As the sun slowly rose over the east side of the sea, the Purple Sail Mercenaries on the hillside finally lowered their flags and retreated to the shore in an orderly manner from the path that the Turin army had aside. There was no guilt or chagrin on the faces of the mercenaries in the queue, as if there had been no terrible bloody battle last night.

After a night of discussion and debate, the Purple Sails Mercenary Regiment, or Landzel Ottovic, finally reached an agreement with the Turin Expeditionary Force to terminate their employment contract with Bright Star City and accept the Turin Expeditionary Force for three months.

This sounds quite rare, and Viscount Otto, as the commander of this support army, doesn't even believe it a little - in the eyes of the people of Turin, the Purple Sail Mercenary Regiment is almost equal to the private army of Bright Star City, how can it be so innocent to turn around and join the enemy? But this is the actual situation, Landzel had to explain two more sentences, the relationship between the Purple Sail Mercenary Regiment and Bright Star City.

Although the Purple Sail Mercenary Regiment has always sided with Bright Star City in the war thirty years ago, and is also one of the important supporters of Bright Star City in the civil war with Dominica, in essence, the two sides are still in an employment relationship, and there is no such thing as a so-called subordination or "alliance".

So it looks like an act of defecting to the enemy, but in the eyes of this group of mercenaries, it is just a change of employer, and they have long been accustomed to this kind of thing - in the Dominica Civil War, mutiny due to unpaid wages by their employers, and even defection on the battlefield have long been uncommon, and even become the norm, after all, they are only loyal to their employer's money, not to someone.

Of course, all of this is just a nice-sounding "crooked" - the relationship between Bright Star City and the Purple Sail Mercenary Group has long been more than just the relationship between employers and mercenaries, and in Viscount Otto's opinion, this guy named Landzel is just trying to find a reason to avoid being buried for the Otovik family in Bright Star City.

This is also the reason why Edward did not accept Landzel's conditions in the first place - they are mercenaries, and no matter how strong and well-trained they are, they can't change this. Landzel's status is directly related to the strength of the Purple Sail Mercenary Regiment, once he suffers heavy casualties in Fort Clarion, his original position will no longer exist, even for this reason this guy will not choose to fight the Turin Expeditionary Force to the end.

As a condition of accepting the Turin Expeditionary Force's recruitment, the Purple Sail Mercenary Regiment will be left behind as a garrison to maintain the security and stability of the entire city for the expeditionary force - of course, that is after the conquest of Bright Star City, but after losing the most powerful main legion, the time for this ancient city-state to hold out has also entered the countdown.

With the city walls and an army of citizens and private soldiers, the Ottovik family may be able to resist for a while, but the food is easily depleted, and the contradictions between the poor and the nobles are growing - maybe there is no need for a real large-scale attack, and the Bright Star City will collapse without a fight, or even surrender on its own initiative!

But at the moment, such a situation is just a beautiful idea, Sir Leonardo, who is slowly encroaching on the territory of Bright Star City, while sweeping the countryside here, while gathering the army of the Southern Lord from the port of The Hague, a total of nearly 10,000 troops gathered under Bright Star City, and will officially declare war and attack the city at any time!

In the empty night, the flaming goshawk banner was still fluttering at the top of the castle of Hornfort - after the Purple Sail Mercenary Regiment was defeated, little Goodwin also hung it back up, and for all the people who were still alive in this castle, seeing this flag still flying there was a sign that they could continue to stand up and be proud of.

Even if many of them are not even Turines, and even those crow mercenaries are technically enemies of the Kingdom of Turin, the Lund pirates of their northern countrymen have always plagued the northern part of the kingdom. But now, that flag has turned them all into a family, even if temporarily.

Some barely supported his body to stand up, Edward, who was on crutches, walked slightly limping on the castle tower, panting a little, his chest with two broken ribs seemed to be on fire, and the cold sweat on his forehead was still falling like chaff, making him look like a tuberculosis ghost who would fall down at any moment.

But Edward could no longer endure the days of lying in bed - he had to recover as soon as possible, the battle of the Turin Expeditionary Force was not over, and if he chose to stop at this time, then all the next victories would be lost. Even the most difficult moments have survived, how can you stop while picking the fruits of victory?

The battle of Bright Star City was an opportunity for Luceen to prove himself, and it was the same for Edward - and a war could not have two equally dazzling people, and the powerful resources of the Minest family would give Luceen the advantage, and he had to fight everything to have a chance to take advantage of the tiger's mouth.

Of course, there is another more subtle reason - Edward hates lying in a hospital bed, and reminds himself of many unpleasant memories of his previous life.

"Can you still hold a sword?" Viscount Otto's voice came from behind him, and the old man's expression was still as firm as a rock, but the taste of concern in his words was also very obvious.

"Whenever necessary, at any time. Edward smiled softly and humbly bowed to the old man on crutches, "Allow me to thank you - without your help, Hornfort would have fallen today, and you saved us all." ”

"It's not me coming to save you, it's Alan. The old man's gaze was leisurely and Edward's, and there seemed to be a sneer on the corner of his mouth: "If you want to thank you, is Xie mistaken for recognition?"

"But I know very well that Miss Alan would not have been able to lead so many knights and men to the rescue of Hornfort without your consent, so I must express my gratitude to you. Edward's expression was as sincere as ever: "No matter what you are for, your life has been saved by you." ”

Although he was still full of hostility towards Edward, in those sincere eyes, Otto Kwyn still found it difficult to make himself angry, so he could only snort coldly and turn his head away: "Don't be mistaken - Fort Horn is extremely crucial to the expeditionary force, and I promised Leonardo that man to save you for this!"

"I understand. Edward smiled and nodded, but the smile was so clear that Otto couldn't breathe.

The old man in silence glanced at the corpses under the city wall, and his originally sharp gaze seemed to soften a little: "You did a good job." ”

Edward, who heard the other party's words, raised his head in slight surprise, but Otto Kwyn continued: "Leonardo is not wrong, you are indeed a very good knight, in other words, when I was your age, I am afraid that I would not even have the qualifications to be your opponent, let alone stand here and judge you." ”

"You're so humble, I'm just ......"

"No, I'm not being modest, I'm talking about what I've seen with my own eyes - three hundred men and one legion, and if I don't have that kind of confidence, I'll probably fight to the death, but...... The truth is, I've never been in such a disparity of battle, so I'm not qualified to brag to you. ”

"I'm not a good dad. The old man suddenly said, "Especially for Alan, she has never learned how to be a real lady, and I have not treated her well, but she is a good girl and very sensible. ”

"So, at least this time I don't want to disappoint her - if that's really what she wants in life, I'm not going to stand in the way. Viscount Otto set his eyes on Edward: "And you'd better not disappoint an old man - I have nothing to be attached to at this age, and I will do whatever it takes to show you the fate of hurting her!"

"What you're worried about won't happen. Edward bowed his head solemnly: "In the name of the Radiant Cross, I make a promise to you. ”

Don't talk too early – people are changing, especially when new temptations are in front of them. ”

"But there are some things that won't change. Edward raised an eyebrow: "For example...... Nature. ”