After the pre-battle meeting, Elwood hurried to the gate, where the captain of the guard, Mirodich, was already waiting.

"Your Majesty, the path of the procession has been chosen, and the carriages and personnel are in place. ”

"Very well, let's get started. Elwood nodded.

Recently, some people in Santa Massa City have been panicking, and the magic crystals that recorded the battle in Seta City have somehow secretly flowed here, coupled with the Lionheart Empire's brazen declaration of war, and Lehart VII's troops are directly aimed at Santa Massa, all of which make the residents living here feel like a black cloud is overwhelming.

So Elwood had to do something, and this afternoon he walked out of the Palace of Love, stood on the golden crown, and went out into the street, face to face with hundreds of thousands of terrified believers.

Looking at the black believers on the road, Elwood's face showed a kind smile, and he said slowly, "I know that you are afraid, afraid of the coming of night, afraid that barbarism will tear civilization apart, and evil will replace justice...... Yes, in a sense your fears are right, we are now in the midst of an incredibly difficult war, with 220,000 Imperial invaders standing at our doorstep, and perhaps another village has been slaughtered and looted by them as I speak. ”

The carriage stopped in the middle of the road, and Ellwood stepped out of the carriage amid an exclamation, and despite the dissuasion of the guards on the side, he came to the crowd, took a little girl's palm, and said softly, "Child, do you have any relatives outside the city?"

The little girl nodded, tears rolling in her eyes.

"My aunt lives in Sucrose Village, she is a good person, every time she comes to see me, she brings a lot of delicious food, Grandpa Pope, will the invaders of the empire kill her?"

"I don't know, child, I don't know, the gods sometimes test us, and that's to make us stronger and humble. Elwood crouched down and took out a handkerchief to wipe the tears from the girl's eyes, "But I think I do owe you an apology, in fact it's not just ......you," the old man stood up, turned his gaze, and looked at the others, "I owe all of you an apology, as the guardian of the Holy Alliance, I failed to protect your relatives and compatriots, and allowed the enemy's iron horse to set foot on our land, which is my greatest dereliction of duty." ”

After saying this, Ellwood took off the crown from his head, bowed deeply to the crowd, and who took the head first, and the believers in the street fell to their knees.

"I really don't have the face to continue to sit in this position after making such a big mistake. The old man paused, "However, given the situation we find ourselves in, I need to continue to do my duty to unite everyone against the invaders from the Empire, so I can only continue to command this war as a guilty person." ”

"It's not your Majesty's fault, it's the savage Imperials!" someone shouted, "they have launched a dastardly sneak attack! they must be made to pay!!" and his words were echoed by many before he could finish his sentence.

"The Lehhardts are a bunch of butchers! we must fight back and let them know how powerful the Allies are !!"

Ulwood was very satisfied with the high anti-war mood of the people at this time, pressed his hands down, signaled the crowd to be quiet, and then continued, "Our army has built a strong defense line in the path of the invaders, and our warriors will be there to meet those Imperials, and with the protection of the gods, we will definitely win this war, so it is not a military thing that worries me." Elwood's tone changed, "I know you've heard some of this these days...... Bad rumors, like the whispers of the devil in the ears of men, have you ever doubted, my children, have you ever doubted your faith? but, as a wise man once said, the invaders will never admit that they are invaders, and they will do everything in their power to glorify their barbarism, and all of them, these lies and slanders, have only one goal— That is to divide us, because they know very well how strong we are together, and they fear us, which is why they resort to such despicable means, but as long as the conviction in our hearts is strong enough, their plot will not succeed. ”

The old man's tone was sonorous and powerful, and the crowd erupted in cheers after a brief silence, which swept through the city like a wave in a very short time, and the believers chanted the names of the gods one by one, as if they had gained strength and courage from them.

Ellwood maintained the light and smile on his face, and at the same time secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, he knew that after this public speech, at least the troubles in the city of Santa Massa were solved, and as long as the foundation was stabilized, the next question was how to win this battle.

Speaking of which, Elwood also has to thank Lehart VII, if it weren't for the latter's brazen war against the Holy Alliance, it would not be easy to gather the hearts and minds of the people who were gradually lost, and now that Elwood has not only found a way to explain those rumors, but also can divert the public's attention through this war, as long as he sends people to spread the atrocities of the imperial invaders, naturally no one will believe the previous rumors.

If necessary, Elwood wouldn't even mind sending out the people of the Inquisition disguised as Imperial soldiers to slaughter one or two villages, well, it is better to choose the sugar village mentioned by the little girl just now, which can arouse the hatred of the people against the empire to the greatest extent.

Elwood was a little distracted, and he was still thinking about how to better use this public opinion to change the passive position of the church after the incident in Seta City, but he didn't notice that the surroundings suddenly fell silent.

"Your Majesty, if you really want everyone to come together, why don't you tell them the truth, we lost all contact with the gods a few months ago, didn't we?" Bishop Wenger walked out of the crowd.

Everyone was in an uproar when they heard this, the temple has long regarded itself as the spokesman of the gods in the world, but now listening to Bishop Wenger, the church can no longer get any information from the gods, has the gods really abandoned mankind?

Elwood was furious, he didn't expect Wenger to stand up and dismantle the stage at such a time, if it was someone else, Elwood could still use the identity of the Pope to suppress the other party, but Wenger was the leader of the previous anti-Vannell V forces, and his prestige among the people was very high, so although Elwood was angry, he still suppressed the anger in his chest, and said in a friendly manner, "Bishop Wenger, I know that you have always been dissatisfied with not being able to become the pope, but there is something we can talk about in private, and the most important thing at the moment is to fight the invaders." ”

Elwood is hinting that Wenger can give the latter some compensation as long as he stops now, and he is also ready to clean up the remnants left by Vannell V anyway, and there will be a lot of vacant positions at that time, and it is not impossible to give Wenger a cardinal seat.

But what he didn't expect was that the other party's attitude changed at all, and he shook his head and said, "I don't think there is anything between us that needs to be discussed in private." ”

(End of chapter)