"The book you're reading is a medium spell model construction, isn't it, don't look at it, it's all old-fashioned."

She slipped the book into the shelf.

"Come with me, come to my alchemy lab, there is a small enchantment here, let me test the results of your studies during this time."

"Won't it break your enchantment?"

"Don't worry, it's very strong, you can toss it casually."

"Dignified princess in purple, don't say this kind of misleading words, okay?"

Anna glanced at him and changed her words: "Don't worry, your little thing can't be pierced at all." ”

Lothar raised an eyebrow: "Say you're still doing it." ”

...

Early the next morning.

The sky was just dawning.

Lothar was woken up by Anna, and he and Prajna and Jeanna helped each other put on their armor.

After breakfast, he took his team of remaining veterans and headed for the Cypress St. George's Chapel.

That would be the starting point for their military parade today.

The veterans wore brand new black eagle burqas on a white background, which Anna had personally dried with a spell after the servants had washed them last night.

They carried heavy javelins on their shoulders with shields, and with the other hand on their waists, they wore scabbards, and their heads wore helmets dyed red and decorated with horsehair, which Anna had worked on the previous night.

This thing is purely an ornament, which is of no use on the battlefield, and may instead obscure the view of comrades.

In this way, the retained veterans are like an ancient imperial legion that has crossed the long river of history, attracting the attention of many noble officers who arrived early.

"Whose army is this?"

"The Empire has reinstated the Praetorian Guard?"

People looked at each other.

The Greek aristocracy, who was well versed in the history of the empire, was full of curiosity, but was reluctant to come forward to talk about it because of Lothar's obvious status as a Frankish barbarian.

The barbarian generals didn't see the peculiarities of this army at all, but felt that the equipment of these people was a little strange.

By dawn, the parade has officially begun.

They exited the Avenue of Messer, passed through Theodosius and Constantine, and headed for the Colosseum in the eastern part of the city.

Along the way, the people on the side of the road spontaneously held the icons of the Father, the Virgin, and the Holy Apostles, dragging their families and mouths, and had been waiting with great anticipation.

"It's coming!"

"The warriors of the empire are here!"

With the cheers of the people, the first column of troops appeared in the streets.

They were the first company of Varangian, all dressed in rich silk burqas, carrying a banner emblazoned with lightning bolts and long faces, carrying kite-shaped shields and spears in their hands, and marching in orderly steps.

After that, there were the Varangian Guards, who carried two-handed axes, and they best fit the stereotype of the Varangian Guards, carrying round shields in the Greek style, all of them murderous.

The number of Varangian's guards varied from time to time, but Empress Lagaia did not reduce the number of 4,000 men recruited by Emperor Alexios, and remained at this number.

And with such a large number of corps, it is naturally impossible for every company to be elite.

Only the two most elite companies, totaling 1,600 people, were present at this parade.

The elite of these Varangian guards have a lot of expenses compared to the heavy cavalry.

No other country in the world, except for the Eastern Dynasty, which also lost an important horse breeding ground, would have invested such a huge amount of money on heavy infantry.

Behind the Varangian Guard were hundreds of noble cavalrymen wearing bright red cloaks, all kinds of fine armor, most of the helmets were inserted with swan feathers, peacock feathers, and even their mounts were covered with silk horse coats.

These are the so-called Aguntoplai Praetorian Cavalry, all of which are composed of nobles and generals.

Regardless of whether you can play for the time being, just talking about this equipment, it is really handsome.

These handsome and upright aristocratic cavalry immediately aroused the cheers of the crowd, and these Greek sons were the objects that the people of Constantinople were more willing to worship than the Frankish barbarians.

They don't remember the last time these fancy men failed on the battlefield, it was more than a hundred years ago.

This was followed by a group of mounted cavalry with spears and bows hanging from their saddles, the so-called Vadaritai Praetorian Cavalry, who specialized in the so-called Parthian tactics, most of them were lightly armoured, and a few were classified as mounted archers.

Naturally, the more heroic cavalry were mounted archers, whose mounts were covered with a full set of horse armor, and the helmets of the horse armor even obscured the eyes of the horses.

This means that they have great horseback control skills, and their mounts will not be deterred by fear of flames or the spears of the enemy.

Later, it was the turn of the retained veterans of Lothar, in terms of numbers, they were much worse than the previous ones, but each of the retained veterans took a uniform step, and the special gorgeous costumes also caused bursts of cheers.

Behind them were the Latin Knights' Company, knights from Central and Western Europe who practiced the method of charging with rifles, each wearing a variety of burqas representing his family's coat of arms and wearing round or square barrel helmets.

