In the wilderness south of Anzeruta on the border with Balta, most of the undulating ridges can only be seen as black rocks, with sparse vegetation and snow at higher altitudes, and tundra meadows of sparse heather or similar shrubs below, dotted with a thin layer of volcanic ash. A majestic fortress stood between two dark peaks, more than sixty feet high with square stone bars, four watchtowers with imperial flags fluttering, from which every valley within a radius of ten miles could be easily monitored, and the observation chamber was equipped with rotating ballistas and wizards, and more than a squadron of crossbowmen could block incoming enemies from the air from the holes in the towers.

The fortress is also equipped with an air force, with griffons and wyverns stationed there, as well as elite Pegasus knights, who will take to the skies at the second time after determining the enemy situation to guard the airspace above the fortress.

Brando withdrew his gaze from the huge iron cages on the city walls, those were the griffin cages, and the griffons locked in them were the air force of the early warning forces on the city walls, which could be used for both reconnaissance and interception. Not far from the cages stood a majestic gate, more than fifty feet high from the ground to the top, open to the middle, made entirely of cast iron, for which the Cruz craftsmen had assembled them with pre-poured iron workpieces. After having the wizards use spells to combine them, the intention of casting this iron gate was to fully exert the impact of the inner dragoon regiment of the fortress, and there were two regiments of ground dragoons inside the black sword barrier, and when the Cruz people needed it, they would let the ground dragoons line up behind the gate, and then open the main gate to attack the enemy troops outside the fortress.

The flat slope outside the Black Sword Barrier was also artificially paved. Originally, it was a steep valley, but it was filled in by the Duke of Sempley and became what it is now.

The eldest merchant lady stood beside him, her little hands tugging at his arm tightly, and she was also looking up at the majestic wall with her chin tilted, and she sighed with her mouth slightly open, "It's so high." Brando. ”

"The Black Sword Barrier had been raised higher than the outer wall in the Glorious Years, and until that time its main wall had been no more than thirty-five feet tall in most places, not much different from Menstrus's outer wall. In the Year of the Frost, the Highlanders led by the Lord of the Blades had conquered the fortress with the support of the Eruins, and in the Year of the Tiger Lizard, the Cruz had retaken the fort and began to rebuild it. The rest of the fortress continued intermittently for thirty years, until the Duke of Sempley completed the previous ramp by the summer year. It is almost completed. Brando said to her that this knowledge is not unusual for a veteran player, but little Roman was stunned to hear it, she had never heard of these things, but listening to the words of the person at hand was obviously not a mouthful, for a while she only felt that Brando was the person who knew the most in the world, she was a little vain, and asked very curiously: "Can anyone really take this place." Brando? This wall is so high, can they climb it? ”

"The Black Sword Fortress is not the strongest fortress in the Empire, though. However, it is also one of the highest cities in the southern part of the empire, but the city has indeed been captured twice by the Eruin in history. The first was the war in which the Elder Eck helped the Highlanders capture Anzeruta, and the second was more recently, in the Rebellion of the Walnut about a hundred years ago, when the Highland Knights of Balta had repelled the invasion of the Empire. Take advantage of the situation to capture this fortress, hum," Kiara seemed to hear the conversation between the two, and snorted softly: "At that time, the Korkova dynasty was at its strongest, but unfortunately it was still too weak. If it were me, I wouldn't have given this fortress back to the Cruz, either to the Lion Men or to the Wind Elves, so that the kingdom would not have to face the threat from the north. ”

Brando directly ignored this child's speech, and he noticed that the other people in the envoy were also curious, obviously interested in this matter as well, before nodding and replying: "Indeed, the Black Sword Barrier was first built in the Moss Year of the Chaos Age, and was completed at the beginning of the First Age, and it has only two records of its fall in history, both of which were completed by the Eruins. ”

"That's because other countries won't take a detour to attack the empire from the territory of Eruin." Chiara replied with a pout.

And the fat man, Ephram asked with curiosity: "Captain, do you mean that we Eruin actually won the Empire?" ”

"What do you mean?" Brando was stunned.

"I mean, Captain, how could Eruin be able to defeat the Empire, are you mistaken?" The fat man said aloud as if he had heard some funny joke.

Brando was so angry with him that he replied, "Why do you think that Eruin has never defeated the Empire?" ”

He really didn't even have the strength to despise this guy's ignorant historical knowledge, not to mention the large and small battles in the history of the past few hundred years - although the Cruz Empire was strong, it was not invincible, and there were many examples of being defeated by the Eruins - and it was only less than five months ago that he had slammed the Temple of Fire and the Empire's expeditionary fleet to the ground in Ampesel, and this war was ignored by this guy. He couldn't help but be very depressed, and couldn't help but wonder what the hell this guy had learned from Karasu as a descendant of a nobleman.

