On the plain road leading to the imperial capital, two carriages drove one after the other, surrounded by more than two dozen heavily armored cavalrymen, silver-white knights' spears glittering with metal in the reflection of the hot sun, and the neat defensive queue and iron-blooded military aura all stated the fact that this was a group of veterans who had fought countless battles.

Every nobleman with a head and face can recruit private soldiers, although the number is limited, but excellent equipment and excellent individual combat ability can be guaranteed - most of them are veterans from various military regions or mercenaries who have been fighting dangerous species for many years.

If this is put on the battlefield, it is undoubtedly a sharp blade comparable to the ace army!

Jolly Reginod, as a former minister with a high reputation in the empire, his private soldiers have naturally been selected by thousands of people, not to mention that there are only about two dozen people, with the combat effectiveness of this army, it is more than enough to capture a bandit stronghold.

In this operation, their mission is to protect Jolly's safe return to the imperial capital.

At this time, in the carriage at the back, two young girls were sitting snuggled up, talking softly.

"We're about to arrive in the Imperial Capital, hehe, if Javier and Arowen see us coming, they will be surprised."

The one who spoke was a girl in a gorgeous dress with long light blonde hair, wearing a priest's hat printed with the eight-leaf family crest on her head, her face was beautiful and exquisite, her clear blue eyes were full of heroism, and the sky seemed to be reflected in the depths of her pupils.

The girl sitting next to her was wearing a black dress, her long cherry hair was neatly tied into a ponytail at the back of her head, and her waist was tied with a white light veil.

The look of the cherry-haired girl is a little cold, and the first impression is undoubtedly that she is a cold beauty, and the whole person exudes a cold and awe-inspiring unique temperament.

But at this time, she seemed to be a little absent-minded, her eyes wandered, and she didn't know what she was thinking.

"What's wrong, Marika? I've been in a daze since just now, ah......" Sibia seemed to think of something, and then came up with a smile and looked at the girl teasingly, "Could it be that you are nervous because you are about to meet your beloved Arrowen?" ”

“…… Nothing like that. ”

The maiden named Marika turned her head and looked out of the carriage window, her mouth in denial, but the seductive flush that crept up her cheeks at some point betrayed her true thoughts.

"Shy and shy, so cute-"

Sibia laughed and hugged Marika, and then rubbed and rubbed on the girl's cheeks without saying anything, with a stupid face of "I can't stand it, I'm so cute...... Well, nymph.

"Spia...... It's so close......"

The girl showed a troubled look, but she didn't push the other party away, she was born not good at communication, and she basically didn't have any friends in the first ten years of her life, so she cherished this rare friendship very much.

Marika is a swordsman from the Western Kingdom, and her parents are powerful mercenaries, so she has also been engaged in the mercenary industry since she was a child, and she has shown excellent combat talent at a young age.

At the age of fifteen, she accompanied her parents on a mission to "guard a caravan", but was attacked by the Tyranny Ape King, a super-dangerous species, while passing through the Forest of Stars and Moon in the southern part of the Western Kingdom.

The caravan suffered heavy losses, and Marika's parents were both killed in order to cover the caravan's evacuation, and she became a lone mercenary and traveled the continent ever since.

When she was seventeen years old, she came to the city of a thousand armies where Jolly lived in seclusion because of a mission, and came into contact with Javier and Arrowin, who happened to be working in the city at that time. Later, for a series of reasons, she chose to stay, and then lived in Jolly's house as Spiya's personal bodyguard.

And this time, in a flash, is three years.

Not long ago, Jolly received a letter from Javier in the imperial capital, and although Marika did not know what was written on the letter, she knew that it must be a very important matter when she saw the old gentleman hurriedly packing his bags and then gathering his private troops to rush to the imperial capital.

I don't know what kind of psychology it is, but the old gentleman also brought his only daughter Spiya on this trip, and as the personal escort of the eldest lady of the Reginord family, Marika was naturally among the companions.

As if she felt that she had hugged enough, Sibia let go of the arms that surrounded the girl, looking at the faint blush on the cheeks of this usually cold girl at this time, she couldn't help but smack her lips and said, "Marika looks so cute, it's a waste to match Arrowen...... Now, it's better to get rid of that guy and be a good friend with me for life! ”

Ji You, a close female friend, can also be understood as...... Lily.

Because they often feed the dogs with Arrowen's kind of festival, the lower limit is equal to the contact with the guy who doesn't have it, and the two girls also unconsciously absorb a lot of useless knowledge that they shouldn't know.

Because of this, Arowen was often treated coldly by Jolly. The old man wondered, how did he become an imperial soldier with the virtue of this thing?

