Alina clenched her hands into fists and began to pace back and forth again, looking preoccupied.

"As I said before...... Probably too, right? ”

Loris was a little confused.

"Previously considered a hundred thousand dinars, allowing him to establish trade routes within the empire, promising not to attack his territory, and doubling the repayment of grain...... Maybe these are indeed what he wants, but the problem is that he didn't negotiate with us yesterday at all, and today he directly started to mobilize food and troops - this may mean that he has more special requirements, and his demands, we may not be able to fulfill. ”

Alina sighed: "He once captured my father, but he was easily released, and if it weren't for my father's close relationship with His Majesty, I'm afraid he would have been belittled like Livius...... This isn't a guy who plays cards by common sense. ”

But Loris shook his head: "Alina, in my opinion, Your Excellency Leon may not make any excessive requests. ”

Alina stopped and turned her head: "Why?" ”

"There are many people who will not show mercy in the face of the enemy, but they will not care too much about their personal interests in the face of major rights and wrongs...... His Majesty the Emperor and your father are ......"

Loris gestured to the saber at Alina's waist.

It was the eloquent sword of Emperor Marius.

"So do you, Knight Captain Lorris. But...... Do you think Count Leon also had such noble conduct? My father just said he was difficult to deal with, but he didn't say anything about his character......"

Alina asked, a little confused.

"Hah...... Of course not! I'm not that virtuous......"

The lord's voice came from the door of the inn, "Miss Alina, Sir Lorris, I will spare no effort to help solve the Red Death and the Serpent Cult...... But of course I have conditions. ”

Alina closed her eyes and sighed, then opened her eyes and looked at Leon: "Your Excellency Leon, if you have any conditions, please mention ......"

"I'm going to 'capture' Karen Deer Fort and rebuild the Shield Wind Fortress - that is, this time I'm not providing aid to the Bacchus Empire, but I'm leading my troops to capture the Imperial fortified city of Karen Deer Fort alone...... I've built a fortified fortress that the Lion Kingdom hasn't built for thirty years, and maybe King Ulrik will appoint me as a marshal......"

Leon looked at Alina with a smile: "I just learned that your father is the governor of Justes, but shouldn't Justes' daughter be called Luciana?" ”

"My name was indeed Luciana half a year ago...... Please call me Alina, Lord Leon. ”

Alina pondered for a moment and shook her head: "I can understand why you want to occupy Karen Deer Castle, which will probably satisfy King Ulrik. But in this way, you will inevitably become the enemy of all the lords of the Bacchus Empire......"

"I was originally the great enemy of the Bacchus Empire...... Alina, I think your Emperor will understand that he also needs a 'great enemy' like me. Presumably only General Creon would be less than happy, so you'll have to get General Creon to cooperate......"

Leon was still smiling, his eyes on the saber at Alina's waist.

"Now that you've decided, I'm happy to do it...... I'll get General Creon to cooperate. ”

Alina thought for a moment and agreed.

"In that case, my food convoy will be in action at noon, and the army will be able to set out the day after tomorrow, so that we can probably reach Karen Deer Fort at the same time. I know I'm in a hurry, and I hope the Knights of the Radiance Cross will clear the way for my food team. ”

Loris nodded: "That's great, of course we'll do our best." ”

"Good, I still have a lot of details to understand. Miss Alina, please come to the lord's hall in the afternoon and discuss with me specific countermeasures and tactics. ”

Leon turned and left.

Alina was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Loris: "It seems that we all guessed wrong......"

Loris was a little puzzled: "Although his request was somewhat unexpected, it was not too much as I imagined. Even if he didn't occupy Karen Deer Castle, it would be breached by rebellious slaves sooner or later without support...... Or even directly destroyed by the plague. ”

"No, Loris, I mean, I wanted General Creon to abandon Karen Deer Fort and free up his troops to rescue Bothium...... He didn't ask for anything, but took the initiative to help us. I'm more worried now......"

Alina said worriedly, her voice getting lower and lower.

