The world pulls a line.

Then, the lacquered wooden doors retreated to both sides.

"Welcome to the top of the mountains," said an old man in a mink coat in the center of the horizon, his gaze deep and his old countenance calmed even in the light of the flickering candles, "I beg your pardon, this is the only place in the Storm Furnace Castle that is absolutely safe to talk. ”

"God understands your suffering, Archman." The visitor said, stepping forward, his eyes seemed to casually sweep the secret room for a week, and then sat down, facing the old man, "I have come this time to act on behalf of the will of the entire church, not me, so please forgive me for the inconvenience in the conversation." ”

"It doesn't matter," said the old man, nodding, "I haven't asked your Excellency for your name yet." ”

"The lower is but an ascetic prostrate under the seat of the gods, and is insignificant in the will of the church as a whole." The visitor paused for a moment, then added, "If you are just trying to facilitate the conversation, you can call me a priest – all are equal before the gods." ”

"Then Your Excellency," the old man looked at him, "what do you want to do here?" ”

"Your Excellency," the black-robed priest didn't mind the old man's straightforwardness at all, but nodded, "I have only one will to transmit when I come this time—and that is ...... The Church's tolerance for the One on the throne at the top of the mountain has reached its limit, and it is time for him to move places. ”

His fingers were pointing downward, meaning something.

"For example...... This place is very suitable. ”

"Really?" The old man answered, and then said, "I see." ”

"In addition to this, the Church wants ......," the priest continued, glancing at the old man opposite him, "that you can be the man who deserves to stand on the top of the mountains." ”

"This ...... I'm sorry. The old man shook his head, "I don't have any idea about the throne. ”

"But the church has," the clergyman who conveyed the will of the church paused, looking him straight into the eye, "and you are the only person the church can trust—the Grand Duke of Leon." ”

"I'm sorry," the old man repeated, looking up without the slightest flinching in his eyes, "this is the land of mountains. ”

"It is also the kingdom of the Lord on the earth." The black-robed priest was-for-tat.

"And God said, Let the heavens be heavenly, and the earthly things to the earth." The old man frowned slightly, read out a passage written on the Holy Covenant, and said, "All men are foolish, and must not be justified by faith...... In terms of the canon, this is the church's transgression. ”

The priest did not answer at the first time.

The old man didn't give him much time to think, and after fighting back, he quickly relented, or promised: "The throne at the top of the mountains will change hands, and the god Gable believes in will always be the god of fire and rock—that's all I can promise, but I think it should be enough to satisfy the church." ”

"I understand what you mean, and I'll convey it to all the adults in the church."

This was not an outcome that would please the Church, and the black-robed priest knew that the reason why the Church wanted the Grand Duke to seize the throne, a symbol of supreme kingship, was not only because he was the closest person to the Church in the Land of Mountains, but also because, according to Gable's tradition, as the head of the three major princely families, he had the right to inherit the throne, but he was not a priority successor - if he really sat on the throne according to the Church's requirements, It would be a powerful blow to the tradition of the semi-independent continent of the Mountain Country—and that shock would allow the Church to further intensify its interference with Gable, so that what happened thirty years ago would not happen again.

But if the other party refuses, the church has no choice but to think of other ways.

After all, in the country of mountains, there is only one great nobleman who is qualified to cooperate with the Church.

"Well, you're here." The old man said, looking at him with eyes slightly clouded by old age, "However, I suppose the priest is not just here for the sake of the throne. ”

"Yes." The priest replied, "Some time ago the Church received word that the long-eared people on the south-west side seem to have something in mind about the land of mountains. ”

At this point, he stopped talking and looked at the old man.

However, to his surprise, the old man did not reply, but remained silent.

After a brief stalemate, he was the first to be defeated, and said, "A nobleman has provided us with information that the elves are planning to send a mission to Gable—for unknown purposes. ”

"......The purpose is unknown," the old man muttered, a meaningful smile on his lips, "I don't think so—I remember that the information sent to the church by Count Heller clearly stated that the elves were preparing for the coming war, and Gable was only one of them. ”

The hand resting on the table trembled unconsciously, and the black-robed priest tried his best to calm his tone: "Is that so? I'm sorry that the Bishops didn't talk to me about it. ”

The old man shook his head noncommittally, just looked at him, and did not speak.

