"Loren... Duke he woke up, thanks to the Holy Cross!"

Loud and painful shouts, familiar and unfamiliar faces, and Lusen's cries of excitement.

What's going on, I'm like... Unconscious for a while?

Loren, who tried to open his eyes, could only see one after another faces that were either anxious or happy, many of which made people feel irritable, his mouth was so dry that he didn't even want to say a word, and waved his hand weakly.

"All out, immediately!" was the voice of Count Eckert of Fort Fury: "The Duke needs to be quiet!"

"That is, you stinky men who don't make people worry, want to smoke your duke to death with stinky sweat?" This is Salika Jonah, righteous and awe-inspiring: "Get out of here, just leave me and my dear little angel of Ain here!"

“...... Among the people I'm talking about is you, Miss Salika Jonah. ”

"Cut, stingy old man, I won't help you next time. ”

"......" Eckert.

It took a whole minute for the chaotic "commotion" to disappear completely. Loren, who struggled to sit up, gasped and looked around.

The tent was not big or small, and he sat on the bed, and on the side was a small wizard who was busy refining potions in front of the test bench.

The heavy smell of blood mixed with the smell of sedatives and the smell of stale vinegar mixed with several potions "stewed" from the crucible made it almost impossible to breathe normally.

"How... I mean, am I still healthy?" asked Loren, feeling his whole body, pretending to be relaxed.

"It's very healthy, even the wounded soldiers in the barracks can't compare to you. Ai Yin replied without looking back, his voice was a little indifferent, and he was busy adjusting the potion: "You are just over-exhausted, it's not a big deal." ”

"It's just with... The previous one was the same every time. ”

Loren chuckled in relief, but his temples ached like tears, and he sat up straight, reached for the tranquilizer on the table, and unexpectedly threw himself into the air.

Raising his head blankly, Ai Yin, who had an indifferent expression, was standing in front of him, his eyes were red.

"Uh... That, I'm ......."

Smack——!

A crisp slap on the left side of his face.

The black-haired wizard was stunned.

"It's just almost... Almost, if it weren't for Lusen to bring you back in time, you would be dead. The little wizard clenched his teeth, and even his voice trembled:

"It's the same as every time!"

Rubbing his flushed cheeks, Loren stared intently at those blue eyes.

"In order for you to wake up immediately, I gave you a full three grams of sedative. Ai Yin clenched her fists, and almost leaked these words between her teeth:

"This dose can already be used to kill people!"

"But you saved my life with it, well done, well done. Loren chuckled, tightened his right arm with all his might, and gave a thumbs up to the little wizard: "Worthy of an alchemist that even Mentor Dalton Candle is proud of!"

"Loren Turin, I'm not kidding you!" Ain's eyes widened:

"Even if your physique is beyond the ordinary, even if you're lucky enough to have someone save you every time - how long will you survive if this kind of battle continues?!"

The powder fist clenching the sedative, as if he wanted to crush the potion bottle.

Only she knew best what Loren Turin's physical condition was at the moment, and although he could be as healthy as if he had been resurrected again and again, this kind of vitality was by no means without a price, and it could never be endless.

It's like a flashback.

The little wizard knew he couldn't bother him at such a time—not just this time, almost every time, and the most he could do was "not to trouble him."

The burden of being a duke, the vendetta with Fanecis, and the threat of life and death...... Both physically and mentally, he has pushed himself to the limit, but he is still constantly squeezing his potential, as if he is racing against something.

No, even without that, he'd still be like this... This guy pretends to be humble, but at heart he is prouder than the most arrogant elves and dwarves, he doesn't deliberately pretend, but instinctively rejects any help.

Always stubbornly believe that he can accomplish everything alone.

And all I can do is patience, silent patience, good... Don't trouble him.

Don't give him, cause trouble.

The blue eyes were shining, and there was a crystal reflective "water stain" on the white cheeks.

Loren sighed and was at a loss for nearly half a minute before gently wrapping his arms around the little wizard's shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... It's all my fault, it's outrageously wrong. Gently patting the back of Ain's head, the little wizard biting his lower lip held him in his arms, his petite body trembling incessantly.

"Big liar, big liar, you're just... Never to tell the truth......"

"Well, you're right, I've always been honest because I know that there is a man... No matter how many times I lied to her, she would still forgive me. ”

Holding down Ain's head, bright golden hair leaked out from between her fingers: "And in order to help me, a big liar full of lies, she can even tell me the biggest secret in this life." ”

"So I owe her forever. ”

Loren's lips had a lighthearted smile — no pressure, no posturing, a natural, stretching smile.

The two men were silent for a long time.

"Ain?"

"Huh?" the little wizard muttered.

"I want to tell you something... The truth. Slowly letting go of his embrace, Loren, who whispered softly, looked at her slightly red eyes: "I wanted to say it a long time ago, and it has been delayed until now." ”

When the words fell, the black-haired wizard's expression suddenly became much more solemn: "Do you remember the first time we met... That wild dog village, we teamed up to defeat that bandit. ”

"On that occasion, I actually defeated him with the help of an evil god whose name was Asriel, and I made a pact with him to become his apostle. ”

"It was a last resort decision at the time, but it became the main cause of a lot of troubles later on—I didn't hide it anymore, I... He was an apostle of the evil god, and so was Lusen, and even that Ariel was a part of the evil god Asriel. ”

"All in all, what we're doing now is uniting one evil god to deal with another, more terrifying evil god. Loren, who was so tired that he couldn't remember what he was trying to say:

"These are my biggest secrets at the moment, and if any of them are revealed, the Holy Cross Church and the whole empire will want me, and the Inquisition will probably excitedly skin me and burn me at the stake to restore the prestige of the Church. ”

"Of course, this doesn't prove anything, but I think that the only way to do this is not to owe you; I'll just tell you, tell you alone. ”

"It's just you... It can only be you. ”

The voice fell.

