The red sun sets in the west, and the brilliant sunset reflects the entire sea, dyeing the icy sea with a touch of blood red.

In front of the port of Ebolden, twenty warships are moored side by side like titan giants, with their raised bows and majestic masts overlooking most of the city.

In the distance, there are several times as many elven warships anchored at the sea level, threatening and encircling the whole of Ebolden.

The retreating Azorean elven army lined up in six large phalanxes, assembled in the harbor, stood motionless, staring at the Ebolden city wall and the ring fortress opposite, and glared angrily unwillingly.

If it weren't for the orders of His Highness Rodria, if it weren't for the cavalry that suddenly appeared... The city in front of them has long been in their pocket!

The arrogant elven warriors could not understand the decision of His Royal Highness to withdraw his army—in their eyes, the thousands of cavalry could only cause some harassment at best, and they did not know how much such a fierce mobile force would boost the morale of the defenders of Ebolden and how much damage it would inflict on the besieging army.

It can be said that even Lothair and Elemand, with a total of 14,000 reinforcements, are second, and Poi's 5,000 hussars are the real helper.

When such a cavalry army, known for its endurance and mobility, appeared outside Ebotden, the Azorean elves, who wanted to continue the siege, had to be prepared to pay two or three times the casualties.

On the other side of the harbor, the Boi hussars, who had been rushing back and forth in front of the beach, recoiled and joined the Elemish swordsmen, Byrne and the Lothair knights who had left the city under the gates of the ring fortress.

Unlike the serious knights, the hussars on horseback stared at the elves on the opposite side with great arrogance, almost using all their might to provoke;

They laughed loudly, spouted, and dismissively threw several elven triangular banners into the mud, trampled by the horses' hooves, or showed off the spoils they had stolen from the elves.

The two armies faced each other at a distance of less than two hundred paces under the walls of Eboden, two hundred paces in which both sides were within the threat of their respective projectiles, but beyond the shortest possible charge.

Looking at the Azorean elven army array on the opposite side, as well as the warships in the port, the black-haired wizard couldn't help but sigh - mobilizing tens of thousands of troops as "spectators" for a negotiation was really enthusiastic and grand.

Of course, the purpose and reason of the other party were not incomprehensible to him, and there could be no second reason other than to threaten and intimidate the Ebolden defenders.

A group of elven warriors holding a banner in the shape of a triangular triangle with purple and gold edges walked from the opposite military formation to the center of the battlefield, and Loren, who took a deep breath, had to look at Lusen behind him, and took the initiative to meet the Byrne knights.

As the two teams drew closer, two familiar figures caught Loren's eyes—the blindfolded elf girl, still holding a cane-like Azorean long knife to her chest as she had when they first met, and a young man with a proud and somewhat indifferent face who was very vigilant and kept staring at him.

The chief samurai and samurai of the Imperial Court, the great-grandson of Master Harlem Van Ashamai, and the siblings of the Elven Zad family, Lori and Anson, surrounded by a purple-gold cloak, a big boy-like elf, stood in the center of the elven warriors like a moon.

The dark-haired wizard's eyes narrowed into slits, looking him calmly, and he blinked curiously, looking Loren up and down.

The two sides stood vigilantly ten paces away, and remained stunned for five minutes, each clenching the weapon in his hand, tense his nerves, as if he were going to fight the other in the next moment.

And the big boy-like elf was still standing there, looking curiously with his hands behind his back, and his big pure and flawless eyes blinked, as if he didn't feel the atmosphere becoming particularly tense.

Who invited whom?

After a brief moment of embarrassment, Loren had to take the initiative to step forward and cough lightly

"Excuse me, are you His Highness Rodria Azores?"

"Exactly. ”

Gently pushing away the elven warrior beside him who wanted to protect him, the little prince stepped forward alone, and smiled with interest, "As for you... Oh, and I knew it when I saw that legendary Mithril greatsword. ”

"Lord Loren Turin, I have admired the name for a long time, and it is an honor to be named by you, you must have known it from Alexandra, right?"

The black-haired wizard furrowed an eyebrow.

I didn't expect that so soon... The game begins.

The message implied by His Royal Highness's words is that "I know that Alexandra is in your hands, and I know that you are reluctant to kill her".

Although it is.

"yes. Loren chuckled and looked meaningfully at the little prince, "Of course, she told me more than just your name. ”

The little prince shrugged his shoulders and smiled indifferently, his gaze never leaving Loren's expression.

"That's just right, so that you and I can save a lot of time, and we can talk about more useful things instead of being polite. ”

"What are you talking about?"

"Withdraw troops. The little prince's answer was extremely direct, and his smile was thick

"The defenders of Eboden have withdrawn from the city, and your civilians, and I assure you, son of the Eagle King and of the samurai, that I will never attack you while you are gone. ”

In this way, the war can also have a consummation, and there will be no more sacrifices on both sides. While speaking, the little prince also looked at the sunset in the west very "exaggeratedly", and nodded, "Well, I will give you three days, it should be enough, right?"

Looking at the little prince with a look of "good boys don't fight", Loren suddenly lost a little speechless.

The other party's natural appearance of playing scoundrels made him faintly think of another similar guy.

Could it be that the youngest sons of the royal family in the world are all carved out of a mold?

But since the other party plans to play a scoundrel, there is no need to be too serious.

"I've heard that negotiation is the art of compromise – both sides come up with what they want and then take a step back from each other. Slightly curling the corners of his mouth, Loren said very "seriously".

"So if I don't make a request from our side, the so-called negotiating conditions will not be valid. ”

"That's right, as it should be. ”

The little prince smiled and nodded, "So, what are your requirements and conditions?"

