This move by Demacia not only represented their extreme confidence in themselves, it also showed that they did not put Noxus in their eyes at all.
"What do you all think about this?"
Darkwill placed the letter on the table and spoke expressionlessly. The fluctuating aura radiating from his body made it clear that he had already reached the edge of anger.
One minister picked it up and slowly read the contents aloud. As the letter reached its end, the expressions of the ministers present could not help but change.
"Your Majesty, Demacia's actions are no different from humiliating us!"
"This is outrageous!"
"The war has only just begun, and they are already selling prisoners? What do they take us for?"
Some of the more hot-tempered ministers had already jumped up on the spot.
They were Noxus, the tyrant of Runeterra, yet now someone had jumped straight into their face to humiliate them.
"Who told you to discuss that?"
Darkwill's voice grew a little colder as he said, "What I am asking you is whether we ransom them or not."
Although in his eyes, human lives were as worthless as weeds, right now, he could not afford not to take this seriously.
After thinking for a while, one minister said, "If we ransom them, this amount of money will not be small..."
Darkwill's gaze flickered slightly. Two hundred gold per person looked cheap enough, but once such large numbers were added together, it would not be that simple.
Most importantly, he would rather invest this money into the campaign against Ionia, to help him search for the medicine he wanted.
How could a bunch of lowly commoners compare to a strong army?
Another person stood and suggested, "The letter says that he will deal with a portion of them from time to time. Perhaps we can set this matter aside for now and wait until General Demir wins before handling it."
Darkwill did not speak, but he had already begun thinking about it in his heart.
That was indeed what he wanted to do. He could simply pretend he had not seen it. If those peasants died, then they died. What did it have to do with him?
Left in Demacia's army, they would still have to eat Demacia's food, drink Demacia's water, and waste Demacia's effort to guard them.
Once he sent his army over and drove Demacia back, those refugees could naturally be taken back.
After thinking for a moment, one minister said, "I'm afraid that will not work..."
Before he could finish speaking, a messenger ran in from outside the hall, dropped to one knee, and reported, "Grand General, the matter of paying money to ransom the prisoners of war has already spread throughout the city. The entire capital is discussing it."
Darkwill's expression turned cold. "Who spread the news?"
They were still discussing it here in the meeting, yet the matter had already spread throughout the capital.
Clearly, this had been deliberate.
The minister who had spoken halfway earlier continued, "I fear Demacia did this intentionally. They are obviously using this to pressure us."
Darkwill calmed down. Indeed, that was likely. Demacia had intentionally released this news.
Their purpose was pressure.
As Grand General, whether those prisoners of war were ransomed or not depended entirely on his decision.
If he ransomed them, he would have to pay a considerable amount.
If he did not ransom them, then he, the grand Grand General of Noxus, would be unwilling to spend even money when he saw his own subjects suffering. That would inevitably have no small impact on his authority while in power.
The minister from earlier continued, "Grand General, after what happened some time ago, if you refuse to pay this money today..."
As his words fell, Darkwill's face grew even colder, and his mood became terrible to the extreme.
He had almost forgotten. Some time ago, the Black Rose incident had occurred. Those commoners believed he had been secretly colluding with the Black Rose all along and had made many wrong decisions.
That included the invasion of Ionia, which had cost money, lives, and morale.
Even the legendary general Swain had been lost there. Now there were even people speculating that he, Darkwill, had been jealous of talent and had intentionally done it.
Although, damn it, those peasants had guessed rather accurately, Darkwill naturally could never admit it, even if beaten to death.
Although those matters had now been suppressed, they had still shaken his authority.
And just then, Demacia had attacked. As Grand General, setting aside whether he could defeat them or not, this matter of the prisoners alone was enough to give him a serious headache.
If he did not ransom them, once the matter spread, everyone would know that he had made such a decision and left Noxian subjects to be captured.
His authority would probably plummet completely.
This was something Darkwill absolutely could not tolerate, unless he was confident that he could directly suppress the war before the matter spread.
But did he truly have that confidence?
