By the time Tails returned on his horse, Valhalla had already prepared: the avenue in front of the first gate had been swept fresh, and the guards and soldiers were in extra neat armor and stood guard in formation—probably the limit for the Northlanders, who were accustomed to rough and rough manners.

"Maybe the next time you come back, you won't be able to come along with bad news. ”

The preoccupied second prince carefully held the reins of the dark horse Jenny, and said to Putile, who had not been seen for a long time, with a straight face.

"I see," Putilai's eyebrows moved, his eyes narrowed, revealing a strange look: "Your Excellency Little Ronnie proposed to the Grand Duchess to consolidate the stability of Longxiao City, this is actually bad news for Your Highness......"

Yes?

The prince was stunned for a second for this, and then understood something.

He took a light breath.

Tails slowly turned to Putile, put on the most ugly face, and said word by word: "You have to mention ......"

But he was interrupted.

"Ah, I'm sorry," the thin man smiled meaningfully, shrugging his shoulders seemingly helplessly on his horse, "before you had a seizure—I swear I didn't mean anything else. ”

Putile smiled harmlessly, "You know what ...... mean by 'that'. ”

Tails' eyes widened, and his mouth moved in the air a few times, but finally no sound came out.

The prince snorted disapprovingly and turned back.

Who can understand the depression that is forced back into the chest with a sentence full of resentment?

"As far as the current situation is concerned," the second prince resisted the urge to dismiss the former lieutenant, crooked his mouth, and bit the words out between his teeth: "Anything that breaks the status quo may be a threat to us: such as the abrupt marriage of the Grand Duchess and the interests involved behind it—I mean that." ”

"Of course," Putile, still with that unbeaten expression, ignoring the fact that Lord Justin behind him had darkened his face, he shook his pipe with a leisurely expression:

"You are a prince, and what you say must be true—whether it is true or not. ”

Oh, my God......

Tails covered his face and let out a painful sigh, giving up the idea of explaining something to the stubborn old man.

"Unbelievable," the prince looked listlessly at the slowly approaching palace gate, "these words actually came from the mouth of a subordinate who had ignored his prince for more than ten days. ”

Putileh snorted softly, but did not answer.

Nicolas had already led the Grand Duke's guards to wait in front of the palace gate, but this time the Meteorite did not put on a dead face when he saw Tails, but stared at him deeply, and then looked in the direction of the stable, motioning for him to continue.

It's not very common.

Puzzled, Tails kicked off the saddle in front of the stable.

"Good luck," Putile said lightly, "I'll be waiting for you in your room when the greeting is over." ”

"That's comforting. The already annoyed prince waved his hand dissatisfiedly.

Tails handed the reins to the groom, and then, accompanied by Wyaa and Rolf, walked to Nicola, who was at the palace gate.

"The Grand Duke and the Earl are in the Hall of Heroes, go and join them," Nicollet waved his hand unchanged, "I still have to meet the Advance Officers of the Mission here—they are especially formal this time." ”

"Because it's so serious?" Tails snorted, "What happened to that last incident?" you know, about the ...... of the Grand Duke."

"Shut your mouth obediently," Nikolai interrupted him stiffly, "the forerunner of Qiyuan City is here. ”

Tails turned his head, and sure enough, a group of cavalry under a different banner slowly drove out of the first city gate, and under the gaze of countless Longxiao City guards on both sides, they walked towards the palace gate.

Their banners were embroidered with a thick tome that had been opened, and the pages were engraved with several imperial letters, of unknown significance.

The Knight's Codex, the orthodox and noble ruler of Qiyuan City, and the emblem of the Ronnie family.

It is said that they are a famous knight family who have been stationed in the Northland for a long time in the ancient imperial era, and have given birth to countless great knights who have left their names in history, even when the emperor forcibly demolished the knight's temple and the knight ancient style gradually declined, they still have a huge reputation in the Northland.

Until the end of the war.

Tails recalls the knowledge given to the teachers in the Northland over the years.

