In the secluded larch forest, a circular portal opens, and a group of people appear on the thick layer of fallen leaves.

"That's it, Your Highness."

Lin An looked around, and the five people including Prince Statu, who had not yet recovered from the reality of crossing tens of thousands of miles of space in an instant.

"Although I have never been to Baidi County, this kind of larch forest is indeed unique to our country."

"It's incredible, it's just a step, we're back in the country."

Listening to the whispers of his subordinates, Prince Statu said with a look of astonishment:

"Oh, I have experienced a miracle myself - and of course, the most amazing thing is that you who have single-handedly created this miracle - and I am so grateful for your helping hand that I cannot put into words how I feel at this moment! …… Oh, and if you don't mind, I cordially invite you to come with us to Dunker and let us enjoy the friendship of the landlords. ”

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness, I regret I had to refuse."

Lin An said the scene, but her demeanor made the previous stereotypical scenes and words vivid and natural, which made her unbearable and made her brows frown slightly.

"Well, I was abrupt! It seems that we have to separate, and it is a shame that this magical and wonderful journey is so short. ”

Lin An nodded slightly.

"I suspect that Your Highness's mood at this time must be like that of a returning bird, so I will stay for a short time - this is the territory of Baidi County in the south of your country, and it is two or three days away from Dun'er, the imperial capital of your country, and after leaving this forest, twenty or thirty miles to the south, there will be a town and a town - I wish you a smooth return."

"Thank you for your pointers. Master Lin, I also wish you a smooth return. ”

Seeing Lin An walk into the portal, the portal disappeared, Prince Statu put away his polite and gentle expression, his face became stern and condensed, and said to the four accompanying guards who stood solemnly to listen to their farewell:

"Let's go—in two days, we must arrive in Dunkerke!"

……

About a quarter of an hour after they left, another portal slowly emerged from the place where the portal had disappeared.

Lin An walked out of the portal and closed his eyes. The wind that blew through the treetops brought her the message of the departed.

She smiled. He followed in the direction of the wind.

***

Two days later, Prince Statu and his entourage returned to Dunkerke in a low-key manner.

Returning to the prince's palace through the back door in a low-key manner, Prince Statu did not alarm his relatives and called his housekeeper. While listening to the changes in Dunerke in the past few years. While writing a letter on the table.

Wrap this envelope with your own hands. Stamped with an invisible wax seal, the prince handed the letter to his confidants and retainers.

"Go to the suburban manor of Viscount Ross Lake, and hand over the letter to the housekeeper of the manor. No one is allowed to handle it on the way. ”

The Holy Empire has a special political form, and the divine right has overwhelmed the imperial power for more than 2,000 years, and the Holy Emperor of this generation, Andreo III, is an old man who does not care about political affairs and is a stormy old man, and the Viscount of Ross Lake is the emperor's confidant, one of the few unknown royalists.

That night, Anderlevy III, who had secretly left the palace, met with Prince Stattu at another secret estate.

"It's incredible, Stattu, I just received your letter ten days ago, it says you were in the Merlin Imperial Capital a month ago, how did you get back?" Anderlevio III's seemingly cloudy gaze stared at his imperial brother.

"It's Ann. Archmage Lin, my Imperial Brother, if you have carefully read the contents of my letter, you should know that she has the ability to teleport over long distances. ”

Prince Stattu was also observing.

He had been on Merlin for four or five years, and though he had exchanged letters with the country every year, he was not sure whether the interval between them had made Dun'er indestructible.

For a long time, the two looked at each other and smiled, and hugged each other.

"Welcome back, my brother, it seems that Merlin's wind and snow have not eroded your will."

"You too, my royal brother. I knew that the passage of time would not melt your steely fighting spirit, and that you would hold on to it before this once-in-a-millennium change. ”

After the two finished their farewell, they sat down, the atmosphere and posture were much more casual, and Andrei III even personally poured a glass of wine for Prince Stattu.

After the two of them clinked glasses and consumed about half a bottle of Treasure, Andros III said, "Tell me about your experience in Pompeii, and the reason why you sneaked back from this adventure." ”

"I was about to say ...... too"

Prince Stattu lowered his legs, sat up straight, placed his glass on the table, and told him what he had seen and heard over the past few years, especially the changes that had taken place in Pompey over the past few months.