At noon, the convoy loaded with food was ready to set off under the guidance of the Radiant Cross Knights.

Accompanying the food team was a medical team led by Anson.

Anson organized men to probe the perimeter of Changhe Town overnight, and used lime to detoxify the important entrances and exits, and the members of the medical team and the patrol team have not rested for a moment since yesterday afternoon.

At present, it has been determined that no one in Changhe Town has contracted the Red Death, and Li Ang can be regarded as relieved.

"Sir Lorris, to introduce you, this is Anson, an excellent medical officer. He used to study at the Seminary of Boshi City, and he is also very close to your Knights...... So, I entrust your safety with you. ”

Leon stood in front of Lorris's horse and pointed to Anson, who was sleeping in the carriage behind him.

"Of course, it's my mission to protect the healer......"

Loris nodded a little strangely: "Is he your relative?" ”

Loris probably thought that most of the people that a great lord like Leon would deliberately take care of were related by blood.

"No, he's my partner. But his lifelong wish was to become a Knight of the Radiant Cross......"

Leon smiled: "I just sincerely hope that my friends can fulfill their wishes." ”

Loris turned his head to look at Anson, who was a little thin, "In fact, in our Knights, excellent healers have a higher status than knights......"

"It's the same with me...... However, the standard of knights in his eyes is probably higher. ”

Leon shrugged: "Go quickly, if nothing else, we will meet in Karen Deer Fort in three days." ”

……

In the afternoon, Alina came to the hall of the lords.

"Alina, do you think I might have some plans?"

Leon sensed that she seemed to be a little uneasy.

"Your Excellency Leon, to tell you the truth, I really don't understand what you want?"

Alina was indeed thinking about Leon's intentions with a full of doubt, and she didn't understand why Leon was willing to take a risk to help without asking for anything.

"I just want to keep myself safe...... Now that you've all come to me for help, it obviously means that the Bacchus Empire is on the verge of survival. If the Bacchus Empire is destroyed by the Serpent Cult and the Red Death spreads to the entire continent, then I am afraid that I will only have a dead end......"

The lord shook his head and smiled, "Let me know all about the situation in Bacchus first, and then I'll tell you what I want......"

He then pointed to the round table in the hall and motioned for Alina to sit down at the round table.

Alina was a little dazed, except for the wine glass in her hand, Leon's movements, demeanor and even tone looked the same as Emperor Marius.

She told Leon about the current situation of the empire without reservation, and she did not hide anything.

It's as if she were facing Emperor Marius himself.

The current situation of the Bacchus Empire is indeed quite dangerous.

Previously, General Agason had recaptured Marasburg after a hard battle, and he had barely restored the connection between the three major cities of the empire.

But then the news I got was all bad news.

The Red Death was raging everywhere, the Knights of the Radiant Cross were exhausted, and the lords' troops were all caught in the plague.

The outbreak of the Red Death in the surrounding area and the frenzied counterattack of the Serpent Cult made Agathon dragged by the Serpent Cult around Marasburg unable to get out, unable to resolve the crisis in the port of Dilin.

The Snake Cult besieged the port for several months, and the dignitaries either fled or surrendered, but the people at the bottom of the port organized a militia on their own, barely keeping the port from being captured by the Snake Cult.

However, although the large fleet of the Snake Cult failed to land from the Imperial Harbor, the Dreaded Legion circled the bay southeast of Siyuan City and landed from the village of Qiza.

After repelling a formidable enemy, Emperor Marius faced an even more formidable enemy.

And the key to solving the problem is actually the rebel army besieging Bozhi City.

This army developed by gladiators was originally created by Alina and Emperor Marius, and although they are currently somewhat out of control, they can at least communicate.

If they can be recruited and reorganized into an imperial army, then this army can solve all the dilemmas one by one.

They have a strong enough army and enough drive, after all, they would rather rebel than join the Serpent Cult.

A month earlier, after returning to the city with the Emperor's sword, Alina had reached an agreement with her father, Governor Justens, with the rebel army led by Brutus.

