Having ended his deal with Mercury, the baron hurried back to Fort Mongisa. In the hall of the castle, he happened to meet the angry Duke, who was surrounded by a beautiful noblewoman, Princess Cecilia.

Her Royal Highness the princess is a great beauty, but there is some dissatisfaction between her eyebrows, which ruins her beauty a little. "You shouldn't ask His Majesty, he is a king after all, and he can do what he wants. The princess took her husband's arm by the hand, and her voice was soft, but with unquestionable firmness. Lunicion immediately retorted, annoyed that his wife was not on his side: "That's not a reason for him to play tricks. You're his sister, he must see you, I want to know what the hell he said!"

Most of the surrounding nobles frowned, whether they were friends of the duke or his enemies. The comfort of life in the Holy City made this once petty nobleman more and more indulgent, and Mongisa V was the king, the real object of allegiance sworn by all present, a duke, who really should not despise a king in such a public appearance. Cecilia shook her head, she loved her husband and she loved her brother. In recent years, her husband's behavior has begun to go too far, and perhaps she has been too obedient to him. The princess bowed softly to the duke and left the hall of the castle.

"Cecilia, how can you do this!" Lunician did not expect his usually gentle wife to give himself a face on such an important occasion, his lips trembled, he pointed to the place where the princess left, and he could not say a word for a long time.

The baron quietly left this place of right and wrong, and the newly replaced royal guards did not ask a word and let him go. Lildra made his way to His Majesty's drawing room.

The little king sat happily in his chair and crossed his legs, while Jean Jacques said something helplessly. As the baron approached, the old knight's voice became clearer.

"Next time you can't be so willful, we won't get anything but to increase the anger of the Duke of Luncion. ”

The king, sitting there deaf and deaf, saw the figure of the baron, beckoned happily, and replied to the old knight without turning his head: "These are nothing, that fellow from Lunicion,

I'm happy to see him upset. ”

The baron was very speechless about the little king's idea that "it is difficult to buy a happy lord if you have money". However, the purpose of his visit this time is not this, but to report the latest news to him.

In order to avoid unnecessary crankiness of the little king, the baron summarized the information brought by Mercury in the words of unknown sources and prevaricating words of authoritative sources.

After listening to the baron's words, Mongisa V leaned his head back on the high back of his chair, and instead of asking the source of the baron's information, he asked a seemingly unrelated topic: "Aren't you curious about what I said in that merchant's ear?" Lildella smiled slightly: "Your Majesty will let us know the proper information at the right time." ”

The little king's eyes widened, he glanced at the baron with interest, and then skipped the topic: "So the enemy has fifty thousand troops on the border?" "Yes, Your Majesty. ”

"If we mobilize the lords of the whole kingdom, our army is about twenty-five thousand men. Although we were relatively few in number, the number of knights was far greater than that of the enemy Mamluks. The Knights of the Holy City are quite capable of crushing infidels who are several times more than them. Although Jean Jacques did not advocate war now, such a disparity in forces forced him to point out his own superiority.

"It's just the power of the enemy's borders. The king touched his smooth chin, "They lack siege equipment. But with such a large army, no matter how unbearable the nobles are, they will not take it lightly. Jean-Jacques, when you let out the news, you say that the enemy has an army of 100,000 ready to go, and the Holy City is in danger. ”

The old knight was stunned, and it was difficult to say what the consequences would be when such news came out: "I think we should think about it carefully, after all, the Holy City is still peaceful・・・・・・" "It's because of the peace!" The king stood up, and he interrupted the knight, "The great war is coming, and what are our nobles doing? It was an order, a knight of Jean-Jacques, to obey an order from the king. ”

The old knight said no more, he bowed, and left the castle alone.

The king turned his gaze to the baron, who was watching the old knight leave: "Baron Rildra, what do you suggest?" The baron, who had come back to his senses, took out a document from his bosom, a copy he had taken from the merchants, which recorded sectarian conflicts between the followers of the Eastern faith of Hasam.

The king took it curiously, and he carefully read the thin page of the document, and his face was colored with excitement: "Can you confirm the authenticity of this thing?"

The baron nodded: "It's true. ”

Mongisa V held the thin document between his middle and forefinger and closed his eyes slightly, pondering. His decision, most likely, will have irreversible consequences for the future of the country, perhaps saving this dangerous holy city, and perhaps the last straw that overwhelms the kingdom.

"A lot of people think we're crazy, we've been tempted by the devil. The king waved the document in his hand, "Many people can't accept negotiating with infidels. ”

"We don't need to negotiate with the infidels, we just talk privately with the leaders of the sects who hate the Sultan to the core, and buy them with money or weapons to start rebellions or riots in the enemy's rear. The baron tried to reassure the king. "Sounds good. Mongisa V was impressed, but he still had questions, "But in this case, who will sing the praises of my achievements?" "The defeat of the Sultan of Assuna is a supreme achievement." As long as we can speak of the heresy of the infidels, without a solid rear, the Asunas will surely be defeated. ”

The king was thoroughly moved: "I have heard a little about their heresy, but I have not been so detailed. "Think of what the Holy See did to heresy. The baron remembered the horrific penal code that circulated in the Order to punish heresy.

"Who is that to send?" Mongisa V pointed to the baron, "Do you know the language of the infidels?" The baron shook his head, this is a very dangerous job, risking his life, Lildra has not done it, but he is deep behind enemy lines, he does not want to try the feeling of a military engineer behind enemy lines for the time being, after all, the people of Assuna must not be very supportive of him.

King Mongisa V made up his mind: "Don't tell anyone about this matter first, and when I finish dealing with the affairs of the Holy City, we will discuss it carefully together!"