Chapter 874 [0871] The Price Has Been Paid
For Lissandra, the unstable situation in the Delverhold is a contradiction that can be exploited.
But she has no predetermined position on how to exploit this contradiction. If the Delverhold itself is strong, she can consider incorporating the Delverhold into the Freljord, making it a part of the Icefield, and guiding them to Rakstak; and if the Delverhold itself is weak, she can also add insult to injury and sell the remains to Noxus to make them her vanguard.
Judging from the embarrassment and dilemma of the Valrokan family, they undoubtedly belong to the latter.
So, the Frostguard tribe used a little trick and some meaningless words to successfully provoke Valrokan's fear of Noxus, making them abandon their martial arts, leave the Delverhold's nest, and eventually disappear in the Freljord.
After the Hearth House was divided up, the remaining miners who were useless to the Freljord became her bargaining chips in negotiations with the Noxians.
Because Lissandra acted too fast, and the frightened Valrokan ran too fast, when the sentinels stationed in the south of the Ironthorn Mountains saw the fire in the Delverhold and went to investigate, it was too late.
The fire subsided a little, and some soldiers of the Northern Warband entered the ruins, but they saw only a piece of broken walls.
The news was sent back to the Immortal Bastion and to Darius's desk as soon as possible, and Darius was a little confused when faced with this news.
For Noxus, which is restoring the glory of the empire, the Delverhold is undoubtedly of great significance - there is the Delverhold and the entire Ironthorn Mountains as a barrier to Noxus, and there is also the reason why the black iron produced by the Delverhold is for the Noxian Warband.
Now the Valrokan family of the Delverhold has abandoned their Ironthorn Kingdom, burned down the Delverhold, and fled to Freljord with the locals, which undoubtedly caused great trouble to Noxus.
Although the report said that the main wall of the Delverhold was "generally intact", the buildings inside the Delverhold were "almost completely uninhabitable, and only the palace of the false king had not collapsed on a large scale."
Moreover, the fortresses around the Delverhold were also burned to varying degrees. Even though these fortresses were built with great care and ordinary flames would not destroy the main body of the fortress, like the Delverhold, the buildings inside the fortresses could not withstand such a big fire and were almost all destroyed.
As for another place that Darius was worried about - the Black Iron Mine - the situation was somewhat better than expected.
According to the scout's report, some areas of the Black Iron Mine collapsed, but overall it should not be a big problem and only simple repairs are needed to start work again.
After putting down the report, Darius felt quite complicated. In this case, he could only mobilize the army and allow the Northern Legion to occupy the Delverhold first.
Miners must be sent over later, but Noxus now... really can't spare any manpower!
Just when Darius was helpless, the Frost Guard priest sent a request for a meeting.
Darius was a little confused after receiving the request.
Darius, who was once a member of the Northern Warband, had dealt with the Freljord people a lot. He had even been surrounded by these Freljord barbarians and almost became a prisoner. If Darius had not been strong enough to fight his way out on the ice field, he might have become a Freljord slave now.
However, even so, he had never heard of the Freljord having envoys in the past.
In Darius's impression, the Freljord people always called their friends to go south in large numbers when they wanted to plunder, and they would disperse once the plundering did not go well. This kind of plundering war never started with a declaration of war, and never ended with a ceasefire negotiation.
Now suddenly a guy who claimed to be a Frost Guard priest came and wanted to talk to him...
From Darius's point of view, he should probably worry that this was a conspiracy to assassinate.
However, considering the incident that just happened in the Delverhold, this could also be a blackmail?
Thinking of this, Darius couldn't help but narrow his eyes - he tried to put himself into Swain's thinking, but in the end he could only helplessly confirm that he really didn't have any brains in this regard.
So, after hesitating for a moment, Darius decided to follow his own judgment.
After equipping himself with a few mage guards, he openly received these "envoys from the icefield" in the Immortal Bastion.
