An Lan Grand Duke's Mansion, Council Hall.

In the empty room, Onessa sat across from a man in black, and behind her stood two tall guards who Allegri recognized as warriors of the Firedemon Knights. It seems that Andre's dosing incident has alarmed her, so she has deliberately brought back some of the most loyal Flame Knights soldiers to take care of security.

"You're here. Onisha smiled and beckoned him to come over.

Allegri approached briskly, glancing curiously at the man in black, who was sitting quietly.

"The gentleman claimed to be an envoy from the Inquisition. Onisha smiled reluctantly and introduced to Allegri. Although the Inquisition did not play a major role in the process of An Lan's annihilation, it was a part of the Church of Light after all, which made her feel a little uncomfortable in her heart.

"Oh?" Allegri was a little surprised, "you're Silves' subordinate?"

The man in black nodded hesitantly, not as if he was not used to the title Silves.

"Then he must have mentioned me, right? I'm Allegri," Allegri said with a smile as he sat down with Onisha, "I've known Silves very well. ”

The man in black's calm expression suddenly froze, his forehead was a little sweaty, he glanced at Allegri in awe, nodded and thought about the wording, "Judge Chief...... To Your Excellency, the memory is still fresh. ”

"Mr. Envoy seems to have taken Count Violet very seriously. Onisha smiled curiously beside her. When this envoy faced himself, the Grand Duke, he seemed very calm, far less excited.

"No one in the whole church can be indifferent to the name Allegri, not even the chief judge, let alone a pawn like me. The man in black sneered.

"I have read the correspondence of the Grand Duke. Allegri stared at him closely, "I wonder how the Inquisition knows this information? ”

"The Judge is already a legendary professional, and naturally he can do anything. The man in black said indifferently.

"When will the Church's army attack Anlan, and how much force will it muster?" Onissa interjected.

"Within a month alone, Inedir will be heading north," the man in black explained. "According to intelligence, the number of troops mobilized by the Holy See will be one hundred thousand. ”

Onisha and Allegri looked at each other and took a deep breath.

"I wonder where he's going to attack from?" Allegri asked.

"Maybe the judge knew about it, but he didn't tell me. The man in black shook his head.

"Thank you, Mr. Envoy, for traveling thousands of miles to tell me about this," Onissa thought for a moment, then looked at him and said, "I wonder what you want?"

"If I say that I want to form an alliance with An Lan, I wonder if the Grand Duke of Lu Dao will agree?" the man in black looked up. Look directly at Onisha.

There was a hint of hesitation on Onetsa's face, but after a moment's deep groan, she shook her head categorically, "No." ”

"Forget it," the black-clothed envoy shook his head and smiled a little regretfully, "Then the Grand Duke should assume that we want Innedir's army to be drawn here, so we don't want to see An Lan defeated too quickly." ”

"Anlan will never be defeated. Onessa said in a deep voice.

"I hope so. The black-clad node nodded.

"I don't know what Mr. Ludao envoy is called?" The atmosphere was dull, but Allegri suddenly interjected at this moment.

"Since there is no possibility of cooperation. Then my name doesn't matter," the envoy smiled. "Sometimes, it's not good to know the truth. ”

Before Allegri could reply, he stood up and arched his hand, "Thank you for your hospitality, and I will take my leave." ”

"Sir, wait. Mr. Servant must have been exhausted all the way, and I have prepared a mansion for you to rest—" Onisha stood up and stretched out her hand to stay.

"No," the envoy waved his hand, "I still have a lot of government to attend to when I go back." Leave. ”

He turned and walked away, without any fuss, and looked very decisive.

"Silves' men also have such talents," Oni sighed as he looked at his back, then turned to Allegri and said, "Do you think this news is true or false?"

"There is no need to cheat," Allegri shook his head with a wry smile, "it seems that the outbreak of war is inevitable. ”

Onisha smiled bitterly, the situation that had been good now seemed to be about to go down the drain.

So far, the Principality of Anlan has basically recovered its old territory, and even has a faint tendency to continue to expand southward. However, such a rapid occupation speed also means that the foundation is unstable, the grain route is extended, and it is easy to be beaten back to its original shape by the enemy's counterattack.

If, as the envoy said, the Holy See's army of 100,000 people attacked the Duchy of Anlan, the newly restored vitality and territory would inevitably suffer an even greater blow.

She took a deep breath, plucked up her courage, and walked over a few steps to open the military sketch on the wall.

"How many troops does the Duchy have now?" Allegri thought for a moment, still not quite understanding what the concept of a hundred thousand troops was.

