Follow the Jewel River, which runs almost half of the empire from Ebolden, and then through the royal domain, and reach the first stop of their trip—

Princely Territory of Sackland

The name of the land was actually given to the empire at its inception, and it has always served as a fief of the crown prince and an important source of soldiers for the imperial legionnaires. Many people still refer to it as "Old Sackland" or "Old Saklan" to remind their descendants or themselves not to forget that this is the birthplace of the Sakran people.

Divided in two by the River of Jewels, the royal domain of Golovin, the imperial capital, is often referred to as "West Sakland", or "New Sakland", to distinguish it from the Prince's domain.

After thirteen generations, the two lands, which also bear the same name as "Sackland", have indeed become completely different, but they are inseparable.

If the imperial capital is the palace of Golovin, then the princely domain is its wall and barrier;

If Golovin is compared to a queen who looks down on the world, the prince is her knight.

This pure and unpretentious land has nurtured generations of legionnaires who have come out of farms, fortresses, and towns, throwing away hoes and workshop tools, putting on the heaviest soldier armor in the Empire, taking shields, heavy swords, and Sakran halberds to form an unshakable phalanx legion, turning into a moving "wall" to meet the enemies of the Empire.

Lothair's falcon archer, Byrne's hoppy knight, Centaur of the East...... Even hundreds of years ago, the evil gods and their armies of monsters that set foot in this land were once the enemies of these "moving walls".

Sackland was not a barren land, but it was no less rich, and there were no fierce mountain people and elite knights fighting for her—only peasants, peasants who toiled in the fields, fought the battlefield, and whose hands and feet were mud and blood.

Then conquer what they have conquered with their muddy feet, and plant the banner of the Iron Crown, held high by their dirty hands, in the land they can see.

Even after believing in the Holy Cross, the people of this land have not changed their style, and even the wizarding academy established here has maintained its rustic "style".

After a long day's trek, the convoy finally arrived at their base at dawn, a wizarding academy that was famous in the Prince of Sackland, and where the Nine-Pointed Star Wizarding Tower was also registered, and the town around the academy, the Crucible.

According to rumors, the alchemy here is very developed, and it can even be called the first-class in the empire, and from the dean to every tutor in every academy without exception, all of them are the most standard alchemists.

It may sound strange, but in fact this is the "common phenomenon" of wizarding academies throughout the empire - not every region can afford to fund and establish a wizarding academy with all disciplines, it is neither possible nor necessary, most of them specialize in one or the other, and two or three disciplines can be called famous.

On the contrary, it is the real "wonderful" and alternative of Wimpal College, this kind of college that is weak but actually has a complete school is absolutely unheard of elsewhere, and it can only be because of Dalton and Peter.

But when the black-haired wizard actually saw this "Alchemist Academy" with his own eyes, the whole person was stunned.

"On behalf of all the Mentors and Apprentices of the Crucible Academy, as well as the loyal people of the local Empire, it is indeed our pleasure to welcome His Royal Highness Prince Brandon de Salion to our Crucible Town!"

The person who spoke was the dean of the Crucible Academy, who wore robes and looked more like a blacksmith than a wizard, and even if he was wearing a robe one size larger, the black-haired wizard could see the tendon muscles under the sleeves, and under the head was a resolute face, and the voice was sonorous and powerful, and the loud voice like a bell could be heard clearly even in the last row of the convoy.

"The people of Crucible and the apprentices of the Academy are looking forward to welcoming the members of House de Salion! We are all Sakrians of the purest of kinds, but in the past few generations, there have been very few members of the royal family who have actually visited here, which makes the poor Crucible people cherish this opportunity even more!"

"That's... It's a pity. ”

In the face of such an enthusiastic Dean and his surprised and resentful expression, Brandon could only smile awkwardly:

"Please rest assured that the people of Crucible Town will definitely explain this matter to my father, and it will definitely make a difference. ”

Even if he didn't see Brandon's face in the back, the black-haired wizard could hear that His Royal Highness the prince was just dealing with two perfunctory sentences—but in the next second, the dean's smile of surprise was almost undisguised, "Bang!" and he hammered his chest hard:

"Thank you very much, Your Highness Brandon de Salion! The entire Crucible will pray for you, and I will leave everything to you!"

"We have also prepared a grand welcome ceremony and dust washing banquet for you, please be sure to enjoy it!"

With that, the "Lord Dean" turned around happily and walked in the direction of the town gate. After confirming that he didn't look back, Brandon withdrew his stiff smile and looked at Loren behind him helplessly:

"Now you know that I'm... What kind of guys are the Sacklands, right?"

"Impressed. Loren curled the corners of his mouth jokingly, and joked in a somewhat sarcastic tone: "It is worthy of being the chosen country, a true citizen of the Empire, and I somewhat understand why the doctrine of the Holy Cross was first born in this land." ”

"That's right, who made us Sakran so simple and honest, so easy to deceive, not as shrewd and cunning as the Ebotden wizards and the Lothair mountain people?!"

His Royal Highness the Prince, who immediately "comprehended the spirit", couldn't help but show a playful smile: "But now it is you 'smart people' who are ruled by this group of honest people!"

This cannot be denied, Loren shrugged his shoulders: "It's probably the so-called... Honest people can't be bullied, right?"

Replying with a chuckle, the black-haired wizard's gaze had returned to the Crucible in front of him.

He and Brandon chose to rest here for a special reason.

The Forge Town and the Forge Academy, one of the most important towns in the Princedom of Sakran, are in a sense of irreplaceable importance even as the capital of the Prince's Realm - because the workshops and craftsmen gathered here, as well as all the alchemists and the entire Academy, are dedicated to the logistics of making weapons for the Imperial Legion!

According to the current situation of the empire, which can be described as "peace in the four seas", the only thing that will require a large number of weapons, materials, ordnance, and even various repair tools and transportation equipment is the Boundary Mountain Fortress.

In other words, only the Broken Mountain Fortress, which is about to invade, will need a steady stream of swords, crossbows, crossbows, armor, trebuchets, ignition agents, ammunition, arrows, and all the "goodies" that can turn enemies into corpses!

But what if Crucible didn't get a supply order from Broken Mountain, piled up as tall as a hill?

What if the Crucible Academy and the entire town weren't rushing to work day and night to provide military supplies to Broken Mountain, or were they just pretending?

Even if you work hard, if those weapons and equipment are not sent to Broken Boundary Mountain at all, they are "accidentally thrown away" as soon as they change hands, and end up on the black market at Ebotden or somewhere......

So the rumors of the "invasion", as well as the request for help from His Royal Highness Crown Prince Connad, have become very suspicious?

This is one of the real "goals" planned by Loren Turin and Brandon to put a big circle around the entire Prince of Sackland's collar, to investigate the current armament situation of the Broken Mountain Fortress and determine whether this is a "fake" call for help or a "real" trap!

The reason why they have to stop once in every town is just a trick to numb the people who are still watching them and let their guard down.

"So, my wizard advisor, Lord Loren Turin. Brandon smiled and looked at the black-haired wizard beside him, not forgetting to bow slightly:

"Are you ready to go into town with me?"