Act 55 Preparations for the Legation I
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The First Holy War generally refers to the War of the Sages that took place a thousand years ago, the war in which the four Sages led the people of Black Iron against the cruel rule of the Dark Dragon, a glorious and sacred war praised by countless songs.
The Second Holy War began at the end of the Chaos Year, and was a sacred war launched by the Faenzan, Cruz, and Wind Elves in order to open up the vast wilderness and the Black Forest between the Three Kingdoms.
The Third Holy War began in the glorious years and lasted for nearly half a century - and then it proved to be neither glorious nor honorable, especially in the last seven years of the November War, the bloodshed of which became the only memory of the war. The reason for the start of the war stemmed from the magic technology brought by the rise of the Hazels, and the introduction of new technologies brought the countries into the most prosperous era, but the hidden dangers of population expansion also appeared one by one, and when the population began to pour into the borders, the empire had to turn its attention to the remaining unexplored areas.
From the beginning of the Glorious Year, the three empires marched together to the borders of the Four Realms, in accordance with the Holy Covenant, and began the war from the south of the Alkash Mountains, but it turned out to be a terrible mistake. Throughout the war, due to the contradictions of the division of land, the mutual distrust of the royal family, and the growing conflict between the teachings of the Temple, coupled with the devotion and demagogy of the followers of the One Order, the three hundred and twenty years of the First Age, the year of the Change, the local legions of the Cruz of Levoz suddenly attacked the flank of the wind elves who were allies, a battle that was ostensibly in retaliation for an earlier conflict, but there was no lack of shadow of the One Thing Society. Then the human legion on the side of the wind elves also retaliated, completely intensifying the conflict, humans and wind elves fought each other on the narrow battlefield, and the high-level nobles who would infiltrate the order society when everything was one played an indispensable role in the battle, but when most of the nobles came to their senses, the result was already irreversible.
But this is in fact a reflection of the human heart in a way, according to the scholar of Runeterran Castle. In his writings, Samilian wrote, 'People place too much blame on some evil force without reflecting on their own faults, which history has long shown to have played only a certain role in the whole course of the war, and only exposes the ugly side of human nature', which describes the scene of the war at that time, and after June, the Faenzanites joined the war naked, followed by the lionmen of Toquinine, Duchies and kingdoms large and small are drawn into a maelstrom, and the war drags all participants into an endless battle, for hatred, greed, or whatever, until they fight each other to exhaustion.
The Cruz people occupied a small part of the wilderness and the clover plains after the war, including a large area of land that originally belonged to the wind elves, and the Faenzan were the biggest winners, taking advantage of both sides, the lion people solved their need for hatred, and many principalities, large and small, were enslaved in the war - because of the greed of the imperial nobles, or because of the needs of the war process - and on the surface it appeared that the Second Holy War had ended around the year of the cave beasts, But in fact, the seeds of deeper hatred have long been planted, the last trust between empires has been lost, friction on the border is growing, and almost everyone understands that the three beasts have only lost their strength and need a brief recuperation, and each of them is eager to jump up and bite the other to death.
The Cruz needed to make some kind of payment for the blood of the nobles shed in the November War in the last seven years, and while they benefited from the war, it was more of a pain that made the whole noble class impetuous, and made them more and more eager to free themselves from the disgraceful war and punish the Faenzans and the Wind Elves. This culture led the Cruz to intensify their exploitation of small nations, and also to create a wider market for the penetration of the One Society. However, for the Wind Elves, it is also an unforgettable hatred, both for the Faenzan and the Cruz, who have lost territory in the war and naturally want to reclaim it. Faenzan, who only wants to maintain the results of the last war, gradually begins to become less impatient due to the constant provocations of the Cruz and the Wind Elves on the border.
The Fourth Holy War - or the Third War, because of the dishonorable influence of the Third Holy War, the world is increasingly reluctant to associate the subsequent Holy War with the Holy War, especially scholars, many of whom do not regard the Holy War as the same kind of war to expand their territory, but take it out of history and put it aside - so the wounds caused by the Second War are destined to erupt in the Third War, which is something that all countries have expected for a long time, but when it really begins, it is even earlier than everyone expected.
