The changing of seasons continued unabatedly around the harbor of Ampesel, the increasingly dense forests began to cover the green hills, and the excavations outside the harbor did not completely hide the news, and since the departure of the artisan wizard of Buga, rumors of the Azure Spear have continued to spread.

"It's been an eventful time."

Wood rubbed his brow and stared at a page of snow-white letterhead on the mahogany tabletop, a premium product from the forest frontier east of Cruz, next to the four-leaf clover field. There was still a faint smell of scorching in the corner of the letterhead, a trace peculiar to the magical imprint left by the fire magic. This sigil was supposed to be four pairs of eagles with wings spread before it was erased, representing the Sanctuary of Fire - or rather, the highest level of the Cruz Empire's secret documents.

He looked up and sat at the mahogany table for a moment, staring at the opposite wall with his thick eyebrows a little ethereal for a moment. Then the former high priest of the temple suddenly ignited a golden flame on his hand, and with a slight shake of his hand, the charred letter paper suddenly turned into a cloud of flying ashes.

Wood carefully arranged the embers on the table before straightening up and straightening out the golden sacrificial robes. The news on the secret letter confirmed the information that had been circulating in the port in recent days, but in fact, he had already learned about it from the young Count Toniger.

The Eruin had no intention of hiding him, or at least not on the surface—the Azure Spear was indeed stored in Ampesel. But this is pointless, because the Bugas have already transported it away.

Wood's expression was uncertain, his mind recounting the message contained in the event. I don't know if it was the determination of Her Royal Highness the little princess of Eruin, or the shrewdness of the young Earl, but the benefits they had gained from the Bugas with the Azure Spear were already obvious.

He couldn't help but look back and look out the window, where the pale red, undulating roofs of the port of Ampesel hung from the glass. Splitting the sunlight that spills on the mahogany table into strange shapes.

It's a vibrant city. But it no longer belongs to the Sanctuary of Fire.

Wood didn't really feel anything about this, and the temple made a mistake that should be paid for. The point is that at least this kingdom still believes in the way of Jin Yan. Their people have not deviated from their reverence for the Flame Temple, and Wood has never been too concerned about worldly interests.

But what really worries him. It's inside the Temple—no, it's the Empire's higher-ups who covet the Azure Spear. Greed blinds the heart, especially for the nobles. Even he himself suffered.

But the rhetoric of the letter seems to indicate that His Majesty the Emperor himself should have been moved. After all, it's the Azure Spear, the most famous weapon in the Cangzhi Poem-to this level, it's no longer something he can change. In the previous position of the High Priest, he might be able to think of some solutions, but now it is no longer something he can worry about, and he can only hope that the holders inside the Fire Temple can be more reasonable. See where the true teachings of the Flame King lie.

He sighed, took off the celebrant's hat and put it on his head, and opened the door. The knights loyal to the Templars were already waiting outside. His deputy, no longer Brother Guy before. Since serving as the Sanctuary of Fire's liaison with the Eruin royal family, his lieutenant has been replaced by a more savvy officer. That man must have come from the diplomatic apparatus at the heart of the empire. Wood only had to look at the details of his dress to show his gestures - this man's name was Peter, and he was extremely sleek, and when he saw Wood, he immediately bowed his head deeply, revealing his oily bald head, and greeted respectfully: "Lord Priest, is it about the Holy Sword Odyspheus?" ”

Wood glanced at him, as if to see through the fellow, and then replied lightly, "This is a secret of the Temple, and if necessary, I will sue you." ”

"I understand." Peter replied with a smile.

Wood turned back to the fact that the fragment of the Holy Sword Odysphes, which Williams had lost in the Battle of Ampesel, was not important in itself, and the Templars had agreed to exchange a new frigate for the fragments of the Holy Sword with Brando, but the key was the will and soul of the Holy Sword.

That Count Tonygel's identity is extremely special, and there are even shadows of silver elves and dragons behind him, which makes the upper echelons of the temple feel very troublesome. What's more, the other side does not seem to have any intention of joining the empire, so the opinions of the top leaders are not unanimous, on the one hand, they should obey the choice of the Flame King, and on the other hand, the opinions are much tougher.

This is another trouble.

After too many years of being on top, the Temple of Flame has become a little arrogant and even indifferent to things outside, and some elders even have the idea of assassination, not to mention how ridiculous it is to assassinate a nobleman under the rule of the Temple of Fire. What really angered Wood was that these people seemed to have forgotten the teachings of the sages.