"I'm going to bother me in that case......" Marika frowned in embarrassment, obviously taking the other man's joke seriously, "and...... Isn't it true that you always say you're going to marry Javier? ”

"No problem, this kind of buy one get one free good thing, as long as it is a man, he will not refuse, and Javier will definitely not mind! I promise! ”

Sibia raised her hand with an oath, and the expression was so serious and serious that if you ignored the smile in the girl's eyes that was almost overflowing, it really looked like that.

"But I'll mind......"

Marika was obviously in a hurry, and opened her mouth to make her stand firmly, but she had always been stupid, and she couldn't make sense of what to say in a hurry, which made Spiya feel happy.

Finally, the latter couldn't stand it anymore and laughed out loud.

Seeing Sibia holding her stomach and laughing, the unresponsive Marika finally understood that she was being teased by the girl in front of her again, so her pretty face darkened slightly, turned around, and put the back of her head at Sibia, silently expressing her dissatisfaction.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, can't I be wrong? My good sister, don't be angry, okay? ”

Seeing that the girl seemed to be really a little angry, Sibia couldn't care about laughing, grabbed the other party's arm and shook for a while, and screamed a good sister.

Sibia is only nineteen years old this year, a little younger than Marika, and there is naturally no psychological pressure to call her sister.

Marika turned her head, her apricot eyes glared slightly, and said, "Don't joke with me again." ”

"Because Marika's reaction is always funny, and if you're not careful, you ......."

Seeing that Marika's eyes were getting colder and colder, Sibia hurriedly raised her hand to admit her mistake: "...... I know, don't dare next time! ”

Although it is the relationship between the eldest lady and the guard, the two of them treat each other as their sisters on weekdays, of course Marika can't really be angry, seeing that Sibia's attitude of admitting her mistake is sincere, her expression eased.

After another journey, the team passed through a village.

It is dilapidated and desolate, and the people who come and go are all yellow and thin, and their faces are full of numbness and sadness. There was not the slightest light in their eyes, as if they had no hope for the future, and the whole village was hung with a gloomy dead air.

Seeing this, Spiya's face was sad.

Marika was much more indifferent, she had seen too many decaying villages and people struggling in pain after so many years, and this was not the only one.

However, of what she had seen and heard, the lower classes of the empire were undoubtedly the hardest to live.

The situation in the southwest is not bad, after all, it is Javier's stronghold, and he has eliminated the corrupt/corrupt officials by various means, plus with the full assistance of top talents like Enoch Grigory, the life of the common people is relatively good.

Moreover, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and it is difficult for the minister's hand to reach it, and it can even be said that as long as Javier is willing, he can get rid of the control of the empire at any time, establish himself as the king, and divide one side.

But this was not what Havel wanted, and he wanted to save the country in another way.

Marika vaguely understood Javier's thoughts, and Arowen was working towards this goal, although she was not a citizen of the Empire, she also wanted to be able to contribute her part if she could.

I heard from Mr. Jolly that Havel established an organization called "Falcon" in the imperial capital, and used it as a base to unite the civilian forces of the imperial court, and now the ministers are fighting fiercely in the imperial capital.

And this time when she went to the imperial capital, Marika had the idea of joining this organization, she knew that Arowen was doing a very dangerous thing, and this danger could even endanger his life, so she couldn't just wait behind the scenes.

The matter at the level of national justice is very complicated, and the girl does not understand it very well, but her desire to advance and retreat with Arowen is very clear, just like the movements when she swings her sword and slashes, simple and clear.

Whether the road ahead is life or death, she hopes to be by the side of the people she loves most.

The team left the village and continued on their way, and at their speed they could reach the imperial capital in two days.

At this moment, Marika, who was talking to Spiya, suddenly raised her eyebrows, and her gaze as sharp as a sword blade radiated straight out, penetrating the barrier of the carriage and looking into the unknown territory.

"What's wrong?"

Noticing Marika's strangeness, Spia tilted her head and asked softly.

"It's murderous." Marika said succinctly.

Hearing this, Sibia's expression suddenly became solemn, and her body, which had been trained all the year round, also tensed up subconsciously.

Marika is her personal bodyguard, and they have been together almost every day for the past three years, so she still knows how much the former is capable of. Aside from Estes, the "strongest in the empire", Marika is arguably the most powerful woman she knows.

Therefore, for Marika's words, Spiya will never doubt it. And they have encountered robbers more than once along the way, and every time Marika can warn in advance, I think this time will be no exception.

However, looking at Marika's deep brow, Spiya felt something strange - if it was just an ordinary robber, the girl would not take it to heart at all, and it seemed that the person who came would not be just a robber.

"Who are you!?"

The carriage shook suddenly, and came to a sharp stop, followed by the stern rebuke of the captain of the guard.

In this case, you don't have to guess what happened - someone was standing in the middle of the road, blocking their way.

