Discussion on Section 218

When Beller said this, Robin next to him couldn't help but hold his breath.

Although Belar and Robin made plans to expose the matter in the talks before starting this informal meeting, Robin found that he was much nervous than expected when Belar actually said it.

He looked at Ashu Rufate's face. Although Robin had imagined this scene carefully, Ashu Rufate's reaction was beyond his expectations. Ashu Rufate did not change his face, nor did he smile, nor did he show a surprised expression, nor did he take any dangerous actions, but thoughtfully.

From this alone, we can see that Ashu Rufate should know something about this.

"…I know I shouldn't question it, but... is it reliable?"

"Old Earl," Berel smiled and leaned himself hard on the back of the chair. It should be noted that because he was wearing full armor, his movement did not make him feel more comfortable, it was just a subconscious action. "That vampire... we simply call him as he calls himself the Blood Duke... The Blood Duke changed his name at least twice, so I can't be sure of this name... that is, your name... is his real name."

"oh?"

"I remember that the vampires were not yet in the weather, but they only brought hundreds of subordinates to harass all over Sivania. At that time, he called himself Pinold. When he finally organized an immortal army and captured Sivania, he changed himself to Asu Ruffat. Maybe he had used a few names before... who knows? But according to Chang Ideal, he came from the faraway Kalean to Sivania, and must have changed several names along the way... Can I ask," Berel asked casually. "Did you already know about this?"

"No, I don't know." Ashu Rufate replied.

"But... to be honest, I thought you would be shocked." Berel said with a smile.

"Maybe it's because I'm a little numb to such news." Ash Rufate replied. "I've heard this kind of news several times."

"Oh?" Beller was obviously confused.

"I originally thought that the name Ashu Rufate was a relatively rare type. But over the past period of time, I found that there are quite a few people who called this name. For example, I just learned some time ago that there was a dwarf named Ashu Rufate."

"It should be... a coincidence homophone that appears in different languages." Berel replied. "Although I don't understand the dwarf language, I guess 'Ashrufate' has some special meaning in the dwarf language. However, in the common human language, 'Ashrufate' is just a pronunciation that has no substantial meaning. Don't be angry if I say this - this pronunciation is a bit awkward."

"I think so, too." Ash Rufate replied.

"By the way, Mr. Asurufat," Belle seemed to finally plan to end the topic. Of course, in fact, basically everything that can be said on this topic has been said, and Belle also got what he wanted. "What do you think about this invasion of the Barbarian Army? I want to hear your opinion."

“What kind of opinions?”

"If possible, all." Berel said. "What do you think about the overall situation?"

"In my opinion... the chances of winning are slim." Ashu Rufate pondered for a while and replied.

Robin couldn't help but want to speak, but at the last moment before the words came out, he finally controlled himself. This was Beller's conversation and he couldn't interrupt.

"Why do you think so?" Beller was neither surprised nor agreed with Asu Ruffat's answer, but he just seemed very interested.

Asu Rufate was not the first person to meet Berel. So Berel had already had a rough outline of the overall situation at this time. Alinn had told Berel all the battles on the front line. In fact, the current situation is a bit strange: the church is highly nervous, but the public opinion of the Eagle City does not regard this invasion as a real crisis.

"This time... the cultists are probably different from all the attacks in the past."

“What’s different?”

"In terms of preparation," Ashrufate replied. In this regard, he did not intend to hide his personal interests, but hoped to communicate well. Because he was facing a general who had never lost a lot of battles and was known as the first general in the contemporary era. Berel was not only the object of admiration by countless people, but also the protagonist praised by military academy textbooks. The battle examples commanded by Berel were written into the book - he was the kind of great man who was destined to be famous for his eternal names when he was alive. "This time the preparation of the barbarian... was completely different from the past."

"In terms of military strength or material? According to the front line, the barbarians have about 50,000 troops in terms of military strength... and seem to be relatively abundant in terms of materials..."

"It's not these aspects, but...the other aspects," said Ashu Rufate. "In all the invasions in the past, the barbarian army seemed to have taken frontal attacks and launched frontal attacks."

"But the last exception, last time, I remember very clearly that the barbarians in the White Castle rebelled against several traitors. At the critical moment of the siege, the traitors opened the city gate... Such a strong fortress was conquered by the barbarians like picking up grass."