But Ephram was still obsessed, and he spread his hands and asked, "But the empire is so large, and Eruin is only a small country on its borders, and it can't even compare to a province of the empire, how can we defeat them?" Captain, you say that we Eruins have defeated the Cruz, I don't believe it, there are often examples of this in history, but in fact it is just a small conflict that takes advantage of a small victory, and I have seen a lot of such things in Karasu, and my friends in the patrol cavalry often do such things, and the glory proclaimed by the royal family must not be fully believed, but only to maintain the legitimacy of their rule. ”

The idea of comparing the highland knights of the era with the rotten patrol cavalry of this era is also very avant-garde, and Brando can't help but marvel at this guy's way of thinking. He couldn't help but reply, "In that case, what do you think is the reason why we can stand here today and represent Eruin in the Empire?" The Cruz would never ask the provinces below them to send envoys to pay tribute to their emperor. ”

Efram apparently hadn't thought about it. was stunned by Brando's question, and couldn't help frowning in thought. At this time, the seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Vieiro, said crisply: "I think it's because the empire doesn't need a poor and remote place like Eruin at all, in addition to our kingdom, aren't there many kingdoms and principalities attached to the temple of fire, and the empire hasn't fought against them?" My teacher often told me if the empire had a heart. Eruin has long since become a Dominion like Anzeruta, and by then we were all nobles of the Empire, Lord Earl, am I right? ”

"For your size, you'd better not be met by that damn teacher." Brando said, but he looked at the expressions of the rest of the legations, and found that most of them, except for outsiders like Roman, Metisa, and Hipamela, seemed to agree with it. Except, of course, those who truly understand the history of the Kingdom. For example, Charles and Chiara both had obvious disdain on their faces, and to Brando's curiosity, he saw a similar look on Yuta's face.

At this time, Kiara finally couldn't help it, after all, she was also a former member of the royal family, and maintaining the legitimacy of the kingdom was also safeguarding her family's reputation, she sneered coldly: "The battle between the empire and the ancestors of Eruin since the end of the dragon seems to be a good show." So that the Eruin could become independent from the empire and establish a kingdom of their own. The nobles of the Cruz people are rich in this spirit of helpfulness, and we really have to thank them for sending their ancestor Eke out of the wilderness of the Four Realms in the first place, right? ”

Her sharp sarcasm startled everyone, and it was only then that Ephram realized that he had somehow offended the eldest lady, and the daughter of the Grand Duke of Vieiro opened her mouth even more, and finally replied: "Isn't that because the wind elves are helping us?" ”

Brando saw that Chiara's small face was as black as the bottom of a pot. I couldn't help but shake my head, I don't know since when the nobles of the kingdom have lost their backbones - in the time when the highland knights of Balta still existed, in the year of the walnut, the empire was never a problem for Eruin. The question is whether the Eruin still dare to fight, that's all. He couldn't help but think of Alberton, the White Knight who was a Highland Knight of Balta in front of him, and since then, for nearly a hundred years, the princes and nobles of Eruin seem to have suddenly lost this spirit, and they can no longer hold their heads up in front of the Cruz.

But he didn't expect that the nobles' imagination of the Cruz Empire had reached such an absurdity, and when Ephram first spoke, he thought that this was just an example, after all, this guy looked like a stubborn kid, a typical example of not learning and not knowing. But when the daughter of the Grand Duke of Viero spoke, he noticed that something was wrong, although this little girl was only ordinary in her daily life, but she could also see that she was a well-read person, and she knew a lot about foreign affairs and etiquette, and she obviously knew the history of the kingdom, but she, like Ephram, obviously did not agree with these histories.

There are too many differences between this history and what they see right now.

He shook his head a second time before replying to his nominal subordinates: "Although the empire is strong, it is not without enemies, and although Eruin is small, it is impossible for the empire to devote all its energy to dealing with us, and in the north of the empire there are Faenzan, in the east there are St. Osore and Madara, and in the west there are Hazel and Tokunin, and in the face of so many enemies, it is impossible for the empire to draw the strength of a province against us. What's more, in its southern border, there is also Anzeruta, since the time of the Longblade Lord, the highlanders have dreamed of independence for nearly seven centuries, and we don't make trouble from it, the empire is already thankful, how dare you use swords in the south? Therefore, the Empire actually wants to maintain this relationship with us, on the one hand, because the honor of the Empire still makes them unwilling to recognize the establishment of Eruin, and on the other hand, they are unable to really exert their hands in the south, even if in the war of the Hu Tao Rebellion, our opponent is only a Duke of Hu Tao, after all, we are actually helping the Empire to put down the rebellion. ”