"If you don't count the Flame Demon Knights, there are 60,000 to 70,000 garrisons in various places, and 50,000 in the Restoration Army," Onisha pointed to the signs of the army and explained, "These garrisons are definitely not easy to mobilize, and now we can only gather this part and this part of the Liberation Army, deploy them to a few locations that may be attacked, and wait for them." ”

"I don't know much about this," Allegri shook his head, still not understanding, "but we must send envoys to plead with reinforcements from the Snowton Empire, and that's the most important thing." ”

Onisha frowned and thought for a moment, then finally nodded, "I'll send an envoy right away." ”

Onisha gathered her courtiers to arrange the Duchy's house, and Allegri rushed back to the valley overnight.

The endless flow of caravans shuttled back and forth, even at midnight, and in the short time after the opening of the trade road, he had obtained a large amount of shares, which was really worthy of the name of "flowing gold trade road".

It was with this amount of income that he built a mercenary base and purchased basic training equipment to support the operation of the magic tower. It can be said that now he is inseparable from the support of this business route.

Money is the foundation of all strength, but it always takes a certain amount of time for money to be transformed into strength. It will take at least a few months for the "sad" mercenary group to form a fighting force. However, it is impossible to rely on the existing military strength of the Duchy of Anlan to resist the overwhelming forces of the Holy See. He could only pray now that Nacini would not be bothered by the matter of Illo, and that he would be able to send reinforcements to defend against the Holy See's attack, which was the only hope for the Duchy of Anlan now.

As soon as he entered the mouth of the valley, he looked up sharply and saw Dios waiting there on horseback.

Allegri smiled reluctantly and raced over. Walk with him.

"What's wrong?" Dios wondered.

Allegri pondered his words for a moment and recounted the invasion of the Holy See of Light in detail.

"The principality is hard to resist, but it's not hopeless," Dios said after a moment's thought, "at least not as hard and desperate as you think. ”

"What do you mean?" Allegri looked at him in confusion.

"The Holy See has never had an army, only the Knights Templar are in charge of guarding the headquarters. This group of troops must have been newly recruited by Inedil, and their combat effectiveness can be imagined, and there is still a certain gap compared with the veterans of the Anlan Principality who have experienced a certain battle. "Of course, attacking one place with an army of 100,000 men would give the Holy See a considerable advantage, and the loss of a certain amount of territory by the principality was inevitable. ”

"I think so," Allegri said, glancing at him, "I forgot that you used to be a famous general." ”

"And. According to my speculation, the more likely Innedil is to train troops in the Principality of Anlan. So he'll take a break from any heavy casualties," Dios continued, "so as soon as Snowton's reinforcements appear on the battlefield, they'll stop moving on." ”

"So, the speed at which the Snowton Empire mobilizes reinforcements determines how much territory Anlan will lose?" Allegri mused. "So, Silves' reminder is really good?"

"I don't know this 'Miss Silves' as well as you do," Dios shrugged, "I don't know what he thinks." ”

"Do you think this 'young lady' is called that in front of him?" Allegri snorted, "and now he is a legendary professional. It's as easy as slapping you to death as a fly. ”

"Can flies help you analyze the military situation?" Dios dissatisfied, "I was also known as an undefeated marshal in the world back then, and you should maintain a certain amount of respect for me." ”

"You really haven't failed, not once?" Allegri wondered.

"This ......" Dios scratched his head, "Do you remember Snowton's 'Iron Commander' Hancent?"

"Althea...... Father?" Allegri hesitated for a moment, but nodded.

"I lost to him once...... Dios sighed with a look of remembrance on his face, and whipped his horse forward.

The mountains are majestic, and the grass is open.

"Are you feeling better?" said the old duke, who accompanied his cherished granddaughter, up the hill near the castle, and watched the distant horses skim the blue sky like clouds.

"I'm all right, Grandpa. Althea stopped, and could hear that the old man was already a little out of breath, and the tens of thousands of miles back and forth made his already aging body even weaker.

"Don't worry, Athea, there's still a lot to do before I leave," the old duke shook his head with a smile and continued, sensing the girl's worried gaze, "Now, you should know how foolish it is to pin your future on anything other than yourself, right?"

The girl nodded silently.

"When you were young, you wanted to learn to paint, so I hired the most famous painter for you, and you like small animals, so I hired a magician to teach you the magic ...... summoning" The old duke looked at her and sighed, "But now, your father is dead, and I am about to die......"

Althea stood in front of the burly old man, only to his chest, and bowed her head slightly.

"I'm going to die," the old man muttered, "but I have something for you, and I still have this land, and I have herds of horses running on this land, and I have the people of this land......"

He waved his hand, and under his hand was the endless pastures and herdsmen, and his voice gradually became excited, "No one can protect you anymore, my little Aithea...... When I'm dead, it's your turn to protect the land and its people!"

The hand densely covered with old age spots, holding the long sword carved with the family crest, slowly stopped in front of her eyes. (To be continued......)

PS: (double change)