"Although there is detailed information and eyeliner, it is still not as intuitive and detailed as personal experience." Anderlevio III sighed, "The brilliant successors, the strong elites have poured in, and the war on the northern front has officially ended - this huge giant has slowly and calmly completed the turn, and the heavens are really kind to Merlin!" ”

Anderlevus III did not lack a keen political vision, and although he was still in his infancy, he could already sense from Prince Statu's description that a vigorous and unfledged force lurked beneath the surface of the situation in Merlin.

"Yes, though I don't want to, but I have to admit that Merlin has taken a very risky but also prescient step at the dawn of this surging tide, and even the stupid new emperor of the Pere Empire is not far behind—my imperial brother, Saint. The House of Narria must not be left behind, or we will surely fall victim to being eliminated in this torrent of change! ”

Prince Statu admonished solemnly.

"I understand!"

Andros III smiled and signaled the imperial brother to calm down:

"I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to make a decision if you had returned a few days earlier, but just four days ago, our Pope Xià personally celebrated a mass for me......"

He spoke to Prince Statu, whose complexion changed several times, and finally fixed on a look of suspicion mixed with joy.

"The attitude on the side of the Holy Mountain has changed, and it is no longer an obstacle. This is indeed good news - but why did His Majesty suddenly have such a big change of attitude and even agree to send troops? - After so long watching the situation of the Holy Noche Kingdom, my imperial brother, don't you think that the attitude of His Majesty the Pope has changed too suddenly? ”

"Yes, although I know that the Holy Mountain will never completely abandon the Holy Noche Kingdom, the Holy Mountain should not let them regain their favor until the Holy Noche royal family has completely surrendered to the Holy Mountain."

"But the news I got from inside the Holy Mountain that the Holy Mountain didn't move much during this time, and the only anomaly was. His Majesty the Pope sent Grand Knight Eugene and Brother Chekov to the Red River Plateau. Go on a secret mission. ”

"So, I speculate that the change in the attitude of the Holy Mountain may have something to do with the secret mission of Grand Knight Commander Eugene—perhaps. What they found. But you know. The executors who were sent out were all real stones, and no one could open their mouths except the gods. ”

Saint. The relationship between House Naria and the Holy See is both conflicting and inseparable. The pro-royal faction is a major faction in the Holy Nuncia's Cardinals, and even in the penance and the Inquisition, there are saints. Narria's sons and daughters are in high positions, and only Androllio III can figure out the intricacies of the situation.

The old man seemed to be inactive, having reigned for nearly forty years, during which time the imperial power was always suppressed by the divine power, but judging only from the information he could obtain even about the secret missions issued by the Pope in private, the old man's depth and forbearance far surpassed that of his time, not even any emperor of his predecessors.

"If you are sure that His Majesty's change of attitude has nothing to do with us, then I am reassured."

Prince Statu said:

"This is the best news I've heard since I came back, Brother Huang, although we have the Holy Mountain to share the pressure with us, the decision not to rescue the subject country will put a lot of pressure on you."

"Humph!"

Anderlevio III snorted, his eyes flashed with gloom, and the corners of his mouth folded into deep nasolabial folds:

"Who doesn't know that I'm just an indulgence in the mistress of tenderness and constant holiness. The Narria family continues to create a puppet emperor with dishonorable illegitimate children, no matter how much pressure there is, there is also the strong and resolute Pope Xià to bear, what does it have to do with me! ”

Prince Stat naturally understood.

"I don't know what Angus II thought before he died, and he actually chose a fanatical believer as his successor - that majesty may be pious and wise enough, but in terms of politics, he is far from being your opponent with those nobles of the Gaoyang Plain!"

To pour most of the sewage on the Holy See, it is far from enough to secretly control public opinion, even the aristocracy of the Holy Empire has long held grudges against the tilting of divine power.

This effect is largely due to the decades of forbearance of Anderlevy III - even the most ignorant commoner knows that the old man sitting on the throne has always been a stupid and incompetent puppet, unable to make the decision to refuse to send troops to the rescue, which can only and can only be the intention of the new pope.

