate actively in the war as the supreme commander of their army.
As such, the positions of army commanders were more appealing to most nobles and lords seeking to participate in the war.