Among the cavalry, the leading knight looked quite special: he had a dark face, flat eye sockets, shaved temples, and only short reddish-brown hair on the top of his head, and a sturdy build, but he was dressed in light leather armor not common in the Northlands, and various small tools were tied around the belt around his shoulders that Tails could not read. The only weapons on his body, except for a short knife at his waist, were a crossbow on his back and an quiver hanging from the saddle.

And the most noticeable thing is that although he is riding on a horse, he is leisurely like a leisurely stroll and temperament.

The precursor of the Qiyuan City Mission actually had this attitude?

That means......

Just as Tails frowned, Nicolas beside him reacted one step ahead of him: he saw the Meteorite show a rare look of surprise, staring intently at the leading brown-haired knight.

"Oh, what a surprise. The meteorite's expression slowly turned serious.

Tails narrowed his eyes, looked at Nicolais, and then at the leather-armored knight who was leisurely walking, "You know?"

Nicollet ignored him, but made a few gestures to his subordinates, and then walked forward alone: the prince noticed that several of the old Grand Duke's guards had the same expression.

Tails looked strangely at the brown-haired knight with an unusual Northland face.

He is......

Nicolai slowly walked to the front of the group of Qiyuan City cavalry, and watched them dismount in unison, his face cold.

The brown-haired knight was of medium stature, even slightly shorter than the slightly skinny Nicolais, and he pressed the belt at his waist and looked directly at the Meteorite in front of him without flinching, and smiled maliciously.

Tails sighed, and the Sins of the River Hellriver gathered to his ear, listening to the conversation between the two of them.

Nicolas looked at the knight for a long time.

Until he took a deep breath, pursed his mouth, nodded his head lightly, and snorted coldly:

"How could it be you?"

The words are cold and unceremonious.

Tails' heart tightened: It seems that their relationship is not good?

In the coming storm, the relationship between Qiyuan City and Longxiao City will probably depend on the outcome of this mission.

And now......

Listening to Nicollet's unkind greeting, the brown-haired knight grinned at an inexplicable ruffian—and Tails noticed that the knight's lips were extra wide.

A special person.

The prince said silently, rejecting Waiya's suggestion to let him go first.

I saw the brown-haired knight tilt his head, open his mouth, and make a voice like a gong, and said to Nicola:

"Have you ever heard a joke?"

Nicolai frowned.

"There is a man who has been running business all year round, and he is very worried that his wife in his hometown will be unfaithful to him," the brown-haired knight shook his head and smiled:

So he sneaked home one night, but fortunately the man found no trace of the adulterer except his sleeping wife. So he was relieved to be interested, and he and his wife were merry. ”

Nicolai's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

The brown-haired knight snorted and raised his finger to tap the unswerving Nicolais: "Afterwards, his wife lit the lamp and saw her husband's face clearly, so she couldn't help but say in surprise......"

The knight's eyes widened, and he repeated Nicolai's words with an exaggerated expression:

"How could it be you?"

The audience fell silent.

In the next second, the brown-haired knight burst out laughing, and one person leaned back and forth with laughter.

"Hahahaha......"

As if the joke was really funny.

But Nicolas didn't move.

The knight's companions looked strange and looked away, and some coughed lightly, as if they were deeply ashamed of their leader's jokes.

Tails, who was listening to all this from afar, couldn't help frowning.

What the?

Only the brown-haired knight, still smiling at Nicolais, shrugged his shoulders.

Finally, after centuries of what seemed to have passed, Nicolas let go of his icy expression and let out a long sigh.

"As before," said Nicollet, bowing his head, and snorted coldly:

"It's not funny at all. ”

The brown-haired knight stopped smiling, his expression changing.

"Oh my God," the knight looked at the Meteorite with a look of disappointment:

"Your sense of humor is still the same, so. ”

Tails listened strangely to their conversation and began to wonder about their relationship.

The brown-haired knight, what the hell is ......

Nicolas watched him silently.

"How many years?" said the Starfall softly.

The brown-haired knight's smile slowly faded.

