After receiving the order, Lord Black and Shirrell retired, leaving only Edward and Little Goodwin in the room. The tired squire sat there, waiting for Edward to tell him anything more.

"You're doing a great job this time...... I'm not complimenting you, but I really want to say that. As he spoke, Edward picked up a pot of pear wine and two cups from the coffee table next to him: "At least this time you have proved yourself, you have not run away and your head is not hot, and you are ready to die worthless with a boatload of people, and it is quite rare to know exactly what you should do and what you can do." ”

As he spoke, Edward filled the two glasses in front of him with wine, and little Goodwin, who was a little frightened, watched Edward take the initiative to bring the cups in front of him, and quickly took them: "You, you are so polite, you don't need to ...... at all"

"The last time I proved myself, the chief knight, Geillus Valens, poured me a glass of fine wine in recognition of my loyalty to the Order. Edward also picked up his glass and smiled playfully, "And today you have proven yourself, although there is no wine." ”

"I just think it's the right thing to do. Little Goodwin swallowed and stared at Edward with burning eyes, "I want to prove my loyalty to you, and I want to follow you forever." ”

"Maintain your loyalty and ability, and you will always have a place with me. Edward smiled and gently clinked his glass with the little squire: "Now I have a task for you, which should be perfect for your strengths. ”

"Although this day is a matter of time, I am afraid that Sir Leonardo and the expeditionary force have not yet expected that the army of the Otovik family will be hidden. A fleet of a dozen ships, probably no less than three thousand men, and the strength of nearly one legion is enough to sway the tide of the battle—although I never make pointless guesses, I must admit that if I meet the battle alone, the possibility of the Horn Fort being breached is quite high. ”

"They have ten times as many troops as we do - the difference between three hundred and three thousand is far greater than one man against ten. Edward took a sip, "We only have one ship, and I need you to tell Sir Leonardo the news, and I have written the letter, so you can give it to him - make sure he receives it himself." ”

Little Goodwin silently drank from his glass, did not agree or refute, just quietly looked at Edward, his shoulders still trembling slightly, and the room was silent.

"You don't want to?"

"No, I am your squire, and I will never disobey your orders. Little Goodwin put down the wine glass in his hand with some trembling and tried to keep himself calm: "But only this time, I hope you can let someone else take charge of this important mission - although I am useless as your squire, please let me be able to fight side by side with you at this time." ”

"I swear allegiance to you before the Knights of the Sacred Tree's Black Tree Banner on a White Background and the Radiant Cross, and I ask you to keep my oath to be able to fight beside you at such a time - even the hardest and most tiring work, but please don't make me feel like a deserter who can only watch you fight!"

"You could die. Edward gently put the cup down, smiled and shook his head, "But we're all going to die sooner or later - only this one has no choice, and the rest should be fine." ”

"So you agreed?!" Little Goodwin smiled in surprise, "I thought you would ...... directly. I'm sorry, but I know I've never been a good squire. ”

"But now that you're smart enough, as for whether you're brave and powerful enough, keep proving yourself. Edward smiled nonchalantly, "Do you know who the people who attacked Fort Clarion this time were?"

"I've heard that there are some businessmen who do business in Dominica who don't know about the 'Purple Sails' mercenary group in Bright Star City, and the leader of this generation is said to be an illegitimate son of the Otovik family, who chose to become a mercenary because he didn't have a talent for magic and was not valued. Little Goodwin nodded, and said with some horror, "When I came, I saw their flagship, with purple sails. ”

Even the flagship has already left, so the navies of the Hanan family and several other city-states on the eastern front may have known about this matter for a long time, but they have not sent information to the expeditionary force until now, or have taken the opportunity to besiege the mercenary group that has no leader, as if everything is still normal, as if they are blind, and continue to confront each other.

In other words, the several city-states facing off against Bright Star City on the Eastern Front are just pretending, and they don't plan to rebel against the Otovik family right now - they are probably waiting to see who will be the winner, which is a very rational choice. Edward nodded, "We shouldn't have expected any 'loyalty' from these wallgrasses in the first place. ”

.................. At supper time, the whole of more than 300 soldiers gathered together in the courtyard of the castle - the rough long tables and benches in the spacious courtyard were filled with bread, bacon, hot soup and wine, although they were all coarse food, but these big-headed soldiers were not picky diners, and enjoyed a hot supper to the fullest.

Pushing open the door of the inner fort, Edward walked out after seeing everyone sit down, and all the soldiers slowly put down the soup plate and bread in their hands, and watched the lieutenant general standing in his seat without saying a word, only the whirring wind was still echoing in the spacious courtyard.

Edward didn't mean to talk nonsense - all of them sitting here were battle-hardened veterans, unlike those who needed agitation and fanaticism to boost morale: "Brethren here, I told all of you before I came what we are here for, and now is the time. ”

"A whole legion of Dominicians is coming towards the castle - in fact they would have been out tonight if they had wanted to, but the scum had made up their minds to wait for them to come to us in fear and fear, and to let us be scared to death by ourselves. ”

Edward chuckled and threw his knife on the table, the handle of the wood shaking and making a "buzzing" sound: "Many of you may think it will be familiar, yes - because the farmers of the South like to put a scarecrow in the field, and it just so happens that I am also a South farmer. ”

The soldiers laughed and saw Edward's hand press a few times in mid-air before stopping: "After tomorrow, everyone in the castle must be ready, and before Lord Leonardo sends reinforcements, or the day of the fall of Bright Star City - we must all hold on to this Horn Fortress." Our reserves can last for two months, but Fort Clarion cannot resist a two-month siege, as I'm sure you know. ”

"Maybe in seven days, there will be less than half of the people at the table, maybe in less than half a month, we won't even need to make a fire to cook, and the rest of the living people will not be able to use up for a lifetime. Edward took his glass and took a sip, "So while we can still drink and eat, let's eat as much as we can—there won't be any angel in the Starry Sky Divine Kingdom who wants to drink with everyone like us." ”

After saying that, Edward sat down slowly, but his black eyes never left the entire banquet scene. There were no cheers or curses to kill the enemy, as if nothing had happened, the big soldiers who drank from their cups drank hot soup with their mouths full of oil, and the table was full of the noise of knives and forks and smashing their mouths, laughing and talking about the bad luck or triumph that happened to women and themselves, and the chaos did not look like a catastrophe was about to come.

But that's what Edward wants—the best thing to think about is not to think, especially for an army, whether he's going to die or not, whether he's going to see the sun tomorrow. It is enough to eat peacefully and sharpen your spear and short sword.