Hoover was gone. He didn't even get to stay till the end of this gathering event.
As calm as Abel appeared to be, he was absolute fuming on the inside. He didn't become a baron by cheating. He had to risk his life many times for it. He fought against the orcs. He had to sacrifice his own men. He went through all that, but all the rewards he got were taken away from him.
Obviously, he knew that this whole "operation" was not run by Liandre George himself. As dumb as that king was, he would've never tried to cross a wizard/ master blacksmith like him, especially given how connected he was to multiple important figures across the Holy Continent.
Abel couldn't help but remember the red-cloaked wizards that he saw before. That man was an underling of Wizard Cliff, and as soon as he was banished out of Cina City, this started happening. There was no way that could be a coincidence.