On the 10th day, the rain in Lothair showed no sign of stopping, but the regiments of Byrne and Ellemont had packed up and were ready to set out for their journey.

For a legion, too bad weather is as terrible as the plague - but there is no way, Brandon, who is far away on the front line of Ebolden, is ready to blow up at any time, and if he does not hurry up, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince may really leave others behind and fight a battle of Ebolden that will determine the fate of the empire.

The thought of this made Yuli Wirtz's expression complicated, and it was precisely because they feared that Brandon might make his own decisions, so they had to take the risk of marching in the rainstorm.

But for Loren, it's not hard to understand why Brandon did this.

Prestige.

As Brandon himself admitted, he may be the most authoritarian crown prince in the history of the empire and the "half supreme emperor" who has already held real power, which has personality and all external factors, and more because of the death of two successive emperors that caused the power and majesty of the Heavenly Dome Palace to decline rapidly.

Because of this, as the representative of the Heavenly Dome and the royal family, he can no longer lose a little bit of prestige, even if sometimes he wants to die to save face, he must continue to do it, because he must ensure that the royal family of de Salion can be respected enough.

For the "giants" of the empire, the way to maintain their prestige was different - Byrne's "chivalry", Boy's "nomadic tradition", Arles's "cruelty", Arles's "unity", Lothair's "promise"... And the imperial family, it is "tough".

Because he is the emperor, he symbolizes the supreme power of the empire, he does not function through negotiations, negotiations, regulations, and the empire is not an alliance between several grand duchies, but a relationship between vassals who are the powerful are conquered by him.

The emperor never compromised or negotiated, the emperor only gave orders, those who disobeyed the orders were punished as they deserved, and those who humiliated the imperial power were either spiritually subjugated or eliminated.

Any harm to the imperial power must be answered in the strongest possible way, and the protector of the imperial power is the emperor himself.

If Brandon had been "compromised" and "reasonable" before Severin de Salion was killed, he would have had to be tough when the royal family was executed in public, or else he would have come across as "weak" to outsiders – not even a little, if not just a possibility.

Ordering Loren to join the armies of the three principalities was for much the same reason, and Brandon needed to establish and demonstrate his prestige with this, and a single letter would enable the dukes of the three principalities and their armies to brave the rain and all kinds of hardships to come and pay their allegiance to him.

What he wanted was not reinforcements, but news of the victory in the Battle of Lothair, plus the appearance of the three dukes in front of him... As for the army, with the width of the Ebolden battlefield, no matter how many 100,200,000 it is, it is only a difference in numbers, and it cannot really affect the situation of the war, and 10,000 knights are not even as effective as a dragon.

So before the official departure, Loren had to talk to one of the elves again to make sure that she and Lothair kept their previous agreement.

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

"Hmm... I need an explanation. ”

Under the pouring rain, the black-haired wizard, who was almost drenched, looked at the female elf beside him in confusion, and glanced at the Lothair legion on his side with the corner of his eye, "What's going on?"

"Any questions?"

The female elf with her waist in her eyes glared, with an expression of "if you dare to say that there is a problem, I will hit you" "Lothair will abide by his agreement and send troops to help the Empire... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, this is a mouthful!"

"No, you're mistaken, I'm not talking about this, I'm talking about ......."

"Don't worry, I know—when I see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, get down on one knee and salute him or something... Leven taught me this before, and maybe one day it will be used—it won't embarrass you and you won't be able to get off the stage, right?"

After speaking, the female elf tilted her head and blinked her eyes to say, "What's the problem?"

The black-haired wizard sighed heavily, ready to break the jar.

"Okay, then I'll put it another way. Raising his right hand weakly, Loren pointed to the Lothair Legion standing in the rain and waiting, "Although I am not good at math, and the rain is too heavy to obscure my vision - but even if it rains heavily, I know that the Lothair Legion standing there will definitely not exceed 5,000 people!"

"According to the Empire's War Mobilization Order, each principality must send out its standing army and levy army to join the Empire's army; you tell me, what can I do to convince Brandon de Salion that these five thousand men are Lothair's troops?!"

Faced with Loren's incredulous questioning, the female elf seemed to be taken for granted.

"This isn't Lothair's fighting power in the first place, let's be honest. Leah blinked again, "I'm just telling them to stay if they want to stay, and the rest of me will go to Eberden to fight the Azores." ”

"So ......"

"So only these five thousand are willing. With a "I understand what you mean" expression, Leah patted Loren's shoulder and continued, "Don't worry, in addition to the original Ruwen's guards and knights, there are also nearly a thousand elven warriors from the Ancient Wood Forest, and these five thousand are basically the most elite combat power of Lothair... I won't be embarrassed in front of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on the battlefield. ”

"As for the remaining twenty or thirty thousand... Aaron will take them to reclaim the deep forest fort in the north, wipe out the Azorean debris, and rebuild it. ”

"Oh, by the way, and Eagle Hunt Castle... Ain had told me before that the canals and reservoirs should be dug before the dry season arrived, which would also require manpower, and if the soldiers were to be taken away, it would be impossible for Lothair to do the work by women, children and old men alone, and they would have to be left here. ”

"So you still don't understand what I mean!" Loren simply didn't know how to explain it to her

"This matter is no longer just about the victory or defeat of a war, but also the relationship between the empire and several major principalities after the war, and between the next generation of emperors and dukes, this is the key to Lothair's troops, and the troops must be dispatched!"

