readx;?“ Phew-ha-"

The resurgence of early spring caused the temperature to plummet again, the sky was gray-blue as is common on cloudy days, and the breath exhaled from her mouth and the heat emitted by her body due to exercise formed a faint white mist around her neck and skull - Mira stopped breathing, and then placed the unbladed sword in her hand on her waist, calmly and carefully aim, and then struck at her opponent in the middle of her waist with a flat stab in the middle of her waist. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Stare!" sparks flew as the blonde-haired dame easily parried the blow, and then the equally unbladed blade slammed into the breastplate of the Roan girl, leaving a clearly visible dent and a loud "clang-" sound.

"Rustle—" The girl took a few steps back, the not-so-small playground in the middle of the Acasta Plains where they were standing, the training ground for the knights and sergeants of Avenella, in addition to the fact that many commoners from the northern aristocracy and commoner archers had fought side by side more than a year ago, and had come here to learn swordsmanship, and had understood that the kingdom could not defeat those enemies by relying on the aristocratic class alone, and Edward, who had made since entering into a commercial trade with the Ottoro Empire, had not squandered and decorated them like other typical nobles。

His Royal Highness himself continued to live a very simple life, and he invested in the construction of training grounds and the creation of weapons and armor for training, where anyone who joined the army, whether an archer or a knight, could learn and consult with his predecessors.

The effect of this was remarkable, and many of the Yavenela civilians who had only been able to use longbows had now learned some basic techniques for blocking counterattacks, as well as how to form the most basic shield walls with their allies to enhance each other's survivability, and with this move, the barriers that had begun to dissipate in the battle side by side were further removed.

The Sivalier hoplites were caught off guard by the Avenella because they looked down on the co-infantry, and the foolish will only taunt those who make mistakes, while the wise will learn from them to avoid making the same mistakes themselves. As the confidants of Prince Edward's training, it is not an exaggeration to say that the knights and sergeants who fought alongside him were the most enlightened nobles of Avenella's generation, so they did not praise the victories that had nothing to do with them, as the nobles of the south did, and enjoyed the fruits of battles that did not actually belong to them, but studied carefully, even in the face of their defeated opponents, with respect, and tried to learn from them, even if they used them as a negative teaching material.

The benefits of this were felt almost immediately, and as a group far outnumbered them, the vast majority of these unknown civilians could not make much of a sense. But the aristocracy benefited from a few subtle wisdoms that had been passed down among the people for thousands of years, and many of them began to speak the Arvenella dialect for learning, and as a means of exchanging emotions and learning from each other, the playground was always crowded as a venue for friendly competitions.

It's just that the protagonists here today are not the sweaty men who are common on weekdays, but two equally beautiful girls. And the most striking of them all is not the noble lady with the title, but our gray-haired Mila on the other side.

- Her long hair has turned into short ear-length hair, which is a pity for Minna, after all, the long hair fluttering or the small Mira with a single ponytail is Minna's inherent impression. Now that she had surpassed her in height and changed to short hair, although she had cut it for her with her own hands, she felt a little lost in watching her defeat three well-trained Sergeant Avenella in a row, panting but still standing on the opposite side with a heroic spirit.

"One blow away!Sir, don't be merciful just because she's your sister!" The sergeants who had failed to block well and had been hit three times and had exited were joking with them on the side, and Minna, who had clearly noticed that Mira's physical strength had consumed a lot, and Minna, who had been unable to keep up with her reaction at the moment, attacked decisively, and hit the white-haired girl's breastplate with a long thrust, but Mira, who had experienced a lot of things, was not hit as Minna expected because of surprise, She seemed to have accumulated her physical strength for this moment, and at the same time, she knelt on one knee and avoided Minna's straight stab aimed at the breastplate by lowering her body, and the long sword hit her breastplate in the abdomen - "Bang!" But the blonde girl was not an idle person, she already had some foundation before Mira began to learn swordsmanship, and with the several conflicts she had encountered in the past year, Minna did not hesitate to deflect the blade when she was attacked, and the blade was crossed to the neck of Mira, who was kneeling on one knee.

