Total war was already in Siegel's mind, and his eyes, though he hadn't seen it yet, could already smell it, from the gilded letterhead in front of him.

"What is this, the most precious and indestructible paper in legend, the paper made by adding a specially formulated formula of pure gold to the pulp, and then pressing it with the power of the earth?" Siegel did not open the letter in front of the messenger, but slowly observed it with interest. "I remember that at the top of Mora, the price of this paper was 5,000 gold coins a piece, not counting the special ink. Only archmage-level spells are worthy of this kind of paper, so don't tell me, it's just an ordinary greeting. ”

The dwarf standing across from Siegel was polite, smiling and waving his hand. He and Siegel had known each other for a long time, when Siegel was still locked in an iron cage behind the carriage. Gerard Buminebag said, "Lord Siegel, this is an invitation for you to attend the meeting that will take place in the Holy Ship: The Unsinkable Stone. Our dwarven king has sent invitations to the leaders of all intelligent races and powerful organizations around the world to discuss important matters. ”

Siegel nodded, his sense of smell was correct. The wording of the letter was sincere and polite, fully affirming the importance of the Mage's Federation in the New World. "There's no mention of Heim collar in it, it's a letter to the Federation, not mine. ”

Gerard was embarrassed, and he took out another letter from his bosom: fine parchment and gilded decoration, written in ink doped with the blood of the blue dragon.

"Aha, this is for Earl Haim, the only mage lord on the continent. Siegel Squid's. Siegel laid the two letters flat in front of him. Then he reached out again to Gerald the Dwarf. And said: "There should be one more letter, and that letter is the important letter that decides everything." ”

The dwarf nodded, untied his backpack, and pulled out a scroll bound with string from it. This scroll is just plain leaf pulp paper, which can be bought in any grocery store. It's just that the person who wrote the letter was Elinte, so this letter is more important than the other two.

After reading the letter carefully, Siegel no longer hesitated, and said directly to the dwarf: "The Federation will participate in this meeting. It is up to the Security Council to decide which mage to determine. Whoever is elected, I, as lord of Heim Lord, will participate. ”

"The dwarves are honored to welcome you, and the meeting will take place in ten months, and I will remain in Heim Territory to show you the way. ”

"Speaking of the unsinkable stone boat, where did the dwarves put it?"

"Right in the middle of the ocean on two continents. The plan was to stop at Creek in seven months and sail to the Old Continent. Participants from the Old Continent will board the unsinkable stone boat on other boats. ”

"Seven months later, Creekwood Town understood that I wouldn't miss something that big. Siegel said, "The latest news I've gotten is that the Adamantite gates at the Top of Mora are fully open. It's already possible to get people in and out except the dwarves, is that true?"

"Yes. I think your message is correct. Gerard hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your Excellency, there's one more piece of news I think you should know. The top of Mora has now changed its management organization, and the three summit families no longer enjoy privileges. The Gem Family was in the Heim Territory building through the gold and building materials provided by the Dwarven Council, and they are about to recover it. Moreover, they have discovered the passage that runs from east to west under the mountain range of the city walls. ”

Siegel looked up at the dwarf Gerald with astonishment, and asked, "Why are you telling me this? This is an internal affair of you dwarves, isn't it treason for you to tell me?"

The dwarf's beard trembled, and he raised his eyes to look directly at Siegel with conviction in his eyes. "Because it's right. Although the old administrators made mistakes and misinterpreted the Patronus' intentions and caused losses, they are trying to remedy the situation and the dwarven race can survive. But the new managers have no experience, only impulsive minds and arrogant cognition. This is not beneficial to the dwarves. ”

"But they are still the leaders chosen by the dwarves. Siegel waved his hand and said, "Gerald, sit down and have a drink." We have known each other for a long time, and you have taken care of me and treated me fairly, and I have always remembered it. But I'm not a dwarf, so why should I care where the dwarven leader leads the dwarf?"

"I can't answer you, Lord Siegel. Gerald cowered in his chair, his shoulders drooping, and wiping his eyes with his beard, which was damp. "I'm on the front line, Lord Siegel. When my companions die, I sing war songs to bid them farewell, I take up tomahawks and shields and march for them, and I praise the heroic sacrifice on the flesh and blood of my enemies. But I could not do this before the battle began, and I could not watch my brothers fail at the behest of a stupid commander - defeat was more terrible and humiliating than death. I didn't think about anything in the past, except martial arts, victories, and more. But death makes people think, and I have to stop and think about what I care about when things crumble around me one by one......"

