The news of Jogan's invasion of the Empire was a bit too shocking, and it took some time for everyone to digest it. After the four knights of the inner court left, the others also dispersed, Metisa, Charles and others had to prepare for the next battle they might face, and the other members of the envoy had their own intentions, and they were persuaded by Brando to go back, and in the end only Yuta remained with him, and the female mercenary captain was the nominal guard commander of the White Lion Guard who accompanied the envoy, and needed to stay and wait for Brando's order.

But in addition to this, there were two uninvited guests, Chiara remained there with interest, and the duke's daughter did not seem to have any intention of leaving.

After everyone had left, Chiara asked, "Hey, what are you up to?" ”

Brando glanced at the little girl, "What are you doing here?" ”

"Why can't I stay here?" Kiara said, "You haven't answered my question yet." ”

"Of course, to solve the trouble, didn't I say it earlier?"

"Well, I can guess if you don't say it," replied the little girl triumphantly, "but you really intend to side with the Cruz?" She looked at Brando curiously, her eyes were a natural pale blue, transparent as glass, because of her rare Cruz blood.

"Now that we have a common interest, why not?" Brando replied.

"That's true, but it doesn't fit your style of doing things."

Brando was a little amused when he heard it, and couldn't help but deliberately squeeze her: "Little Lady Chiara, I've only been with you for less than a month, and more than half of that time I hid in the carriage, what kind of style of behavior I have, you know it clearly?" ”

Chiara glanced at the duke's daughter on the side: "Arbitrary, stubborn and self-serving—"

"Stop!" Brando watched the Duke's mouth move. As if he wanted to speak, he hurriedly stopped, he was already two years old.

Kiara grinned, "What's wrong, I don't know why, but I always think you hate the Empire, at least you won't say those righteous and awe-inspiring words - some loyal ally of the Empire." This kind of thing is just talk among other nobles, and I don't believe your nonsense. ”

Brando glanced at this little girl from the Siphach family with some surprise, she was actually not much older than the little daughter of the Grand Duke Goran-Elson, but compared to the two, it seemed that one was already an adult, and the other was still a genuine Lori, of course, Chiara still had the childishness of a girl, but compared to the latter, at least it was the difference between heaven and earth, he didn't expect that the other party had really been observing him, and he also told him about his mentality. If the person who spoke was someone who knew him well, or someone who was observant like Senpai, then he might not be surprised at all, but he was a little bit who spoke.

"How's it going, freaked?" Kiara looked at him: "Actually, it's not a big deal, your guy's city is written on his face, it's not difficult at all, in fact, I still have a lot of things." How about making a deal with me? She looked at Brando. replied confidently: "You guy definitely didn't come to the empire for the holy war, at least not only, you don't have to lie to me, I won't believe what you say, all in all, what you have to do must be quite troublesome." And although you guys have a good judgment of the general trend, but your brain is too wooden, the layout and the ending are equally important things when playing chess, and even the latter can often determine success or failure, if you ask me. Maybe I'll be kind enough to help you. ”

Brando looked at the megalomaniac: "Then I really want to thank you." ”

"Actually, you don't have to, I can see that you guy is very stubborn, and he will definitely not be able to pull his face to beg Miss Ben," Qiara said again, "But we can make an exchange, or you can sue me for the knowledge inheritance of the Buga people, and I will help you with advice?" ”

Brando couldn't help but shake his head as he saw the little Lori show his fox tail, this is not the first time, the other party seems to have knowledge of his illusory Buga people. But now he was not in the mood to tell this little girl a bedside story, so he had to reply casually: "The knowledge of the Buga people will not be able to be finished in a while, their knowledge can be recorded in the scriptures and can be piled up in the White Tower, but I am afraid that when we leave the empire, I will not finish telling you a beginning, the transaction is fair, and I will not do unfair transactions." ”

"It's okay!" Kiara blurted out, "I'm going to stay with you for a long time anyway." ”

"Huh?" Brando looked at the guy inexplicably.

Little Lori patted her cheek lightly, and hurriedly changed her words: "I mean I can stay with you for a while, what, isn't a lady welcome as a guest?" ”

Brando looked at the little girl from head to toe, and did not see where the megalomaniac had anything to do with the lady.

And at this time, a certain real lady, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Vieiro, finally waited for the opportunity, interrupted the conversation between the two without nutrition, and asked: "Lord Count, did you already know about the affairs of Qiao Gendigang?" ”

"What's the matter?" Brando noticed the suspicious gaze of the duke's daughter, and was slightly stunned.