"Yes, traitors are much more useful than siege towers. Perhaps it was because I tasted the sweetness last time that the barbarian's action this time... I'm afraid it's more than just arranging a few traitors in the castle."

Ashu Rufate told him some of the things that happened in Fornoros. Of course, he would not say anything that was inappropriate, such as summoning demons to lure the cultists into confessing. He just said that he tried every means to get information from the cultists. As Berel listened, his brows slowly tightened.

"If I'm not mistaken, this time the cultist actions will probably no longer be limited to the northern battlefield." Ash Rufate said. "On the surface, this seems to be just an ordinary invasion, but it was planned and prepared for many years, and suddenly attacked. What I know at present is only a very small part of this huge conspiracy..."

"It's really interesting..." Beller nodded. "It's really not like what those savages would do. But I heard that the savage general who invaded this time seemed to be a terrifying Chaos Lord."

"I believe this is a cover. It is a smoke bomb that makes us relax our guard. Because such careful plans are probably not something that the terror believers can do. In addition, as I said just now, the altar in the city of Fornoros..."

"Well, is it Tsengchi?" Berel was a man who had fought with Chaos, so his understanding of Chaos was far above Ash Rufate. "That careful arrangement...conspiracy, spies, plots...only Tsengchi's subordinates could do it."

"And I believe that it is definitely more than just one point in the city of Fourolus. The infiltration of Grooni by the evil god believers... is much deeper than we expected. And they have been lurking for so long... Once it occurs, it may be beyond our expectations. In fact, I still can't think of how to fight these hidden dangers in the country."

"Yes, I agree with this," Berel pondered. "No matter who it is, if he can spend a long time planning and arrangements without being discovered... this kind of rebellion that has been quietly arranged for many years and then suddenly erupts is extremely difficult to fight."

"At that time, once our main force confronts the enemy on the front line and there is a continuous rebellion in the rear... In this case, our army will be at a great disadvantage."

Beller nodded again, and he fully agreed with this judgment.

"But if we want to find out the source of these rebellions, those lurking enemies... are very difficult. The church has limited capabilities in this regard. Not to mention anything else, the church's base camp has evil gods hidden in making trouble. The church has no choice but to do anything to them."

"So you said, the chances of winning this war are slim?" Beller suddenly burst into laughter, making Asu Ruffatt inexplicable, and so was Robin next to him.

"Ashu Rufate, you are actually very good, but unfortunately your thinking has entered a dead end."

"What a dead end?"

"I think you may be a perfectionist. If the enemy sets a trap, you are obsessed with removing the trap. But in fact, it doesn't need to do this. The enemy is the enemy, and we do ours. In a sense, the victory or defeat of the war is like this room," Berel signaled around. "There are more than a dozen chairs in the room, but one person has only one butt, so it seems that no matter how we sit, we can't sit so many chairs. But in fact, we don't need to sit so many chairs... Do you understand? Although the evil gods have arranged countless arrangements, there is only one key among all arrangements. As long as you win at this key point, it doesn't matter if you lose all the other places. On the contrary, if you fail at this key point, you will completely fail. Even if you break all the traps, you will fail."

Berel smiled and continued. "There is only one key point, that is, the battlefield in the north now. In this battlefield, the enemy's main force is stationed. As long as the enemy's main force can be defeated, even if the Chaos believers make Groone's mess, we can easily return to the army to smash them. On the contrary, if you fail on this battlefield... then, even if you find all the cultists lurking in the country and kill them without any remaining, the war will still be lost."

"But the two... are interdependent."

"You should understand the power of a general...he can make soldiers not know what they shouldn't know."

Robin clearly saw that Ash Rufate was first confused, then suddenly realized his expression.

"War is usually to achieve a certain goal," said Beller. "But as long as the war begins, it is independent. Just like a mother gives birth to a child, the child is a separate person. If you don't talk about this, I have a private question to ask. It is actually something I'm curious about." Although it was a question, Beller actually did not give the other party a chance to refuse. "I heard before... When Byron left, the treasury in the Hawk City was left without anything except the bill... How was this financial problem solved? I remember you were the Minister of Finance."
Chapter completed!