At the end of July, the Dead Frost Forest exploded.
On the same day, the regions of Toquinine, Wallerz, and Okins were bombarded by the Judgment of the Fourteen Rings of Sorcery, killing and wounding countless people, and the three cities were almost reduced to ashes.
Within the next two months, the golden-maned lionmen began to assemble a large army, and their attack moved from the Ash Mountain Range and the Yanirasu area to the south, crossed the Holy White Plains, and began to march towards Cruz, at the beginning of the Frost Moon, the lions left the warm Great Plains and arrived at the Lion Fortress, and the news of the coming war spread throughout the Cruz Empire within half a month. In the same month, the vengeful army of the Wind Elves set out from the ruins of Aukins and attacked the Red Red Army of the Cruz on the Clover Plains, and the Wind Elves quickly regained several towns and fortresses on the Clover Plains, and fought the Cruz on the borders of the Four Realms.
As for the Faenzans, though they were still inactive on the surface, their army had already begun to assemble from the White City, from Greysius.
When the edict of Constance and Archpriest Valla summoning the envoys and nobles of the Flame Temple to Rusta, Brando understands that the second chapter of the game, the era of war and chaos, has arrived.
Her Royal Highness the Princess decided on the candidates for the delegation in the shortest possible time.
The head of the legation was of course Brando, and although there was much opposition in the royal party, Griffiin suppressed all dissenting voices, and she understood the true purpose of Brando's trip, and supported the Earl to do so. Most of the opponents of the royal party thought that this was an indulgent and impulsive act, but she did not think so, and Brando's sentence 'this is the backbone and pride of a nation' finally moved her, and the kingdom did need some pride of its own, and Griffiin understood that such a banner would give her some real supporters, rather than those timid nobles.
They had already parted ways with her in Ampesel, and Her Royal Highness had no luck in her heart.
If the nobility of a kingdom does not stand with her, then she must at least stand with its citizens, Brando's words, as if a beacon was lit for her in the darkness.
And then, on the royal side, Her Royal Highness still stubbornly chose Haruzer - this made Brando a little flattered, he knew very well the rules between the Vaulnd nobles, and therefore also knew the reason why Her Royal Highness chose this way - because Haruzer was the future crown prince of Eruin, and the Cruz people could not detain him in the empire for any purpose, otherwise the silver queen would not only offend all her subjects, but even leave an extremely bad reputation among the imperial nobles.
But there are still some risks to be taken, and the Crown Prince's departure is fraught with instability, as evidenced by Prince Lenaret, who is now in seclusion in Tonigal. But Griffiin made up her mind to let her beloved brother take risks, and also to protect Brando, the head of the envoy, because she knew very well what Brando meant to Eruin at the moment, if he died in Cruz, then her future and Haruze would also be bleak, and she knew very well what she was going to do, and in her opinion: Haruze, as the future king of Eruin, should also take responsibility for the future of this kingdom.
These are her exact words about her only brother: "Haruzer, the experience of this mission between you and your teacher may well become the most precious treasure of your life; Haruzer, this may be the last time I tell you, you must be strong alone, for you are the king of Eruin. ”
The little prince had no objection, but was frightened by his sister's sternness, and almost cried, but was glared at by Princess Griffiin, swallowed the tears back into his stomach, and nodded honestly.
Brando, on the other hand, returned to Toniguel with some gratitude to Her Royal Highness, and began to choose the 'attendants and deputies' who accompanied her. He hated clearly in his heart that this so-called envoy was just a pretense, and everyone around him knew exactly what he was really going to do, so what this so-called envoy needed was not a ceremonial officer full of aristocratic etiquette, but an army that could turn Cruz upside down.
This 'army' is small in number, and he already has the right person in mind.