……………………
Although Darius had a little understanding of the mysterious culture of the Freljord, when he saw this Frostguard priest and confirmed from Rell behind him that the other party did not carry any metal weapons, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
There are no metal weapons, so the other party should be able to use True Ice?
The hand under the table brushed the short knife at his waist, and Darius naturally supported the table and stood up, nodding slightly.
"The messenger of the Frost Witch, right?"
"I came here on the will of the witch." The other party nodded reservedly, "Bringing the possibility of cooperation with Noxus."
"Cooperation, that's really interesting." Darius grinned, revealing a ferocious smile, "As far as I know, the Freljord people will only come together to cooperate before looting."
"This cognition is incomplete."
The other party's Noxian language was not very good, and there was always a sense of quick and stiffness in the choice of words and sentences, and it was also mixed with a strong Delverfort accent known as the Black Iron flavor - from this point, it was not difficult for Darius to determine who her language teacher was.
"No denial, right?" Darius, who had been the commander-in-chief for some time, was still not used to thinking like a politician, but he gradually became more confident about the details on the negotiation table, "Is this an invitation to plunder?"
"Maybe." The other party gave an ambiguous answer, "It depends on Noxus' choice and your answer."
"So, your sincerity is to destroy Delverfort?" Darius's eyes condensed, and his whole momentum changed drastically in an instant, "Do you think that with such a small trick, you can make Noxus surrender?"
"No, it's not the case." Darius's momentum was amazing, and even Riel, who was sitting behind him, was a little uncomfortable, but The Frostguard priest on the other side remained calm, even with a smile of appreciation on his face, "The Delverhold betrayed Noxus, and we destroyed the Delverhold. Shouldn't this be a gift?"
"This is an internal matter of Noxus, and the Freljord people don't need to extend their arms to interfere." Darius obviously heard the meaning of the squeeze in the other party's words, but he still maintained a tough attitude, "I don't see any sincerity, priest."
"If you think this is the Freljord extending its arms, then the Frost Witch is very happy to see Noxus extend its arms as well." The smile on the face of the Frostguard priest became even more, "Then it's even."
Darius was a little confused.
At this moment, he suddenly couldn't understand the other party's purpose.
"Every family and every tribe has its own troubles." The Frost Guard priest seemed satisfied with Darius's hesitation and silence, and continued, "Just like the Delverburg to Noxus."
"So, this is really a call for plunder?" Darius seemed to have figured something out, and he snorted, leaning back completely on his wide chair. "That frost witch has a goal she wants to get, but for some reason she is not ready or can't do it herself, so she came to Noxus?"
The Frost Guard priest did not respond, but just looked at Darius quietly.
"She hopes that the warriors of Noxus, with their enthusiasm for their motherland, will set foot on the unknown Freljord Icefield under the command and promise of the Grand Commander, and then participate in a looting with no one knowing what the result will be?" Darius has become accustomed to mixing a lot of complex rhetoric in concise language to hide his emotions, "I have no reason to make such a stupid choice at this critical moment for Noxus."
"..."
The Frost Guard Priestess still did not speak, her eyes were covered by silk, but at this moment, Darius seemed to feel the other party's gaze on him - she seemed to see through his heart, which made Darius very unhappy.
"Since you finally learned how to send envoys, your head will not be hung on the wall of the Immortal Bastion." Darius resisted the urge to curse, and raised his hand to see him off, "Now, Priestess, you can go away."
"So, the Noxians don't care about their own people, right?" The Frostguard priest did not stand up, and still looked at Darius leisurely, "If those miners who are eager to return to Noxus heard the commander-in-chief's decisive words and saw such a resolute and unyielding attitude, they would surely be proud of Noxus, right?"
Although the accent of the Delverburg was a ridiculous "country bumpkin tone" in the Immortal Bastion, Darius couldn't laugh at all at this moment.
The other party's meaning was very clear. From what they said, these people held a large number of Noxian miners in their hands?
When this heavy weight was put out and placed on the scale, Darius's breathing stagnated.