However, at this time, silence was more powerful than sound, and the silence of the man who was almost at the top of the power on the other side weighed on him like a mountain, crushing his body and soul together. Fortunately, he withstood the pressure and bluntly diverted the topic: "Grand Duke Leon, I don't know what you plan to do with the elven mission. ”

Knuckles tapped lightly on the table, and the old man didn't look away, just shook his head.

"I don't have any special attitude." He said.

"Really?" The black-robed priest sneered, already realizing that his state was not right, and slowly adjusted his state of mind with a slightly embarrassed laugh - the smile retracted, "Your Excellency, this joke is not funny—to be honest, my visit is not only to convey the will of the church's higher-ups, but also to ask for your help. ”

"I would gladly serve the church," said the old man, but the conversation changed later, "but the power I can call upon is quite limited—it may not be so easy to deal with the elves who come prepared. ”

"Your Excellency, do not question the sincerity of the Church." The priest knew that the initiative had already been shifted in this conversation, so he could only raise his voice and say in accordance with the hidden meaning of the other party, "In compensation, the Church will provide food for three years to the land of mountains, and crown you as a blessed knight, and your family will always be the darling of God." ”

"It's a great deal." The old man's expression did not change at all, and he still said in a calm tone, "But please tell me the composition of the Elven Mission and the help that the church can provide." ”

"The church has been short of manpower in the vicinity recently, and can only send about thirty knights and two ascetics." The priest's mood was a little bitter, originally with the power of the church, it was a simple matter to eliminate a small elven mission, and there was no need to whisper to the local nobles. But who would have thought that the bishops and the Blessed Knights, who had been mobilized to completely eradicate those long-eared fellows, had instead created an opportunity for the elves to make the Church's power in the southwest region unprecedentedly empty, and there was not much spare power to deal with their missions.

"How strong is the ascetic?" Thirty knights, that is, thirty warriors—for a small country, perhaps all the warriors in a main legion don't add up to that much, but for the church, it's really an insignificant number, "Is there any information gathered on the Elven Mission?" ”

"Both ascetics are high priests," replied the priest, "but I'm sorry, the elven information is well kept secret, and we can't find out the exact composition, but according to the prophecy of His Holiness the Pope of the Church of Time, the number of elven legations does not exceed fifty. ”

"As I said earlier, I don't have much combat power at my disposal, and this is not a lie." The old man stroked his beard, "The one on the throne is always keeping an eye on me, and I can only send more than a dozen dead soldiers, and a high-ranking warrior - of course, turning to the mercenary force is a good option, but they can't be as good as they could be when it comes to secrecy." ”

"So we need to cooperate." The black-robed priest said word by word.

After saying that, he realized that it was impossible for the powerful old man on the other side to turn a blind eye to the visit of the elven mission - the power of the elven mission that went to the human world for the first time was destined to be not to be underestimated, and allowing them to enter the top of the mountains would undoubtedly upset the balance of existing power, and this imbalance was extremely detrimental to Leon, who was inclined to the side of the church. Even if there is no request from the church, I am afraid he will intervene.

What I just did was nothing more than bargaining.

But now it's too late to realize this, and the words spoken are like water spilled, and it is impossible to take them back.

"And the plan of cooperation, presumably His Excellency the Grand Duke has already achieved it in his heart, right?"

In the end, he could only say without sarcasm.

"Indeed." The old man didn't care about his gaffe, and he didn't shy away from admitting it at all, "Before you came, I had already designed an ambush plan, please see the map." ”

Shriveled fingers slid lightly along the lines of the mountains, then lingered.

"Here, I'm going to surprise the elves." He paused, then said, "Of course, it's just a surprise, and I don't have much hope, so I don't have to bother you to make a move." My real lore isn't here, it's ......" with a fingertip and a heavy point somewhere on the map, "here!" ”

"Here," the priest hesitated, "wouldn't it be too obvious......

"Obviously? Not really. The old man said, his confidence overflowing, "It's just a foreshadowing, and the real killer move is not here." ”

"That's ......" The priest froze as his gaze moved along the road marked on the map, and after a long time he breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a voice of surprise, "What do you mean...... Over here!? ”

"That's right." The old man glanced at it, "This is it—I just don't know if the priest agrees with this plan?" ”

With cloudy eyes casting a sharp gaze, the black-robed priest stared at the extremely complex map drawn in circles, took a deep breath, and then said his reply.

"I can't think of a better solution," he said, pausing slightly, looking up with a sparkling gaze, "and I can't think of any chance that those long-eared guys will survive—so I have no reason to refuse." ”

ps: It's not in good shape these days

PS2: The initial foreshadowing is almost over.