"Successive Duke Lothair have been loyal to the Heavenly Dome Palace, so if it were a member of the Fred family who did this, Brandon and the Heavenly Dome Palace probably wouldn't have much to say... But you're different!" the dark-haired wizard muttered

"You're not from Lothair, not even from the Empire... To secure the position of Lord of Lothair, you need Brandon's help, and the best way to get the aid of an Emperor is to show how loyal you are to him. ”

"I know it's going to be tough for Lothair right now, you'll have to regain lost ground, you'll have to rebuild your homeland, and maybe even prepare for drought and plague - but the more you can do everything you can to join the Empire in such difficult conditions, the more you'll show your loyalty to her, you know?"

The female elf thought for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully, "I see... I understand. ”

Loren let out a sigh of relief, but before he could speak, Leah on the other side suddenly changed her mind again

"So if I didn't need his help, Lothair wouldn't need to send so many troops... Right?"

Looking at the female elf with a look of course, Loren found that he really couldn't explain it.

Raising an eyebrow, Leah looked at the black-haired wizard with a very calm gaze

"Because when this war is over, I will no longer be the Duke of Lothair. ”

Well?!

The stunned black-haired wizard didn't speak, and several possibilities immediately flashed through his mind.

"Don't be surprised, don't be suspicious... I asked for it. Leah smiled slyly, "I was going to wait until the war was over to tell you, but it seems that there is no way to hide it until then." ”

"Why?"

"No, why... I just don't want to. Leah said lightly

"Leven will give me the title of Duke so that I can lead the elves of the Morning Star Forest and the Lothairians to fight side by side through the difficult times, in that case, I don't need to continue to be the one when the war is over, is it?"

Loren was stunned.

"I've discussed this with Aaron and the others, and when I leave office, they'll find a side of the Fried family to inherit the title. The female elf's tone was very brisk, "I will take the remaining elves back to the Ancient Wood Forest, where I will re-establish the Morning Star Forest." ”

"Morning Star Forest?"

"That's right, I've asked all the elves who came with me - many of them came from other settlements, but they were all willing to join the Morning Star Forest. We are the elves of the Ancient Wood Forest, and that is our home, where we should go back. ”

"Don't worry, when I have established the settlement, I invite you and Al Yin to be guests—I remember what you told me, we will no longer be closed as we used to, we will also set up caravans, do business with you normally, respect your Holy Cross, and welcome your missionaries to ......"

"Leah. Loren couldn't help but interrupt, "I still have the same proposal, you and the elves of the Morning Star Forest can come to Byrne, any forest here, there will always be a place for you......"

"I said too, we don't need it!"

"We have our own way of life, our own traditions, our own homes and our lands, and we will never grovel under the fence." ”

"We are friends, Loren Turin... Friends should respect each other and don't interfere too much... Even if you're well-intentioned!"

Looking at those proud eyes, the black-haired wizard had no second way to choose except to give up.

"Well, that's it. ”

"Hmm. ”

The female elf nodded slightly, and the joy of understanding flashed through the corner of her eyes.

For Loren, she is more of a "comrade-in-arms" than a friend in Leah's eyes—tacit understanding, cooperation, trust, and mutual understanding and respect, and whenever she needs help, she will definitely appear by her side and become the sharp spear.

This is the same for herself and for Leuven, who joined the Imperial army because of herself, defended Lothair because of Ruwen, and when the mission is over and everyone no longer needs her, the elf will return to her place and continue her life.

Like a true hero.

Just then, a slightly hurried footstep came from behind towards the black-haired wizard and the elf.

"A letter from the imperial capital of Golovin, addressed to you. Yuri Wirtz spoke, shoving a soaked piece of paper into the black-haired wizard's hand

"That wizard friend of yours... Isaac Grantham, who had already assembled twenty Kyaukkaken and two thousand Kyaukgland spears in the Imperial Capital, was heading north with the last of the Byrne and Sakran legions, totaling 5,000 men, and was now about to arrive at the border of West Sacland. ”

"Oh, so fast?" the dark-haired wizard was a little surprised.

According to the previous efficiency, he thought that he would have to wait another month.

"It is said that the wizard of the Wizard Tower brought a batch of parts directly from Byrne, only to complete the final rune inlay and assembly work in the imperial capital. The Grand Duke of Ellemont said in a deep voice, "In addition... They also drove your floating city with you, thus speeding up the march considerably. ”

"If nothing else, we should be able to join them at the border of Eboden and go to the front line together, plus two dragons;"

As he spoke, Yuli Wirtz couldn't help but pause, "This is information sent from East Sackland-the two dragons who had supported us on the Ebolden front line before have now set off from Jufeng Mountain to the northwest, and the destination should be Ebolden." ”

Loren's eyes lit up, "That is, ......"

"This time, it's a decisive battle where everything is really staked. The Grand Duke of Elemman, who took a deep breath, nodded solemnly, "The fate of the Sakran Empire, and even the fate of all living beings living in this land, will be determined by our victory or defeat. ”

"The armies of the Empire - knights, levies, standing soldiers, nobles, commoners, wizards, priests, elves, dragons...... If we lose this battle, we will never have the possibility of making a comeback, and the Azorean kingdom will belong to the Eagle King for the next hundred years. ”

The appearance of the dragon definitely means a lot to the empire - unless they are dragon riders, the dragons of Jufeng Mountain generally don't care about the affairs of the empire at all.

But on the other hand, if they take the initiative to show up and help the empire, it means that it is really a matter of life and death, and they must be prepared to die if they can't win.

Brandon I the "Sage" of the sixth generation, Charlotte I of the "Dragon Queen" of the tenth generation... Nothing less.

"So... We must not lose. The black-haired wizard nodded, and turned his gaze to the side of the female elf who was already excited and her eyes were on fire

"Are you interested in going to the front line of Ebolden and seeing what it is like for the demon dragon to spread its wings?"

"That's a must!"

。