"Eighteen years," he snorted, brushing his brown hair, "since I went back to Qiyuan City—we haven't seen each other in eighteen years." ”

The Meteorite nodded slowly.

But the brown-haired knight's expression suddenly came alive again.

"I guess you still don't have a mother-in-law, right?"

"And with your identity, it's impossible to make a big splash**, and the noble ladies probably don't look down on you," the brown-haired knight looked at Nicolai with disgust, and showed a meaningful hehehe, "Don't tell me, you still solved it with your hands in the past eighteen years!"

At this moment, the companions behind him coughed unnaturally.

Nicolai remained motionless as he stared at the brown-haired knight who uttered indecent words.

Until he also curled the corners of his mouth and laughed suppressedly.

Nicola's laughter and the brown-haired knight's laughter gradually coincided—as if they had laughed so many times in relative proximity.

Tails looked at the meteorite's smile strangely, as far as he knew, the dead-faced Nicolai rarely had a smile other than a sneer and a sinister grin.

In the next second, Nicolai and the brown-haired knight waved their right hands almost at the same time!

Hit the other side!

What the?

At the moment when Tails's eyes shrank, as if he had experienced a tacit combination of thousands of cooperations, the two palms were fiercely clasped together in the air!

Syllable!

Nicolai clenched the palm of the other's hand, and a rare smile appeared on the corner of his mouth:

"It's nice to see you, Big Mouth. ”

"Hahahaha," the brown-haired knight laughed as he looked up to the sky, setting off his mouth even wider:

"Each other, thorns!"

Tails watched in amazement as the two men moved—it seemed that their previous guess was wrong.

Their relationship......

Not generally good.

After all, not everyone can satirize and flirt with the famous Meteorite without any scruples.

The brunette knight...... Who exactly?

This guy was sent as a member of the mission of Qiyuan City, which means that Archduke Ronnie is ......

Nicolai and the brown-haired knight let go of each other and walked side by side towards the palace gate.

The people of Qiyuan City seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at this time, and they all followed behind.

The brown-haired knight raised his head and looked at everything in Valhalla, with a lot of emotion in his expression, as if he was revisiting his old place.

"So, I heard that you single-handedly slaughtered your head six years ago?"

The Meteorite's face instantly turned cold.

"Sort of, plus some Byrne and your help. Nicolai said softly.

"Me?" the brown-haired knight thought thoughtfully, "Sure enough, you used the secret I told you?"

"Yes," the Starfaller's face seemed even paler, "and I'm not proud of it—not to mention that he was seriously injured at the time." ”

Silent.

The two of them walked non-stop, but the conversation came to a slight halt in a delicate atmosphere.

"I understand that feeling. After a few seconds, the knight said lightly.

"When the leader recruited us into the Guard, you probably didn't expect this day. ”

Nicolas did not speak.

The brown-haired knight raised his head and looked at the cliff in the sky at the top of Valhalla, his eyes condensed on the statue of Necajou, and said with emotion: "It's unimaginable, in a blink of an eye, we are almost fifty." ”

Guard.

Chief.

Tails moved slightly: he already had a guess about the knight's identity.

"All men will grow old," said Nicolas softly, as if meaningfully, "whether it be a king or a commoner. ”

"Speaking of which, my chest hurts when it rains for the last year," said the brown-haired knight, who seemed to be a chatterbox, and even though Nicolai was silent, he continued to chatter: "Do you have a similar problem?"

Nicolai shook his head, "I guess you left it over from your youth at the Outpost - you've been in the pit for too long. ”

But for some reason, looking at the usually taciturn Nicolais, with his arms folded, walking together with the talking, exaggerated knight, casually pulling a homely combination, Tails felt no sense of disobedience.

Just as they were.

"A long time ago, a military doctor named Ramon told me," said the brown-haired knight, as he rudely gouged out his ears, "after the age of forty, our physical strength will decline significantly, our bodies will begin to gradually age, and some problems will appear, God, I laughed at him at that time......"