"It's just what happened right now, didn't you know it earlier?" The Duke's daughter stared at Brando, she had been wanting to ask this question since the beginning - when Brando, Rogers and the others said those words, she immediately remembered Brando's promise - although he had been at odds with the Cruz people before, if he could really save the situation at this time, what he had done before would not only not cause him trouble, but would become his glorious emblem, a nobleman who would neither succumb to the power of the empire, nor abolish justice because of personal enmity, and distinguish between right and wrong, Coupled with his appearance in this war, one can imagine how much fame and prestige this would bring him, both in the empire and in the kingdom.

But what made the duke's daughter begin to feel a little frightened in his heart was, how did he guess this qiē? How did you expect the attack of Jogandigang? How did you expect the empire to be in trouble?

If it's a pre-arranged layout, it's a bit too scary.

Brando glanced at Oni, as if he expected what the other party was thinking, and nodded dryly: "Yes, Miss Oni, it was actually me who contacted Qiaogan to make an alliance between the people of the underworld and the lionmen of Torquinin. And then I told them to attack the Empire, you know, I have a sword of the earth in my hand, and although it is broken, it can still be used. I'd seen them in the Ring of the Trade Winds, and they cried and shouted for me to be their Great Chief. He also said that he wanted to marry me, but I refused righteously on the basis of the principle that there can be no intermarriage between different species, and by the way, have you seen their saints? ”

The duke's daughter stared at the earl with wide eyes, but the more she listened, the more outrageous it became, and finally realized that the other party was just teasing herself: "You ......" In the end, she could only snort hatefully, knowing that this guy would never tell the truth to herself.

On the other hand, when Yuta heard Brando talk about the Holy Maiden of the Lionman, she finally couldn't help but sneer, thinking that her lord was really too improper. Those words just now were about to reach the ears of the lion, and the enemy of Toquinen, who was afraid of the golden mane, would not be the Empire tomorrow, but the new head of the Eruin Legation. She sneered, causing Brando to look over as well, he hadn't seen his beautiful mercenary leader like this, and Yuta almost immediately realized her gaffe, and quickly gathered her thoughts, bowing her head and complaining about her lord.

Brando's words are absurd. But in fact, it did not deny the doubts raised by Ernnie, and the duke's daughter thought slightly. She understood the meaning of this, she had been terrified all these days, and although the current situation seemed worse, it more or less gave her a glimmer of light - at least it seemed that their head of the envoy was not so unreliable, how many people said he was crazy, but how many people expected it today?

She was silent for a moment. He seemed to have a little confidence: "Lord Count, is what you said to those Cruz people true?" ”

"I've talked to them a lot, and there's some nonsense," Brando replied, "but that's the part you're asking?" ”

The duke's daughter gave him an angry look: "You said you can save the situation." Isn't that a joke? ”

"Not exactly," replied Brando, "Miss Oni, this is the beginning of a great war, in which we have very little control, and seriously, at least for now, with us and without us, the outcome of this war will not change much." ”

The duke's daughter widened her eyes again, she knew diplomatic etiquette, but she didn't know anything about military things: "But you still tell them that? ”

Chiara couldn't help but sneer as she listened to the conversation between the two.

"Miss Oni," she replied, "that's the cunning of this fellow, and in a war any factor will have an impact on the outcome of the war, but the point is how much. Of course, he can salvage the situation, but the key is to salvage what Cheng dù, which is not easy to say, no one is a god in the sky, and he can pack a ticket for this kind of thing. ”

"So you're lying to them?" The duke's daughter felt that she was about to retract her previous thoughts, that was the knight of the imperial court, the secret agent of the royal family, what is the difference between this and lying in front of the supreme man of the empire?

"It can't be called a lie, we can indeed leave, I just managed to give them a little confidence - after all, it is their duty to defend the empire, but it is not ours, we have done our duty to stay and help them." Brando replied: "Don't worry, no one knows how bad the situation will end up be, or how good it will be, and we really don't need to defeat Jogan, but as long as we do better than the others, as for what the time will be, it's up to us what we say." ”

The duke's daughter finally got a clue, and it didn't seem to be any different from foreign affairs, because they were all the same shameless: "Lord Earl, what are you going to do next, will the envoys be in danger?" ”

Brando shook his head this time, he couldn't answer the question either, as Nimesis had said, history had pulled everyone back to the same page, and the entry of Jorganedigan had completely changed the history he knew. Qiaogendigan is not a country in the real sense, perhaps it can only be called a country, it is a general term for the underground world, in the dark underground, only lords, city lords, patriarchs, different ethnic groups live together, forming large and small scattered forces, and now he still doesn't know which one or those lords are connected with the Toquinin Lion, but Brando has a vague premonition in his heart, feeling that this invasion is not simple.

The strength of the Jogandigan meant that its lords rarely engaged in large-scale military operations, but if the current situation was as he expected. It was a rare move in the underworld, and it probably didn't just include the actions of a few lords, but Brando felt that the idea was a bit too ridiculous for him to accept.

