In the dark glade, the black dragon and the blue-clothed girl stood opposite each other, both of them unexpectedly calm. The sound of other dragons arguing about the distribution of the spoils was faintly heard, but Willett was unmoved.

If it weren't for the pile of minced meat that belonged to Camilla not long ago, it would be a little hard to believe that the two were still rivals just now.

"I think Her Royal Highness should be prepared to make this request, right?"

Iroh shifted into a comfortable position, and the same elegant lingua franca came out of his mouth. If it weren't for his hideous appearance, Villelet might have thought that he was facing a well-educated aristocratic young master.

"Allow me to take a moment of your time and tell you what happened. ”

The girl took one last look at the dead thief Maggie, turned back resolutely, and saluted the dragon slightly.

It turned out that the girl's real name was not Willet, but ...... Bella Gerald, the youngest princess of the kingdom of Falkenridge.

The kingdom of Falkenridge and the Duchy of Stacy have been bitter rivals for centuries, and their hatred is so deep-rooted that neither side can remember the cause of the initial feud, but the people of both countries still remember this fact.

Although strictly speaking, kingdoms are generally stronger than principalities, Falkenridge is the weakest of the nine kingdoms in the Western Continent. If it weren't for the royal family, the Gerald family, who had long ago been kind to the Havar Empire, one of the four great empires, the country would not have been able to maintain its name as a "kingdom".

Of course, the rulers of the Havar Empire will not help the Falkenridge Kingdom because of this, but only sell them a face, so that the country can also be called a "kingdom".

On the other hand, the Duchy of Stasi is much better than the former: not only have three successive generations of dukes been ambitious and scheming rulers, but the recently succeeded Grand Duke Jon is a young and promising and famous genius of demonic and martial arts. In less than half a year, he issued a series of aggressive and iron-blooded policies, and there was a tendency to completely conquer Falkenridge!

Falkenridge's royal family was aware of the dangers of this increasingly powerful neighbor in the previous generation, but Falkenridge faced many dangers, from the great nobles in the country to the rebels and barbarians.

Under these circumstances, the king and the few officials of conscience had already exhausted all their energy just to keep the situation from worsening, and it was impossible to come up with any means to counterbalance the growing power of the Duchy of Stasi.

To make matters worse, Bella's elder brother, the eldest prince, is a reckless man with a full head and muscles, and although he is highly skilled, he cannot even lead an army, and Bella's sister, the second princess, is addicted to pleasure all day long.

Once the old king falls, the whole kingdom will be conquered in an instant—this is the fact that Béla first learned about the international situation.

It was on the same day that Bella made a rather surprising decision.

She knew that she was not very good at politics, and she did not have the amazing talent of Grand Duke Jon in combat, and it was impossible for her to save the country on her own. Therefore, she took the initiative to take off the princess's gorgeous dress, put on the dress of an ordinary adventurer, and secretly left the palace, secretly looking for all kinds of strange people who could save the situation.

Obviously, Camilla and the others are the characters that Bella had previously taken a fancy to.

It's a pity that the time left for Bella is still too short, and when she has just gathered the Flame Squad together, she meets the Tokamaks led by Ello......

Iroh could see that he had to face the fact that his three years of hard work had turned to ashes, and no matter how much Bella tried to make a rational expression, there was always a trace of unwillingness in the depths of his eyes.

"But your will is strong," Iroh said quietly, "and it was crisp when you killed that thief. ”

"When I killed the first man, I was seven years old. ”

Bella stared straight at the dragon, "My assassination skills are better than magic, you'll see it." ”

"Woman, I don't care about your assassination technique, it doesn't make sense to the dragon. ”

Iroh snorted faintly, his eyes as sharp as knives.

"You know, I'm concerned about ...... Your condition. ”

Bella smiled, and a proper smile quickly replaced the previous stubbornness: "In the past three years of adventure, I have accumulated some treasures, if you exchange them for my life, Your Excellency should be interested." ”

"Kill you, and we'll find the treasure too. ”

It was Vess who interrupted Bella's words, and the young black-and-red dragon appeared like a ghost next to a large tree at some point.

"I'm sorry, but you can only find the treasures of the three of them. Bella frowned and looked coldly at the new dragon.

Vis ignored Bella, and instead turned his gaze to Iroh: "The food is given to them, and I want to make amends." ”

"You can take a thousand of the previous gold coins. ”

Iroh said without blinking, he was obviously more concerned about Bela's conditions than about Vess. Knowing the temperament of the black dragon, he directly sent Vis away with a thousand gold coins.