Nicolai sneered: "But at the same time, our experience and skills will gradually climb and precipitate, and our emotions will gradually become stable, get rid of impulsiveness and madness, and make up for the degradation of our body." ”

"So, compared to those young people in their twenties and thirties, we at the age of forty have a balance of experience and physical strength, which is the most powerful and terrifying stage of a veteran," the Meteorite shook his head, "Don't listen to some liars and belittle yourself. ”

"No, no, no, the medic said that once you are over fifty years old......" The brown-haired knight disagreed:

"No matter how much our skills and experience increase, we can't make up for the lack of physical strength and physical deterioration, every injury is a heavy injury that is difficult to recover, and the problems left by our youth are more like the curse of the tarsal bones with you, from getting up and opening your eyes to lying down and closing your eyes, it will never stop ......."

Nicolas snorted.

They were getting closer and closer to the palace gates.

"Most of them are newcomers, but I saw Gayla and Lum," the knight's gaze swept over the Grand Duke's guards on both sides of the palace gate, "What about Byrne? Isn't he the most fortunate of us besides you and Isaiah—Lord Mielke, Michael?"

He knew Mielke, and he knew the veterans of the White-Blade Guard—Tails thought silently.

The knight's identity was already revealed.

"Byrne is gone," Nicolas said lightly, "Six years ago, he was too badly injured to do anything anymore." ”

The brown-haired knight rolled his eyes slightly, his expression interesting: "Is it, so serious?"

"Six years ago, Longxiao lost more than just a king," the Meteorite said lightly, "Sometimes, inner wounds are harder to heal than physical ones. ”

In front of the palace gate, the brown-haired knight stopped.

"I have a feeling, prick," he said, looking at Nicolai with interest, "you're not the same as you used to be—you don't seem to be that annoying." ”

"And you're still as annoying as ever. Nicollet replied mercilessly.

The knight laughed: "This is worthy of our reputation as 'white blade double shame' back then!"

Tails listened to their conversation almost with a frown—it was hard to imagine that anyone could talk to Nicollet......

Before Tails was distracted, the Brown-Haired Knight and Nicollet had already walked in front of him.

"So, this is our dear Prince of the Stars?" the brown-haired knight looked at the prince with interest.

Tails let out a breath: "Hello, I'm Tails Bright Star. ”

The brown-haired knight lowered his head and looked at the prince carefully.

However, at the moment when the brown-haired knight's light-colored eyes stared at Tails, the prince suddenly became excited!

A dangerous shiver spread from Tails' back to his shoulder.

The sins of the River of Hell began to roll incessantly.

Tails looked back at the brown-haired knight with a solemn face, raising the alarm in his heart to the highest level: this is a feeling that he would not have when he was against Nicolai.

What's going on?

It's like...... It's like being targeted by a terrible hunter.

Could it be that this guy with a lot of bizarre talk is even more ...... than Nicolai

"You know, I told Thorn a long time ago that the imperial royal family is the darling of the gods, so their blood is golden," the brown-haired knight looked at the nervous prince, laughed, and patted Nicolai beside him: "He didn't believe it, and said that he would help me verify it if he had a chance......"

Tails frowned.

He remembered the unpleasant first meeting with the Meteorite.

Nicola coughed.

"Prince Tails is the honored guest of the Grand Duchess, and has taken up residence here at the invitation of the King," the Meteorite interrupted the knight without hesitation, "with the necessary respect, Monty. ”

The brown-haired knight named Monty shook his head dissatisfiedly: "Okay, okay, Grand Duchess...... Oh my God......"

He took his gaze back from Tails, but the guy was clearly not over yet.

"So, hey, boy," Monty bent down towards the prince and gave a passionate smirk, his eyebrows arching up three times, "The Grand Duchess, hehe......"

"Have you her?"

At that moment, Tails froze in place.

What the?

"Monty!"

Nicolas shouted angrily.

"Take care of your mouth," the Meteorite's palm pressed on Monty's shoulder, his face gradually turned cold, and he no longer had the indifference of seeing his old friend again, "Especially since you also represent Qiyuan City." ”

The brown-haired knight exhaled.

