The letter of surrender written was so shameful that even Roland blushed.

The first reply came quickly from Viscount Bloom, since Viscount was located near Minhausen.

Viscount Bloom was polite in his reply, stating he never took the declaration of war seriously. His only demand for Roland's offense was permanent peace.

The reply was polite, and in summary:

'Pauper from Minhausen , take care of yourself and stop bothering me.'

Arrogant as it was, Roland was relieved to receive the reply.

Egilina, upon reading Viscount Bloom's reply, felt her broken confidence somewhat restored.

Her divinations were entirely correct.

Under Roland's suggestion, she divided the divination into eleven parts for each force they declared war on. It became so much easier.

"Roland, Count Gruel is not very friendly towards you; he will likely demand war reparations."

"How much?" Roland asked, unfazed.

"Three thousand gold coins. He is too greedy; that amount could hire a battalion of mercenaries. I will write him immediately, demanding unconditional peace. He hasn’t taken investments from Stargazers, how dare he offend us!"

"It's okay, just give him the three thousand gold coins."

Roland smiled.

"Direct resistance would require hiring a regiment of mercenaries, costing tens of thousands of gold coins. His demand is high, but not unreasonable. We must admit, this Count is quite a merchant."

"But..."

"Three thousand gold coins for a pretext for war, perhaps in a few years, it might turn into a county. It's a bargain."

Egilina's look was complex.

She understood what Roland meant.

If they agreed to unconditional peace, they couldn't declare war on each other for five years , or even more.

If they paid the reparations, Roland could use "insult to dignity" as a pretext for war for the next five years.

In other words, Roland was confident he could take over Count Gruel's territory within five years.

Egilina was infected by Roland's confidence despite not knowing where it came from.

She nodded and joked:

"Well, three thousand gold coins aren't expensive; now I'm a bit worried for Count Gruel's future."

"Don't overthink it. Let’s just hope it will be useful someday"

Many eyed the Galaxia family assets during the moving process. Hiring bodyguards, paying tolls...those resulted in significant losses to the family fortune, and Roland only had over seventy thousand gold coins left. He had to save his family from backruptcy.

In the following days, busy messengers nearly wore out the doorstep of Baron Minhausen.

Most of the powers Roland declared war on didn't take him seriously. They merely demanded Roland to behave himself and ensure he wouldn't harass them anymore.

Some were quite rude, even extorting money, but Roland accepted it all with a smile.

He was the one who provoked first, and he was the one to claim misunderstanding later. It’s a reasonable amount of cost.

The overly confident astrologer began her final divinations. After intense divinations, damaging several sets of dice and cards, Egilina concluded:

"Mr. Roland, I'm sorry, it's bad news."

"The King of Salsen has decided to warn those who offend him with your blood. He doesn't accept your surrender; all he wants is your blood. He will send ten thousand elite soldiers, attacking from three directions."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Egilina sighed, "To crush the enemy's attack, at least fifty, no, seventy thousand gold coins would be needed..."

"Seventy thousand gold coins?" Roland asked calmly, as if he was losing seven coins instead of seventy thousand. "Is there no room for negotiation?"

"Negotiation is possible, but it would require the intervention of an empire-level force, which is costly," Egilina said with some helplessness.

Empire-level?

That meant only the three major empires and several major divine courts could stop Geralt, King of Salsen from attacking him.

Egilina couldn't help but complain:

"Mr. Roland, your previous decision was a bit reckless."

"Reckless? This is how the former Baron Minhausen got rid of this place, and he even declared war on the Holy Essen Empire!" Roland shrugged with a disapproving look.

Egilina reminded,"Your father was, originally, the baron of Lanza, the trading city of the Essen Empire. Have you ever thought about why Baron Minhausen was transferred to where?"

Roland's face was calm.

Of course he thought about it.

His father controlled a prosperous city and treated the people well. He also made great contributions in the war a few years ago, and there was a strong demand for him to be granted the title of earl.

Once a noble like his father who owns a trading city becomes an earl, he will have both money and status and will become a rising star in politics.

