Let the nobles on the border figure out the manpower shortage. They've been complaining about the influx of refugees every day, so let's get them to organize the refugees to build fortifications.

It's best to keep people confined within the border area, preventing them from scattering everywhere and affecting the security of various parts of the kingdom."

This cold proposal came from Joseph II.

In the lack of enough castles to house refugees, confining people to the front line meant sending them to the butcher's blade of the orcs.

Everything was for the sake of the kingdom's interest. If they were incapable to solve the troubles brought by the refugees, they might as well get rid of the refugees.

...

"Your Excellency, there's a Gryphon Cavalry outside claiming to be a member of the Hollis family, bearing a letter from Miss Melissa."

As a high-ranking official on the commander's side, Hudson could now be considered in a position of authority. Normally, strangers wouldn't have the right to request an audience.

But under the current circumstances, all the nobles of the Southeastern Province are aware of his relationship with Melissa.

A letter brought by the betrothed of the Commander in Chief was not something that could be concealed.

"Have you confirmed the identity of this person?"

Hudson asked with concern.

As a cautious commander, he wouldn't casually give strangers the opportunity to be near him. Especially at this moment, the arrival of this letter seemed too much of a coincidence.

Despite his limited interaction with Melissa, he had some understanding of her. Normally, his fiancée would not make such an effort over a single letter.

Although the Hollis family was rich, they still lacked the ability to train Gryphons. The few Gryphon Cavalries they had were obtained at great cost from the Royal Family.

This distant and dangerous task, let alone a noble girl like Melissa, even Viscount Orlan would have to weigh the benefits before utilizing.

"It's been confirmed. He's indeed from the Hollis family. Not only did he respond correctly to the secret code, but there are also people in the military who know him."

Tom replied with certainty.

Having received a definitive answer, Hudson waved his hand and said, "Since there are no issues with him, bring him in!"

In times of war, there isn't much room for sentimentality. Even for high-ranking military officers, communication with home is exceedingly difficult.

Official documents could be delivered to the Kingdom by the Moxi People's Gryphon Cavalry, but personal letters were out of the question.

It wasn't fear of being scolded for misuse of public resources, but rather because there were simply too few Gryphon Cavalry to spare for the task.

Using couriers often delayed messages for months at a time. With such long gaps, contents of the letters would be outdated by the time they arrived.

Most importantly, if Hudson set this precedent, all the nobles in the Expeditionary Army would follow suit, and there might even be hundreds of soldiers delegated exclusively for delivering letters.

..."Your Excellency, Miss Melissa and the Family Head have specifically instructed that this confidential letter be opened by you only."

As the speaker finished, a letter was handed over. However, Hudson didn't rush to accept it, but released a spell that caused the letter to hover in midair.

Only after checking and confirming that there were no issues, did he slowly open the letter. After a few moments, he spoke,

"Inform Viscount Orlan that I'm aware of the situation. However, the battlefield is unpredictable and the real chaos is just beginning; it's not the time for reckless action.

I'll elaborate further in a letter – you can stay in the city for rest today and help me to carry a few more letters back."

After a pause, Hudson instructed, "Tom, issue a command to keep today's matter confidential."

Not because it was something that couldn't be disclosed, but to avoid the situation where a group of nobles rush over with their home letters once the news spreads.

Despite being a magical beast, a Gryphon's carrying capacity wasn't that high. If there were too many letters, it wouldn't be able to transport them all which would be rather embarrassing.

Besides, the nobles of the Expeditionary Army were scattered across six provinces. Delivering messages was a huge task.

Taking advantage of the resources of the Hollis family and assuming they wouldn't mind was not feasible.

He had no intention of playing such generous role.

As Hudson was about to pick up his pen to write, he realized that he didn't quite know where to start.

He understood what the Hollis family intended – they were simply trying to dig more holes with the fear that there wouldn't be enough positions for them to fill.

But major nobles aren't fools, hoping every major noble is as naïve as the Duke Liufeng is far too wishful thinking.

If you swing your hoe right, you'll obviously dig a pit. But if you swing it wrong, you may accidentally hit your own foot.

If you fail to defeat your competitors and instead invite an archenemy for your own family, that'd be a tragedy.

In past wars, backstabbing amongst allies wasn't unusual. However, these events didn't occur until the major counter-attack was underway.

Once the overall situation on the battlefield was decided, even if a few families were backstabbed it wouldn't affect the overall outcome of the war, only then people might begin to fight among themselves.

Usually, during such infighting, nobles who are good at military command tend to have the advantage.

The worst hit are often the military novices, often they are unwittingly betrayed without understanding what has occurred.

What's worse is that they are ambushed and wouldn't know who was responsible.

Originally, Hudson didn't plan to get involved in such messy affairs, but it seems unavoidable now given current circumstances.

In the Moxi Duchy, it wasn't much of a problem as each person had their own piece of the pie, there was no conflict at the core interests.

For outsiders like him, who wields influence over the situation, everyone was more inclined to draw them over to their side rather than oppose them.

However, once they return to participate in the counterattack against the Orc Empire, the situation would be completely different.

In the face of a severe shortage of available positions, in addition to competing with the front row of major nobles, they would also need to compete with potential rivals.

When it comes to interests, Hudson may be able to stay rational, but he can't guarantee the same for others.

He picked up his pen, put it down, and swiftly finished writing a letter.

...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.