The shadow of war hangs over the continent, but the city of Kyoto in San Jose is one of the quietest and most peaceful cities on the continent. Rich and moderate, far from the battlefield, the people lived peacefully in this magnificent city, unaware that their emperor and beloved cabinet ministers were facing the current situation.

"King Lucius, this proposal from half a year ago has been on my desk, and to be honest, the excitement brought by this proposal keeps me awake at night. Although I am an emperor with no ambitions, in the face of the current situation, this proposal cannot help but be moved. ”

The King of Benin, holding a letter of plan at the Imperial Council, said in a deep voice, "But I also know what you are worried about. Desik is Desik after all, we in San Jose are perennially peaceful, and our army, nobles, and ministers are not ready for war. The problem now is that if we don't come to the aid of the Merchant, then the Merchant will be crushed, and if we come to the aid of the Merchant, then we will face a direct attack from the Desiks. ”

"So, my majesty, what exactly do you mean?" Dirk couldn't help but get up and asked.

"What I mean, what I mean is, if we really want to fight Desik, then should we consider this proposal made by King Lucius half a year ago? ”

"Oh no, my majesty, you take it for granted. At this time, the door of the hall was pushed open, and the Grand Magister of Merlin, dressed in a gold-rimmed robe, walked in with his head held high, "Forgive me for being late, Your Majesty, the court magician has just received important information." ”

"Let's not talk about that, Merlin, why do you say I take it for granted?" the Benin Emperor was a little displeased.

Merlin smiled and walked to the front table and stood still, and after a while, a large amount of light began to appear on the front table. "It's another trick!" thought several cabinet ministers.

"Your Majesty, you see, in King Lucius's original plan, it was the Desik army and the merchant alliance army that had been in a stalemate for a long time in the northern mountains of the Manning Kingdom, and a large number of troops could not be mobilized on the front line of the battlefield. Now, the battle situation is no longer what it used to be, and the Desik army, with more than 100,000 men, has occupied a large part of the territory of Manning, Carlin, White Harbor, Kosok, Carthage and other countries. At this point, if we carry out this plan, the Deciks can easily bring their army on the Western Front back to defend it, and then we will lose more than we lose. ”

Count Mosick, the Minister of War of San Jose and the Supreme Military Commander, stood up and took a closer look at Merlin's demonstration, "If this happens, then won't the military pressure on the Merchant Alliance be greatly reduced, and the Desiks will not be able to continue to oppress the Merchant Alliance." ”

Merlin smiled and withdrew his magic demo, "You can't say that. In this way, whether it is us and Desik will become the main sides of the war. It's better to get involved in the war from the beginning. ”

Everyone present was silent, the words of the Grand Magister Merlin were not wrong, in the end, this matter still needs a decision, whether to join or not to join this war.

The Emperor of Benin was also silent for a long time, and finally suddenly remembered something, raised his head and asked, "Master Merlin, what urgent matter did you say the court magician was dealing with just now, what happened?"

"Oh, not a big deal. His Majesty had asked the court magicians to thoroughly investigate the activities of the Dark Magicians in San Jose, and now there seemed to be some clues. I asked all the magicians above the intermediate level in Kyoto Castle to go to various places to investigate, and now there is some feedback one after another. In general, the penetration of the Rise of Darkness into our country is still limited, probably because of the fear of the existence of court magicians. ”

"That's good, that's good. The Emperor of Benin nodded with satisfaction.

"Then, my majesty", the Minister Dirk on the side suddenly got up, "Regarding this war between the Shang Alliance and Desik, we have been discussing it since half a year ago. Now, the Grand Duke of Tra of the Merchant Alliance has personally brought the final proposal. It's been five days, and we still need to give them a conclusion in the end. ”

Benin's eyes scanned the people present, and finally landed on the body of the Grand Magister of Merlin, "Merlin, I have heard all their opinions, tell me what you mean, don't forget that you are also a cabinet minister of the Imperial Council." ”

"Hehe, my majesty, you know, this is not my forte. But let me tell you what I mean, our assistance to the Shang Alliance should be mainly material aid for the time being, and there should be no military intervention for the time being. In the short term, in a winter like the present, it is unlikely that the Desiks will make further big moves. I think we can deal with the business alliance first. However, I think our army needs to be ready at all times, and my majesty, should you go to the front to inspect the army and cheer them up. ”

The Minister of War, Count Mosik, couldn't help but stand up at this time, "Master Merlin, you are a layman, the army has its own officers at all levels, where is the use of His Majesty the Emperor to go there in person." What a bad idea you have!"