Yes, the bastards of Valrokan took the people of Delverhold and burned it down - in this case, those who were taken away must have fallen into the hands of the Freljord people.
Now they hold so many hostages and come to me to make conditions!
Damn it, this is a blackmail!
Moreover, unlike what Darius thought at the beginning, which was a blackmail with the threat of war, this blackmail was closer to kidnapping. The bastards of the Valrokan family sent those precious blacksmiths and miners to the hands of the Freljord people!
At this moment, Darius could hardly hold back his urge to curse. He gritted his teeth and wanted to speak several times, but in the end he could only rely on the sense of responsibility of the commander-in-chief to bear it.
As a general, Darius can vent his dissatisfaction and anger unscrupulously after receiving the order, but as a commander-in-chief, Darius can't, because anger will destroy his reason and make him lose his correct judgment.
What, you said that many of Darius's judgments come from intuition?
Similarly, anger can also lead to wrong decisions. Darius knew very well that this might be the goal of the cunning priest in front of him.
So, after forcibly suppressing his anger, Darius decided to listen more and see what the other party was planning.
"Noxus will not give up any of its people, but this does not mean that Noxus will lose its bottom line!"
Using nonsense to delay time and wait for the other party to reveal more information is a technique Swain once taught, and it is also a method that Darius is now familiar with.
"The witch is sincere." The Frostguard Priest's smile remained unchanged. He seemed to have completely seen through Darius's thoughts, but he still took the initiative to reveal some information that he cared about very much. "Looting always has rewards, but if Noxus If you are willing to participate, half of the miners will be rewarded in advance.”
Darius did not speak immediately.
"They are all skilled workers, good at working in the mines." The other party seemed to mean something, "For Noxus, this is a sure profit."
……………………
Darius finally reached a secret agreement with the other party.
The details of the agreement will not be made public, and the relationship between the two parties is unusually loose.
Considering that Noxus needs to send a large team deep into the Freljord in order to fulfill the contract, even if the Freljord is not as dangerous in the summer as it is in the winter, it is still a dangerous march - so , as for the Frost Witches, they will release half of the miners when the Noxian army sets off.
When the army returns, they will release the other half.
During this period, the Freljordians will share the living needs of these people with Noxus according to certain standards.
There is only one goal in this agreement.
Lark Stark.
As for Noxus, although Darius was always at a disadvantage in the negotiations, the commander-in-chief, who had gradually gained some political skills, still used his little political wisdom to carry out this expedition. It became an action that killed two birds with one stone.
According to Darius's plan, Noxus will send troops in two directions - the main force will send troops through the Iron Thorn Pass, helping the local garrison to gain a foothold in Fort Diver along the way; the other partial division will be sent by Tukugu composed of your militia.
Those traitors who once formed the Turkgul Federation will receive an amnesty and will be allowed to take the Turkgul people with them to participate in this military operation.
And during the operation, these people will know that they are leaving their hometowns in exchange for the miners of Fort Nuvo - this will completely tear both sides apart when Turkgul and the people of Fort Nuvo can't deal with them in the first place. relationship.
Once Tukulgul and Diver Fort are no longer able to compete with each other, the old events of the Black Forest Federation and the Iron Thorn Kingdom will naturally not be able to take place in the north of Noxus.
Sending troops in exchange for miners, while ensuring peace in the north. The two factors combined at least made Noxus look like it was not so much at a loss.
Isn't it?
Kalya’s Little Classroom Riel:
As a wanted criminal in Noxus, Riel's wanted order was revoked after the Black Rose's treason.
Originally, she and the students she sheltered were unwilling to believe in New Noxus, but after the split of Noxus, compared to Noxus itself in the Immortal Fortress, the other splintered alliances and kingdoms were even less trustworthy. As a human being, she eventually returned to the Immortal Fortress at Darius's sincere invitation and became a seat on the Trifali Council.
Of course, considering that she has little political experience, she is now more like a mage protection tool.