Game of Thrones: From a deserter to a high-ranking official

Chapter 191 Vito: Understood, whether there are dates or not, we'll make a couple of bets.

Chapter 122 Vito: Understood, whether there are dates or not, we'll make a couple of bets.

"Vito!" Tiberius dismounted. "I need to write a letter!"

"To whom? Besides, who would receive a letter at this hour?" Vito lay on the ground, too exhausted to move a single finger. "Tiberius, let me rest, I'm dead tired—"

"I still have half a box of gold coins."

"What do you want me to do?" Vito quickly turned over, his tired expression replaced by an "enthusiastic" look.

"Speak, Tiberius. As long as the letter doesn't say I, Vito, am to fight Volantis's Tiger-Clad Army alone, I'll write one letter, ten, a hundred, even a thousand! No problem!"

"Alright, I'll tell you, and you'll remember this!" Tiberius looked at the fire and carefully began to choose his words.

Rhetoric, Tiberius's sharpest and most prized weapon, was about to come into play again.

Just like with Severta's letter, Jules and Lisanro both opposed sending such a "vulgar," "extremely embarrassing," and "unchivalrous" letter to Valantis.

However, Tiberius defied all opposition and insisted that Severus's letter be placed before the Senate of Valantis.

In retrospect, the letter had perfectly achieved Tiberius's goal: instead of uniting because of the letter's attack, the senators attacked each other even more fiercely; the mutinous sailors and mobs in the port were thrown into a more fanatical uprising because of the letter, convinced that the Senate of Valantis was already too weak.

This was the "unexpected surprise" Tiberius gave Marcus upon his return!

Now, he not only intends to attack the Senate, but also plans to begin influencing Marcus himself.

Vito, biting the pen, wrote the letter according to Tiberius's dictation, using a formal yet subtly witty writing style, which was then reviewed and confirmed by Tiberius.

To His Excellency Commander-in-Chief of Valantis:

Your Excellency General:

When this letter reaches you, you will surely know that the banners of our White Legion and Lightning Legion are proudly flying over the Long Bridge.

This action was not intended to challenge the majesty of Valantis, but rather a desperate act born of our predicament and a small act of vanity to prove that we had been there.

Regarding whether Your Excellency should send troops to pursue us, I, Tiberius Mordeka, believe that there are more pressing matters that Your Excellency needs to concern yourself with.

It is said that at this moment, in the Senate of Valantis, the dignitaries of the Tiger Party and the Elephant Party are having a “heated” and “constructive” debate over who should be held responsible for the recent war.

General, though these words are unpleasant to hear, the rules of the political arena are often quite different from those on the battlefield.

On the battlefield, the victors write history; but within the Senate, sometimes those who wield military power, those who take the initiative to shoulder the fate of the nation and fight for its glory, are more likely to become targets of criticism due to their noble character and their special and sensitive position, bearing responsibilities that should not belong to them for the vulgar and despicable.

Your Excellency is invincible on the land battlefield, winning battle after battle; this is an indisputable fact.

Riseland, a land of contention. Your army is the elite of the world; no one in the allied forces can rival the general, all defeated by your might. Your achievements are comparable to those of a founding father!

However, the defeat of your navy, and the fact that our small flanking force was able to take advantage of the situation and stir up trouble in the heartland, are incidents that often require someone to take responsibility for.

If you were to pursue us with all your might now, you would surely miss that decisive debate in the Senate.

Your political enemies will not miss this opportunity to blame you, the supreme military commander, for all the mistakes—whether it be the naval defeat or the brief disturbance our army caused to your capital.

Conversely, if Your Excellency chooses to postpone the pursuit and return to the capital to maintain order, with the momentum of your great victory and the real power of your large army, the Tiger and Elephant factions will inevitably compete to win you over in order to stabilize the situation, rather than easily punish you.

We are merely a band of mercenaries relying on luck and wandering from place to place. This disturbance is insignificant in the grand scheme of things and will not affect the overall situation. However, the political turmoil in your country may cause you some inconvenience!

How to make a choice that will maximize your interests is something you surely understand with your wisdom.

Best wishes.

Vito finished writing the last word, blew on the ink to dry it, and handed the letter to Tiberius. Tiberius scratched his head and couldn't help but ask.

"Kid, what's the point of wasting all this time writing this? That General Marcus is as cunning as a monkey and as ruthless as a wolf. Do you really think he'd believe our nonsense?"

Tiberius took the letter, glanced at it quickly, and a cold smile appeared on his face. "The significance? It's simple. If he believes it, or even if he only half believes it, and decides to return to Valantis to stabilize the political situation first, instead of immediately pursuing us with all his might, then we've made a huge profit and gained precious time to escape."

Then, Tiberius seemed to have thought of something amusing, and said, suppressing a laugh, "Moreover, whether he believes the contents of this letter or not, there is one fact he cannot change: when he returns, he will have to face the mutual attacks between the Tiger Party and the Elephant Party, as well as the inevitable reckoning afterwards."

"Do you know why? Because this time, Valantis has lost face big time! Think about it! The situation was originally very good, not just good, but great! It seemed that the Three Kingdoms of Daughters was about to be defeated in the next second, and the glory of Valantis was about to be restored, and the empire would spread its national power to the four seas and open up the waves to all directions."

And what happened? The navy failed, the disputed river was blocked, and no matter how strong the Tiger Robe Army was, they could only be trapped in the disputed territory in frustration.

And then what? Before they could even recover from the naval defeat and the trapping of the main army forces, the ports were blocked, commerce came to a standstill, and sailors and mobs rioted in the capital!

Next, it's our Vito's turn. Think about it! In this situation, with these losses, someone has to take the blame!

Even if Marcus is an idiot, since he has reached the position of general, he should have basic political acumen!

Our letter is like a drop of water falling into a pot of boiling oil. It might not cause the oil to explode, but it will at least splatter a few drops, making things a little more lively inside.

Sevita, who was listening intently despite being illiterate, grinned widely and summarized in his crude yet incisive way: "I get it! It means, we need to make General Marcus think that going back to argue with those old foxes in robes is more worthwhile than chasing after us peasants!"

"It's like a ship with a leak. If the captain can't handle the situation, everyone from the sailman to the helmsman and even the cook will jump in and interfere! But the problem is, when it comes time to take the blame, hey! The vote is always that the captain is incompetent and needs to get off the ship!"

Tibbie gave Sevita a slightly approving look.

"That's right, Sevita's words may be rough, but they make a valid point. That's exactly what I meant."

Ultimately, our strength is still too weak! Not enough to compete!

"What we need to do is to create chaos within their ranks first, so that we can take advantage of the chaos to continue our escape."

He paused, then shrugged. "Besides, even if he doesn't believe it at all and thinks it's a ploy to confuse the enemy, that doesn't matter. It's just a piece of paper and a few words."

"I get it, it's just like throwing money away whether you have it or not!" Vito grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Pretty much. Anyway, we don't suffer any real losses, but the return we get is frighteningly high!"

The letter was sealed and handed to the poor prisoner of war. This letter, filled with calculation and malicious intent, was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake; where its ripples would spread was anyone's guess. But it did, however faintly, secure a crucial, albeit slim, possibility for the isolated Jules Legion.