Finally, there are a variety of auxiliary companies, including the more famous ones such as the Praetorian Marksman Wing.

It's just that as light infantry, their loose formation is difficult to bring people any sense of impact.

Count Leopold glanced at the young crown prince beside him and smiled: "The Greeks are showing us strength, Your Highness, what do you think of their army?" ”

Crown Prince Henry, a young man with short golden curls and a straight hooked nose, sneered when he heard this: "It's just a show." The Greeks have always been fond of bluffing, and their only fleet, which can outwhelm us, has been lost in Cyprus, and I really can't understand why my father would join forces with these Greeks. ”

Leopold glanced at the red-haired witch beside him, and the two smiled at each other.

Compared with the scheming Emperor Henry, little Henry was still a young man full of muscles and conceit.

"I seem to see an acquaintance..."

Leopold's face changed slightly.

"That man... Is it Lothar? How did he end up here, and become a general of the Greek army. ”

Crown Prince Henry wondered, "Which Lothar?" ”

"Lothar of the House of Habsburg, who spent only half a year in the Holy Land, replaced Count Renard of Transjordan and was promoted to the rank of vassal of Transjordan by King Baldwin."

Count Leopold was a little emotional, and the little guy who used to want to recruit a baron under his command now seemed to be able to sit on an equal footing with him.

"It's him."

There was a hint of jealousy in Crown Prince Henry's eyes, Lothar's limelight has been too loud lately, and the GWENT card he invented has become popular in the Empire.

Guardians of the Holy Land, Dragon Slayers, Werewolf Slayers, Brave Ones, and a host of names such as the Warriors and Caravans resounded throughout Christendom with the return of pilgrims and caravans.

He snorted softly, "I have indeed heard of this person, and my father also revealed to me some time ago that he intended to make his father Werner the Duke of Burgundy in Jura. ”

"Oh, Count Werner has great achievements in war, he is an outstanding general, Your Majesty should respect him, and he will definitely be a loyal servant of Your Highness in the future."

Leopold laughed but didn't say a word.

The young crown prince's mind is so easy to guess that it is no wonder that His Majesty the Emperor would let himself preside over all the affairs of the envoys.

Crown Prince Henry was a little eager to try: "Let's go, Lord Leopold, we should go to the Colosseum, let's teach those Greeks a hard lesson." ”

Leopold was slightly stunned: "Your Highness, are you sure you want to play in person?" ”

Crown Prince Henry looked expectant: "Of course! I've won the title of Champion Knight ten times, and it would be great to meet this Lothar in the arena. ”

Obviously, if he can defeat the now famous Lothar, his prestige will be greatly enhanced, which will greatly help him in the future after taking over the Kingdom of Sicily.

The parade is gradually coming to an end.

In the arena, people have also begun to enter at this time.

Costumed nobles and noblewomen sat on the viewing platforms in the middle of the two ends of the arena, and the commoners could only stand on the stone steps to watch.

The oval-shaped arena, from high to low, was full of dense figures, and this kind of scene was many times larger than the athletic competition once held by Count Leopold.

Frigila and Cellinina sat on the observation deck of the arena, a decent position, and she hugged one of Cellinina's arms with excitement on her face: "Will you come out of that door later?" ”

Cellinina shook her head and said, "I don't know. ”

She didn't know the traditions of the Empire, she couldn't even read Greek, and most of the people around her spoke as if she were listening to a book from heaven.

The Greek ladies next to them stared at the two with jealousy, muttering and mocking them for not knowing the rules and not knowing which barbarian general's family scroll.

Patriarch Nicetas II of Constantine and several black-robed bishops stared blankly at the still vacant viewing platform belonging to Her Majesty the Empress and members of the royal family.

Although they did not get along with the Catholic pope, they also believed that this kind of barbaric activity of spilling blood on the arena was not the right thing for a devout person to do.

Then.

The doors of the Colosseum are open, and the heavy chariots with two horses side by side, under the control of the driver, come to the track, which is the opening chariot competition, and everyone can bet in advance on their favorite driver.

The heavy wheels ran over the solid road, and the chariots were all at high speed, even when turning, there was no intention of slowing down.

This seems to have kicked off today's competitive competition.

Excited shouts rang out, and those who had placed bets turned red, desperately cheering for the supportive team.

With a loud bang.

A carriage overturned on its side, causing a series of collisions, and a young aristocratic driver was crushed under the overturned carriage, screaming incessantly.

Such a tragic scene has made people more and more excited.