"It's painful to think too much, isn't it?" Siegel nodded, and said to him in a calm tone, "Gerald, I feel the same way. When I first started out on adventure, I didn't think about so many things. My own life, gain or loss, balance of interests? I will challenge two trolls for the sake of a person I don't know, almost dead. There is no backup, no retreat, no mature martial arts, only self-inflated confidence and boiling blood. Luck is on my side, so I can live to think now. ”

Siegel ordered the servant golem to bring two cups of shield river ale, took one for himself, and then walked up to Gerald with another glass and handed it to him with his own hands. "Drink, Gerald, toast - like a friend - and listen to me. ”

"After getting away from the trolls, did I become sane? When I heard that the armies of the northern orcs were about to go south and invade the civilized world, I thought I could save the world and become the hero of the story. Why not? My talent for magic had already been revealed, and my swordsmanship could easily defeat my peers, and the combination of the two made me unstoppable. I embarked on an unknown journey. I didn't think about what I should do. I just know I'm going to do it. Just do it. ”

Siegel thought of Janet: "I've had good things," he said, "I've had bad things too." I was victorious, I was defeated, and I was thrown naked into the underground river of the walled mountains. After all kinds of adventures, I thought I had become the hero of the storybook triumphant return, only to find myself just a marionette under the fate of the prophetic mage. I'm not saying that being a marionette is a failure, it doesn't mean like that. Even if you become an archmage. With the power to destroy and create, I remain a marionette: lifted by responsibility, compassion, trust, love, and a desire to be recognized and praised. ”

"I know how to get rid of these threads, and I only need one thought to turn these things that have limited me into the dust of history, and to liberate the most powerful and pure mages. But I don't want to do that, because if I do that, I won't even regret it, and my memory, my history, will lose its memories. Everything in the world has changed for me from a good book to a simple alphabet, where alpha is omega (beginning is the end) and Z is zero. ”

"You said that you have now learned to think, and that you want to help the dwarves at the top of Mora through me. I'm afraid you've prepared a lot of reasons along the way to convince me. I can think of these things, and I only need one thought to traverse your thoughts. But now I have only one request: to sit in your seat. Listen to me!"

Siegel grabbed Gerald's shoulder, pinned him into his chair, and stood up. His eyes flashed: "I'm a mage, I'm a human being, I'm not a god who can always forgive and forgive. He took a step back, and suddenly his height was astonishing—at least the dwarves felt—and black shadow tentacles waved across the wall behind Siegel. Gerald rubbed his eyes and realized that it was just an illusion.

"Why do you want me to help you with the trouble caused by the dwarves, is it because I'm the closest?you think your fellow man is pitiful, but who cares about my anger?" Siegel clenched his fists, flames erupting from his fingers, with a heat of destruction. "I know the truth, I know what it means to be cold, I know that I need to face the reality and face the future, I know that only unity can lead to victory - but that doesn't soothe my anger! You dwarves want to mine, just dig, the whole city wall mountain range is yours, but you want to dig out a crystal wall system, and you still want to conquer that world. Now that I found that it had failed, even the Holy Saint of the Dwarven Patronus got in, and then began to ask for help? It's that simple? If you want me to say, I'll let you die!"

"Do you know what's best for me?" Siegel held the hilt of his sword and pulled out the stardust and put it back in, back and forth, making a swishing sound. "I have memorized the location of the mines in the city wall mountain range, I have a powerful elemental circle and teleportation circle, I should take advantage of the time when the dwarves have no time to take care of him, dig up the ore I need, build my weapons and army, and use the lives of your dwarves as a wall of flesh and blood. When the goblins fought back and finally exhausted all of the dwarves' essence, I first destroyed the top of Mora, leaving the roof of the world to bury the crystal wall passage, and then attacked from other places they didn't find. Using the dwarves as death squads and vanguard officers was the best plan for me. ”

"In order to save the cost of the war, I will use the magic circle of the Heim Lords to create skeletons and zombie soldiers from the corpses of your dwarves, so that the scourge of the undead and the legions of goblins can be pitted. No matter what magic and technology the goblins wield, I am confident that they will be cracked. ”

"True heroes are only sung by the surviving victors, and dwarves, as the initiators and martyrs of war, will leave a reputation in history that will be reviled for thousands of years. When the elves broke the racial covenant of the year and started a war, the dwarves stood by and carried out their big plans. Okay, I have plans to do that now, and I can close the border as well. ”

"Not only the borders of the Heim Territory, but I'm also going to block the passage from the north to the top of Mora. Not a living creature, not a grain of grain, can reach the top of Mora from under my nose. I can use the elemental tide to flood the entire city wall mountain range! I will seal the ground and the sky with lightning, fire, and acidic air, and isolate the space with furious elements, so that I can't even teleport to the foot of the top of Mora, and even the saints can't approach the dwarven realm unscathed. ”

"I will use the most gorgeous magic in the world to build the coffins of your dwarves!" Siegel stared at Gerald and said, "Dwarves, tell me, what can stop me from doing this?"

Gerald was silent for a moment, he looked into Siegel's eyes, confronted, pondered, and then a phrase floated from under his beard: "You're a good man, that's the only thing that can stop you." (To be continued.) )