"Eruin's position is so sensitive and special. So much so that neither the wind elves nor the empire dared to act lightly, and with this delicate balance, the ancestor Eke found his own path among the Eruins. At this, he glanced at Chiara, "Anson I has obviously understood the secrets of this relationship for a long time, which is why he returned the Black Sword Barrier to the Cruz people after the Hu Tao War, because once the balance is broken. Not necessarily a good thing for Eruin. ”

Brando looked at the others again, and said word by word: "So, Eruin may not need to defeat the entire empire, but this does not mean that Eruin does not have a chance to win, large countries have the strength of big countries, and small countries have the wisdom of small countries, I tell you this, I want you to understand that the Kingdom of Eruin has its own unique advantages." His nobles and subjects did not necessarily need to be inferior to enemies in front of the empire. ”

After hearing this, Chiara couldn't help but snort softly, obviously she already knew this knowledge, and she didn't need Brando to repeat it.

As for the others, including Ephram and the youngest daughter of the Grand Duke of Vieiro, most of them had heard of this for the first time, and they were only skeptical.

But Brando didn't need them to be trusted. It's just to remind these noble young masters and daughters in advance, lest they see the imperial nobles with a flattering look of bending. Lose the face of the Grand Master of Him.

While the group was engaged in this conversation, they gradually approached the black sword barrier, and it was at this time that suddenly a commotion came from the front, attracting everyone's attention; The clamor began with a neat row of footsteps, accompanied by the sound of horses' hooves. Then everyone in the envoy group saw a small group of Imperial soldiers appear in their field of vision, this small group of Imperial soldiers, led by three or four knights, opened the small wooden gate next to the huge gate of the Black Sword Barrier, lowered the drawbridge, and rushed out—the knights scolded. Suddenly commanded his men to rush to a caravan outside the fortress.

It is worth mentioning that outside the fortress at this time, in addition to the eye-catching noble convoy of Brando, there are also many large and small merchant groups. Because as one of the only two gateways between the empire and Eruin, the Black Sword Barrier is not only a military strategic point, but also an important transportation artery between the two countries.

They quickly rushed into the middle of the caravan, first knocking down the armed guards, then driving the merchants out of the caravan, tying them up one by one with their hands behind their backs and pushing them to the ground, before the Imperial soldiers returned to the convoy and cut the ropes from the wagons with their swords and threw the goods to the ground. It didn't take long for them to find a lot of people from the wagons, men and women, old and young, and the Imperial soldiers drove these people together, most of them were ragged, shivering in the cold wind, and the women and children among them were even more frightened and crying, but the Imperial soldiers still looked indifferent, and a few of them still had sneers on their faces.

At first, Brando thought that he had run into a bloody bridge like a comb and a soldier, but then he realized that it didn't seem to be the case. But before he could speak, the daughter of the Earl of Gray Mountain behind him was already frightened, Miss Enid looked at this scene with a pale face, and couldn't help but tremble and asked, "What is going on?" ”

Seeing this, Chiara pursed her lips, but was reluctant to speak.

Among all of them, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Vieiro had some knowledge, and she explained to the others in a whisper: "These people are refugees. ”

It turned out that Brando realized that Eruin had been in turmoil within the kingdom since the Frost Upheaval had fallen out of power, and the manifestation of this turmoil throughout the kingdom was war. The struggle between the royal family and the local nobility was only a small part of it, and when the central government became more and more unbinding, the contradictions between the local lords and the lords first became acute, whether for the struggle for territory, population, or support, and the wars were always continuous, and this situation was not so violent in the south - on the one hand, because of Madara - but on the other hand, after the war of Ampesel, the north was assigned to the temporary supervision of the king's eldest son, and north of West Fah, The nobles seemed to have lost order for a moment, and war seemed to have become an everyday necessity in a region influenced by the royal family of Corcova, the royal family of Siphah, the wind elves, and the Sanctuary of Fire.

And with the war came a large number of refugees, a small number of whom were accepted by Tonigel, but many more went to the north, to the empire. For the Empire, this is not a big thing, the refugees need to seek a place that can provide them with a livelihood, and the Empire is happy to accept these laborers - but the problem is that as these refugees increase, it will not only bring benefits to the Empire, but also the troubles and burdens that come with it. Coupled with the fact that the arrival of these refugees was itself detrimental to the interests of the indigenous peoples, over time these refugees became synonymous with persona non grata within the empire, and from then on, the Cruz began to refuse to admit these refugees.

What is happening in front of me is obviously such a scene.

"Sister, what will happen to them?" Among all of them, the youngest of them, the little Lori of the Golan-Elson family, asked with some fear when she looked at this scene.

"They would be treated as thieves and vagabonds, tied to pillars here, and then driven back......"

The descendants of the Eruin nobles all had some embarrassed looks on their faces.

"It's a shame, the face of the kingdom has been disgraced to these pariahs." Ephram couldn't help but muttered indignantly, "No wonder the nobles of the empire always look superior in front of us. ”

…… (To be continued......)