Spia and Marika immediately got out of the carriage, and at this time the guards were already lined up, and the bright knights' spears and thick heavy shields were neatly and densely lined up, giving people an invisible and heavy pressure, and the quality of the elite guards was immediately revealed.

With such a formation, the enemy their spears were pointing at was only three people!

The three of them, all dressed in black uniforms, stood casually on the front of the group, even in the face of enemies several times their own size, they still looked calm and did not show any nervousness.

The one on the left is petite, with short blond hair that reaches up to his ears, and his face is more handsome than that of the average pretty girl, so that he looks a little neutral. With black horns on his head and a slender demon's tail behind his waist, he was a very unique outfit.

The man on the right is tall and strong, with flaxen-colored wild medium long hair, a beard, and his fierce eyes like a beast, which looks extremely aggressive. Behind him was a heavy metal axe, the cold light on which flickered, and it was obviously not an ordinary thing.

The person in the middle is extraordinary, just standing there faintly exudes a general style of Taishan collapsing in front of him, and he is obviously the leader of the three. He still looked very young, only thirty or forty years old, but those eyes as deep as stars looked extremely old, as if he had gone through too many storms to see everything.

These guards are all warriors who have licked blood on the edge of the knife, and they have their own unique set of standards, and their eyes are extremely poisonous. Almost at the moment of confrontation with the enemy, they invariably felt the strength of the comer, so their expressions became more and more solemn, and they did not dare to be careless.

"This uniform...... Are you soldiers of the Empire? ”

With a deep voice, an old man over sixty years old slowly stepped forward, he was holding a cane made of boxwood, the years had left a clear and visible mark on his face, but those clear and bright eyes were still as sharp as a knife when he was young, and the power from the superior naturally emanated, making people tremble.

This person is none other than the world-famous former minister of the Empire - Jolly Reginod.

"Exactly."

Liva bowed slightly, his movements were graceful, and the long wind blew his silver-white tail braid fluttering, which made him even more majestic, but the words that came out of his mouth were murderous.

"This time, I am acting on orders, and I have come to take your head."

"Take my head...... Hum! Is it really the minister's minions! Jolly snorted coldly, with contempt in his eyes, "As an upright soldier, aren't you ashamed that you are willing to do things for that kind of scum!?" ”

"We are servants of Lord Estes, and we will only follow the orders of our masters, not with the ministers."

Liva raised her head slightly, and the cold light in her eyes was incomparable, making Jolly take a half step back.

"Although I admire your political skills, the orders of that lord are absolute, so I can only ask you to die."

Jolly looked furious and was about to say something more, when suddenly, a hand crossed his face.

"Father, I'll leave it to us, please stand back! I'm afraid these people are the emperor's envoys, and it will be dangerous to stay here any longer! ”

The person who spoke was Spiya, a warrior who had practiced at the Imperial Fist Temple for three years and had undergone a long period of targeted training from Javier, and her sense of danger was much stronger than that of these guards.

She could feel that none of the three people in front of her were easy to match, and even if the two dozen or so guards behind her were on the same page, it was difficult to say whether they would be able to survive a minute.

This is the power of the Emperor's Envoy, which completely surpasses the level of ordinary people, and the combat power that bursts out will make most people in this world feel desperate. If you want to fight against it, you must also be an emperor envoy, or a martial arts powerhouse with special training.

Seeing Spia's serious expression, Jolly hesitated for a moment, knowing in his heart that he was a burden on the battlefield, so he nodded, said "be careful", and then retreated behind the crowd, and was strictly protected by the guards.

At the same time, Marika stepped forward, she raised her hand and pulled out the sword about three feet long at her waist, the handle of the knife was black, the blade was pure white, and the shape was gorgeous, it was definitely a sharp blade enough to cut through iron cracking stones!

The girl's expression was cold, her posture was like a sword, and a mysterious magnetic field instantly shrouded her, as if everything in front of her was within the range of her slash. The sword made a beautiful arc in the air, and then pointed diagonally at the ground, and the famous demeanor of his gestures made Liva frown deeply.

Originally, I thought it was a very simple task, but now it seems that this is not the case - the cherry blossom girl in front of him gave him a rather dangerous feeling, and that sword intent seemed to be able to tear apart the will and penetrate the heart, which was completely a manifestation of the mastery of swordsmanship!

There are only two people who can practice simple swordsmanship to such an extreme in Liva's life, one is his master Estes, and the other is his colleague from the Southwest Military Region...... Arrowin.

And looking at the girl's sword-holding posture, it seems to have some similarities with that Arrowin.

Thinking of this, Liwa no longer hesitated, did not dare to have any contempt in his heart, and did not want to talk about any fairness and morality. He waved forward as he gave orders to Dajdala and Niou.

"Let's go together! Kill the woman with the knife first! ”