Whether you want the empire or the truth, a hundred years earlier, this is not a problem for the Temple of Fire. Since the Cruz Revolution, although the centripetal force of the empire has been increasing, the weight of royal power has increased day by day, and it has begun to threaten the very foundation of Cruz's existence.

Ironically, some people are not even aware of the problem.

Wood's meeting today was still the representative of the northern nobles who were still stranded in the port of Ampesel, and although the things on the table were more and more onerous, the war was still the first priority for the affairs left in Eruin.

For the war of golden-maned toquinine. It is not known whether the eldest son of the king was fully prepared, although he swore a promise when he made it, but the Sifah family had already suffered a great loss in this war. What's more, as a puppet, how much prestige it can have is still unknown.

The temple would never put much effort into a bet that was bound to fail. Wood could only hope that His Royal Highness, the eldest son of the king, would also understand this. Luckily, he was a smart guy and wouldn't be too naïve.

He walked out of the door with his deputy, but it was at this time that a subordinate came to him and bowed down and said, "Lord Priest, there is a special visitor. ”

"Special visitor?"

Wood stopped.

The bald Peter had already stepped forward to chase people out: "You fellow, don't you see that the priest has something to do?" There are no visitors, as long as they are not guests from the Empire. Let them wait a moment—"

Wood interrupted. Reaching out to stop the guy, "Is it a guest from the Empire?" ”

Peter froze.

"Yes." The servant replied respectfully.

"Tell them to wait, I'll be there right away." Wood thought for a moment. He replied with a frown.

But before he could finish speaking, a stern woman's voice rang out: "No need, Priest Wood. You know the habits under it. We've arrived. ”

Wood was slightly startled when he heard this voice, and he looked up. Sure enough, I saw that woman with a great reputation in the empire -

She actually came.

……

In contrast to the sunny surroundings of Ampesel, the countryside becomes cloudy and rainy as you cross the vast Vlada forest in the north and enter the Paidarsun. Heavy rains over the past few days have caused the Maji River to swell and the roads around Majitan to become muddy and impassable.

In the pouring rain, the black ghostly carriage jolted through the trees, and the curtains of the windows were raised. In the dark carriage behind him, an eye as faintly white as a dead fish's eye stared motionlessly at the gloomy scenery outside the window.

The gloomy clouds crumbled like a shroud over the forest, and even though it was noon, the sky was dark.

"What is the Captain of the Blue of the Sky doing in Ampesel? Declaring war on the Eruins? A hoarse voice asked. Then he sneered. I think this joke is very funny.

The sneer in the carriage made people shudder, and after a while another voice said, "I'm afraid it's for the war in the north." ”

"If you think so. It's not far from the gallows. The Cruz don't need to be distracted by a small Toquinine, they suffered a big loss in the battle of Ampesel and don't want to give the Buga any more hands. The third one who spoke, his voice was calm, stern and full of majesty.

As soon as he spoke, the others fell silent.

"The Temple of Fire has lost both face and inside in Ampesel, and on the surface they have not won much from us, but in fact the ultimate winner is neither us nor them." The voice paused: "There is a wise princess in Eruin. ”

"Lord Duke," someone dared to say at this point, "are you saying that we have attracted the attention of the Sanctuary of Fire?" ”

"Chances are, it's impossible for the Cruz to go unnoticed, do you really think you're going to be able to do it seamlessly?" A majestic voice replied.

"So what should we do?"

There was no answer, and there was silence in the carriage for a moment, except for the creaking and swaying of the carriage. After a while, the hoarse voice at first said, "Just find a way to delay—"

"So that's what we're here for."

The majestic voice replied.

At this time, the carriage finally stopped in the middle of its journey, and a blue-black castle appeared in the rain curtain in front of it, and the soldiers shouted on the battlements, but the sound could not pass through the rain curtain. At last the door of the carriage opened, and from it jumped a cloaked swordsman.

The swordsman looked up, his bearded face under his hood looking like that of an Anlek or a wandering knight from the North, but Brando would have recognized the name of the other man here.

Eagle Swordsman, Dejar.

"Open the gates, here is your Earl's most honored guest." He shouted.

"Who are you?" From the top of the city came the sound of soldiers questioning.

"We are the allies he wants to see the most, go and sue him, if you don't want to be hanged by Her Royal Highness the Princess, open the door and let us in immediately!" Dejar replied haughtily.

This question and answer can be described as rude as such, but the soldiers were about to attack, but the eagle swordsman threw an object far away from the city. He watched the thing fall into the city in a beautiful parabola in the heavy rain before he shouted:

"Take this to Jean Denel, he'll understand!"

"Go, fool!"

……