Aine froze for nearly a minute, staring at the black-haired wizard's eyes full of "sincerity".

"I don't believe it!"

The little wizard holding his shoulders snorted, looking "dismissive": "Anyway, it's 'you're from another world', 'the wand for the phone', the 'talking and laughing elder' or something—you're going to fool me." ”

"No!" Loren's eyes widened, resisting the urge not to roll his eyes: "Besides, what I said is also true, not a word is lying to you, I swear!"

"If you don't believe it, you don't believe it!"

"Why, I can't tell you clearly?" Loren was at a loss, his expression a little crazy: "I'm sorry, but I don't seem to be too conscious now, and I'm a little confused; Wild Dog Village!"

"I don't listen! I don't listen!"

The little wizard with his ears gagged turned away, not giving the black-haired wizard any chance to "speak clearly", and ran out of the tent, leaving him alone on the bed, staring at him alone.

Lusen, who was guarding outside the tent, was startled by the running out of Ain, and quickly poked his head inside, and Loren waved at him tiredly, trying to calm down.

It's not that I don't want to tell the truth, but I really can't do it......

"What's going on, I mean... I just saw Lord Ain Rand running out in a panic. Count Eckert, who walked in cautiously, frowned slightly: "You and Lord Ain, nothing happened, did you?"

"No, nothing. Loren interrupted him in an unquestioning tone, and then immediately changed the subject: "How's the situation, is everything okay with the army?"

"More than half of the casualties are killed, but the combat strength is still there, as long as you rest for a while, you should be able to recover your strength. Eckert said calmly:

"When you regain your energy, I'll have the 100-man squad send you a roster and give it to you to check - name, resume, position, length of service, everything will be in it. ”

"This battle was an unprecedented experience for Byrne, all the tactics, coordination, mistakes, judgments... In the next twenty to thirty years, it will have a great impact on the Byrne army, and even affect two or three generations of knights. ”

"The last time the dwarven fortress was captured was twelve generations ago... After this battle, the Byrne army was finally able to regain the hard-fought spirit of their ancestors, not just knights galloping on the flat ground. ”

The Earl of Fort Fury sighed, "I don't know if you're really because of this, but... If it weren't for Miss Salika Jonah, we probably wouldn't have had the courage to actually attack Silverhelm Mountain, not just pretend. ”

Loren nodded.

If it had not been taken advantage of by the "Black Cross" Serol, this would have been a very correct decision.

But speaking of Silverhelm Mountain......

"Silverhelm Mountain, have we taken it?" asked Loren.

"Silverhelm Mountain......" Ackert raised his head and glanced outside the tent door behind him: "There is no Silver Helmet Mountain anymore." ”

Loren raised an eyebrow.

"As soon as we broke through the dwarves' ramparts, their resistance was over, and they were all routed. Eckert said solemnly: "After the city gate was broken, they didn't even last half a day before they collapsed. ”

"Thousands of dwarves passed through our line of defense, almost directly into it—soldiers, but more men, women and children, rushed out of the fortress in waves and fled into our siege positions.

At the moment they were in the trenches and earthen barricades outside the barracks, with no food or supplies, no water, and all their possessions were the only things they had.

If we left them alone, one in five dwarves would freeze, thirst and starve to death by tomorrow morning, and the rest would kill each other for food;

Within a week, they would either counterattack the fortress, attack our camp, or continue to survive, but the result was the same... There is no silver helmet mountain left. ”

"As for the reason...... "Duke, you should know better than I do. ”

Loren looked at him, his face unchanged: "You have something to say, Eckert. ”

"Yes, Duke. Eckert made no denial: "I don't think you trust us enough, or at least... You didn't tell us the whole truth about this battle. ”

"Of course, we are all your courtiers and soldiers, and carrying out your orders will always be our first duty. ”

The Count of Fort Fury was humble, but Loren could still sense his displeasure.

"I see. Scratching his head, Loren sighed: "It's my fault this time... In all senses, I'll explain it to you when the battle is over. ”

Provided, of course, that guy is really willing to tell the truth... Loren couldn't help but meditate in his heart.

"No, you're not doing anything wrong. ”

Huh? This sentence made Loren raise an eyebrow, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

"What I just said to you was in your capacity as a courtier... The ruler will take the opinion of his courtiers as an important reference, but it is definitely not an instruction. Eckert shook his head:

"If you think something shouldn't be known, then it shouldn't be known, and it's your responsibility to take on secrets that don't go untold." ”

"No one knows why Ed Turin gambled on Byrne's fate to capture the last dwarf fortress in Byrne, and no one knows why Roland Turin went north to betray the Church and save the Empire. ”

Eckert bowed slightly: "They have faced countless times with the same accountability as I have for you today, and the noise and dissatisfaction are everywhere... I don't know how Ed Turin solved it back then, but I had the privilege of seeing firsthand how the 'Black Duke' did it. ”

"He threw the Dawning Sword in front of his father and said, 'Be loyal to me or kill me.'"

They never explained, they never apologized, he could be like a foolish kid when he was close, and he would go his own way when he was tough when even half of Byrne was against it.

This is the Duke of Turin, the Duke of Whom all Byrne can be proud of. Eckert sighed softly, as if reminiscing about the years that fascinated him.

But in the next second, he returned to his original state, and bowed his head slightly with a respectful expression: "But these are not the main reasons why I disturbed your recuperation, and please forgive an elderly man who likes to chatter." ”

"Please. Loren waved his hand absently, his gaze calm.

"Just now, the messenger of the Grand Duke László Varna arrived. Eckert's voice was a little deep, with a certain indescribable solemnity:

"He, brought the battle report from the front......"