Having finished speaking, Liens bowed slightly, put his helmet back on, and turned to walk back to his original position, with thunderous applause providing a warm conclusion to his speech.

"Clap, clap, clap…"

"It seems you're not completely clueless in this area; at least you got to the point and didn't ramble too much, but…"

"You didn't shield your emotions just now. I could feel the sincerity in your words. While I'm happy you've accepted the Rebel Army so quickly, I'm still a bit puzzled."

"I originally thought you'd need some time to accept the Rebel Army, just like old Mr. Robert did when he first joined, conducting a comprehensive and detailed observation of the Rebel Army."

"Only when the Rebel Army met his expectations did he truly exert his full strength to help the Rebel Army fight against the Kingdom."

"But it seems you have a very special standard of judgment that doesn't require such tedious proof."

Lucrezia applauded while conveying her doubts to Liens through a sound transmission.

"Karma."

Liens responded indifferently.

"What?"

Hearing this, Lucrezia grew even more confused, but Liens didn't explain much to her. After a simple reply, he calmed his mind and began to sort through the fervent beliefs conveyed through karma.

Seeing that Liens was unwilling to explain, Lucrezia stopped asking and instead silently repeated the words "karma" in her mind, hoping to comprehend something from them.

She wasn't overthinking this.

In her opinion, Liens's realm was very high; he could easily discern the characteristics of her magic and then simply point her in the right direction with a few words.

Although she might not necessarily follow that direction in the future, the phrase "charm is beautified existence" indeed answered many of her questions, making her understanding of her own magic clearer.

In a sense, a single sentence from Liens had significantly advanced her strength.

So, she naturally wouldn't belittle Liens's words; the more concise the words, the deeper their meaning.

From those two words, "karma," she seemed to see a net connecting all living beings emanating from Liens.

For some reason, Liens in her eyes increasingly resembled her teacher—the Kingdom Sword Saint, Alfred Kent.

After the enthusiastic applause, Balder returned to the main seat, but he said no more, merely giving a brief two-word command with a gesture:

"Depart!"

With the order given, the various-level commanders led their respective units, orderly adjusting their formations, and began their march northward.

The fifteen high-ranking members of the Rebel Army, including Liens, defended the five directions—east, west, north, south, and center—as arranged in the previous meeting, guarding against possible enemy attacks.

The Rebel Army's encampment was a considerable distance from Baker City, so it was necessary to move the army closer to Baker City in advance to prevent the soldiers from being exhausted by an overly long march before the battle even began.

As for why the military camp was arranged so far away?

One reason was the need to maintain a certain distance from Baker City, otherwise they might be subjected to long-range magical attacks from the enemy.

The Rebel Army didn't have magical ritual defenses like Baker City did; Balder and the others couldn't just do nothing and constantly watch for attacks launched from the sky.

Secondly, there aren't many places that can accommodate nearly one hundred thousand troops for long-term encampment. Besides needing to be large, they also need to satisfy the most basic water supply issues.

Furthermore, there were considerations such as whether the terrain was complex, if there were any dangerous factors, and if there was enough space for training troops, and so on.

Of course, the most important reason was that they had been defeated.

They no longer had the strength to continue besieging Baker City; instead, they needed to retreat to a more distant location to avoid Baker City launching a counterattack while they were vulnerable.

In short, after comprehensive consideration, Balder and the others set up camp in this wilderness some distance from Baker City, and they even specifically cleared out the nearby magical beasts for this purpose.

…

"Thump, thump, thump~"

Orderly knocking sounds echoed.

"Come in, Ralph."

A gentle, calm voice came from inside the room, and the man named 'Ralph' gently pushed open the door and walked in.

He appeared to be in his youth, with a handsome face and a gentle, refined demeanor, and an exquisite runic robe added to his scholarly aura.

"Lord Alfred, the scout reports that the Rebel Army has begun to move again, marching towards Baker City once more."

"Judging from the scale of the army, the number of Rebel Army troops this time is nearly double that of the last time."

Ralph said to Alfred, who was quietly sitting on the floor, with a serious expression.

"It seems the Rebel Army has found new confidence."

Alfred responded calmly, not even opening his eyes, still maintaining his meditation posture, as if another Rebel Army offensive was an insignificant matter.

Seeing Alfred's demeanor, the urgency in Ralph's heart relaxed a bit.

No matter what, as long as this pillar of the nation was fine, then even if the enemy was numerous, the Kingdom would still be confident of victory.

This was the confidence Alfred's power brought them, and it was a belief accumulated through successive battlefield victories.

"According to observations from divination magic, the Rebel Army has gained another strong individual."

"Intelligence sources have not received any news of those rebellious officials joining the Rebel Army, nor information about individuals like Robert Ferdinand joining the Rebel Army."

"It is speculated that it might be an unknown strong individual or that foreign forces are involved."

"We believe the latter possibility is greater, as other kingdoms have long been eager to exploit the chaos in our country."

Ralph continued.

"I, however, don't think it's very likely that the additional person was sent by other kingdoms. They wouldn't easily make a move until the Hartwin Kingdom reaches true rebellion."

Seemingly interested in the new addition to the Rebel Army, Alfred opened his eyes and offered a different opinion from Ralph's.

"If that person is from the Hartwin Kingdom, then why do you think he or she would join the Rebel Army instead of choosing to help us?"

"As the disciple of the Kingdom's Chief Court Mage, I often hear your teacher praise you; he says you are very intelligent."

"So, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this."

Alfred then questioned Ralph.

Hearing this, Ralph was slightly stunned, probably surprised by Alfred's sudden question, but he didn't panic and quickly organized his thoughts in his mind.

After a while, he gave an answer that he considered very correct.

Listening carefully, Alfred smiled and nodded, appearing very satisfied with Ralph's answer.

"A perfect answer… To formulate such a structured and perfect reply in such a short time, you are indeed, as your teacher said, a very intelligent child."

Alfred praised Ralph.

"You overpraise me; this is just a very basic ability."

Hearing Alfred's praise, Ralph smiled and responded humbly.

"If you have no other matters, I won't disturb your meditation further. There are still matters to attend to with the army. If anything urgent arises, I will come to report to you again."

Ralph then bid farewell to Alfred.

"Alright, you may go… Tell Marshall and the others to prepare; tomorrow might be a tough battle."

Upon hearing this, Ralph's expression became serious again. He nodded gravely and quickly turned to leave the quiet room.

Watching Ralph's departing figure, Alfred dropped the smile from his face, closed his eyes again, and entered a state of meditation.

"Old friend, even your student is like this, no wonder this country is so severely divided."

"The upper class has taken a different stance from the common people; what they call rationality, what they call intelligence, only sees a partial view limited by their position."

"They are not ignorant, they just value themselves too much, unaware that in the eyes of truly high-ranking existence, nobles and commoners are no different."

"They are all just people."

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