"Since almost all the money in the territory is invested in the preparation for war - mainly the recruitment and training of the White Lion Guard, the creation of weapons and armor, as well as the cost of magic crystals, daily maintenance, the acquisition of rare materials, etc. - in short, the construction in the Black Forest has basically come to a halt now, and this situation can last for about three to four months, and at the latest it will not be half a year, which will shake our previous achievements."
The carriage was jolting, and the shadow of the forest passed through the window, leaving a mottled pattern on the black dress as the wheels advanced, Brando's face lit up and darkened in the interplay of light and shadow, and he listened to the rare report read to himself by the merchant lady with one hand on his chin - this seemed to little Roman to be a very boring thing, so the little eyebrows were twisted together, and as part of the merchant's interest, she did not mind reading the mountains of account books or similar literature, but read them out one by one, and turned them into an audiobook, She began to feel a little dry in her mouth.
But this was what Brando wanted her to do, and she used it to convince herself that it would take about five minutes or about ten seconds, but at once she found a new excuse - Brando always liked to see her embarrassed, which made her very unhappy. Lord Roman was upset, and Roman began to realize this, she raised her feather-like eyebrows, and quickly moved her mouth to read, "The White Lion Guards have suffered almost a hundred casualties in the previous war, and they are grunting......
Brando glared at the guy, "Wait, I didn't hear what you said in the second half of the story. ”
"That's the content of the second half, isn't it, it's just that you didn't hear it clearly when I read it quickly, but I've finished it." Miss Merchant's continued trickery began.
"You're playing tricks, didn't you say that you would read the report to me this afternoon, I have to find out what happened in the territory during this time." Brando replied angrily.
"But I'm done reading, using what my aunt taught me, 'The Witch's Swift Reading Method', Brando didn't hear clearly that Brando wasn't a witch, and that had nothing to do with Roman," she rolled her dark eyes and stuffed a stack of reports into Flo's hand next to her: "But you can ask Flo to read it for you, she won't be able to read quickly by witches, so Brando doesn't have to worry about not being able to hear clearly." ”
Brando was sure that her 'witch's fast-reading method' must have popped out of the little brain from some unknown corner, but the merchant's imagination was so rich that there could be a difference between the same name before and after, and he rolled his eyes, and didn't bother to debunk it, because anyway, the eldest lady must be able to justify herself in the end, this is a stunt of Lord Roman, rolling all over the ground, and ordinary people can't learn it.
He looked at Flo, who was sitting across from the two, ignoring the two living treasures in front of her, including her lord, she silently sorted out the manuscript and continued: "The casualties of the White Lion Guard have been replenished by the recruits drawn from the Tonikel and Mintai district garrisons, and the number of recruits has been expanded by five hundred, bringing the total number of fifteen hundred to the previous expansion, but these recruits are still training in Tonigel and Gendenel, and they will not be able to use them for a short time. ”
"Kargliss did a good job." Brando gave a thumbs up.
The scenery outside the car window had long since changed to the tranquility of the mountains, and it was the first day since he returned to Tonigel, and he stretched out in the carriage, finding that he felt more relaxed when he returned to the territory, and although he was very warm in his home in Pragues, he was still very awkward when he faced his father, after all, this was the place he had built up with his own hands and feet. He had wanted his parents to move to Toniger, but old Scott stubbornly refused to accept it, and his mother, Windsor, seemed a little excited, but in the end she couldn't make the trip, but Bunid promised to send someone to take care of his family, and with the protection of the Highland Knights, he didn't worry about Mardara's possible revenge.
Her Royal Highness was not able to resign, and the Duke Griffi, who had arranged for him to be the head of the legation to Cruz, was naturally to go to Tonigel himself to examine the troops he had selected to go to the Empire - beware that the Count was really bringing an army to Cruz. Of course, this is only an excuse on the surface, and the princess's private visit to a vassal's territory is actually somewhat unruly, and it also has a detrimental effect on her reputation, but it is not unreasonable for the world to know that the territory of Tonigel and Jean Denel is next to Vlada, and she insists on detouring from Toniger.
