Chapter 44: The Western Expedition
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"Father, why are you so partial to Freya, and why did you hand over the military power of the Western Legion to her?"
In the backyard of the palace, the eldest prince Renault knelt on one knee with a look of indignation.
"But I also handed over the power of the Eastern Legion to you. A middle-aged man in his forties in front of Renault replied unhurriedly.
Ul Hevian.
The emperor of the Aura Empire was holding a small pair of scissors at this time, carefully building a green hairball in front of him, and he didn't even look at Renault, who was kneeling on the ground.
In fact, he also knew that there was nothing to say about Renault's complaints, except that he wanted to fight for more military power and have more bargaining chips in the future when he fought for the throne, which was not unusual in any previous era.
But he was now only forty-six years old, in the prime of life, and in good health, and had not suffered any serious illness, and in his present state of affairs he might be able to remain on the throne of the Emperor for decades.
However, his princes and princesses coveted the position of the emperor early on, not only competing with each other on the surface, but also fighting fiercely behind the scenes; he, the emperor, is still alive and well, and they are really going too far.
Unfortunately, he didn't want to interfere with them in any way, and he didn't know when he suddenly felt that sitting on the emperor's throne was a bit boring, dealing with troublesome official documents and facing the nobles and archbishops chattering like flies every day, and he really didn't like such days.
In fact, what he envied the most was Rafa, his third son, the stinky boy who only knew how to eat, drink and be merry all day long; he really envied his careless, happy, and carefree life, but it was a pity that he was already the emperor, and he could no longer be as ridiculous as the prince.
He's a little jealous, he's jealous of his son, and you're still bound by the rules every day, and you're still having fun yourself? So the reason why he hasn't given Rafa a good look is actually "Rafa has become the person he wants to be."
So when Rafa proposed to be the rich man of the land, your was happy for a while, and at last he couldn't see this stinky boy who was playing in front of him all day! So as soon as he was happy, he sealed Rafa in Icefield City on the northwestern border of the empire, a place he had been to when he was a child, and it was a place where birds didn't.
It was bitterly cold in the place, but there were plenty of coal mines, and if the stinky boy wasn't too stupid, he and his wife wouldn't starve.
For nearly two years, he had grown more and more tired of the feeling of sitting on a high throne, and sometimes he really wanted to break the crown on his head, appoint an heir at random, and go to the market to live happily.
But his last sanity told him he couldn't do that.
To this day, although he was willing to relinquish the throne and turned a blind eye to the struggles of the princes and princesses, he decided to choose a worthy heir, so he divided the military power among his two sons and daughters to see who could be more capable and courageous.
The test of Freya was done, and she did a good job, showing very clearly her scheming, her heart, and her vision, which happened to be necessary for those in power.
On the other hand, Renault, his eldest son, the first in line to the throne of the empire, this eldest son who is a little reckless, narrow-minded, irritable, and has done a lot of bad things behind his back, he really does not have the heart and courage that an imperial heir should have.
But those things don't matter, who calls him his eldest son?
"Father, I'm your eldest son, didn't you say you didn't want Aura to become a country ruled by women?" Renault was a little anxious, the emperor had always favored him before, but in recent years, he has become more and more partial to Freya, and even handed over the military power of the Western Legion, which has always been directly under the emperor, to her, how can he not panic now?
"Yes......" Ul stopped what he was doing, remembering that he had said that "Aura doesn't need an empress", but Freya, who was doing so well, had to make him rethink the question.
"Forget it...... Go Renault, lead your Western Legion on the march, and show me that you are no worse than your sister. "Your doesn't want to dwell on it any more.
Renault stared at the Emperor's back, and after a long time, he said "Yes", and then withdrew with a gloomy face.
Walking out of the palace, Renault's face became more and more gloomy, "Old guy, don't force me!"
Depressed and returning to the prince's palace, Yalvis had been waiting for a long time.
"Your Highness. Jarvis hurriedly bowed his head.
"Yárvis, is there any news from the people who sent out?" Renault sat down in his chair, his eyes falling on the portrait on the wall.
As soon as Jarvis heard him come up and ask this question, knowing that something was wrong, his face suddenly turned a little pale, but he still stubbornly said, "Your Highness, we... Didn't receive any message. ”
"What? It's been three days since the planned time, why is there no news yet?" Originally, his mood improved slightly when he saw the portrait, but when he heard that there was no news, he immediately wanted to get angry again.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, maybe Freya knew something in advance, and all the people we sent out disappeared, and even the informant who reported the message was gone. ”
"How so?" Renault suddenly became nervous, "Those people won't be caught by Freya, right?
"Your Highness, rest assured, the families of those guys are still in our hands, and they will never betray them. ”
Hearing this, Renault breathed a sigh of relief, and then his eyes became fierce again, "I dare say that Freya's slut must be a witch! ”
"There's no news from Freya's side, but we seem to have news about Rafa in Icefield. Yarvi said.
"Oh, what's the news?" Renault looked at the portrait again.
"According to Eyeliner, not long ago, Rafa appeared to have been attacked by an assassin, and although he did not die on the spot, he seemed to be in a coma all along. ”
"What!?great!" Renault stood up happily, "hahaha...... Dare to touch my Fili!
