It may not be easy for Gloria to restore the atmosphere of the celebration after Cheese's speech. But that's not something for cheese to think about. The lady wanted him to say these things, and he did. The internal problems of the nezumi are no longer within the scope of the mage's involvement, after all, he is not a nezumi, and he does not want the nezumi to become his servant. The mage paused slightly in the wide hallway, he looked up, and the light of the torches took in the details of the hallway. In fact, the craftsmanship of the rat people is far from perfect, but this does not prevent the cheese from feeling the power from the slightly rough masonry of the firing, which is a cohesive force. Now, he just wants that power to be used in the right direction.

The sound of footsteps sounded from the back of the corridor. There is no need to look back, and Cheese knows who these footsteps belong to. Jack and Lothar looked at each other, stopping at the farthest point, and Mona took a few more steps before she and Pegg and Colanty came to a stop. Elsa looked at the other companions after they had stopped, and after receiving their encouraging glances, continued on her way to the back of Cheese. She took a deep breath, then reached out and grabbed the mage's right hand.

"Sorry, I messed up the celebration. Cheese lowered his head slightly, like a child who had confessed his mistake waiting to be scolded. Even if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, the mage could imagine what kind of jubilation the companions behind him were expecting, but when he himself opened his mouth to knock the rats out of joy, the celebration was not destined to go as they had hoped.

"We've been knowing for a long time. Gloria explained to us all in advance. Today, they are coming, in addition to observing the ceremony, and they also have the intention of protecting you. Elsa spoke softly to Cheese. She didn't quite understand why the Baroness would take such a risk to let the mage do it, but she knew that if both Cheese and Gloria agreed that it was necessary, it must have value in happening.

Cheese nodded, breaking the celebration wasn't something hard for him to accept, especially if he thought it made sense. What really made the mage feel down was the sense of loss that came up in his heart. He could feel that from today onwards, the attitude of the rat people towards him would change. For better or worse, but after all they won't see him the way they used to. Cheese knew that this was the process that the nezumi needed to go through, but personally, he still had mixed feelings.

"Well, there's nothing to hesitate about. We happened to catch two deer when we came. Since the banquet over there is none of our business, we will go up there and eat our own. Jack said and walked over and patted the mage on the shoulder, after five years, the wolfwalker had become even more burly, and it was hard to imagine that he had been called "monkey" before.

"Yes, yes, I haven't eaten Elsa's venison in a long time!

So the team that was still dull just now became lively again, and the group walked to the ground talking and laughing. However, Cheese still fell behind the bottom of the line, intentionally or unintentionally, and Colandy did the same. The mage noticed that the witch still wore the same ring on her hand, but the finger was changed from the ring finger to the little finger.

"How does it feel to be in Vale again?" asked Cheese in a brisk tone, as the daughter of the ruler of the dark forces in the royal capital, Kolanty had not visited the north many times in the past five years. The rat people can transform the underground at a rate that sometimes surprises even the cheeses that live in the city.

"Honestly, it surprised me more than magic. I'm afraid that of any city I've seen, only the Molten Iron City can compare to this one. "The molten iron city in Kolanty's mouth is the capital of the largest dukedom of the Greylion, the Duchy of the Hammer, or to be precise, the new capital. Because the former molten iron city collapsed for unknown reasons during the rat-man plague five years ago, and suffered heavy losses. Grand Duke Hammer and his tenacious lords spent five years rebuilding it again. Of course, the rebuilt Molten Iron City is not as good as the collapsed old city in every way, but the new city is always full of energy and hope, which is similar to the current Valley City.

"Molten Iron City? Speaking of which, the Grand Duke seems to have sent Jack a congratulatory letter. He actually knew about this day. Cheese scratched his head, the Rat-Man's celebration did not coincide with the Greylion's original festival, and no one else would celebrate it except the Rat-Man. So when Gloria said that she had been congratulated by the hammer, he was indeed a little surprised.

"The Grand Duke really didn't know about this date before. His original purpose was to get Jack to bring you another letter. As she spoke, Kolandi took out two letters from her bosom that were sealed with fire paint, one of which was marked by the warhammer emblem of the Hammer, and the other was two thorns intertwined with each other, "In addition to the Grand Duke, the royal capital has something to inform you. I met Jack on the way, and based on our guesses, what the two letters said was supposed to be one thing. ”

Cheese didn't rush to open the envelope, since Colante himself was by his side, it would be quicker to ask directly about some things. He put the letter into his robe, "What is it that deserves you to come to me? ”

When it came to business, the Thorn Witch's expression became serious. "Since the end of the plague five years ago, the blue lion has been systematically absorbing people from outside, giving them identity and land. ”

"I know that, Marcus's strategy. On the one hand, it can replenish the population and labor lost in the plague, and on the other hand, more outsiders can also create a certain degree of chaos, which is conducive to distracting the energy of the old nobles and buying him more time for his actions. Cheese nodded, and Marcus had asked him for his opinion before coming up with the strategy.

"That's right," Kelanti nodded, as someone who lived in the royal capital, she felt more about this bill, "Sir Marcus has also contacted us through various channels, and he wants us to help screen out immigrants into the kingdom, that is, to control the alien spellcasters and non-humans. We agreed to this cooperation. ”

"By agreeing to cooperate, the kingdom has recognized your authority over the kingdom's dark world, and henceforth the night of the grey lion will be under your hands. Cheese didn't show any negative attitude when he said this. In his opinion, this is a good thing, as the inhabitants of the shadow side of the orderly administration can maximize the existing order of the kingdom, and Emia and her forces have proven their ability to do so during the turmoil in the royal capital.

"To be precise, the jurisdiction of the Hammer region, the Grand Duke has his own way of dealing with the dark dwellers, and he has no fewer spellcasters than us, such as the lord of the Iron Castle who has a good relationship with you. But we didn't really want to rule anyone, for the most part we just restrained the Night Dwellers, and Jack and they helped us a lot in this matter. Originally, this situation was maintained quite smoothly. Until the last few months, both we and Hammerhammer have discovered that a large number of spellcasters and xenos beyond our control have infiltrated the country. ”

Colandy didn't continue, but Cheese understood how bad it could be.

"Stowaways? But what reason is there for the grey lion to attract stowaways, there are no rare ores or precious resources here. The mage frowned slightly, raising his doubts.

"But this is the closest country to the northern snowfields. The witch had a complicated expression as she spoke, "We plucked information about the Grey Tower from the mouths of some of the stowaways. So we all thought we should let you know about these things. ”

Cheese's footsteps stopped. The Grey Tower? The smugglers are coming for the Grey Tower? But, why? No, how do they know?

Klandi saw the mage's confusion, "We've written the details into the letter. I was tempted to ask you if you knew anything about this, but now it seems that I don't need to ask. ”