As the sun of Kislev set below the horizon for some time, countless bonfires burned across the endless grassland, like the stars in the night sky. Looking from the distance, in the orange-red flames, you can see countless small white sails, as well as countless shuttled black dots, like neat and hurried ant colonies. The white sails were the tents of the army, and the black dots were the figures of the crowd and the horses, and the mighty army had already camped, and this might be the last camp before the decisive battle.

"It's kind of funny that everything is so small when you look at it from the air!"

Hyde casually patted the rattan guardrail beside him, and sighed in a somewhat curious voice. In fact, he was not on the ground now, but standing on the deck of a hot airship, leaning against the guardrail and looking at the endless campfire and barracks beneath his feet. Beside him stood the dwarven blacksmith Baska, his round red face full of pride.

"This is the masterpiece of our dwarven engineering master, it can fly to a height of one thousand meters, whether it is vigilance, reconnaissance, or in the decisive battle, it is very useful! According to the heroic history records of the parchment, more than 300 years ago, it is said that the great butcher inventor Master Marakai annihilated the entire Chaos army with just one airship, and instantly turned thousands of dirty Chaos gangsters into barbecue ......"

Seeing Hyde's amazement, Bhaskar triumphantly stroked his short beard and began to talk at length about how great the airship was, how invincible it was, and what a glorious history. It was as if the big white creature painted with the Imperial double-headed eagle emblem was his own masterpiece. However, his words were immediately interrupted, and a one-armed dwarf with a long beard raised his iron hook.

"Oh, my dear Duke of Fattak, how can you slap a prince in the head!"

"First of all, it's because I don't like dwarves who only talk about it, and because I've seen five times more stones than you, and finally, remember to call me Captain, because that's what everyone on the airship calls me. ”

With a loud knock, Bhaskar scurried with his head in his hands. The one-armed dwarf in the gold-rimmed tricorn easily straightened his two-foot-long beard with an iron hook, and shrugged his shoulder with the gold tassel epaulette with a smile.

"My Excellency Duke Fateak, I would love to hear the history of His Highness Baskar, you don't need to, do you?"

Hyde laughed too, but still had to plead for Baska. In fact, his current trip to the airship was proposed by Bhaska, a short-bearded young dwarf who discovered by chance that the captain of an Imperial airship was an acquaintance in his village, and the rest of the story happened. At Bhaskar's kind suggestion, Hyde, Frey, and Jessica boarded the airship, which was on guard duty outside the camp, and became several very special guests.

"Your Highness, first of all, I hit this boy in the head so that he would not mislead your ears with nonsense, because the actual combat capabilities of my airship are very limited. Secondly, there are no dukes here, only old Fattak with an iron hook--- or Captain Redbeard. As for the stories of dukes, princes, and princesses, they were all made up by the cranky Baska, who and I were both dwarves of the same village, and whose deceased father was my best friend. ”

The red-bearded dwarven captain respectfully removed his hat with his sheepskin-gloved hand, saluted Hyde, and replied to the young god. His voice was calm with a hint of emotion, and his eyes flashed with a faint light.

"Ahh

In the gap between the dwarven captain's pause to smoke, Jessica jumped up like a jovial wolf, leaned down, stared at his blindfolded face, and asked a somewhat ill-intentioned question. Although it was cold in the air, she still wore so little, revealing her slender waist with toned muscles, and her plump breasts jumped happily with the curved Mithril breastplate, like two round balls.

"The pride of the dwarves is the pride of the facts, the pride of the true history carved by the hands of the ancestors. Dwarves do not want to be proud of telling lies, because telling lies and exaggerating the truth will only bring tragedy to themselves. A dwarf is a man who says what he says, and it makes no sense to brag or exaggerate on the battlefield. It was a vigilance tethered boat, which could only hold ten people and flew to an altitude of two hundred meters, and her role was to provide eyes for the army, and that's it. ”

Captain Fateak spat out a round smoke ring from his terracotta pipe, looked up as it dissipated into the air, and spread out his heavy palms. At this moment, Hyde suddenly felt a faint sadness, as if a bitter cold wind in the air was cutting through his young heart.

"Captain Fatak, I solemnly apologize to you for Miss Jessica's presumptuousness, and I hope you don't care. ”

Hyde's reaction was swift, and he took off his hat and saluted the one-armed dwarf, hoping to make up for Jessica's abruptness.

"It's nothing, my noble highness, you are so gracious. ”

Fatak replied to Hyde with the same courtesy, but there was a hint of excitement in his voice, probably because of Hyde's sincerity.

"Jessica is so sad! Jessica is wrong! Jessica apologizes to the captain!

The wolf-eared baby-faced girl immediately lowered her head, and her furry ears hung down together, like a bullied puppy. This Midland's 10th champion became like a spoiled child in front of Hyde, naughty and admitting mistakes always jumping, a bit like a variation of his cousin Catherine. But no matter what, she always followed Hyde closely and never let her get more than five meters away from him. In a sense, Hyde understands why, because he understands what power lies beneath Jessica's beautiful baby face.

"The steam engine of a hot airship is very small, and it is difficult to control its precise destination without the protection of a magical soul, especially in the winds of the plains. Its airbags are also very fragile, and it is difficult to protect them in front of the Harpy, not to mention the Chaos Horned Eagle, the Wyvern and the Winged Lion. Bombs are easy to break when dropped, accurate explosions are rare, and in large-scale battles, the winds of magic are chaotic and they are almost goalless. So, expecting them to destroy the enemy army like a legend is just an epic fantasy, but the fantasy will not turn into reality. ”

Captain Redbeard's voice was long, and he calmly explained the weakness of the take-off boat. The sturdy one-armed dwarf was draped in a heavy blue wool coat covered with bullet holes and torn patches, the cuffs embroidered with the coats of arms of muskets and airships, and the glittering gold threads faded. Many medals and insignia are neatly set on the chest of the coat, some are still very new, others are very old, exuding an antique atmosphere. He wore a mixture of a pistol and a sword around his waist, and the short blade shone with runes.