"Woo-ha---" Mila gasped for breath before she spoke, "I...... Lose......" she said, and then she lay on her back on the grass.

"Physical strength is still a weakness. "There's hardly much blue in the cloudy sky, but the clarity is still refreshing. Minna sat down beside Mira, and seeing that the competition between the two of them was over, the nobles and commoners next to them also laughed and went to a little farther away to continue their practice and competition. The blonde lady rubbed Mira's head as she said this, and the white-haired girl closed her eyes in peace of mind, and after finally taking a breath, she let out a long "um-" sound, not knowing whether she was answering Minna or just because she was very comfortable touching her head.

"Sword, are you still satisfied? Minna asked, this was the reason why they had come to the training ground twenty days or so after Mira and Henry had returned, and that the girl had lost her favorite weapon in Abseraloan, and although she didn't regret giving it to someone else, she still needed to rebuild a longsword anyway.

The man who made her new weapon was one of the best blacksmiths in northern Avenella, and the sage's steel-making and crafting techniques for making her last sword during his travels were not really unique to him, and the barren West Coast was plagued by years of war, so knowledge could not be effectively disseminated. However, after trading with the merchants of Ottolo, the blacksmiths here also learned a similar method, but it is one thing to know how to do it, and it is not easy to make a long sword as good as before, with the quality of iron ore and the combination of the blacksmith's wrist and the luck factor in the dark.

"I don't seem to be satisfied. Minna could easily read Mira's silence and the small expression on her face, but they could only do so for now—something was going to be heard outside, and people were shouting something.

"Edward seems to have returned. Minna stood up, then took Mira's hand and helped her get up as well: "Hope is good news." She said this, and then the two of them went to the location of the weapon rack together, removed the training cuirass, and cotton armor, and went to the city lord's mansion.

......

......

More than half an hour later, everyone who heard the news that Edward had brought back was silent, but even though the current situation was already very serious, Henry still had to tell Edward about the affairs of the Ottolo Empire in one fell swoop.

"Secret Operations Force?Although my father did tell me that he would let Ottolo's army come over, and I guessed that the Empire was doing some small things, but wasn't it completely involved in the domestic affairs of the allies? His Royal Highness looked a little indignant, and the other people in the hall who heard about it for the first time had similar expressions, and several henchmen, including Charles, realized that the situation had reached a point where it was out of control, and looked at each other and wondered who should bring up the matter.

"What the hell is going on on Ottolo's side, it won't do them any good if they cause the Avenella split, what the hell are we doing with these little moves in our alliance-" Edward, who was obviously under great pressure, held his head and kept muttering, Minna on the side looked at him worriedly, and our Sage spoke again, with his usual calm and magnetic voice, pointing the way to the confused crowd.

"Calm down, Your Highness the Prince. He said: "The Ottolo Empire is able to play this game, and in the final analysis, it is inseparable from your father. ”

"Ashbon II, though impulsive and relatively mediocre in his personal abilities, was a man who had sat on the throne for more than thirty years. He may be a terrible king to the people, but in terms of facts, the observation and wisdom accumulated over the years must also exist for those who have been able to sit on the throne for so many years without any major problems. Henry was so in front of a prince that he was evaluating the weather of the day.

And the reason why he refused to accept His Royal Highness's proposal, and made all the wrong moves, including the provocation of Sivalier, came down to three words. The sage shrugged, then said in an unhurried tone.

"I don't care. ”

As he said this, the people in the conference room were stunned for a moment when they heard this, and then fell into a long silence.

A series of Arvenella nobles, led by Edward and Charles, understood that Henry's words were true, and for two centuries the Arvenella nobles had been accustomed to treating people's lives as nothing, such as Edward and now themselves, trying to think of the people - sorry, not once. Just look at the southern aristocracy that still stubbornly watchs, and it is clear that, unlike the neglected or more business-oriented and more enlightened Ashinir, the intertwined aristocracy of the southern and central Avenella centers of power grows older, the more profound the traditional aristocratic values are in their hearts.

