The inference of the young non-commissioned officer from Yanilasu seemed to instill a glimmer of hope that if they could easily reach Rune, then, according to Brando, they should have a good chance of leaving Anzloa; Everyone thinks so, as long as they get on the boat and go out to sea, then the people of Qiaogendigang will be out of reach, and for those cave-dwelling monsters from the underground, at least on the surface of the sea - it is still the world of the Empire. The discussion soon became lively, but while everyone else was still thinking about how to get out of the predicament, the Countess from Yanbao thought about something further later.

She asked, "What about the route we take after we leave the port?" To Metz or Cloak Bay? ”

The others were silent for a moment, and finally Oni replied, "I think we should go to Cloak Bay, Metz is under the control of the White Legion, and we can't enter the queen's sphere of influence until we have confirmed her attitude." She seemed to have finally accepted the possibility that the queen had betrayed the Empire, and took the lead in substituting the speculation in the conversation.

"No, no, no," Kiara shook her head, "Cloak Bay is the consistent sphere of influence of the Cecil family, controlled by the Temple of Fire, on the surface it seems to be the farthest from the queen's control, but in fact, since everyone understands this truth, then the queen must also understand this, if on weekdays, it is naturally the farthest place from the supreme of the empire, but now, I think it may be the center of the whirlpool." ”

"That's not unreasonable......"

"So we're going to Metz, but what about the White Legion?"

"Regardless of the White Legion, in addition to the White Legion in the north, there are also the territories of Ludwig and Archduke Herlix, in this kind of place where the local power is complex and deep-rooted, it is the most difficult place for the imperial power to interfere. The more times like these, the less likely it is that Her Majesty will have her hands free to sort out the intricate relationships of these places, so it is safe for us to go there. Kiara replied.

The others looked at Brando, who nodded slightly, thinking to himself that these noble descendants were not really useless. At least now the plan they came up with was very feasible, he thought for a moment and replied, "Go to Metz." ”

Chiara is right, the northern aristocracy is intricately intertwined, the territories of several grand dukes are mixed with the forces of the military nobility, no matter how powerful the queen is, it is impossible to free up her hands to sort them out in a short period of time, so the north is the best place to fish in troubled waters. But there was one thing he had in mind, and Chiara didn't guess it, and Brando wanted to wait for the situation to become clearer in the north before acting: as he said. Whoever the Silver Queen was up against didn't matter to him - whether it was the Temple of Fire or a certain duke, he couldn't afford to be on the opposite side of anyone else, so he didn't want to be caught in the maelstrom.

It was a last resort to confront the Dragon Queen, but in any case, now that he knew about the 'conspiracy' of the Queen, what he had to do now was to try not to go to those sensitive areas, so as not to provoke the Queen to ask her to do something drastic. In his opinion, Metz was very good—both under the control of Her Majesty the Queen. And outside of her control, it is a safe distance for both parties, at least it will not make the other party miscalculate.

In fact, the civil strife in the empire is undoubtedly what Brando wants to see the most, of course, provided that he is not provoked by the flames, and he feels that the best situation in the next place is to watch the Queen Xià and the Temple of Fire fight from this safe distance. Then find a chance to rescue Akane, of course, it's a bit difficult, but a proper dream is good for relaxation, isn't it?

He thought about it for a moment, and then said, "One more thing, I don't think you want to make a fuss about the trouble that you managed to escape from Anzloa. It's been sunk by the Imperial Navy again, right, so we have to contact the Imperial side beforehand, we have to assume that we can have any port in Metz to stop, who can do that? ”

"Lord Earl...... If you don't worry, I might be able to give it a try," Brando's voice replied as soon as he finished speaking, and another stammering voice replied, and Brando looked back and found that it was the wide-bodied young master Ephram, in his memory, the other party would never take the initiative to speak on such an occasion, and couldn't help but look at this guy with some surprise. "But," Affram was a little embarrassed, "probably only in the commercial port......"

"That's enough." Brando waved his hand: "Good job, Epram, I really didn't expect your family to have connections within the empire, and Grand Duke Karasu is worthy of his reputation." ”

His words are not a compliment, in the empire, except for Yanbao, the nobles who are connected with the empire are already rare in this era, even if it is a powerful figure like the grand duke of Enrik, in the empire it is just an unknown person, except for some areas south of Anzeruta and those well-informed people within the empire, there are not necessarily many people who have heard the name of this grand duke.

And Grand Duke Karasu was able to keep in touch with the empire at this time, and even maintain a network that seemed to be quite good, which is indeed extraordinary ability.