There is also a thick fog waiting to be lifted in front of him, and his knowledge of history is quietly disintegrating, and it is left to him. There are only two lifetimes of experience.

Brando replied in a low voice, "I have a vague idea, but I have to wait for confirmation; Until then, we need to minimize conflicts with them, but still focus on breaking out, and if we accidentally fall into the encirclement of those underground creatures, then we can't do anything. ”

"Break out," the duke's daughter asked, "in what direction?" ”

"It is better to break through in the direction of the inland sea."

"Inland Sea?"

Brando nodded.

The snow melts from the mountains of Anzeruta to form rivers that flow westward through the principalities, emptied into the Sea of the Dead Moon, and south into the territory of Eruin. Eventually, it flows into the Sea of Glitter, while the rivers to the north form inland rivers that flow through the north of Anzlova and gradually wash out the hills that are today the Floating Cloud Hills. One of the most famous is the Milky Way, which crosses Anzlova and opens up the Valley of Yongyin, which is called the Varges region to the south. Including large and small towns such as Vargus and Hemlock Town, and to the north. It is the Bear Lake area, where the river forms a lake on a hilly plateau and then flows eastward to a large inland lake blocked by the Shortmane Mountains.

And this lake is what Brando calls the Inland Sea - the Inland Sea of the Empire.

The Imperial Inland Sea, also known as the Sublime Inland Sea, is itself a huge inland lake. But it spans dozens of regions, and the lake is extremely salty, so it's not an exaggeration to say it's a sea. The sublime inland sea stretches from the Cloak Bay in the west, to the Metz region in the north, and to the Shortmane Mountains in the east. Immediately adjacent to the Evergreen Walkway, to the south, is the end of the Rokotzi Plateau, a rich alluvial plain. The entire sublime inland sea almost divided the empire from east to west and from south to north, but it gave birth to the most glorious civilization of the Cruz, and countless ports and cities dotted along the coast have closely connected this vast empire for the past thousand years, and in the long course of time, the entire inland sea has almost formed the most prosperous and elite areas of the empire, the continuous southern great plain, the cloak bay where trade flourished, the home of shipbuilding Bandilon, and the heart of the empire - the Violet Valley.

It can even be bluntly said that if the entire empire is a sophisticated magic machine, the sublime inland sea is the core of the magic of this machine, which provides the empire with a steady stream of abundant power and energy, materials, manpower and money, and even decrees from the central government of the empire, all of which are transmitted to all corners of the empire through this inland sea.

The sublime inland sea, to the west of the Floating Cloud Hills, at the mouth of the Milky Way, where Brando knew there was a port called Rune, which was not famous, but stood north and south of Asaph to the south of the Evergreen Walkway, and if Asaph fell, then this port would be the last springboard for the Empire's future counterattack into Anzloa. Of course, it is impossible for Jogan to let go of this port, but the problem is that Brando can be sure that the opponent's attack will definitely focus on Asaph and not Rune, because there are a large number of local legions stationed in the Violet Valley to the west of the Evergreen Walkway and the Flower Leaf Territory to the north, not to mention the Red Legion in the Four Realms, if they can't take Asaph in the shortest possible time, then even if Toquinen's Golden-Maned Lion Man captures the Rokozy-Broken Sword Mountain defense, It will also be blocked by the Imperial legions from all sides who have rushed to hear the news, and at that time, I am afraid that if you want to take Asaph again, you will have to pay a terrible price.

On the other hand, after taking Asaph, dealing with the small port of Rune is a matter of catching turtles in an urn, and even if the Cruz people react at that time, it will be impossible for the army of the Violet Valley to swim across the sublime inland sea to support Rune?

When Rune fell, the Imperial Navy lost the fulcrum of the landing, and the center of the war could only return to Asaph, and the Empire had to break through by land, which was obviously what the underground people of Jorgandegon wanted to see the most.

The Duke's daughter seemed to understand Brando's thoughts, but her eyes fell on the map, from Vargus to Rune, which spanned at least three regions, and the journey was obviously not too smooth, and it was not only necessary to go through some kind of breakthrough.

"This road is not easy to walk," unlike the silence of the duke's daughter, Kiara asked directly, "Qiaogan is already ahead of us, are you sure to break through their blockade?" ”

Brando shook his head slightly, grasping the certainty of the information, but at this moment, all they could do was wait - they believed that soon, the exact news would come back from the front. From Varges to Bear Lake, where the army of Jorgandegon had advanced during the day, and whether the Imperial troops stationed there, especially the private armies of the nobles, had resisted, or where they had fled, were all the information he needed.

…… (To be continued......)