In a magnificent and luxurious new royal palace, Chloe, the king of the kingdom of Rikaner, reclined on his throne and listened to his prime minister whisper.

"We don't have to ignore the rumors and apply proof of action. We hide here, they will say that we are demons, and when we defeat the nezumi, all the criticism will turn into a hymn. When we reclaim the old land, it is the return of the great Montreal family to the north. ”

"The world belongs to the victors!"

Chloe stood up and stepped down the steps on the goose-down carpet to the circular terrace outside the palace.

Hundreds of thousands of pairs of eyes looked out over the streets of the city, and the king raised his sword, a symbol of royal power, and shouted: "Go north!" ”

Their cheers were like a tsunami of cheers.

……

The Old City of Ears of Wheat

The basin turned into a black sea, swelling with waves.

Cloaked nezumi priests and elders climbed the high wall and watched the rows of nezumi pass through the streets.

Tens of thousands of elite nezumi raised spears and exuded a ferocious aura. Approaching the orcs, shield-wielding, the cloaked Sentazumi followed.

The ground began to tremble, and hundreds of rat-clad squirrels in sewn leather armor scattered around, and low-squirrel assassins with twin daggers followed them quietly.

In the distance, a faint sound of neat shouts sounded closer and closer.

A huge wriggling mountain of flesh shaped like nezumen rises from the end of the street, carried by thousands of slave rats. The abominants that dotted the caverns wriggled and gave birth to young rats all the time.

The tenth mother rat passed, and the last few hundred alien races of the queue emerged from the chaos.

They have elves, dragons, spellcasters, and druids. Exuding the dead silence of ominous and plague, it follows the rats southward.

……

"You're Ivana Serge?"

Annan and Olmedo looked at the little girl, who was only one end above the desk.

"Lord Annan, Lord Olmedo, what's wrong with me......" The little girl who had never seen such a battle was a little uneasy.

"Don't be afraid, the professor at the school said you are very smart, and we are curious."

Annan's whisper eased the little girl's uneasiness, and she raised her head proudly: "Everyone says so. ”

"But you're not modest."

"I'm just a child, and humility is an adult's business."

Well, it seems that the "smartest man in Liberty City" is not an introvert.

"Have you tested your magic affinity?" Annan asked.

Ivana shook her head, and Annan asked the maid Abby to bring a test philosopher's stone.

"Put your hand on it, the brighter the Philosopher's Stone, the higher your magic affinity." Annan got up and pulled up the curtains.

Ivana rubbed her hands against her clothes, her little hands on the Philosopher's Stone.

The Philosopher's Stone is dark, and although the room is not a dark room, it already shows that Ivana has no magical affinity......

"It's okay, maybe you're a warlock like me." Annan comforted and asked the mage of the Mage Tower to come and visit.

Olmedo shook his head slightly. Warlocks are scarcer than mages...... How can a silver mine with not even a few pieces of silver have gold?

The mage then confirmed Olmedo's suspicion that Ivana was just an ordinary person.

Ivana, who knew the news, also bowed her head in disappointment.

Annan patted her on the head: "Don't be sad, this is Liberty City, your talent doesn't determine anything." How about I ask you to drink lemon soda? ”

"Okay."

At this time, Annan noticed that the top of Ivana's head was bald: "Is someone bullying you in the orphanage?" ”

"No, I'm the eldest sister's military advisor."

Annan often visited Cathy, and she liked nothing more than to sit on the beach and build castles...... Sand sculptures also need military divisions?

"How did I not know?"

"The eldest sister said that the children of the orphanage should unite against the enemy."

"Who is the enemy?"

"The caretaker of the orphanage—" Ivana, who was speechless, widened her eyes and covered her mouth.

Sure enough, no matter how smart you are, you're just a child after all.

The maid Abby brought lemon soda, and Ivana took a sip of it in her cup.

Annan asked Ivana some more questions, and she was indeed smart and sensitive to numbers. With the basics taught in school, she can easily figure out four arithmetic numbers of five digits...... She was just ten years old.

In any case, Ivana Serge is a smart kid, if not the smartest Freetowner.

Annan intended for Ingrid to train her.

Liberty City has passed the stage of lack of manpower, and many of the incumbent officials, Annan, cannot be named for a while, but they have to prepare for the future.

Twenty years later, many people in Annan are old, and Ivana Serre, who has just reached the age of thirty, is in the prime of life.

Ingrid had no opinion, but Ivana stopped talking.

"What's wrong?"

"The boys always bully us, and if we don't have the big sister, we will always be bullied......" Ivana bravely looked directly at Annan, but hid her cowardice: "I...... I want my sisters to be like me. ”

Olmedo pursed her lips, and Ingrid stared at Annan, wondering what he would answer.

"Do what you want." Annan gently touched Ivana's head, "But you must know that rights are always linked to responsibilities. The right to be held accountable is just a castle in the air......"

He uttered the famous saying, "If you want to wear a crown, bear its weight first." ”

"I see."

Ivana doesn't seem to understand.

A few years later, Brigadier Ivana Serge, who became the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Free City, remembered the 1,000-year rainy season in the Yves saint Laurent calendar when Annan told her to "wear the crown first."

"Ingrid, please send her back, and cultivate a relationship by the way."

“…… Good. ”

Ingrid felt that she had reacquainted herself with her "boss" and took Ivana's hand and walked out.

"By the way, let the caretakers of the orphanage pay attention, the little ones want to 'escape'." Annan and a dejected Ivana blinked.

"She's really smart." After they left, Olmedo commented.

Annan was just about to speak, when he suddenly took out the devil's parchment scroll.

There was no change, as if the heat just felt was just an illusion.

"What's wrong?"

"Beludona said some time ago that she was going to surprise me."

"Maybe you've got a group of devil fans in Hell." Olmedo smiled.

"Maybe it's your father's whereabouts." Annan joked.

Olmedo smiled, his eyes flashing with imperceptible sadness: "He's corrupted by chaos...... Even if the soul is still there, it is manipulated by chaos, not in hell. ”

"It's okay, maybe you'll have a chance to kill him again in the future...... Why did I say the wrong thing by staring at me? ”

……

Ivana Searle returned to the orphanage.

Ivana let go of Ingrid's hand, politely said goodbye to her, and ran back to Cathy.

"Lord Annan summoned me and praised me for being smart."

"Did my father mention me?" Cathy asked delightfully.

"Nope...... But I'm suggesting that Lord Annan is going to sneak out...... Mr. Warden will make the boys who are going to run out tonight suffer. ”

From the corner of the orphanage, the sinister laughter of the two girls came out.

(End of chapter)