"Okay, I'll take that back," Monty shrugged, using this to get rid of the Meteorite's hand, with an amused expression, "You haven't changed. ”

Nicolai snorted softly, "As a precursor, I believe you still have a job—my subordinates will take you to meet the Grand Duchess." ”

"Of course," Monty smiled and shook his head, "Lord Ian's hospitality will be left to you." ”

With that, Monty turned his head again and gave Tails a deep look before stepping forward and walking with his companions towards Valhalla.

Tails, who was left behind and watched his back speechlessly.

"That's ......" The prince scratched his head, unable to imagine that such a strange person had come to Qiyuan City.

"Ned Monty," Nicolai replied succinctly and briefly, "the former White-Bladed Guardian is now the Lord of Qiyuan City. ”

Really.

Former White Blade Guard.

"Grand Duke Ronnie sent him here to take advantage of his friendship with you?"

"If that's the case," Nicollet shook his head, "I'm afraid they're going to be disappointed." ”

"Ned Monty," Tails chewed on the name, narrowing his eyes, "He's amazing?"

"You mean, except for his foul mouth?" Nikolai snorted, "Sort of, there's a boring guy who combines me, him, and the other three guys, and what do you call it......"

"Five generals, right?"

Tails reacted quickly, "And the Fire Knight of the Black Sand Collar as well. ”

"So he, Monty has also reached the extreme," Tails said curiously, "who is stronger between him and you?"

Nicolas glanced at him, his eyes full of disdain.

"Extreme Realm, this title is always deified in the hearts of many people," Nicolai snorted softly, "but only when you go to the battlefield do you know that in the crowded battle, the role that an Extreme Realm can play will be greatly reduced." ”

"So, the Arctic is better suited for another kind of job with a sparse population," the Meteorite turned his head, his eyes narrowing slightly, "Assassin." ”

Tails remembered the assassin who had fallen from the sky six years ago.

"I feel the same way. He replied sullenly, "What does this have to do with Monty?"

Nicollet looked at Tails and said meaningfully: "Although Monty is a warrior, he is in charge of the work that is closest to the assassins in the army. ”

Tails moved slightly: "You mean ......"

"He was recruited into the White Guards as an elite sniper crossbowman. ”

"Later, Kaslan took a good look at his talent and trained him to become a scout," Nicolai nodded, "Soon, Monty became the most feared scout in all of Exeter." ”

"Our job is to face the enemy head-on and fight bloodily, while Monty is better at stealth and sudden. ”

"Twenty years ago, on the eve of the Battle of the Deep Valley in the White Mountain, he alone touched into the ancestral altar of the Elven King's Court, spying on the enemy, leaving countless corpses along the way - until the crow cry he learned was recognized, he escaped from the siege and walked away. ”

"Since then, Monty has been nicknamed: 'The Raven of the Dead'. ”

The Meteorite ended his words.

Tails was thoughtful.

Dead Raven.

It's not a nice name.

"You haven't said it yet, both of them are 'five generals'," Tails continued to ask, "who is stronger between him and you?"

"He?Monty?"

As if he had heard the funniest joke, Nicollet looked in the direction Monty had left and sneered: "Within ten steps, I can break his neck in five seconds." ”

Tails' heart sank.

Wrong.

"So," Tails, who had heard the implication of it, asked empathetically with the principle of not making the dead man's face happy:

"Ten paces away?"

Sure enough, in the next second, Nicollet faced the curious baby-like Tails and put on the most smelly face he had ever made.

The Starfall folded his arms, tilted his head to the side, and snorted dissatisfiedly, "Hmph." ”

Tails' eyes widened and he scratched his hair.

Looking at Nicolais, who had turned away, he probably knew the answer.

So he sighed helplessly and walked towards the Hall of Heroes.

At the time, Tails thought that Ned Monty was probably the weirdest, most special guy he had ever seen today.

It wasn't until an hour later, when he and Thelma were in the Hall of Heroes, that they met their true guest, the heir of the House of the Knights, the official emissary from the city of Qiyuan......

Ian Ronnie.

(End of chapter)