The most important thing is that the new earl also has the right to vote for the elector. This is the key.

Some people don't want to see the rise of a new earl.

Roland narrowed his eyes, his eyes burning with fire. He would not be particularly angry if his father was simply belittled by a divination. That’s politics. People have ups and downs.

But his parents passed away one after another, and there came the feud.

His parents had always doted on him. He must take revenge.

Roland took a deep breath and said slowly: "Thank you for the reminder."

"Do you want revenge?"

"I will wait until I become stronger." Roland said calmly.

He didn't yell hysterically, nor did he clench his fists and say harsh words. Real anger burns deep in the heart.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said this."

"No, thank you for reminding me. I will remember this kindness."

"Okay, there is one last faction. Please estimate the attitude of the Stargazers."

"Does this still matter? I have already written a letter to my teacher. He is the chief Star Mage. It’s a piece of cake to him. After all, you are just verbally offensive."

"I still suggest you do the divination." Roland's eyes were deep.

Egilina picked up the divination tools, entered the study, and started to divine.

The results of the divination came out quickly, and the direction of fate was very clear.

Stargazers would send troops before the Salsen Kingdom, defeat Roland, force Roland to surrender, and completely annex the Barony of Minhausen.

"How could it be?"

Egilina turned pale and muttered to herself.

According to her idea, even if there was a fight, it would be punishment at best. How could they be so cruel?

She was annoyed. She submitted an investigation report of more than 40 pages and personally vouched for Roland, hoping that Stargazers would increase its investment in Roland. However, these guys did not listen to a word and even sent troops to attack.

Unacceptable!

Egilina was about to go out when she suddenly stopped. Wait, did I make a mistake somewhere?

Taking a deep breath, she concentrated her energy and did it again.

Sweat rolled down her forehead, but she didn't bother to wipe them away. After a long time, the divination results finally came out, and this time the results were clearer.

Egilina's eyes darkened when she saw the result, and she almost fainted on the spot. Why did the divination become more and more inaccurate? The result of this divination was that she personally would defeat Roland and force him to surrender.

Ridiculous.

After a long time to regain her composure, she chose to give up. Since the divination is not accurate, think of another way. With her strength, it would not be a problem to block hundreds of soldiers. She would temporarily join Roland's army and do her best.

As long as she didn’t massacre on the battlefield, the Salsen Kingdom can only turn a blind eye.

Few people want to offend the Stargazers community.

After making up her mind, she wiped away her sweat and walked out with a calm expression.

"What's the result of the divination?"

"The divination failed."

"Failed?" Roland was a little confused.

Egilina shook her head and explained with some embarrassment: "The results of the two divinations are consistent. Stargazers will attack you and force you to surrender. Don't worry, I have written a personal letter to the teacher. There won’t be a fight."

"What's even more ridiculous is that in the second deduction, it predicted that I would defeat you on the battlefield. Isn't this a joke? I am your honored guest and we are also friends. How could it be..."

"No, your divination is accurate. Very accurate. Egilina, congratulations, your astrology has improved."

He stopped Egilina's explanation and spoke calmly.

"As long as the Stargazers defeats me before the Salsen Kingdom does, the war will be over. You are closest to me. If you don't take action, who will?"

Egilina was stunned for half a minute, her brain almost burning, and she finally came to her senses.

This is clearly an exploitation of loopholes in laws.

The Salsen Kingdom mobilized an army of ten thousand people, while the Stargazers only needed to send a team of soldiers nearby. It was obvious who was faster.

As long as Baron Minhausen was defeated first, the war would be over. The Salsen Kingdom would be the biggest loser.

After spending numerous money, requesting military rights of passage from the lords along the way, and summoning ten thousand soldiers to trek a long distance to the barony of Minhausen, they came here only to find that the war had ended? And, for sure, the Salsen Kingdom dared not to declare war on Stargazers.

If that happened, this comical war would surely be sung by minstrels and spread to every corner of the continent. King Geralt would play his role as a most embarrassed clown.