In the afternoon, the castle showed a faint shadow in the sunlight, and the moss-covered city walls were now covered with snow, and the beacon fire was endless, and the wolf smoke continued in the breeze, making the whole fortress look solemn and tense. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Ryan. Erwin stood on the tower and looked out over the Pamir Mountains in the distance.

"Your Highness Princess, did I really do something wrong?"

Whispering, the gray-haired middle-aged man couldn't help but sigh with a long cane in his hand.

"Lord Elwin, you don't have to blame yourself."

On the side, Serra, dressed in military uniform. Viscount Carthusian persuaded that the wrinkles on his face had deepened a lot lately, and a few white strands had faintly appeared between his otherwise smooth brown hair.

"Right now, as people who disobey military orders, we have nowhere to go, and this is the only place where the soldiers can stay for the time being."

Pulling his gaze away from the snow-capped Pamirs, Erwin looked around the city again.

Contrary to what it looked impregnable on the outside, the interior of the castle was a depressed scene, with the vast majority of the people having fled north, leaving only a few of the old and young, disabled and their families who could not travel far, and the rest were the more than a thousand exhausted soldiers who had retreated from the fortress of Trastan.

The silver-white armor had been stained by the days of running, and the young soldiers had fled from the hell of Trastan with hesitation in their eyes, but they could not see the direction of progress, but fortunately they had enough food with them when they evacuated, and there was no shortage of food in the city of Merrill, so so far, although the uneasy atmosphere had permeated the army, there had been no major problems.

"However, I didn't expect that the lord of Merrill would abandon the city and flee, remember that the name is ......"

"Arthur. Baron Links. ”

Viscount Carthusian said that he was still thinking about how to negotiate with the local lord, but when he arrived with Erwin, he found that the lord had already fled, and they pushed the boat into Merrill.

"Fleeing in battle, we should be beheaded according to military orders, having said that, our position is also very embarrassing."

Viscount Carthus also followed Erwin's gaze into the city.

"We've only escaped our lives by withdrawing from Trastein, and now our position is quite delicate whether we encounter Wendland's army or Aster's army."

Facing the Wendlan army, it is needless to say, there is only one battle, but if you face the kingdom of Aster. Army, more than 1,000 of them, is likely to be dealt with by wartime military law.

This is also the reason why they are stationed in the city of Merrill.

"At the very least, we need time to rest before the situation changes further."

It was already the second day after coming out of the gray path, and according to the report of the spies, the shadow of Wendland's advance army could already be glimpsed, and in two days at most, Wendland's main force would arrive on the Mordred Plateau and sweep the Astrid army in this place, and the first to bear the brunt was this Merrill Territory.

Time is running out for them.

"What is the situation on the Eastern Front?"

Erwin asked, he remembered that the commander over there seemed to be the Ranger General Vera Hill. Count Strass, the Third Legion was more active in the north, with the kingdom. The army was much more estranged, and General Strass himself was also in contact with Richard. General Livias is quite at odds, and if it were her, she might be able to accept the army here.

He didn't care about his own life or death, and it would be best if General Strass demanded that he take all the blame, and Erwin only hoped that the blood of his warriors would not be shed in unnecessary places in this time of survival.

Moreover, this is also an atonement for not saving Her Royal Highness the Princess.

Still immersed in thought, Erwin's thoughts were interrupted by a soldier running over breathlessly.

"Lord Elwin, Lord Karls, there are, there are soldiers trying to escape."

The person who came was a squad leader named Cole, who had been stationed in the fortress for a long time and was now patrolling the city as a garrison.

"Escape?"

Sure enough, it still appeared, Erwin had expected this situation for a long time, but it was better to say that on the day he walked out of the gray path, there should have been soldiers who fled, and it was not easy to drag the deserters until today.

"It was Mora and Parker of the Seventh Squad, who tried to escape through the small gate on the west side and were caught by the soldiers on duty."

Relieving, Cole said, a little afraid to look the commander in the eye.

"Seventh Squad, it looks like they've stepped down from the front line, right?"

Although Viscount Kars was previously the deputy commander, he knew far more about the interior of the Fourth Legion than Her Royal Highness the Princess and Erwin.

"It seems that there are only four of them, and the remaining two are still on duty, but they haven't escaped."

Cole still kept his head down, in his opinion, escaping from the battle was a crime, and although the deserter did not succeed in escaping, the impact was far more than that.

The embankment collapsed in the anthill, and it was still a restless and solemn atmosphere, once there were deserters, the whole situation would collapse immediately, and the first one or two could warn others with military law, and when this phenomenon could no longer be contained, the army would be finished, either harvested by the enemy in the next battle, or the grass would fall into the grass and become a bandit who occupied the mountain.

"Where are they now?"

Erwin asked, telling Cole to get up.

"In the cell, I didn't dare to move without an order from an adult."

Standing up, Cole looked humble and cramped in the face of the man who was a head shorter than himself.

"Don't be nervous, it's not your fault."

Seeing this, Viscount Karls pacified Coledo.

"Send the order, let everyone gather in the square, and then bring those two soldiers with you."

Erwin opened his mouth and said in a calm tone.

"Okay, okay, sir!"

Thinking that Lord Erwin was afraid that he was going to kill the chickens and monkeys, and wanted to execute two deserters in front of everyone, although Cole could not refute such a measure, but at this juncture, it seemed that it was still up for debate, so he could only hesitate to agree.

"Lord Elwin?"

Although Viscount Kars guessed a little Erwin's intentions, he did not dare to draw conclusions at will, so he also raised questions.

