"That's right, lovely Miss Imposter, I know you've been spying on me all the time, surprise?"

In Loren's spiritual hall, Asriel's pale and bloodless face showed a cold smile that was imperceptible, and there was a faint, childlike smug expression:

"You always thought that Asriel wouldn't have noticed your 'little moves', right--taking advantage of dear Loren's distrust of me, and I have to admit that I was a little surprised at first. ”

"Now, it's time to test your 'loyalty' to Loren. ”

The young man lazily cocked his chin and picked the corners of his mouth:

"Tens of thousands of rotting corpses have headed south, and the unsuspecting Broken Boundary Mountain Fortress is in danger, and for Miss Ayn Rand, who is still there, she is now hanging by a thread and unaware of it. ”

"And you know very well what the 'consequences' are if you let her get hurt in the slightest. ”

With a snap of his fingers, Asrael had an extra armchair underneath him. The young man with Erlang's legs crossed his right hand to support his cheek, revealing an expression that looked like a good show, and his scarlet pupils flickered slightly:

"You don't have many options to protect Loren, who is so important to you—forcibly take Al Yin away? ”

"Or, in the face of tens of thousands of rotting demons alone, I doubt how long you can hold out - but then again, isn't it about showing 'love' for someone, just to see how much you can sacrifice for him?"

Asriel gave a very ambiguous smile and whispered softly:

"And 'Miss Imposter', how much can you sacrifice for dear Loren?"

...........................................................................

Boundary Mountain Fortress, the northern city wall defense line.

The small, wrapped wizard walked up the walls of the northern defense line accompanied by two guards, probably because she was too nervous to even notice the slightest change in her "moon shadow" expression.

The big scarlet eyes flickered slightly, and Ariel, who was tightly held in her arms, twisted her little furry head, and the corners of her eyes revealed a hint of imperceptible murderous intent.

Asrael, a despicable and sinister bad guy, should have really found a way to get rid of him in the first place!

Ai Yin, who didn't notice the cat's "expression" at all, felt an itch in her chin, smiled and gently scratched the cat's little head, with a gentle expression: "Little Merlin (Ariel) don't be afraid of the cold, I'll go back to the house and prepare broken bread and boiled fish for you later." ”

It seems that because of the "magic" of food, Ariel, who was touched on the head, really curled up in Ain's arms like a cat, and showed a comfortable and comfortable expression on her little face.

And in the next moment, the two guards who were walking in front stopped. The little wizard, who was slightly startled, quickly raised his head and stood in place a little nervously.

"It's none of your business, go down. ”

A deep, deep voice came, and the two legionnaires who had brought her turned away with respectful bows, leaving only a middle-aged knight in full armor beside the battlement, looking out over the wasteland north of Broken Mountain.

Ernst Drexis, deputy commander of the fortress, the aide-de-camp of the Prince of Sackland... The little wizard muttered in his heart.

The middle-aged knight on the city wall still held an unopened letterhead in his right hand, his solemn expression seemed to be worried about something, and his eyes never left the wilderness in the distance.

Is something wrong?

"Your Excellency Ain Rand Alchemist, I'm very sorry to have brought you in suddenly. Ernst, who didn't look back, spoke suddenly, his voice as serious and heavy as ever:

"But please be assured that we will not come to you without a special reason. ”

The little wizard quickly straightened up, his eyes widened and he listened carefully.

"As you know, for very special reasons, His Highness Connad de Salion has led the army north to join His Highness Brandon in search of the true cause of the commotion in the North. Ernst sighed, and even now he could not accept Conod's judgment:

"But in this way, there are many problems left - in order to organize this expedition, His Highness Conod has almost exhausted all of his combat strength, causing the entire Broken Mountain Fortress to be in a very empty state!"

Ain was slightly stunned: "Is there a gap in logistics?"

"No, that's not true, the reserves of Broken Boundary Mountain can supply an army of 20,000 for a year. The middle-aged knight shook his head: "But the problem is that there are only three banner regiments here with less than a thousand people, and a fortress that requires at least five thousand troops to operate properly. ”

"And now that His Highness is on an expedition, the supply line in the south cannot go north due to a blizzard, and if there is really a monster invasion in such a situation, we must at least make sufficient fortifications and preparations!"

Nodding slightly, the little wizard finally understood.

With a low sigh, Ernst turned around with a very tangled expression - if possible, he was also reluctant to rely on the alchemist's "help": "I have consulted with the alchemists stationed in the fortress, and they said that without your help, it is impossible to complete a sufficient quota of ignition and potions within the predetermined period. ”

"This is not a legally binding warrant, but my private request, and although we don't get along well, please don't forget the fact that you are part of the Empire, and do your part for the northern gate of the Empire!"

Even in a lowly plea, Ernst Drex's words were commanding and urgent.

In the case of Isaac, this kind of "inhuman treatment" was probably thrown away, but the little wizard was not him, and without even a second of hesitation, he immediately nodded and agreed:

"Please rest assured, as long as I can do what I can, I will do my best!"

"No, even if you can't do it, you have to do it!" The middle-aged knight's expression was solemn to the extreme, and a trace of imperceptible fear flashed in his eyes:

"You are an Imperial who grew up in an era of peace, and you have never experienced the horrors of a monster invasion - without the consciousness of sacrifice, without the determination to gamble everything, it is absolutely impossible to defeat those enemies who are stronger than us——!!!!"

Ai Yin was startled by the sudden change in the other party's face, and instinctively took half a step back.

Seeing the expression of the little wizard, Ernst's face changed slightly, and finally he controlled his sudden anger:

"I'm sorry... I... All of a sudden......"

"Nothing, I can understand. Ain, who was still a little afraid, smiled reluctantly: "You must have experienced a lot... Very scary thing, and so do I. ”

"When I was in Deepwood, I worked with Loren to help the elves fend off the ogre's invasion - maybe not as good as Broken Mountains, but that scene... It's just as scary!"

"That's hell, hell alive...... Ernst slowed down, "and all we can do is let as many people survive as possible in hell."

Please, Lord Ayn Rand. ”

"Hmm. ”

The moment he turned around, the little wizard who suddenly remembered something stopped and glanced at Ernst's right hand curiously: "No offense, but what you have in your hand... It's a letterhead from His Highness Conrad, right?"

The somewhat surprised middle-aged knight glanced at it, and the ink on the letterhead did indeed have the Iron Crown mark of the De Salion family.

"It's just a paperwork for the rear supply line, you read it wrong. ”

Ernst, who didn't look back, replied stiffly. Instinctive instinct made the little wizard still a little uneasy, but he politely said goodbye to him and left the city walls.

It wasn't until the petite back disappeared into the city wall that the silent middle-aged knight slowly opened the letterhead, and the letter, which was obviously written in a hurry, came into his eyes:

"To the faithful Ernst Drexis:

The army had reached the Valley of the Blood, and had found traces of Brandon's camp and two battles there, apparently having had an encounter here;

But beyond that, our Rangers never found any more traces or clues about Brandon, everything was buried by a blizzard, and a massive avalanche occurred on the east side of Bloodborne Valley;

Everything is confirming my suspicion that Brandon may well have been killed... Not what I was hoping for, though.

A blizzard is coming, get ready, Ernst;

Destroy it after reading,

Conod de Salion. ”