"Alright, let's move on, Your Highness Princess. Now we should talk about your freedom. ”

Seeing Vis disappear into the darkness as silently as he came, Iroh spoke again.

If you don't know much about dragons, you may already be secretly scolding Iroh for his shamelessness at this moment: redemption is not the same as redemption of freedom?

However, Bella was clearly prepared, and her expression didn't even change a bit.

"I have a plan," she said briefly, "and though I must withdraw my freedom in advance, if I can achieve it, you may reap more than you think." ”

"Say it. Iroh gestured.

"The Kingdom of Falkenridge needs help, and I hope that the Tokamaks will be able to turn the Ikut Valley into a barrier between the two countries. ”

Bella quickly explained that the idea had only come to her the moment she killed Maggie, however...... There is no other way!

Don't look at Iro's gentle and elegant noble demeanor, but she can see the cruelty and greed hidden in those dark eyes very clearly, once she can't satisfy the other party's appetite, she is afraid that in the next second, she will use her body to truly satisfy the other party's appetite.

What's more, the colored dragons of the evil camp are often not very patient.

"If you grant permission, I will return to Falkenridge at once, and in the name of the Princess, announce that Earl William's relics have been delivered to me by the Flame Squad. In addition, we will ship the resources you need on a regular basis. You and your faction don't even need to help us, just continue to grow as you originally intended. ”

"I see. ”

Iroh nodded noncommittally, and he immediately understood what Bella meant—it seemed that this princess did have some skills...... At least she understood that Iroh's current territory was indeed a bit conspicuous.

Last time it was a wolf warrior, this time it was a flame, and as long as people thought that Count William's relics were still here, there would be a steady stream of adventurers. If this continues, no one knows when the Tokamaks will be unable to resist.

And Bella's idea is also very good, to put it bluntly, it is to let the Icourt Valley attract firepower.

Ello's inherited memories told him that the area around the valley was the main thoroughfare for the border between the two countries. If the Tokamaks were able to keep the area under their control, then Archduke Jon would have to think twice about it when he sent his troops.

After all, even if a faction composed of young dragons can really develop to the point of controlling an area, then unless it alarms those high-ranking adventurers, the cost of exterminating it will inevitably be so high that a principality needs to think twice.

After all, this so-called alliance, Bella just wants Iroh to help Falkenridge buy time.

Doesn't she really want a dragon faction to be a true ally?

Of course she wanted to, but she also thought very clearly about the price: now it was only the most shallow cooperation, and looking at the appearance of Iroh already required her own hemorrhage......

If you want to reach an offensive and defensive alliance with this faction, then the dragons will definitely ask for more things, and even like some mythical dragons do, it is not impossible to slowly empty the country and then control it!

The Dragon Yan Empire, one of the four great empires today, is undoubtedly such an example: in the Dragon Yan Empire, although it is nominally an alliance with the metal dragons, in fact, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the metal dragons have eaten the imperial government into an empty shell, and the actual ruler of this country is not the emperor, but the supreme leader of the golden dragon and the silver dragon!

Therefore, walking with dragons is always a matter of danger and opportunity, even if it is a metal dragon in the good camp. The story told by the bard of the man and the dragon fighting together to defeat evil is only a story after all.

"That's what you just said, and what we need, sign your name. ”

After a quick weighing of the pros and cons, Iroh quickly took out a piece of parchment and a magic pen from the void, wrote the contract with a few brushes, and handed it to Bella.

"...... this?"

Seeing Iroh take out a pen and paper, Bella was stunned for a moment, and then when she saw the contents of the contract, she couldn't help but completely widen her eyes.

Dragons rarely write, at least rarely on paper, mainly because their front paws are not as good for writing as human hands, but looking at the way Iroh looks, it's clear that he's proficient in this skill.

And the font on the contract is quite beautiful - Bella swears that among the nobles of Falkenridge, there are only a few people who can write such good words!

The most important thing is the content of the contract. Instead of asking for a large sum of gold, silver and jewelry, as she expected, Iroh asked for a lot of food, building materials, and even basic knowledge books!

There seems to be no text trap in this contract, and the price of breach is only the more common "Bella's soul belongs to Iroh." ”

Bella's heart relaxed a little, at least ...... It's already half the battle.

"Okay, where is your treasure?"

Seeing Bella sign the contract, Iroh nodded slightly, "Let me see how sincere you are?"

"Yes, great lord, they are all in Castelgate, the nearest town from which we came. Bella pointed in a certain direction, "I'll take them and offer them to you." ”

However, Aelo's next sentence once again exceeded Bella's expectations.

"No, let's go together. ”