"Let's go."

Without explanation, Erwin only patted Cole on the shoulder and motioned for the other party to lead the way.

――

The closer you get to dusk, the colder the wind becomes.

Willie rubbed his palms in an attempt to warm his body, he was still wearing chain mail, he had just been replaced from his shift, his nose was red from the evening wind, and his face was already frozen, unable to show any obvious expression.

He wanted to hurry back to the house, eat supper by the warm fire, and sleep soundly, but the boss suddenly asked them all to gather in the square, saying that something important was to be announced, so Willy, who had not had time to drink a bowl of hot porridge, followed the others to the square of Merrill.

When he arrived at the square, Willy realized that something seemed to be wrong, the city was deserted on weekdays, and it was crowded at the moment, and almost all of them were brothers who had escaped from Trastan together, his intuition told him that something big was going to happen, and before he could think about it, he heard a loud voice on one side of the square.

"Quiet—"

It's Archmage Elwin.

Using the magic of sound transmission, Elwin's voice resounded through the square, causing the somewhat noisy soldiers to immediately fall silent.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today because of one thing."

As he spoke, Erwin beckoned, and two men in cloth clothes were escorted in front of him.

"Wait, isn't this Mora and Parker, what did the two of them do?"

Hearing the names of his teammates, Willy couldn't help but blurt out, but fortunately, his voice was muffled by the north wind, and only a few people around him looked back at him with strange eyes, making him quickly cover his mouth.

"These two, I'm sure some of you know each other, Mora. Hamilton and Parker. Wiese, part of the Seventh Squad, is a squad that once fought against the Wendland Army at the forefront. ”

Erwin spoke in a flat tone, and on a winter evening, it was very loud.

"However, they chose to flee today, to leave this Merrill City, to leave the battlefield we are in."

This sentence made the entire square explode.

Some people are indignant, some are thoughtful, some are nervous, and some are confused, but all of them have doubts about the battles they have fought for days and even about this war.

Willy, on the other hand, was still basking in the shock of his companion's escape, and Erwin's words reached his ears with the wind, but could not enter his head.

"For their actions, they should have been dealt with by military law......"

When they heard this, the two people in front of Erwin immediately weakened their legs and were a little untenable.

"However, if that is the case, we will not be able to survive at this moment, because by evacuating the Trestan Fortress, we are actually disobeying the military order."

Erwin said, a solemn look on his face.

"I know that there will always be people who want to escape, and this won't be the last, even if I execute both of them on the spot here, some of you will still choose to escape."

Viscount Kars nodded knowingly, he seemed to know what Erwin was going to do.

"So, I'm not going to execute them, in fact, I, Ryan. Erwin, Chief Mage of the Trestan Fortress, Commander's Deputy, is here to announce that if anyone wants to leave the city of Merrill immediately, then I will not stop it. ”

As soon as these words came out, there was another uproar, and the soldiers were at a loss for a moment when they heard this declaration, which was completely opposite to what they expected.

"And yet—"

As the conversation turned, Erwin continued.

"Even if we can escape from Merrill City, from the Mordred Plateau, and even from the Kingdom of Aster, you, where can we flee to?"

His words silenced everyone.

"Once, a young man said to me, 'No matter what we are pursuing, we are now the people of Aster, and we should move forward hand in hand', yes, no matter what our status, we are all the people of Aster, and at this moment, what we are guarding is not the country of the nobility, not the land of the nobility, but our country, our land."

Erwin remembered the young and promising priest, the young man who practiced chivalry.

"Astor is big, but we have no way back, because behind us is the royal capital Camillo. Now we have two choices, do we fight until the last moment and fight for our homeland, family, land, or give up the fight and let others ravage, enslave and trample? Her Royal Highness Princess Eliephiles has stepped forward to save us, she is only a fifteen-year-old girl, and you, do you choose to live up to her will and turn your back on her will? ”

As he spoke, he raised his staff.

"I ask you, what is your choice?"

Erwin pointed to a soldier in front of him, who was still confused, hesitant to answer.

"You, what's your choice?"

It was another soldier, and the other party wanted to speak again and again, but in the end he still did not speak.

"What about you, what is your choice?"

Another soldier was also silent.

There was no word for a long time.

In the evening of Merrill, only the barking of dogs in the deep alleys and the howling of the night wind echoed in my ears.

And the first to break this silence was Viscount Kars.

"Fight for Aster!"

It was a loud and powerful cry that resounded throughout the city.

“...... Fight for Aster! ”

In the crowd, there was a quick response.

"For Her Royal Highness the Princess!" "For Aster!" "For our home!" "Get the Wendland brutes out of our house!" "Avenge Her Royal Highness the Princess!" "Astor will never be a slave!"

The entire square was instantly overwhelmed by all kinds of slogans, and the morale that was originally low and even a little uneasy was extremely high in the blink of an eye, and there was no confusion and hesitation in the eyes of the soldiers, only the glow of firm will.

"Lord Elwin, you've said it so well."

Viscount Kars's expression was excited, and he seemed to be enthusiastic.

"If it weren't for the words of that young man, I might not have understood that Astel was not the Astel of the nobles, but the Astel of the people, and I would not have said such a thing."

Erwin said with a shallow smile on his face, and then moved his gaze to the distance, where the newly rising Moon Ayerslan was, which was the direction of the Misty Forest.

"Get in touch with General Strass, we need to prepare for the transfer."

Speaking in an extremely serious tone, Erwin's words turned into white mist, drifting away in the winter night wind.