Boom... Boom...

A raucous sound of horses' hooves galloped on the flat road.

Jiawen looked at the village that was getting closer and closer, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

This was the first village he encountered when he entered Demacia, which belonged to Nokmerch, a subordinate duchy of Demacia, on the border with Noxus.

In his homeland, he no longer had to worry as much as he did in Noxus.

But as the village got closer, Gavin's face suddenly turned ugly.

The smoke that was coming out of the village before was not cooking smoke at all. Rather, it was the smoke from the fire that burned the wooden house.

"Array, be on guard!"

Hearing Jiawen's solemn order, the 80 cavalry light shield barriers quickly lined up in formation and were ready to go.

"Whew!!"

Suddenly, an earth-shattering dragon roar rang out, and a huge red dragon rose from the village.

Seeing this dragon, everyone's faces were a little solemn.

Dragon, this is not a good object.

However, Gavin noticed that the dragon was a little small in size and slightly different from the traditional dragon.

Moreover...

With Gavin's eyesight, he could clearly see a corpse clutched by the dragon's claws.

It was easy for Gavin to determine the man's identity... Mage!

Nokmochi is considered a subject of Demacia, and usually the Demon Seekers don't come here, and the mages of Demacia will also flee here, so Gavin is not surprised that the mages will be here.

"Shoot!" Seeing that the fire dragon was leaving, Jiawen yelled.

Hurt the innocent of a village, how could he let it escape easily.

Swish! Swish!

Nearly a hundred arrows broke through the air almost at the same time, and dense arrows rained down towards the fire dragon.

Most of the arrows hit the fire dragon, and most of the arrows pierced through the dragon's scale armor, and blood-red blood gushed out.

The fire dragon roared in pain, the dragon's claws couldn't help but let go, and the mage's corpse fell from the sky.

"Whew!!"

The fire dragon's face was hideous, and when he opened his mouth, a ball of fireball rushed towards Jiawen's side.

In the face of the sudden attack, Jiawen and the others were not afraid at all.

"Defense!"

Hearing Jiawen's command, the soldiers all took out their silver-white shields from their backs.

Rumble!

With an unstoppable force, the fireball slammed into the shields that the soldiers had raised upwards. Facing a shield array composed of nearly a hundred shields, the fireball made a burst sound.

But at the same time, the shields lit up with red light, and the fireballs were slowly shrinking.

The shields of the Light Shield Barrier are all forged with forbidden magic stones, which can not only block most physical attacks, but also absorb magic.

In a matter of moments, the fireball had already disappeared.

But at this time, the fire dragon had already spread its wings and flew away, flying in the direction of the east.

Jiawen was unwilling, but he knew that he should not make any extraneous branches at this time, so he had to give up and order the soldiers to clean up the battlefield.

This kind of thing happens from time to time, Demacia is high mountains in the north and south, and there are countless vicious and powerful demonic beasts in it, and there are several attacks of dragon-like creatures like this today.

Gavin was also familiar with the handling of the road, and he asked the soldiers to do their jobs, some went to the village to extinguish the fire, some rescued the wounded, some collected the corpses, and some wanted Nokmerch to report the news.

While the soldiers were all away from busy, Gavin himself was idle.

For some reason, Jiawen subconsciously walked towards the mage.

Approaching, his eyes flashed when he saw a blood-stained book that had fallen from the mage's corpse.

He didn't hesitate for long, and after making sure that there was no one around, he carefully took it into his arms and hid it.

In the process, he swept the name of the book with his peripheral vision:

"The Power of the Earth"!

A few days later, Jiawen and others returned to Xiongdu after several twists and turns.

It wasn't until he saw that the silver-white city was close at hand that Jiawen's tense heart was completely relieved.

He's back!

As soon as he approached the magnificent gate of Xiongdu, Jiawen's eyes couldn't help but narrow slightly.

At the gate of the city, a burly figure stood, carrying a giant sword.

"Galen!"

"Gavin!"

Dozens of meters apart, the two had already shouted each other's names.

Gavin smiled and rolled over and dismounted, hugging Galen.

"It's good to be back." Galen sighed.

"I can't get back what you said." Gavin laughed and scolded.

"Hahaha, I still agree with your strength. After you go to the council hall to report, let's go and have a drink together. Galen laughed.

"Good!" Gavin nodded happily.

The two seem to be still as before, and there is no strangeness when they meet.

"Let's go, Your Majesty and the ministers are ready, just waiting for you to go." Galen said.

"Yes. The soldiers of the Light Shield Barrier are handed over to you. ”

Gavin nodded, knowing what Galen meant by being here.

There are some things that he needs to report to the council hall himself.

"Leave it to me, I'll settle them. Now you are the hero who brought the two countries to a truce. We can at least live in peace for a while. Galen sighed with a complicated face.

"yes... I just don't know how long it will last. ”

Gavin nodded at Galen, turned on his horse, and made a quick run towards the council hall in the center of the city.

