1215 in the continental calendar, 335 in the imperial calendar, on the afternoon of September 19.

The dwarves of the underground cities of the Lordan Mountains, who suddenly sent his third legion of hoplites into Fort Vincent, openly supported the Duchess of Ferrola and her unborn child, and issued a proclamation declaring that Trofil did not have the blood of the Cliff family and could not inherit the Cullen realm.

On the night of the 19th, the Cathers, who jointly managed Fort Vincent with the dwarves, were expelled from Fort Vincent by the Dwarven Third Legion after a brief battle with the Dwarven Third Legion.

Early in the morning of the 20th, the soldiers of the two corps of the 3rd Dwarven Legion advanced 100 miles to the town of Imei to the east of Fort Vincent and the city of Karen to the southeast, and established a solid camp at the dangerous pass.

Five hours later, news of the dwarven march reached the new ruler of the Cullen Realm, Duke Trofil, through magic, and he was so surprised by the news that he even thought it was a fake news made up by some lords in the eastern part of the Cullen Realm.

But then, the intelligence systems of Count Coric and Viscount Paleck confirmed this information one after another.

"What are these goddamn bunker creatures trying to do?" Trofil snarled at his intelligence officer, angry that many of his plans might be adjusted or shelved due to the dwarves' sudden change of attitude.

"Being angry with your intelligence officer will not only not solve the problem, but will also lower your status. Viscount Palek waved his hand at the intelligence with his head lowered, and the old nobleman's face was surprised, but there was no trace of nervousness.

Count Corridge's face was a little ugly, "This is where we were negligent, we should have followed the advice of Lord Yarman and negotiated with the dwarves first... He warned us that the dwarves were working on a plan. ”

"Who are you blaming?" Trofil growled, "none of us cared about the attitude of the dwarves in the first place. ”

"This is not the time to argue. Viscount Palek coughed heavily to stop the impending quarrel between the two in time, "This is our shared responsibility, no one would have thought that a dwarf would stab us in the back at this time, we have all been accustomed to their obedience for three hundred years... The situation wasn't so bad, though, the dwarves were apparently only interested in the Fort Vincent region, and they could have swept through the entire western territory of the Cullen Territory in five days, but..."

When Viscount Palek said this, he marked three red markers on the sandbox map next to the three, "But the three elite legions of the dwarves are stopping at the border of the Vincent region... That is, they have no intention of really going to war with us. ”

Trofil and Count Corridge are not stupid, the two were silent for a few seconds and then looked at each other, Trofil smiled bitterly, "These bandits, they are simply robbers..."

"So, the question of the dwarves, as hard as it is to accept, can be discussed, and it must be talked to them. Viscount Palek said solemnly: "The real problem still comes from the Empire, the personal envoy of the Prime Minister Duke Nick and the officials sent by the Cabinet have already approached me no less than ten times, and the order of the military department cannot be delayed any longer, and we must give a positive answer by tomorrow morning at the latest." ”

Trofil nodded, "The strength of the Central Empire is still there, and there are Duke Eric and Duke Nick supporting Laubert, and now a break will not benefit any of us... We still need to wait for a while, and according to the news of the 'Radiant Force', they will take action in half a month at the latest. ”

"It's a pity...," Viscount Palek sighed to himself, looking lonely at the candles dancing in the room, "I didn't expect the empire to end at our hands, maybe we would become sinners for the entire empire." ”

"It was Emperor Laubert himself who ended the Empire, it was his greed and stupidity that led to the decline of the Empire, thirteen years ago, I will always remember that war, my father was killed in battle, the old duke was chopped into meat sauce on the walls of Suke City, and you, Viscount Palek, your brother, eldest son and many other relatives also died in that war, this is what Laubert owes us!" Count Coridge's fists were clenched, and the killing intent in his whole body seemed to lower the temperature around him.

"Our decision at this moment has nothing to do with that war. Viscount Palec retorted: "These are two things, our relatives and we all paid the price for our choice thirteen years ago, and this time we also made a choice, so it is just a choice, there is no right or wrong." ”

"For me, that's one thing. "I will never forget the look of despair on my mother's face when the news of my father's death in battle came, she was healthy, but she died the year after my father's death, all because of the rebellion of Laubert." ”

"Let's get back to business, both of you. Trofil's eyes flashed, "Neither Emperor Laubert, nor Duke Nick, Prime Minister, nor Duke Eric, Minister of War, are soft-hearted people, so my opinion is to follow the orders of the military department... At least for now, we can only act on the orders of the military department. ”

"Agreed. Palek nodded.

"I'm not against that. Coric's tone was cold.

Trofil nodded in satisfaction, he liked the feeling very much at the moment, but sometimes Count Corridge's strength would make his mood very bad, so he couldn't help but keep his gaze on Coric's face for a few seconds, and then he asked, "What about the dwarves, will you send someone to talk to them first?"

"To talk to them, we only need to stabilize them for a month, and after a month we can free up our hands to 'talk' properly!" Viscount Palek said with a wise smile on his face.

"Agreed. "Count Coric is not interested in dwarves.

...

Imperial capital, morning market in the south of the outer city,

Perhaps because of the war, the number of beggars in the morning market is increasing day by day, and law and order incidents are occurring one after another.

In a low-slung bungalow next to the garbage dump in the morning market, Yarman, the chairman of the Radiant Power Council, was meeting with his intelligence officer.

The Intelligence Officer's name is Fick, and he is one of the directors of the Radiant Force.

Fik wears half of the mask on his face, and the other half was destroyed by an orc priest's elemental attack from fighting the orcs in Anku Fortress when he was younger.

"Baron Hanina's Peddy Reagan has gained some advantage on the battlefield of Crewe Territory, and this war will soon have a result, and Cize-Dewen, who is supported by the Council of Krush, is also gaining ground in Twak Territory... However, Trofil of Cullen seems to be in trouble, and our men have received word that the dwarves seem to be planning to support Ferrora in order to take control of Fort Vincent. Fick was very old, but he was only forty-two years old.

Yarman stared at the dancing candles in the room, and after Fick's debriefing, he thought for ten minutes before exhaling a sentence: "Do you think that maybe Gordon Ayre's peace proposition is the right way to go?"

"Gordon Eyre doesn't know about orcs, and we've proven that it's impossible to make peace with them... That's why he had a plan for the future, and that's why he died. Fike's voice was as emotionless as an instrument.

"His Majesty the Emperor has been making a lot of moves lately. Yarman lowered his eyelids, "Is it all planned?" ”

"Yes," Fick nodded, "Soon, your announcement to disband the 'Radiant Force' will spread across the continent, and later..."

Yarman immediately said: "The 'Radiant Power' will not really dissolve, our ideals will continue. ”