The courtyard is clean, the white marble floor is cleaned, and the bright sunlight is as delicate and soft as flowing water. Birds fly out of their nests, carrying melodious songs, and scatter in all directions.

Spring flowers bloom in the flower beds, like shy little girls, tender yellow, pink, lavender............ The yellow grass turned to dust and grew tender green branches and leaves, which adorned the spacious vestibule.

Helena was dressed in a beautiful aqua blue robe, with a slender tunic that set off the still developing body, elegant curves clinging to it, and long black hair spread casually behind her head, like a gorgeous robe, shaking the corners of her clothes.

The blue figure flashed back and forth like a happy fairy among the flowers, leaving only the sound of "popping" footsteps and the sound of cheerful wind chimes shaking, allowing the joyful atmosphere to permeate the entire vestibule.

The joy of leisurely peace and tranquility is as if you are already in heaven

"I have to thank you. ”

In the castle, Theodore stood in the corridor aisle, looking through the window at Helena, who was happy like a little angel below, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl slightly, his stiff face finally loosened, and said to the old man behind him: "Xiexie you." ”

"I'm just remedying a regret and mistake that was almost irreparable, and you don't need to thank me. The old man said faintly, but there was also a hint of relief in his tone: "You also gave me such an opportunity to relax the self-blame in my heart a little!"

"You said before that you wanted me to grant you a request. Theodore turned, closed the window, and looked at the old man in front of him: "Now you can say that as Caesar, I consider myself very generous. ”

"As long as it's not too much, I can grant you a lot of requests in a private name. ”

"Thank you for your generosity, but before that......" Malcius stood mysteriously beside Theodore, bowing his head slightly: "I don't know if you can listen to an old man tell a story? It may be a little long, but please be patient." ”

"Story?" Theodore frowned, "What does it have to do with your request?"

"It's about you, Caesar. The old man nodded: "This is very important. ”

"I think we can enjoy the snack while talking. Theodore made a gesture of invitation: "Will you accept my invitation?"

"It's a great honor. Malthews said with a smile.

................................................

In the quiet study, Theodore and Malcius sat facing each other, and only Malcius's voice spoke softly in the entire study.

I have to say that listening to an old man, especially an old man, tell a story, it is a very patient thing, and the flat tone and long voice make any young man with strong blood want to smash things, but for Theodore, this kind of voice is not used to it.

Very simply, Rome has a very "excessive" rule, people who hold official positions must be over thirty years old, which is a mandatory requirement for the experience and connections of the rulers, some particularly important such as judges, procurators, and even higher, the current Roman Chancellor Domitius, is already an old man over seventy years old, for the average life expectancy hovering in thirty or forty in ancient times, it is already a very demonic age.

So, in the face of such a tone, Theodore could listen to the other man with a very calm smile, and then express his opinion in the same tone—but, as a normal young man of good blood, he also demanded that these "adults" be concise and to the point, and that those who wanted to make a long speech had better leave his government hall as soon as possible.

Therefore, Theodore thought that he could listen to the "story" of the old man in front of him very calmly, but as time passed, Theodore's face began to change dramatically: from calm and calm at the beginning, to silence, and then cold, zuihou was stunned.

And also solved a long-standing puzzle for him: how did the orcs in the south appear?

Elendil has been silent on this matter, for the simple reason - because these barbaric primitive races were simply transported by the Empire itself!

As a very primitive race, it is obviously impossible for orcs to have such a high-tech ability as shipbuilding, let alone transport it from one race to another, and it can only be done by humans who have a fairly developed level of civilization.

The purpose is also simple: mining.

The mining industry has always been accompanied by high risks and high profits since ancient times, and a small carelessness often causes a life-and-death crisis that threatens hundreds of lives, but the huge profits brought by it and the necessity of social development make this kind of work still have to exist.

Therefore, how to choose the source of workers became a problem in feudal society, and some countries went off the rails, replacing prison with hard labor to attract prisoners to work, or hiring low-level civilians who were willing to work hard, with a good salary that allowed them to feed a large family, and the profits brought by the ore were enough for the mine owners to pay this high wage.

But there is another way: slaves - foreign slaves.

It does not consume its own labor, but also can bring about the rapid development of society, it is really a lot of one stone, there are not a few countries that do this in the Age of Discovery, and there are many unjust souls buried in the major mines of South Africa at that time!