Galloping on the emergency official road inside Xiongdu, Jiawen could feel the grateful gazes of the people around him, and even many people gave him a military salute in the middle of the road.

The news of his trip to Noxus to sue for peace had already spread, although he and the Shield Barrier had been defeated by the Trifali Warband, disgraced Demacia.

But after all, this place is different from Noxus, strength is not the criterion here, and the deeds of seeking peace are enough to greatly enhance Jiawen's prestige in Demacia.

The buildings made of white stone, the neat and intact roads, the simple and kind people...

Everything here made the marching Jiawen rush to be cordial.

Although Demacia is not as powerful as Noxus, there are no miraculous floating structures above the capital.

But every brick and tile here was built by his ancestors and the people, and it is something that they have passed down from generation to generation and need to protect with their lives.

"Drink!"

Jiawen tugged on the reins, allowing the horses under him to gallop at a faster speed.

He was a little anxious about the upcoming debriefing.

Walk through the grand and majestic square paved with white stones, and walk the path that leads to the Castle of Dawn.

Led by the soldiers of the Light Shield Barrier, Gavin entered the Castle of Dawn, where the royal family lived, tightened the scroll in his hand, and entered a side hall.

Over here... It was the council hall where Demacia consulted on state affairs.

When he pushed the door in, he instantly felt nine pairs of eyes shoot at him.

Garvin took a deep breath and raised the scroll in his hand with both hands:

"Fortunately, I didn't lose my life!"

"Your Highness, thank you for your dedication to Demacia." Chancellor of the Exchequer Bristol praised.

War is about spending money, and soldiers are paid pensions when they die. Demacia and Noxus have been fighting for decades, and the treasury is about to be empty.

Now, at least a few years of peace.

"That's what I'm supposed to do."

Gawen said uprightly and handed over the scroll of the signing of the peace treaty to the eight officials for them to circulate.

"The above is exactly what we promised." Grantham, the Chancellor, nodded.

"Recently, we need a lot of money, and I suggest selling forbidden magic stones in large quantities." Bristol said.

The peace treaty only mentions the opening of the forbidden magic stone trade, but it is not clearly stated.

This is the way Noxus have always signed treaties, and they never think they will get anything less.

Trade is linked to politics, while the military is the capital of political negotiations.

"Marquis of Bristol, you're making enemies." Noble Council Eleno? Light Shield frowned.

"Princess Eleno, don't say so ugly. The kingdom needs a lot of money right now, and now is a good opportunity. Besides, the Forbidden Demon Stone is useless to us. Bristol retorted.

In addition to being able to absorb magic, the Forbidden Demon Stone is not as good as Rune Steel's defense.

Tiana said in a deep voice, "Marquis of Bristol, you have to tell us about the financial gap, which determines how many resources we need to sell. ”

In previous meetings, the rough plan had been finalized.

Now it's just a matter of going through the process to talk about the details and distribute the benefits by the way.

There are pros and cons to opening up trade, although the internal market of the kingdom will be affected, but it can also exchange a large amount of resources in a short time.

Demacia was in a lonely place, with towering mountains to the north and south, and it was difficult to sail to Ionia in the west, and they wanted to trade, and Noxus was a hurdle they couldn't cross.

The families here are not clean, and more or less have set up a chamber of commerce behind Piltover to buy supplies from Noxus.

Such a trade is not only dangerous, but also spans most of the Valoran continent.

But now, the opening of trade meant that all the nobles and even the kingdom could reap a lot of money, which was exactly what Demacia desperately needed.

And at least half of this money is the amount to be distributed to the various nobles in the future.

"We need another 500,000 Trefalis coins." Bristol hesitated.

Since Trefalis ascended to the throne, Trevary Gold has quickly become the most accessible currency in the Runetera Continent.

This is because the coin has the endorsement of Noxus, and Noxus provides a large number of channels for exchanging unsmelted gold and silver at an equivalent price.

Even they had to admit that only Noxus on the continent could do this.

Especially after Kyle's defeat, the new coin's position has become more secure, and it is not inferior to the Golden Siren, which Bilgewater used for maritime trade.

Hundreds of principalities and city-states have already announced that they will make it their official currency. In addition, Demacia's trade with Noxus required the use of Trefali coins, which was also a supplement to the peace treaty.

"500,000? That's how you manage the Kingdom's finances? Elenore's eyes widened.

Although it included the interests of the aristocracy, this figure still surprised everyone.

The purchasing power of the Crévary gold coin is not weak, and one can buy 1 kilogram of livestock meat. The salary of an ordinary Demacian soldier is only a few hundred gold coins.

"What can I do?" Bristol's face was ugly, "The mood of the people needs to be appeased lately, and I am opposed to the Duke of Grantham's proposal. Now that it has been officially implemented, the effect has not been seen, but the money spent every day is the same as running water. ”

In order to divert the attention of the people, there is no suspicion of each other.