Facing a Demacia that had changed, Darkwill believed this battle would probably last for some time.
Was there anyone besides Demir who could step forward at this time?
Names flashed through Darkwill's mind one after another, and his fingertips kept tapping against his thigh.
Swain was dead.
The Black Rose had vanished from the world.
Darius had gone on his northern campaign and had not sent back news for almost two months.
As for the warlords, most of the capable ones had been sent by him to Ionia, while the rest had gone to oppose Demacia.
Think again...
For a moment, Darkwill unexpectedly could not think of a single suitable candidate.
In other words, he had no choice but to swallow this loss.
Damn Demacia.
Darkwill suppressed the anger in his heart and asked, "Calculate it. How much money will it take in total to ransom those prisoners of war back?"
Very quickly, a minister calculated the result, stepped forward, and reported, "Grand General, in Demacia's attack this time, our captured subjects are estimated to number at least over one hundred and fifty thousand. At two hundred gold per person, we must prepare at least thirty million gold coins."
"Thirty million..."
Even Darkwill's eyelids twitched when he heard that number.
With Noxus's strength, was it hard to take out thirty million gold?
No.
But this was definitely not a small amount, and besides ransoming prisoners, that thirty million could be used to do far too many things.
Yet now they had to hand it over to Demacia for nothing.
Most importantly, for the current Darkwill, this thirty million was not a small sum either.
One had to know that he had sent troops to attack Ionia for eight long years. For the sake of the elixir of immortality, he had invested an enormous amount of gold.
And Noxus was fighting wars against surrounding regions almost all year round, including Darius's northern campaign and the campaigns in Shurima.
All of these were money-devouring machines, like bottomless pits. The money Darkwill had thrown into them had long since become impossible to count.
Although he had also gained countless benefits from them, that money was usually in a flowing state.
Because every time Noxus gained another piece of territory and another group of people, he had to invest a new sum of money.
Whether it was later development, construction, or anything else, all of it required a long period before returns came in.
There was another point as well, the Black Rose. The Pale Sorceress had demanded enormous wealth from him to keep all of its members operating.
Some time ago, suppressing the Black Rose incident and dealing with Katarina from House Du Couteau had also cost a great deal.
At this moment, although there was certainly thirty million gold in the treasury, once this thirty million was given out, there might not be much left inside.
And right now was his critical period. It would not be an exaggeration to say he was extremely short on money.
One minister saw Darkwill's hesitation and said, "Grand General, this money cannot be saved."
Darkwill breathed out and asked, "How do we minimize the loss as much as possible?"
He knew that this money truly could not be saved. If he had been at the peak of his authority, he could have abandoned those prisoners of war under pressure without issue.
But not now.
At this moment, any wrong decision could shake his throne.
The ministers began discussing in low voices. Before long, one minister suggested, "How about collecting funds from the citizens? Everyone can donate freely to make up the ransom."
Darkwill sneered. "The mighty Noxus, asking its citizens for money over such a matter? How do you want them to view me?"
This was an inferior strategy among inferior strategies. Setting aside how many people would be willing to donate, most Noxians were self-interested.
Darkwill understood this far too well.
Under what circumstances would one ask citizens for donations?
When the national treasury was empty and the nation's strength was insufficient.
Was Noxus in such a situation? Obviously not.
At a time like this, asking the common people for money would probably become a joke among jokes. Looking back through history, no Grand General had ever done such a thing.
Naturally, Darkwill was even less willing to set that precedent.
The minister continued, "Then we should call on the warlords in each region to contribute. As beneficiaries of Noxus, at a time like this, they should offer a portion of their strength."
Darkwill thought for a moment, then said faintly, "Send people to ask their intentions. Each person must donate more than one million."
This plan was feasible. Those warlords in each region were all richer than the last.
However, Darkwill did not place his hopes in them, nor did he expect them to gather the full thirty million gold.
What did the word warlord mean?
They were people whose families had long histories, who either possessed powerful strength, or both.
At present, they seemed united in supporting him, but among them, there were probably already several families waiting to laugh as he fell from this position.