However, Brando knew in his heart that Her Royal Highness the princess would not leave lightly when she came to Fir Collar this time. His departure from Eruin for Cruz was an unstable factor in the Kingdom's internal situation, and at least on the surface, in the eyes of the world, there was still a Toniger behind Her Royal Highness the Princess, and if he, the Count of Tonigel, was no longer in the Kingdom for a short time, then she was likely to be in danger of being overthrown by the royal party again.
She came to her territory this time not only with the mentality of inspecting the rear, but also to show the outside world that she had a close relationship with him, Count Toniger. For Her Royal Highness the Princess's considerations, Brando didn't think too much about them at first, but she thought that Her Royal Highness the Princess had come to resign for him, but after being reminded by Antitina, she understood. In fact, Tonigel and the royal family are also interdependent, and when he is not in the country, his territory especially needs to be recognized by the royal family, which is related to the legitimacy of the territory and avoids being taken advantage of by the royal party.
Therefore, after understanding the eldest princess's considerations, he also tacitly began to cooperate.
For this reason, on the first day of her arrival in Tonygel, Princess Griffiin conferred on him the title of Count Jean Denel - a compensatory knighthood, since Tonygel was never a county. Originally, Brando had no ambitions for Jean Denel, in his original plan, it was best for Denel and Anlek to be incorporated into the royal domain, to further strengthen the power of the center, and also to play an exemplary role for other places, not to mention that Anlek had the second best source of troops in the kingdom - the Highlanders (the main source of troops from the Ash Mountain region of Eruin), and Jean Denel was the most prosperous territory in the south except for Ampesel, after owning these two territories, The royal family in Eruin can be said to have a decisive voice.
As for himself, Count Tonigel was just a front, the territory of order that had been carved out in the Ring of Trade Winds was nearly half the size of the southern realm, and when it was fully grown, it would not be difficult to create another Eruin, the key was that it contained exciting mineral deposits and resources, so he had no interest in managing other territories at all.
However, Princess Griffiin dispelled this idea with only a few momentums, and Her Royal Highness told him sternly that the knighthood itself was not only a reward, but also a recognition, and with his current status and relationship with her, if he did not get the title of Count Denel today, I am afraid that it would be easy to arouse suspicion from the outside world, and then make the shape of the kingdom unstable. Instead of increasing the royal family's right to speak, it will only discredit the Corcova family, and at the same time shake the legitimacy of Tonigel.
And after receiving the title of Jean Denel, he nominally obtained a part of the command of the Southern Army, and this expansion was in fact carried out in this name.
Princess Griffiin just didn't see it, and didn't mention the question of the ownership of the former Southern Legion that was still recuperating in Ampesel at the moment, and Brando seemed to pretend to forget this, and the two maintained a tacit understanding to play this scene, and outsiders only thought that the two of them had not yet understood the operation of the local forces in the kingdom, including the royal party, and almost no one reminded them of this, as if they were waiting to see them make a fool of themselves with a joke mentality. However, there are many people within Tonigel who understand that his lord has obviously received some kind of instruction and is ready to clean up the mess of the local nobles and legions in the south from the roots.
However, this plan has only just begun, and Brando has to think about putting it aside and giving it to Calglis or Her Royal Highness the Princess, because of the ** annoyance that the Cruz people have found him. He interrupted the elder sister of the wild elves in front of him, skipped this paragraph directly, and asked: "In terms of preparations for war, the reserve of materials can be slowed down a little, if you really want to go to war with the Cruz, it can't be just a matter of Toniger, Her Royal Highness the princess will find a way to help." The focus of supplies and money should be on Valhalla, Flo, if I need to use all the Valkyries, how long can the territory afford it? ”
"If you slow down the pace of other aspects, with the supply of that magic crystal mine in the Black Forest, it should be no problem to sustain it for a year, my lord." The elf girl replied without changing her face.
"What if you want to keep the construction in the Black Forest?"
"Three months to half a year."
Brando nodded: "What about the acquired materials?" ”
"At present, there are only phoenix wings and singing silver, and the number is very rare, and as for the materials that other lords want, there are no eyebrows yet." Flo said, looking at him.