As Claire said, the next day, there was no shortage of people around the fireplace for breakfast.

Charlotte spread the jam on the bread and carefully spied on Elbert's expression, revealing that he was joking with his companions as if he was nothing, and last night's conversation didn't seem to affect him in any way. Or rather, he had prepared for the worst in his heart.

But Charlotte can't be so open-minded, on one side is her own family, and on the other side is her comrades-in-arms who have shared life and death with her, which makes Charlotte who is caught in it extremely embarrassed.

"Do you want soup?"

Just as she was thinking, Claire scooped a bowl of broth out of the jar, Charlotte thanked and took it, and Claire put down what she was holding, got up and walked out the door. As he passed Charlotte, he silently patted his shoulder before stopping at the door of the villa.

"When you're done eating, let's get ready to go, and try to get to Savoie Fort before the end of the New Year. ”

Charlotte lowered her head and drank the broth, which spread like a warm current in her stomach, and then spread to her limbs, warm and comfortable.

It is worth mentioning that Erosa is very different from the time of the Mizuto incident today, at least in terms of territory.

At the time, Lucerne was considered a commercial city close to the southern border of Erossa, but today it is only an inland city. Over the years, Erosa has expanded southward under Lawrence's leadership, and now engulfs a large area of territory including the Calvi Grand Canyon and its south.

Today, the Archduke of Erosa, Lawrence, garrisoned Fort Lothar, across the river from the central aristocracy, led by the Archduke Durali. The two sides fought like lions polishing their claws, waiting for their opponents to show their weak flaws.

The two sides stationed nearly 100,000 troops on the border, don't think that there are few people, here 100,000 refers to the number of the main army, in other words, plus auxiliary troops and so on, the scale is nearly 300,000.

This has been a major battle in the world of Steeu in recent years, but this is not the full strength of the two sides.

Although Erosa's national strength is thriving, first, it has been fighting endlessly in recent years, and has not yet completely digested the newly occupied territory, and second, the threat of barbarian orcs in the north is still there, and the border elite does not dare to mobilize.

On the other hand, the situation of the Duchy of Durally was even worse, and the year before the civil war, it also expanded its territory, and it seemed to be very high-spirited. But later, first the northern border of Erosa was menacing, then Elbert returned to Arad, and now, the lighthouse is arrogant in the south. If it weren't for the current instability within the Lighthouse, the situation in the Duchy of Durally would have been even more difficult.

But with the recent good news such as civil unrest at the lighthouse, the situation in Durally is also very bad. Whether in terms of military strength or economic strength, the Erosa side has a great advantage, which is one of the reasons why Grand Duke Durally is reluctant to send troops to support him, knowing that the natural disaster of the undead is huge.

Originally, Erosa and Horcente were one north and one south, and in terms of strength, the two sides were the most likely military and economic powers to unify the empire. But now that Brent has returned with the remnants of Rosent's army on the banks of the Tria, the situation has changed subtly. The southern Helm Empire of Hosente is on the verge of movement, while the northern barbarian orcs of Erosa are still licking their wounds. Although the situation is not yet clear, public opinion is more optimistic about Erosa's future.

Because of this, the outcome of the Battle of Fort Lothar had a crucial impact on the situation in the Empire. If he wins, he will succeed, and if he loses, his years of hard work will come to naught, and the situation in the empire will once again be confusing.

Because of this, Lawrence took a cautious stance in the Battle of Fort Lothar, taking advantage of the good news of the present situation for Erosa to make friends and sit in Fort Lothar to win over the small and medium-sized nobles, and put on a tug-of-war posture.

Unlike Erossa, who was unable to deal with the threat from the north and south at the same time, in order to get out of the predicament before the situation at the southern lighthouse became clear, the Grand Duke Durali had to take the initiative to seek an opportunity to fight Erossa, while Lawrence took a defensive posture and wanted to wait for the prey to reveal a fatal flaw.

The offensive and defensive situation was actually reversed, which was similar to the Battle of Tria, except that Lawrence was not like Captain Hostend, he had no constraints and could implement his strategy.

It is conceivable that when the winter snow melts at Fort Lothar, near the north, a battle that can be said to determine the future of the empire will begin.

Today, the border between the two countries is crowded with sentry posts, and soldiers on both sides are engaged in small-scale probing and entanglement around the long battle line. It is impossible for ordinary people to pass through this front, but all this is easy for Charlotte and her party.

On this day, they crossed the entangled border and finally stepped into the territory of Erossa.

As soon as she entered the border, Charlotte immediately identified herself to the patrol cavalry. The leader of the squad has a humble status and has never met Charlotte in person. He looked Charlotte up and down suspiciously, even with the royal insignia of Icewind Castle handed by Charlotte, he couldn't decide.

"Well, I'm sorry, I can't decide. ”

Charlotte couldn't laugh or cry, and she didn't blame him, "Call your officers!

After a while, their officers came. The young man with the golden hair hurried his horse, and before he could reach Charlotte, he dismounted, and cried out in a loud voice, "Dear Earl, I have not seen you for a long time!......! But it's more handsome than before!"

Charlotte was thinking about who this was, and how shamelessly she called herself 'Dear Earl', and when she looked at it again, she was still an acquaintance!

He is Alec Corey, the jealous and manly of Catherine in Lucerne, and the manly Erosa in the underground.

"You guy...... Actually joined the army?!" Charlotte was shocked by his inherent image.

Now Alec's complexion is rough and healthy, and he smiled bitterly, "Look at what you said, I am the third son who has no inheritance, what can I do if I don't join the army?"

The world of Steeu pursues the system of primogeniture, and as Charlotte, she was still in the family of Count Ferrard, who had no male children, let alone Alec in front of her.

"You look more energetic than you used to!"

"That's all thanks to the Earl, since the battle of the dungeon, I have always admired the Earl's demeanor, all these years to inspire myself with your back, and now I am also a high-ranking knight at the level of the Five Rings! You are my idol! Earl!

After saying that, Alec winked at Charlotte, and there was still a faint lewd shadow of his pale face.

"Don't!" Charlotte almost didn't spurt out a mouthful of old blood, "you can do it, or treat others as idols!"

Alec grinned, saluted Claire, who was silent on the side, and warmly greeted Vivian and Lolita, who had met several times. When he saw Elbert, he was taken aback, and immediately restrained his smile and gave Elbert a formal knightly salute.

Of course, Alec could not make an appearance at Elbert, which has already been explained, because the feudal lord of the feudal lord is not my feudal lord.

Then, he immediately had Archduke Lawrence informed, and immediately abandoned the patrol and escorted the group to Fort Lothar.