The only reason they had made no move was that they still feared his power and strength.
That was reality. Therefore, Darkwill guarded against many outstanding people. Swain had shone too brightly, which was why he had died so early.
Otherwise, he could have continued making use of him for a few more years.
Among the ministers present, there were also some born from great noble families, but if Darkwill asked them for money, he could already imagine how those families would deal with him.
The elixir of immortality...
The more he thought this way, the more violently the anger in Darkwill's heart surged.
If he could possess eternal life, he would become the greatest monarch Noxus had ever had. Warlords, families, all of them would be toys in his palm!
At this time, another minister stepped forward and suggested, "Grand General, I believe we can conscript those people after ransoming them back, turning them into military strength to oppose Demacia and retake their homeland. For these people, we can offer high military pay, to be distributed after Demacia is repelled. In this way, I believe we can minimize the loss."
This suggestion quickly made some ministers' eyes light up.
Darkwill also lowered his head and quietly began thinking.
The meaning of this minister's proposal was very simple, buy those prisoners of war back, then stuff them into the army. On the surface, they would be offered high pay under the slogan of retaking their homeland.
In reality, they would become cannon fodder, charging at the very front to reduce the burden on Noxus's true army.
This was also why one could say Demacia was overly confident. If Noxus paid a high price to buy back prisoners of war, how could there be any reason not to use them?
Very quickly, Darkwill made his decision. "Then handle it this way. Reply to Trevale. I agree to ransom them."
"Yes."
Very quickly, someone accepted the order.
The meeting dispersed.
Only Darkwill's trusted aides remained.
He asked, "Where is Darius? Is there still no news?"
One person stood and said, "No, but news came from the northern border. General Darius clashed with a tribe called the Winter's Claw. While both sides were fighting, an avalanche suddenly occurred, and the general and the enemy army were buried on the spot. That is why the border troops lost contact with the general."
This was terrible news for Darkwill. His gaze narrowed slightly as he sat on the throne, thinking constantly.
Darius could be considered the general he valued most. He was utterly loyal to him, and Darkwill had even personally granted Darius the title "the Hand of Noxus."
Darius's combat strength was exceptional. There was basically no battle he could not win.
It was precisely because of this that Darkwill had sent him to conquer those barbarian tribes of the frozen lands.
Although conditions in the north were poor, the strength of those barbarian tribes was not weak. If they could become part of Noxus, they would be no small help to him.
But now, Darius's life or death was unknown. If he had been lost in the Freljord, it would also be a considerable blow to Darkwill's own power.
However, he believed Darius would not fall so easily. If Darius were here, then he would definitely be able to stop Demacia's attack this time.
"Send people deep into the Freljord to search for news of Darius. He must be found within one month."
Darkwill came back to himself and gave the order.
"Yes."
Someone accepted the order.
Immediately afterward, Darkwill's gaze turned cold again as he asked, "How is the matter with the Assassins' Guild being handled? And what about Katarina?"
One person stood and said, "We have sent many people to deal with Katarina, but none of them have returned. As for the Assassins' Guild, they are now scattered throughout every corner of Noxus. They cannot be dealt with in such a short time."
"Hmph."
Darkwill snorted coldly and cursed those useless fools in his heart.
They could not even deal with one Katarina.
It was precisely because of her and the Assassins' Guild that news of the Black Rose had spread, thereby impacting the authority of his throne.
Without her, there would not have been so much damned trouble.
However, Darkwill had already sent people to deal with her and the Assassins' Guild earlier, yet even now, there had been no result.
Instead, quite a few of his trusted aides had been assassinated during this time.
Although the manpower losses were not great, this was no different from a provocation against Darkwill.
On top of that, the Assassins' Guild had never stopped attacking the Black Rose and him. While his side was doing everything possible to suppress the rumors, the Assassins' Guild was finding every possible way to expand the influence of the matter.
It made Darkwill's mood extremely irritable.
"Add more manpower. Do not let me see those annoying flies hopping around again."
Darkwill gave the order coldly.
"Yes."
Very quickly, someone accepted the order again.
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