In particular, Cleveland III has always shown himself as a tough and tough person from the time he stepped onto the stage.

"Don't underestimate him, this majestic image looks simple, but I always feel that there are some incomprehensible places on him."

Anderlevio III said:

"But, no matter what, we must send troops this time, the royal families and nobles of those subject countries below us are watching, if the holy Noche royal family, which has been inherited for two thousand years, dissipates because of our support, they are afraid that they will be afraid that they will be angry with the Holy Family. The House of Naria has lost all faith. ”

"Is it so strict?" Prince Stattu wondered, "The Ten Forgiveness of the Demon Calamity is there, and no matter how disappointed they are, it is impossible for them to give up their land." ”

"You underestimate these nobles, Stato, no rule can be completely free of loopholes, and neither is the Ten Forgiveness of the Demon Calamity."

Anderlevio III shook his head and said:

"It may be true that the royal families would rather die with the kingdom, but the nobles will not be willing to give the kingdom a funeral."

"You may not know that the 'friendly neighbor' who started as a pirate in our east has recently set off a wave of land purchases, and many secret merchants have begun to buy land in their territory, especially in Dandong, where some people are very active, and it is said that they are lobbying some powerful people in the hope that they can get the head of Emperor Jupiter and the Senate to get a proposal to donate military funds to obtain a fiefdom."

In connection with the above of Andrology III, there is something else that Prince Stattu does not understand.

He said angrily, "These damn things, they want to get Perre's knighthood as a way out? ”

This is undoubtedly a good way to bypass the Ten Curses of the Demonic Calamity.

Perret's territory is a territory, and the territory of the Holy Empire is also a territory, even if the area of the former is less than one percent of the latter, but as long as it is a legitimate lord, it is not a violation of the content of "no escape from the territory of a hundred miles", and those nobles will be able to use a small piece of territory far away from the safety of the rear as a last retreat.

In fact, Merlin is a better choice than Perret.

Unfortunately, although Merlin was allowed to trade land, he had to be knighted by military merit, and this opportunistic method did not work in Merlin, and if he wanted to obtain a knighthood, he had to use real military merits to compensate, or if he had a close blood relationship with the Merlin nobles, he could obtain it by inheriting the title of guò.

"Don't worry about these clowns jumping up and down, Emperor Pere and the senators will not understand this proposal - in this situation, which is more valuable, money or military merit, as long as people with a clear mind will not understand-even if they don't understand it in the first place, after this demon hunting list appears, they should understand."

Anderlevio III clapped his hands and said:

"I really want to meet the proposer of this list, his vision and talent must be rare in the world, as bright as a pearl jade-he can actually pass a list, mobilize the resources of the entire human society, and completely revolve around the demonic calamity, if there were such wise men in the Magic Dynasty in the first place, they may not be ruined-such a person, if not a sage in the open, must be a careerist who is good at playing with power and scheming, and has lofty goals."

"Needless to say, I sent someone to investigate the Demon Hunting List when it came out," said Prince Stato, "but by all accounts, the results I got proved to be the work of the young Emperor Merlin. ”

"Impossible! Although I have not met Merlin's young Saxon Majesty, even if his grandfather was reborn, at his age, he would not have had the courage to take the initiative to do this and completely turn the old rules of the game upside down! ”

Adellio III was categorical:

"There must be someone behind him, but I don't know for what reason - if it's because of jealousy, then there's a good show! Although the Saxon Majesty has great potential, he may not be able to control the person who can come up with such an amazing method and dare to put it into practice! ”

"So that's the case, it seems that Merlin may not be more stable than us, so I'm much more relieved - worthy of the imperial brother, after listening to your analysis, my situation with Pompey is finally clear!"

Prince Stattu had no doubts about his judgment, and gladly took his glass and met Androllio III.

……

Somewhere in the corner of the manor, a mysterious and graceful figure stood in the shadow of the treetops, like a hazy mist, and the moonlight spilled through her translucent figure to the ground, mottled and fine.

Listening to the sound of the wind in his ears, Lin An looked up at the top of the black umbrella-like tree and sighed softly.

(To be continued)(To be continued......

PS: The relevant departments have started to crack down on pornography and illegal activities again...... Will it become such an annual ritual in the future? I'm sweating~