Grantham, the Chancellor, proposed a variety of grand celebrations to boost morale, demonstrate Demacia's strength, and restore confidence to the people.

This part of the money is all dependent on additional subsidies from the ruling family. Because of the successive wars in Demacia, there is no left in the treasury.

"500,000 is 500,000. We need to think about how to close this hole. According to the price that Noxus can accept, it will cost about 1 ton of forbidden magic stones. Tiana rubbed her head with a headache.

This price is not low, and each kilogram of forbidden magic stones can be exchanged for 500 gold coins.

Forbidden magic stones are not a scarce material, they can be found everywhere in the forbidden magic forest, and even the outer walls and some buildings of Xiongdu are repaired with forbidden magic stones.

Demacia has always lacked craftsmen who can use the Forbidden Magic Stone to craft weapons, and few people have that kind of strength so far.

"1 ton... It doesn't affect us much, but if this is known to other regions, they will hate us to death. Foreign Secretary Adair smiled wryly.

They are not afraid of forbidden magic stones, which does not mean that people in other regions do not use magic. As long as it is magic, it will be absorbed by the Forbidden Magic Stone.

You know, they aren't the only enemies of Noxus.

"Can we sell the Forbidden Orb to them as well?" Bristol had a flash of inspiration, and the more he spoke, the more excited he became, "In this way, not only will we not increase the strength of Noxus, but we will also bring greater benefits to the kingdom." ”

"It's a good idea, but you can't let Noxus know." Tiana agreed.

The rest of the crowd also expressed their intention to agree, and finally looked at Adair together.

"Count Adel," Garvin III's voice paused, "I'll leave it to you to liaise with the rest of the region, and only you can do it in secret." Noxus are getting stronger day by day, and they don't want to sit back and wait to be enslaved. ”

Adair looked at the gazes of his colleagues, and had to nod stubbornly: "Leave it to me." ”

He actually wanted to blame Prince Jiawen for this matter, but Jiawen III obviously expected his thoughts and took the initiative to block everything.

"I..."

Jiawen hesitated, but finally said:

"I have one more thing to report, and it's about Noxus."

"Your Highness, here you can speak freely." Elenor and the airway.

"On my way back to Demacia, I saw the Trifali Warbands marching towards the Immortal Fortress. The queue was complete, with at least 10,000 people, led by Drius, the deputy president of the Trifali Council. Jiawen's expression was a little solemn.

The reason he hesitated was because he was considering whether it was necessary to say it.

In his opinion, it was just something that Noxus did for them. On the contrary, it is the spread of this news that will have a certain impact on Demacia.

Originally, a peace treaty was signed, and the border did not need to be garrisoned by too many forces.

At this time, the withdrawal of Noxus troops will only slow down Demacia's tight strings and cause their internal contradictions to erupt.

"Sooner or later, but don't tell the people about it too early." Tiana said.

He knew more than Gavin, and news had come from the border that the army of Noxus had retreated, leaving only the army that was stationed on a daily basis.

Noxus withdrew undoubtedly to reassure the Demacians.

Due to the external enemy, the Demacians did not care about what was happening inside, and were ready to break the net with Noxus at any time.

Even the matter of the Flying Wing Protector's use of magic has been postponed for the time being, otherwise there will be only a small undercurrent surging in the male capital now.

Like Gavin, both Tiana and the rest of the people here know in their hearts...

Now that the Noxian army has withdrawn, all internal contradictions will emerge. Even if it doesn't explode, Noxus will fuel the fire.

"Understood," Garvin nodded, no more.

The high-ranking officials present chatted for a long time, and Jiawen III seemed to have the intention of letting the prince observe, and he never let Jiawen leave.

The rest of the people didn't mind, so they let Jiawen listen, and he was engrossed in discussing the big things that might happen in the future.

When the sun set, the eight officials left the castle of dawn.

The council hall became unusually empty, except for father and son staring at each other.

"Father, I heard that the situation in Xiongdu is not good now." Jiawen mentioned vaguely.

He knew Gawain III's intentions to let him grow slowly, but they didn't have time.

"It's still holding it down for now, and it will be calm after a while."

Jiawen III said with indifference, but the worry in his eyes was seen by Jiawen.

He gritted his teeth, decisively knelt on one knee, and said in a sincere tone:

"I want to share your worries."

Hearing this, even the mild-tempered Jiawen III couldn't help frowning.

This is going to be replaced by other kings, and they have already raised their guard in their hearts.

But Jiawen III knew his prince, and his expression quickly recovered, and he sighed slightly:

"You don't have anything to do now, there are many things we can only deal with unchanged, let's practice the light shield barrier for the time being."

Hearing the meaning of his father's words to hand over the luminosity barrier to himself, Jiawen couldn't help but feel slightly shocked, and said with a straight face:

"Father, I will not live up to your trust."

"Let's go down."

"Yes!"