The rebels still trusted Alina, and they had already agreed to the terms of pardon, reinstatement of civilian status, and adequate food for them, and then they were willing to be incorporated into the Second Imperial Army under the joint guarantee of Alina and Justus.

This is the Second Legion of the Empire in the true sense of the word, which is not the same as the banner that Livius used to cheat military spending......

To incorporate this army of tens of thousands of people, of course, a large amount of food is needed. However, the city of knowledge is short of food and grass, so it is naturally progressing a little slowly, and it is impossible to complete the reorganization in one step with too large a large number of troops, so it can only be done slowly.

Justes sent some of the junior officers to pacify the rebels, and then let some of the leading gladiators enter the city.

Originally, in order to show his sincerity, Justes let some leading gladiators enter the city as a witness, after all, an army of more than 10,000 people would definitely not be able to enter the city.

But at this time, there was a large-scale outbreak of the Red Death in the city of Bozhi......

And most unfortunately, many of the representatives of the rebel army who had just entered the city also contracted the Red Death in the city, and most of these representatives were scarred gladiators and the core of the rebel army.

Although the headquarters of the Knights of the Radiance Cross is located in the city of Knowledge, the healers of the Knights of the Knights have been scattered to various places a month ago, and the Governor of Justs can only suspend the recruitment of peace in the face of this situation.

He sealed off the city of Eddie and locked up the gladiators who had unfortunately contracted the disease.

This was a helpless and necessary disposition, but the rebels, who were already a little nervous, had a misunderstanding because of this.

After all, this army is all slaves, and they don't trust the high officials and dignitaries of the empire in the first place.

Although Justes had always had a good reputation, the governor had a reputation as a 'wise man' – a reputation that represented wisdom in the eyes of the lords and was essentially synonymous with 'treacherous cunning' in the eyes of the slaves.

Despite Governor Just's best explanations, the uneducated slaves certainly did not listen, and they only knew that many of their companions were forcibly imprisoned as soon as they entered the city.

In the eyes of the slaves, it was mostly a conspiracy—and they had difficulty understanding the measures that Justes had imposed on those who had contracted the Red Death.

They thought that the previous promise of the governor of Justus was to trick them into entering the city, and then divide and buy some of them, and then kill most of them...... This is also the result that most of the time the rebels will encounter when recruiting An.

So the gladiators who entered the city escaped from the city overnight and returned to the army outside the city, saying that it was a hoax by Justes.

In order to escape, he also killed a lot of people.

Fortunately, the brother and sister Alina and Brutus were among the slaves outside the city, and they did their best to control it so that it did not turn into a tragedy of the city being seized by the inside and outside......

The two sides are already at odds, and once the seeds of suspicion are planted, it is difficult to regain trust.

Justus did his best, and he even went out of the city alone to explain the cause of the Red Death, and Alina and Brutus did their best to pacify the army.

The slaves were reasonable, but they asked Justus to open the gates and let them enter the city to investigate.

But how dare Justs open the gates and let them into the city at such a time?

These slaves didn't know how to protect themselves, and if the Red Death in the city was introduced to the slave rebels, the result would definitely be a complete spread across the entire continent!

In the eyes of the slaves, the governor did not dare to let them into the city, and of course it was not worth trusting, so they killed all the Imperial soldiers sent by Justus to pacify them, and then besieged the city again......

It was hundreds of junior officers from the First Legion of the Empire, including hundreds of Imperial Knights.

If it weren't for Alina and Brutus, Justus probably wouldn't have been able to go back.

This feud has become great, and there are many voices opposing the co-optation in the city.

Coupled with the fact that the rebels besieged the castle, the high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the city could not leave the city to escape the threat of the Red Death, and this contradiction became more and more ......

Thankfully, before the battle between the two sides was about to take place, the Knight Captain Loris of the Knights of the Radiant Cross returned.

Loris convinced the slaves that the Red Death was indeed true.

The people at the bottom of the Bacchus Empire do have a lot of trust in the Knights of the Radiant Cross.