Master Merlin was not angry, "I'm just telling you my opinion, Your Majesty is not strange!" Emperor Benin waved his hand to show that he didn't mind, "It's okay, it's okay, you can do what Master Merlin said first, so as not to respond to all changes, this is the best way to deal with it at present." Ministers, do you agree?"

Everyone present thought for a long time and raised their hands one after another. After a few days of discussion, everyone was exhausted, and they couldn't think of a better way, and the decision to fight was not so easy to make.

Duke Terra and Princess Lolita waited at the embassy for San Jose's Foreign Secretary, Langton, who brought the final resolution of the San Jose Council on the proposal of the Merchant Alliance. In this resolution, San Jose rejected the offer of the Merchant Alliance and its own alliance, but instead chose to provide the Merchant Alliance with an interest-free loan of about 3 million Merchant League gold coins, which the Merchant Alliance could choose to use to purchase military supplies (including but not limited to weapons, armor, Crossbow Arrows), or in his own name, he can hire no more than three court mages (not including Lolita beginner mages) from San Jose, and at the same time, San Jose can provide a group of military instructors of about 50 people to the Shang Alliance free of charge to help the Shang Alliance train his new army.

There is nothing more in this resolution. After carefully reviewing all the terms, the Duke of Terra knew that this was already the most favorable terms that San Jose could offer under the current conditions. Although it is a little far away from the original wish of the Shang Alliance, after all, those requests are really a bit naïve.

Lolita was silent on the side, and Duke Tra quietly whispered, "Princess Lolita, do you think there is a need to fight again?" Lolita shook her head slightly.

"Okay, Lord Langton, on behalf of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Business Alliance, I accept your decision, let's sign the contract as soon as possible, the Business Alliance can't afford to wait. The Duke of Tra straightened up and decided to accept the agreement. Seeing him like this, Chancellor Langton, who had been holding his breath, also breathed a sigh of relief, he stood up and hugged the Grand Duke of Terra, "I wish us a happy cooperation!"

Duke Tra turned around and patted Langton, "Happy cooperation!"

As Langton left the embassy district, he was about to board his horse when he heard a voice like a silver bell behind him, "Please wait, Lord Langton." ”

Langton turned around and found that it was Princess Lolita who chased him out of the embassy, and he was curious, "Princess Lolita, is there something wrong?"

"Say in the car!" Lolita replied with only three words, lifted the hem of her skirt, and preemptively boarded Langton's carriage, Langton was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and got into the carriage with a wry smile.

It turned out that Lolita wanted to make a request to the Emperor of San José through Langton. As a court magician, she has her own way of knowing what is happening at the Imperial Council, and although the Emperor of Benin directly rejected the proposal of the Grand Magister of Merlin, he did not want to arouse Lolita's interest.

On behalf of the San Jose royal family, he went to the border army to comfort the soldiers and review the troops to boost their morale. This is the request that Lolita makes, and of course she has her own purpose, which cannot be told to the people of San Jose. So he had to make this decision, and through Lord Langton, he used his status as a princess to propose it directly to Emperor San Jose.

Lolita's purpose is simple, go to the border army, use her status as a princess, and try to see if she can entrap a group of San Jose officers and a small number of troops. The situation on the mainland is so complicated right now that if San Jose keeps his troops moving, then he may be able to do something about it. This is the idea that Lolita came up with for a few days at the embassy, and it is quite immature.

But who made the San Jose Emperor Benin such an unreliable emperor, this whimsical idea, somehow got his approval. "Well, I think Lolita's suggestion is interesting, doesn't Master Merlin want the royals to go and review the soldiers to prepare for war. Since I can't go, Lolita is a royal princess and a court magician, and this identity is still very suitable. ”

The original words of the Emperor of Benin are like this, several cabinet ministers have been entangled in affairs these days and are helpless, and they are not willing to think more about this matter, anyway, it is their San Jose royal business, and they can do whatever they want. Besides, Princess Lolita is such a soft and weak little girl, there will be no problem.

So, at the same time as the Grand Duke of Terra returned to the Shang League, Lolita, accompanied by fifty guards sent by the Count of Mosick, headed for the border of the Morro River in the north. Her mission was to inspect and comfort the border defenders on behalf of the San Jose royal family, the first of which was the Northern Border Guards.

The Emperor of Benin did not explain his purpose to the cabinet ministers, believing that Lolita's suggestion might be a sign of her growing recognition of the San Jose royal family. I agreed to her proposal, and in the future, she may recognize her princess status more and more, isn't this the reason why she kept her princess title in the first place.

In the maelstrom of San Jose, everyone has their own agendas, the emperor, the ministers, the mages, and so does Lolita.