"Who is the assassin? I'm going to reward him with a thousand gold coins!" said Renault.
"The Assassins don't seem to be our people. ”
"Oh, there are other people who want to kill Rafa? Hahaha funny! Funny!" Renault was even happier, "Let your people pay more attention, and if you get the news that Rafa is dead, let me know immediately." ”
"Yes, Your Highness. ”
"Alright, get ready, tomorrow we're going to set out to deal with the pagans of the little barbarian kingdoms in the east. After receiving the news of Rafa's assassination, Renault was immediately in a much happier mood, "By the way, I heard that the church is also going to send a large number of people, even a cardinal is going to accompany him?"
"Yes, listening to the instructions of His Holiness the Pope, it seems that he wants to build the western city of Nora into a fortress against foreign nations. ”
"Fortress?" Renault wanted to laugh, "isn't this the royal family supposed to do this kind of thing?
"I don't know, but I've heard that His Holiness the Pope has personally consulted with His Majesty the Emperor, and that His Majesty has already agreed. ”
"Huh! that old fellow...... I was the commander of the Western Army, but he didn't even tell me about it. Renault changed his expression several times in a short period of time, and now his face became cold again, and his fists were clenched tightly.
"Your Highness, now the military power of the Western Legion is in your hands......" Jarvis reminded with a grim expression.
"Hehehe, yes, the three major legions of the empire, the Praetorian Guard, the Eastern Legion, and the Western Legion, I have already gained a third," Renault's eyes lit up, "Wait until the Western Expedition is over, hahaha...... Freya, I don't mind even if you're my sister......"
Looking at Renault, who was laughing wildly, Yalvis silently retreated.
Early the next morning, the huge army began to advance westward.
The team of this expedition to the west was much larger than Freya's expedition to the east, not only the knights who were like a sea of people, but also the red-armored Inquisition army was behind the army.
Reynaud didn't know what heinous heresy in the west deserved to be personally dispatched by the Church's Inquisition, could it be that the Emperor had sent him to supervise him?
Although he complained in his heart, he didn't dare to say it blatantly, because the Aura Empire was established with the help of the church, and the believers of the church have spread to every corner of the empire, and clearly rebelling against the church is tantamount to opposing the entire Ola, and he doesn't dare to do this.
"Hmph, Freya went to Icefield City, this is obviously a great opportunity for me to seize the military power of the Eastern Legion, but I still have a long way to deal with those stubborn heretics......" Sitting alone in the somewhat bumpy and luxurious carriage, Renault grumbled again.
The wind and snow outside the window blew in, and he had to drink two more sips of spirits to warm himself up.
For more than ten days, he stayed in the warm carriage and did not go out, for fear that the wind and snow outside would stain his pure gold armor.
"Yárvis, how long will it take to get to Nora City?" After a while, a bored Renault shouted out of the carriage.
"Your Highness, there is a lot of wind and snow now, and it is estimated that it will take another three days. Yárvis's voice came from outside the window.
"Three days, you ......"
"Woo~~~"
Renault was about to curse when the dull sound of a horn came from the wind, startling him.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
In the snowstorm, the enemy's password began to be transmitted, and each knight began to draw his weapon.
But the cacophony seems to indicate that the enemy ahead may not be simple.
"What's going on?" the drunken Renault had the courage to pull open the curtain of the carriage, and the howling cold wind suddenly woke him up for three points.
Before he could give orders, the sparse shouting caught his attention.
From a distance, on the snow-covered slopes on both sides, there is a layer of black mist covering the snow-white slopes in black.
"What's that?"
Like Renault, most people don't know what's going on or what covers the hillside.
It wasn't until both mountains were covered in black, and the ground shook that someone at the edge of the massive legion screamed and retreated.
"Beasts!"
Everyone finally saw clearly, and the hillside was covered in black, and it turned out to be a galloping black herd.
"Array!"
Although Renault was also frightened by the sudden arrival of beasts, he still shouted loudly in order to show the majesty of his commander.
But at the sight of the huge beasts that were many times the size of humans tearing the knights at the edge of the queue in half at will, Renault was slightly startled, his legs and feet unconsciously weakened, and he retreated into the curtain of the carriage behind.
"Don't be afraid, my Highness. ”
In a panic, an old man in a red robe rode slowly past his stables on a white horse.
"Your Excellency, Bishop!"
The frightened knights were relieved to see the cardinal's appearance.
"Knights of the Inquisitor, heretics are those mad beasts, go!
The cardinal's voice was not loud, and Renault estimated that few people could hear it.
But the strange thing is that the knights in red armor at the rear of the army seemed to hear clearly, as if they had been summoned by the gods, and without the slightest hesitation, they immediately began to spread in all directions, killing the beasts that rushed into the crowd.
The red-armored inquisitors are much less than the people of the Western Legion, and they are not much stronger than ordinary knights, the only difference is that they almost see death as if they were at home, even if the companions around them are torn to pieces, there is still no cowardice in their eyes, and they still fight hard, as if they have already looked down on life and death.
The astonishing spirit of the trial knights soon drove the fighting spirit of the ordinary knights, and the entire battlefield, a strong shout rang out, and the amazing momentum seemed to rush into the sky!
Renault stood in the carriage, staring blankly at the chaotic battlefield, at a loss.