With Loris's guarantee, Justus collected the city's surplus food and provided it to the rebels, in exchange for the last bit of restraint from the rebels.

In fact, this last bit of restraint was also bought by Brutus, the initiator of the uprising, with the last prestige, and the slaves were now beginning to suspect the Brutus siblings.

In any case, thanks to the combined efforts of everyone, the Slave Rebels did not force the siege, but they no longer trusted Justus or any of the nobles in the city.

It's not that they still think Justes is lying to them, but because they have already killed many of Justus's men, including many new generation of nobles.

Most of the gladiators didn't worry much about killing the slave owners who had committed many crimes, and they knew that the slave owners were not in the same league as Emperor Marius.

But killing the soldiers of the First Legion of the Empire is completely different from Justus, the new nobility under the reformers, and everyone in the Bacchus Empire knows that Justus is Emperor Marius's closest comrade-in-arms.

Even Brutus himself felt that the rebels were likely to be settled by the Queen......

Naturally, the gladiators who led the way had a lot of different voices, and it was difficult for Brutus to be seen as a common leader, and the army was now like a group of dragons without a leader, and it was a mess inside.

But fortunately, they didn't know what to do next in the confusion, so they still surrounded the city, but did not organize an attack.

Because of this, Alina began to try to find other support.

As long as a large amount of grain can be transported to the city of Bozhi and the trust of the slaves can be regained with food, it is still possible to save the situation.

However, the Red Death was breaking out everywhere, and there was little place to support in Bacchus, so Alina had to ask for help from the Lion Kingdom together with the Loris Knights.

"That's it...... Coming to you is the advice of the Knight Captain of Lorris. He thinks you'll be happy to help us, and you're capable of helping us......"

After Alina finished talking about the cause and effect, she asked with some apprehension: "Your Excellency Leon, now, can you tell me what you want?" ”

"Of course, it was the same as I expected...... Alina, what I want...... It was this force, this slave army that grew from gladiators. ”

The lord was also very happy, and directly gave Alina an accurate answer.

"This ...... It can't be, this force ......"

Alina was obviously a little flustered, she had imagined a lot of answers, and even imagined whether what Leon wanted would be herself, but she really didn't expect it to be this answer.

"I know that you plan to take this army with you to solve the predicament of the Bacchus Empire...... You have to relieve the crisis of Emperor Lingang, free General Agathon, and then join forces to kill the strong enemy and save Siyuan City...... I know. But listen to me, Alina ......"

Leon waved his hand and motioned for Alina to listen to him: "Your father can no longer gain the trust of the rebels, in fact, no nobleman of the Bacchus Empire can gain their trust, including you. Even if Emperor Marius personally promised it, they would still be worried about the Bacchus Empire's reckoning after the fall......"

Alina closed her eyes and nodded sadly: "I admit you're right, but ......"

"No, but...... They will only believe me, because I am the enemy of the Bacchus Empire, the worst enemy. But, Alaina, I will reorganize them into a strong army and then work with the Bacchus Empire to deal with the Serpent Cult...... Until the Knights of the Radiant Cross brought the Red Death under control. The rebels are Emperor Marius's own enemies, but the Serpent Cult is our common enemy......"

Leon interrupted Alina again.

Alina's eyes widened.

"You...... I understand...... Thank you for your help, Lord Leon! ”

She bowed to Li Ang sincerely: "Perhaps, this is indeed the best solution." ”

Yes, Alina also knew in her heart that if that rebel army was recruited, with their current grudge against the First Army of the Empire, they would be avenged sooner or later......

Especially the leading gladiators, such as Brutus, and Brutus's sister Elena.

And Elena is her only friend......

A day later, Vendatier arrived at Long River with the Noldor troops.

But what I didn't expect was that Amy also came with her female soldiers, and she had to go to Bacchus with Leon......

Amy is not a subordinate of the lord, she is a royal knight of the princess's family, and Leon can't do anything about her.

So an elite force of 800 people began to move south, starting this special journey.

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