Efram was also a little embarrassed by Brando's compliment, and couldn't help but smile, since the mission set off from Eruin, this was the first time he had found a sense of accomplishment in a formal setting, and he couldn't help but feel very proud for a while. Although he might not have looked down on a hillbilly like Brando from a remote area earlier, after this series of events, he vaguely felt that he could be praised by such a legendary count, which could be regarded as a kind of ability.

Brando didn't expect things to go so smoothly, he didn't have much hope for this combination, but he didn't expect that the descendants of these nobles in the legation were more capable than he imagined - but it should be so, they were born into aristocratic families, both in terms of education and vision far higher than the commoners of their time, except for a few geniuses, in such an environment, they were not really incapable, but they were just willing to fall, but once they had motivation. It is not inconceivable that the knowledge and experience that have been acquired have been transformed into an outstanding ability, and that these abilities have been combined to achieve the current situation.

After the discussion was over, everyone began to take action - to organize the plan and arrange the route. Counting the food and the weapons and ammunition reserves in the envoys, and of course, the most important thing is to appease the Cruz nobles, and they can't see the clues, everyone is busy with their feet, only Roman, Princess Magdal and the silver dragon Mithriel are extraordinarily idle, as for the leisure of the merchant lady, it seems that she is innate, and she can always find a way to be lazy. Lady Silverdragon, on the other hand, looked at the human world's way of doing things with some curiosity, and asked Brando, "As a lord." Is this how you control your men in your daily life? "It's a ridiculous question.

"Wasn't that what humans were like a thousand years ago?"

"It's a little different." Mithriel replied as she stared at the members of the Eruin Legation and the Cruz nobles in the woods.

"Miss Mithreel, haven't you ever returned to the human world for a thousand years?" Magdal looked back at her in some surprise.

"As adult dragons, we have to interfere as little as possible in the mortal world, and besides, most of us are lazy and too lazy to leave the Valley of the Dragons, and if it weren't for something special this time, I wouldn't have met Malthus." Mithreel didn't hide it, and replied truthfully.

"I see—"

The three of them were silent for a moment. But Princess Magdal was smart at heart, and naturally understood that Brando had deliberately left her behind for another purpose. She paused for a moment before asking, "Lord Count, do you want to know something about the inside of the Flame Temple?" ”

Brando glanced at the latter with a slight surprise, not expecting her to guess what she thought, and he was stunned for a moment before nodding slightly.

"We said it before. You've heard it all as well, Her Majesty's behavior is very unusual, and I wonder why the Temple of Fire doesn't seem to react in the slightest on the surface. ”

"Your question, Lord Earl, makes me a little embarrassed." Princess Magdal frowned slightly. Then he smiled wryly.

"What, is there some secret involved?" Brando asked, "If that were the case, Her Highness would not have to answer." ”

"Not really."

Princess Magdal sighed softly.

……

The Flame Temple's current situation really began one hundred and fifty years ago, when the son of Grantody the Great was still in power, under the construction of the old Prime Minister Nedwin, the local and military aristocracy was supported and encircled, and the three-legged situation of today's empire was gradually formed, and the transcendent status of the Temple of Flame for nearly six centuries since the year of revelation gradually collapsed. When the new aristocracy and the insatiable leading aristocracy pressed forward to divide the empire into two, the royal family finally won a respite between the cracks, and when the father of the Silver Queen, the eleventh son of the Grantody the Great, died, the great monarch once held a sword in one hand and a scepter in the other, as if to show off his life's work.

After the death of His Majesty the Emperor, the Silver Queen ascended the throne and gradually began to withdraw the excessive power in the hands of the local nobility, on the one hand, she continued to suppress the Temple of Fire, but on the other hand, she began to be wary of the noble lords of the north, and the hidden dangers buried by her father's excesses were solved one by one in her hands, although the iron-blooded queen had a bad reputation among the nobles, but she was also the tough-wielding female emperor in the history of Cruz.

It can be said that she paved the way for Cruz's reforms, and behind her, the Emperor's eldest son, Lenaret, made the Empire's eagle soar through the sky - at the height of the Empire, and even the only country on the Vaund continent that could be as powerful as the Madara, which was the only country on the continent of Vaund that could be as powerful as it was at that time - the Empire's nearly thirty years of weakness since the defeat of the Four Realms in the Silver Year, and after that, the Cruz Empire ushered in the height of royal power.

This is the original history that Brando is familiar with, the rise of the Cruz royal power and the fall of the clergy, but only a few people in this world know that this history has long been unrecognizable from the moment Jorgendegon set foot in the earthly world.

