The time returns to the morning.
The frontline, Lake City, within the military camp in the city.
The fortress command center.
Rein and Kecha, who left Riverbend Town last night and hurried back to the frontline, are now reporting in the command room.
Besides the Count and the few officers Kana had met previously, there is also a 1.9-meter-tall nobleman wearing full body armor, with a serious expression.
The full body armor still has traces of blood that have not been completely wiped off, clearly indicating he has recently been in battle.
The Count is looking at the letter in his hand.
This letter was exactly what Kana wrote yesterday and was handed over to Rein and his men to deliver.
After reading the contents of the letter, the Count frowned but did not say much.
Instead, he handed the letter over to others to take a look.
While the others were reading the letter, the Count looked toward Rein and asked, "Did my nephew do anything unusual in the town? Did he behave inappropriately?"
Although the Count believed his nephew had previously acted deceptively in the Royal Capital, he remained somewhat vigilant toward him.
In these times, it's really impossible to determine if this Fourth Prince of the royal family was sent by the royals as a probe or a contingency plan.
In such urgent yet uncertain situations, the only option was to place him in the rear for a degree of supervision.
"His Highness conducted himself quite normally in the town, in fact, he behaved a bit... a bit unlike a noble."
Kecha also added, "First, he took a boat to the other shore and communicated with the fish people there."
Before he could finish, the burly bearded knight, Udo, thinking he misheard, hurriedly interrupted.
"Did you say this Prince... was communicating with fish people? The kind of fish people I'm thinking of?"
Seeing the lords were as surprised as he once was, Kecha's face broke into a slight smile.
Nodding, he said, "Yes, he indeed can communicate freely with the fish people. Moreover, among the fish people's village, there is a fish prophet.
The fish prophet is the leader of the fish people and can speak and communicate with us.
Additionally, His Highness seems to know a lot about fish people; they even asked him for help."
When Kecha finished speaking, everyone was silent.
This prince not only didn't fit their previous impressions, he had completely overturned what they thought of him before.
The Count rubbed his temples, "Continue."
"The next day, someone in town was killed, and a child was kidnapped. The killing was done by a big rat, which His Highness said were sharp-eared rat people.
The fish people wanted the prince to help drive those rat people away.
It seems His Highness also knows these rat people well, even knowing how to fight them."
The two wanted to explain what the rat people were, as they were very surprised at the time.
However, seeing the expressions on the faces of these lords in front of them, they realized they seemed to know, and silently ceased their explanations, slowly narrating the information.
During the narrative, people occasionally interrupted to inquire about details, and only after finishing were the two allowed to leave.
After they left, the command room became a bit quiet.
"Looks like I need to reevaluate my useless nephew," said the Count.
The serious-looking knight beside him placed Kana's letter on the table.
The Count asked the group, "What do you all think of this letter?"
The stern knight frowned and said, "The front seems correct, but the latter part and the suggestions, haha."
With a dry laugh, he expressed his opinion.
The Count looked at the others.
"Although the things he's done over the past few days have made me somewhat change my view of this prince, his understanding of warfare might still be somewhat immature."
"Haha, that's right, maybe this prince thinks warfare is just like what he reads in books."
"Many young commanders make such mistakes, we should understand young people."
Seeing everyone had given a consistent evaluation, the Count glanced again at the serious knight beside him, "Ichard, what do you think about the suggestions in this letter?"
Ichard, Ichard Kerry, is the most valued knight under the Count.
He is said to be second in command to the Count, and his strength is second only to the Count's.
At the same time, he is Blake's father and is responsible for commanding and managing most of the Count's soldiers.
"Once these creatures gather their army, we certainly won't be able to resist; we are already struggling somewhat," Ichard recounted the current situation.
He continued, "But his suggestion to build ships, I must say, this Prince has certain ideas and vision, but is still too naive.
If we want to build ships, we have at most a little over a month left, it's simply impossible to complete them.
As for building rafts, heh, he's underestimating the downstream of the Widder River."
Those officers and nobles of a certain status clearly understand the meager magic power in their country.
Near the mountains downstream of the Widder River, the magic power there has been recovering.
And the area where the river crosses the right side of the mountains has almost never been developed, filled with magical beasts and various wild creatures.
The level of danger is akin to traversing this country now, even more dangerous.
And downstream, near the mouth of the river, the abundance of water monsters is overwhelming.
Moreover, to them, water monsters are even harder to deal with than those on land; they would rather walk across than sail through by boat.
Not to mention rafting, slightest carelessness and everyone would end up in the water, with no chance of survival.
This level of danger is simply not within consideration.
So everyone present considered Kana's suggestion as a joke.
They believed this prince might not know the local conditions, thus making such a judgment.
"As for what this Prince said, about the possibility of the southwestern gorge being intercepted by the enemy.
There is some possibility, but it's not significant. The Cohen Kingdom's Stone Fist Legion and some of our troops are there to protect our retreat route.
Not to mention, attempting to breach our front lines directly and penetrate our retreat route to surround us is not that easy."
Ichard's analysis was orderly and aligned with their longstanding actions and preparations.
Compared to Kana's suggestion, it was many times better.
At least Kana's image in their eyes had transformed from being completely ignorant, or potentially an enemy,
to a knowledgeable but inexperienced young person.
After saying these things, it was regarded as mere idle chat.
Ichard looked at the Count and asked, "Since the probability of him being an enemy is reduced, should Blake be brought to the frontline?
Jonel is enough to watch over him, and this old knight is cautious enough."
Upon hearing this, the Count looked at Ichard, his serious expression left the Count somewhat helpless with a sigh.
Blake is the only offspring of this most important subordinate and friend, and as a former member of the royal family, the Count is acutely aware of the dangers they face in resisting the Blood Race.
He doesn't want Ichard's only son to fight alongside his father on the front lines.
He believes Ichard can understand his intentions, yet Ichard still wants his child to fight on the frontline.
Too rigid and stern, the Count felt somewhat helpless with Ichard, too harsh with his descendants.
"Alright, I'll transfer him over."
Ichard respectfully saluted and expressed his gratitude.