And the Empire apparently wanted to do just that—this primitive race with a lot of strength could not be better treated as drudgery, and the slightest temptation would have tricked these simple orcs into getting caught working in the mines.

From the beginning, it was still a small-scale arrest, and later it was known to everyone that they simply transported the whole ship and the whole ship, and brought it over one tribe after another, in less than a hundred years, more than 300,000 orcs spread all over the major mines in the south.

Even if the seeds of calamity have been planted, the profit-hungry merchants are still unaware, and they probably don't know that such things as so-called civilizations can actually accelerate evolution, especially when there is an overly powerful civilization interfering with them.

To put it simply, it is the awakening of the racial consciousness of the orcs.

The lazy merchants didn't even tear their tribe apart and threw them into the mines, which accelerated the progress of these orcs' civilization, and when they easily and neatly cleaned up the human overseers with fat brains, they immediately understood how powerful their liliang was, and extremely quickly, they gathered into a large army as a tribal unit, until they captured the first important port city in the south, and people realized the seriousness of the problem!

But, it's too late!

Hordes of orc tribes were brought from their homeland by them, flocking to one human town after another like a tide, greedily devouring the once oppressed, but extremely fragile lives, and at this time, the imperial capital was basically paralyzed, almost unable to function - the bloody natural disaster was spreading wildly to almost all the imperial relatives, high-ranking officials and dignitaries.

The death knell is sounded.

"This is the reason for the crisis, the current orcs are no longer the original form, they have begun to have the concept of 'tribe', once unified, it is by no means a certain race can fight alone. The old man was kind and enticing: "We must unite in everything to have a confrontation with Liliang!"

"Humans have fought against elves, they have fought against dwarves, and even other human races in the north. "But the present crisis is that it is time to let go of the hatred of the past. ”

"So......" Theodore glanced, "you let me forgive the elf?"

"Exactly. Malthews smiled and nodded, exhaling softly: "After all, they are also one of the united liliangs. ”

"You said that a little earlier. Theodore curled the corners of his mouth, with a suspicious look in his eyes: "At present, Rome is still difficult to compare with the elves, whether it is the population, the land, or the army, Weishenme has to fight for my forgiveness? ”

"When the earth shakes, the living beings are devastated, and the shadow of death fills the sky, the whole shijie will step into an endless abyss;

The sins of the past will be punished, the glory of the past will be dimmed, the order of the past will collapse, and chaos and despair will accompany the souls of all.

The oath is forgotten, the strong heart fades in comfort, and under the liliang of destruction, the fear will not end, and the angry revenge will bring fear to all.

The glorious Liliang will be reproduced in the north, the opportunity to rise will be born here, the eagle soaring in the sky will bring everyone the courage to win, and the indestructible iron wall will come from the unity of Liliang. ”

As if singing, Maltheus whispered these words as if to narrate:

"The Emperor of the People will be in the north, reborn!"

"Once again, I would like to introduce myself, Marcius, the chief sage of His Highness the Great Human Emperor Aragon, the prophet of mankind. Malcius bent gracefully and smiled at the corners of his mouth, as if he were not an old man but a young scholar.

"Hats off, Roman Emperor from Yishijie!"

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

At the entrance of the courtyard, Theodore saw off Malcius, and the two men stood under an arch carved with Roman gods, smiling and talking.

"I'm going to the Elven realm, ah—they call themselves 'Noldor,'" said Maltheus with a smile, "I will convey your wishes to them, and soon an elven messenger will visit you, of course, maybe for a long time, because they have always had no sense of time, and they are only punctual when they are in a hurry!"

"I'm still weird. Theodore smiled a little helplessly: "If I am not the prophesied 'human emperor', then what will you do?"

"Prophecy is prophecy, prophecy does not change, and it does not go wrong, because it is something that will happen, or a possible opportunity. The old man shrugged his shoulders and smiled like a child: "The fear of a terrible future is enough to make all those who fall into the water grasp the only straw!"

"So, am I the straw?" said Theodore, with some self-deprecation.

"I'll confirm zuihou one more time. Maltheus turned his head to look at Helena, who was peeking in this direction, "You're not going to change what you said, are you?"

"I am Caesar, so I will do what I say and never go back!" Theodore said in a deep and serious voice: "As long as the elves do not harm the people of Rome, I will not hurt them!"

"This is a promise made in the name of Caesar!"