"Simple, withdraw troops. The corners of Loren's mouth twitched, and he spoke more directly than he did

"Let your army and fleet leave Eboden, and return from whence thereto, and I assure you, in the name of the Lord of Byrne and member of the Knights of Edgeworth, President Ebolden, that I will not attack you when you return home. ”

"In this way, the war will end, and the two Powers will call off the war and make peace again, and the peaceful scene of the past centuries will be restored, each dealing with its own affairs, and occasionally visiting each other. ”

When the words fell, the smile on the corner of the little prince's mouth was obviously frozen for a few minutes, and he was stunned.

It was a full minute before he shook his head

"I'm sorry, but it's impossible—with all due respect, Lord Loren Turin, as much as I respect you, it seems that you are not qualified to make such a condition at this time. ”

"Moreover, by doing so, you are asking me to admit that the Kingdom of the Azores lost the battle of Ebolden, an outcome that I cannot accept, even in terms of the dignity of the Kingdom. ”

"But you didn't win either, did you?" retorted Loren, gradually retracting the smile on his lips, "You have fought for fifteen days, and the walls of Ebolden are still standing behind me. ”

The little prince laughed, "Then how long can you stand? counting the reinforcements, how many troops do you still have, it's less than half of mine, right... I don't know how prepared you are, but the number of troops and materials in my hand is several times as many as yours. ”

Loren shook his head slowly

"War is not addition and subtraction, otherwise it would be mathematicians who rule the world. ”

"Well said, well-reasoned. "The little prince bowed his head slightly, but for now, at most half a month, I can take Ebolden - in fact, I now control the port of Ebolden." ”

"That's right, but there's only one beachhead port, and you can't hold it at all. The black-haired wizard said lightly, "And I only need to hold on for another half a month at most." ”

"Half a month later, you will not be facing me, but His Majesty the Emperor's army of 200,000 - I wonder if the elven warriors who are exhausted under the city of Ebotden will still be able to face an elite army twice their size?"

The little prince frowned, pouted slightly, like an awkward child, and stared straight at Loren, "Lord Duke of Byrne, you don't really think that the army of the Azorean elves is only behind me, right?"

"I can tell you right now that in a month at most, two or three times as many troops will appear outside this port!

Faced with the threat of the little prince, the black-haired wizard fell silent.

He closed his eyes and exhaled a puff of "white steam", then gently squeezed his right index finger, pointed his fingertips in the direction of the sea breeze, and rubbed it a few times.

Slightly stunned, the little prince understood what Loren meant.

Winter is here.

The weather is getting colder and colder, and within a month, the port of Eboden will freeze - the elven fleet must evacuate or the port will be completely destroyed by ice, and the elven army left behind in Eboden will be alone, and it will not be possible to receive the aid of the next army until the ice melts the next year.

The only thing that awaits them is total annihilation.

"If you think so, it looks like we're not going to have a mutually beneficial deal. Pursing his lips, the little prince said softly, his expression was very regretful

"It's so unfortunate that we could have been friends. ”

Loren had really heard something like that countless times.

"We can still be friends. Loren chuckled, "But war is war, you can't talk about feelings." ”

"That's right, but the samurai on the battlefield are all emotional, and they all fight for their own beliefs and justice. The little prince chuckled, "And the wisdom and bravery displayed on the battlefield will make each other respect each other a little more." ”

He snorted softly and beckoned behind him, and the elven warriors gathered behind him immediately dispersed, and an elf, somewhat older, stepped forward with a painting in his hand.

"This is my gift to you, The Friendship of Ebotden... Well, yes, it's right here, you can go down. As he spoke, the elated little prince took the painting and placed it in front of the black-haired wizard

"I will use this souvenir as a testimony to our friendship. ”

Slightly stunned, Loren looked at the "souvenir" in front of him - the dazzling red sun dispelled the gloom, and he and the little prince in front of him stood on the beach and shook hands, each with the majestic fleet of elves behind him, and the city wall standing proudly in the flames of war.

Sunshine and haze, war and peace... On a canvas less than two feet wide, it is vividly displayed.

"How?"

The little prince suddenly asked, "I specially ordered someone to make this painting a few days ago, until it was finally completed just now, after all, it is difficult to draw Shen Yun without seeing your face with your own eyes, so... Do you like it?"

"I like it very much – as a painting, because art likes to embellish and only show the side you want to see. Loren looked up and looked at him calmly

"There is no smell of blood or corpses in the paint. ”

"That's right, but I hope you enjoy it, so that at least we can have a happy ending to today's meeting. The little prince smiled slightly, "Because of my next gift, you will definitely not like it." ”

The next gift?

"Boom ——————————!!!!"

At this moment, a loud thunderclap suddenly came, and the exquisite painting was directly knocked down on the beach.

The defenders on the Ebolden side turned their heads and looked in horror at the direction where the explosion sounded—a raging fire, rising on the other side of the riverbank.

It's a barrage!

"As I said earlier, the wisdom and bravery displayed on the battlefield can lead each other to respect each other more. Under the blood-red sunset, the little prince's smile grew

"Your Excellency Loren Turin, you have shown great command and prophetic judgment in the battles of the previous days, and I certainly cannot afford to slack off in return. ”

"So, taking advantage of the fact that you were in order to put your army in order, I quietly dispatched a warship full of fire oil to blow up the iron gates blocking the mouth of the Gem River and the blockage behind it, and to ashes. ”

"In this way, my fleet will be able to attack Eboden from both sides at the same time, and the launchers on my ship can bombard the inner city directly from the mouth of the river;

As the words fell, the little prince raised his head and was satisfied to see the face of the black-haired wizard Tie Qing, plus the exclamations and alarm bells of the Ebolden defenders on the city wall in the distance.

That's right, that's the beauty of surprise – whether it's brought to you or imposed on you, it's always pleasant.

Surprise is the core charm of all games.

。