Former... Wizard advisors?

If this were a comic, there would be a huge question mark above Loren and Ain's heads.

While saying this, the "upright" looking Master Ashamai also rarely showed a slightly embarrassed expression.

"I'm sorry I lied to you before, young Duke. He sighed and spread his hands helplessly: "But if I don't say that, I don't think I can bypass those proud Lord Byrne and see you again." ”

"It's okay, don't be too polite, you can just call me Loren. ”

Glancing at the little wizard beside him, Loren waved his hand and smiled and said, "Ain and I studied under the Freswalker School, so strictly speaking, you are still the elder of the two of us!"

"Tell me about the current situation - you just said that the reason you were captured was one of the reasons why this war started, what happened?"

Hearing Loren's question, Master Ashamai's expression suddenly became uncertain, and he pondered for a moment before cautiously probing: "That... Loren Duke of Turin, how much do you know about the story of your ancestor, Roland, the 'Black Duke'?"

"Well, I know a little bit about it. Loren was stunned for a moment, wondering why he suddenly asked this.

Master Ashamai nodded: "So, you should also know a little about his first 'Centaur War'... Doesn't it know?"

"It was Roland who started the war that led to the Centaurs being forced to unite and invade. ”

The black-haired wizard raised an eyebrow, he vaguely guessed what the other meant.

"And this time the Centaur War... How to put it, it is quite similar to the situation back then. Master Ashamai spoke, his flickering expression exactly the same as when Eckert described the Black Duke:

"As you know, Archduke Boi has a system of rotation, and after Archduke Laszló Varna it will be the turn of the House of Jonah, whose head is already very old, and whose eldest and second sons died young, leaving only one granddaughter to succeed him. ”

"Coincidentally, the Grand Duke of Varna had a very good grandson, about the same age as the granddaughter of the head of the Jona family, so the Grand Duke felt that if he could let his grandson win a centaur war in exchange for prestige, he could... You can ......."

You can marry the granddaughter of the House of Jonah and make your grandson the husband of the next Grand Duke of Boi, right?

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Loren shook his head... This Grand Duke László Varna has been trying to let the Varna family completely control the Duchy of Boi since the time of the Black Duke, and he has not given up on the duke position after so many years?

What a stubborn old man.

The awkward atmosphere silenced both of them, clinking glasses to each other tacitly, drinking them all and then sighing heavily.

"At first, everyone saw the war as simple, and the grandson of the Grand Duke was also very prestigious among the Boi nobles, and with the secret support of the Grand Duke, he raised a large number of troops from the East. ”

Putting down the wine glass, Master Ashamai shook his head: "And then... Then we realized that it wasn't that simple. ”

"As with the Black Duke's Centaur War, they have indeed recovered once again and completed their unity, and the entire race can mobilize tens of thousands of troops to launch an invasion;

The difference from the last time is that this time the centaurs are not improvised, but prepared!"

"Prepared?"

"That's right!" said Ashmai categorically, "the centaur race doesn't know how to smelt metal, let alone forge weapons and armor;

But this time, not only were they equipped with a large number of steel weapons throughout the clan, but they even had a small number of projectile equipment such as crossbows and trebuchets - something that had never been heard of before!"

"Who is secretly supporting them?!" the little wizard's eyes widened.

"Who knows, maybe it's the smugglers of the Empire, maybe it's the dwarves?" said, "Similar things are not new for a long time, but this time the situation is particularly serious. ”

Whatever the cause, Boe suffered an unprecedented fiasco—the Grand Duke of Varna, who was anxious to save his grandson, also suffered a fiasco, desperately escaping from the centaurs, and his life and death were uncertain;

And the main force of the centaurs has crossed the Great Bowi Territory, and now it has surrounded the Thousand Hordes City, and it may be captured at any time!"

Sighing heavily, Master Ashamai's expression fell a little lonely: "I was captured by that Chakar of the Red Flame Banner when I was covering the breakthrough of Count Seth Braha. ”

"Originally, his mission was supposed to go directly to the Red Blood Castle and ask for help from you and the Heavenly Dome Palace... Now that you're here, you've saved a lot of trouble. ”

So, he's really here to ask for help... Loren froze suddenly, and then his eyes widened suddenly: "Wait! If that's the case, then the letter of the Grand Duke of Varna asking for help ......"

"That's right, I wrote that letter, Laszló, Archduke Varna... He won't ask for help from the descendants of the Black Duke!" Ashamai had an expression of "sure enough, you guessed":

"I was driven out by the Archduke because he had opposed the centaur war from the very beginning, and had advised the Grand Duke not to fight this battle that was sure to be lost. ”

"Alas... In other words, almost all the rulers in this world have a stubborn head that refuses to listen to persuasion. Shaking his head, Ashmai said in a very low and regretful tone:

"Including that Chakar - I told him last night not to get so close to your camp, and the Byrne Knight could rush in front of him with a single charge, but he just wouldn't listen.

These guys are still too simple, too stubborn! They don't want to think, can someone as experienced and experienced as me deceive them, and will what they say be wrong?

Do you see what happened to them, one of them is still uncertain, and the other is fateful, but he has not escaped faster than anyone else, and thousands of his tribes are scattered like wild dogs?"

"......" Loren Turin.

"......" Ain Rand.

For a moment, Loren wanted to strangle the old wizard who was stronger than an ogre—if he hadn't been so talkative, he would have almost succeeded last night!

The first time he counted the defeat of the Grand Duke of Varna, and the second time he said that he would launch a surprise attack from the front... Could this old wizard be a fake alchemist, but actually specialize in prophecy or curses?!

"Master Ashamai, isn't Big Boi the territory of the Jonah family?"

Just when Loren was startled, the little wizard suddenly sensed the problem in the other party's words: "Even if the Grand Duke of Varna is defeated, how can the Jonah family let the centaurs pass through the Great Bowie territory so smoothly and besiege the Thousand Hordes?"

"The reason for this is complicated, the House of Jonah did not have enough troops to compete with the entire army of centaurs, but this is only one of them. Ashamai explained:

"On the other hand, the Grand Duke of Varna is still alive at the moment, and the Thousand Hordes is also the territory of the Varna family, and it is the Varna family who has fallen to the main city and lost face - and now the head of the Jonah family... He also had similar ideas to the Grand Duke of Varna at that time. ”

Loren bowed slightly, almost understanding what Ashamai meant.

In other words, the Varna family is now defeated, the duke is on the run, and the Jonah family is passively avoiding the battle, while gathering forces to take advantage of the weakness of the centaurs to retake the Thousand Hordes.

The next Grand Duke of Boi is from the House of Jonah, and it seems that they are also planning to make a strong name for the heir of the House of Jonah, so they will watch from the sidelines when the Grand Duke of Varna is defeated.

"But in fact, the Jonah family didn't realize the seriousness of the problem!" Ashamai suddenly became serious: "Once the Thousand Tent City is captured, the entire Duchy of Boi will be divided into two, and it will be difficult for things to take care of each other. ”

"At that time, the Jonah family will not have the strength to face a full-scale attack by the centaurs, and no army will be able to support the Great Bowie Territory until the Thousand Hordes are recaptured, and they can only watch them completely annihilated by the centaurs!"

Hearing this, Ain silently turned his head and looked at the black-haired wizard worriedly.

"I see. Loren nodded calmly:

"Our goal... It's the City of a Thousand Tents!"