Neither a sage like Detes of Waldener, who has an eye for the future, nor a figure like Valra, who is as wise as the Palace of the Lion, cannot perceive this.

It's just that for every generation of clergy who were born in the era of frog singing and experienced the whole process of the temple from prosperity to decline, this past history is full of strange heaviness and unwillingness, so that many documents that record this history are sealed in the Hall of Candles. The words are full of helplessness and sighs; And every clergyman who has read this history will involuntarily give birth to too many ifs in their hearts.

If the clergy of the previous generation had not been so arrogant and arrogant, if the priests of Roscher's generation had come to terms with the power of themselves and the local nobility earlier, and if the temple had not been so gullible about the so-called absolute control of believers and beliefs for centuries, perhaps Cruz would be different today.

Like some of the low-ranking clergy, Rava enjoyed reading literature about the Temple's past in the aisles of the Hall of Candles. However, as the head of the Holy See of the Lion Palace, he still enjoys some small privileges - such as a special place, a comfortable chair, and a special candlestick; Most of the monks were familiar with some of the small habits of His Excellency the Great Priest, so they would arrange this qiē in advance, and this great man, who had been in charge of the religion since the year of Qin, also enjoyed this small special treatment.

It's not about comfort, it's a symbol of power.

Unique, supreme.

Rava was not a man of lust for power, compared to the aristocracy who were truly drunk and dreamed of death. His life was actually more like that of a true ascetic, without much enjoyment, and even a little too poor for a person in his position, he rarely appeared in the eyes of the believers, although he was said to be famous in the imperial capital, but not many people really knew him, among his few rivals and allies - that queen Xià might be counted as one.

But Rava was very focused on his authority, which he considered to be one of the most important things the temple had lost in the past century because of its lack of attention.

Today as always. After reading the last paragraph, the high priest put down the silk bookmark. Closing the book and flicking his fingers, the flame on the silver candlestick flickered before extinguishing, and he meticulously put everything back in place, but instead of getting up from his chair, he put his hand on the red robe. Quietly waiting.

Moments later, Sidney, known as the statue of the Virgin of the Lion Palace, came from the other end of the corridor like a ghost.

The lady glanced at the books on the shelves that had been moved—as usual, the books that Vala read most often were still records related to that period of history, and she frowned slightly with a blank expression, but said nothing. He replied only in an endorsing tone: "Archduke Helix was only assassinated and wounded, and now lives in the Rose Garden, and as for the rumors, they were invented by a man named Nichol. ”

"Who's that?" Vala asked.

"An inconsequential little man who has been hiding in Accordion Alley for the most recent time."

"And now?"

"In the dungeons of the Inquisition—"

"Did you ask something?"

"This man took over with Eugene half a month ago."

As if thinking about a question, Vala also focused her gaze on the silver candlestick, motionless. After a while, he asked, "Is it Eugene, the high-ranking priest of the Kocha Leader?" ”

Sidney nodded.

Vala pursed her lips suddenly, her snow-white eyebrows furrowed, Sidney's answer made him feel that this was a split and betrayal from within the Temple, and the Kocha led around Rusta, and the importance of the high priests in this region was self-evident to the Temple of Fire: "He was the first to respond to the call of Her Majesty the Queen, and there were eleven other people who arrived in Rusthta with him, to investigate them." ”

"Caesar, he's already done it."

"Have you found out who killed Duke Helix?"

"It seems to be the same people."

Vala frowned slightly, sniffing a hint of conspiracy, it was not just a betrayal, someone was targeting the Temple, and he was keenly aware of it.

The enemies of the Temple in the empire are none other than three parties, the unruly military nobles in the north of Metz, the southern nobles in the south of Anzeruta led by the Parut family, plus Her Majesty the Queen, who did it?

"Recently, His Majesty and Prime Minister Nidwin have been very close." Sidney said again at this time.

Vala raised her eyebrows: "Who sued you?" ”

"Duke Cecil."

"What else did he say?"

Sidney didn't say a word, she wasn't a man of words, but Vala seemed to understand what she meant.

Her Majesty, what does she want to do?

"One more thing."

"Huh?"

"About a month ago, Niedwin's daughter went to Anzloa." Sidney replied quietly.

"Niedwin's daughter," Vala thought for a moment before realizing that Sidney was talking about little Nedwin, and he was in a slight trance and asked with some confusion, "It's the stubborn little girl, I remember her name, Delphien, yes, that's the name." Vala tapped her forehead with her fingers, and suddenly frowned, "She went to Anzlova, what did she go there a month ago?" ”

…… (To be continued......)