They don't care about the interests of the people, the interests of the kingdom, the interests of the territory? They don't care about these things, because they have been nobles since birth, they are superior and noble beings, and they don't need to fight for the interests of the people to get their support. Rather, it is the right way to think about it by using the people for one's own benefit - and as the head of a country, the thinking of Ashbon II is naturally the ultimate manifestation of this approach.

Whether it was the quest for the throne that led to the invasion of Sivalier that nearly lost the northern region or the entire kingdom, or the fact that he still refused Edward's proposal despite his intellect and mental ability, the reason why Ahibon II did so was because he was a traditional king of Avenella.

He only cares about himself and the interests of the royal Shulfaga family, and other than that, he doesn't care about anything.

"That's why the Ottolo people will choose to go past you, Your Highness the Prince, to negotiate with the King. Henry pointed all this out and began to analyze the intentions of the Ottoros: "You are a smart, young, and quite outrageous prince by royal standards, because you see the potential of the people's war, and you know what is really good for the country, and not just for your own interests." ”

"That's one of the most important reasons why I chose to help you. Henry shrugged: "But this is not what the Ottolo people want to see, a powerful and unified Arvenella of nobles and commoners?"

"You must know that we are only a mountain away from them, and if the Padrossi occupy the west coast, they can clamp down on the Ottolo Empire through the Grigley Rift. If Avenella is strong, what is Ottolo going to bet that we won't do the same thing?" The sage continued: "The biggest difference between the thinking of the emperor and the king is that they will not be limited to their own small interests in the country, but will look at the longer term, and His Majesty the Emperor of Ottolo, as any emperor should do, does not intend to bet on this possibility to see if Avenella will be able to maintain the alliance after he is strong, so he decided to take action and try to control it himself. ”

"Your father, in the year since he was allied with Ottolo, he has done a lot of things that have upset the people of Avenella. He said: "I've seen a lot on the road, and I'm biased towards the Ottolo merchants. Edward nodded, "Yes...... It's as if we are not making an equal covenant but a subordinate relationship. ”

Edward sighed, he had understood what the sage meant by this moment—or perhaps he had understood, but he didn't want to admit it.

"Well, because in the eyes of your father, the most important thing for a small country like Avennella to be involved with Ottolo is to hold your thighs tightly to avoid being thrown away. As for peace and equality, he was able to sit on his throne regardless of the people and the country, and that was the only thing he cared about. ”

And that's exactly what the Ottolos would like to see, a mediocre leader with no ambition at best who wants to make a little fuss about the West Coast under the umbrella of the Empire. In contrast, Your Royal Highness, the prince who has personal charm and knows how to lead the people, is quite a dangerous existence for them. ”

"Is this the end of it...... the grim expression on Edward's face is unmistakable, and Charles and the other prince's henchmen look at each other but don't know how to speak. They both knew in their hearts that it was impossible to negotiate peacefully, but it was the prince's own father, and Edward, the most important son of Ashbern II, had a very close relationship with him, and if he hadn't done so, he would not have gone south to try to convince his father knowing that he would probably fail.

"......" Charles hesitated for a moment, but finally turned his eyes to Henry.

"Your Royal Highness. The sage spoke, and he would have said such words even without the urging of Charles and others.

At present, this small country is in the last moment before the outbreak, and if Edward cannot make up his mind, it is a great question whether the country of Avenella will still exist in half a year.

Edward looked up at Henry, who had a calm face.

"It's a tough choice. ”

"The moment you are born into a royal family, you are destined to bear this responsibility and original sin. When it is your blood relatives who stand in front of your country and people, you can only choose one of them. ”

He said that no more would be of any use, and that the rest would be up to Edward himself.

The silence of the "......" echoed between the conference rooms.

"Alas......" It took a long time for Edward to let out a long sigh.

“...... No wonder you choose to wander the world as a mercenary, sir," he said, turning his head to Henry, the brilliant but somewhat impetuous young prince of a year ago was gone, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, and then stood up again.

Before that, he was just a young man, and when he turned around, he was already a man who stood up to the sky.

Until then it was a prince.

Turning around, he was already the king of the majestic United Kingdom of Avenella and Luoan.

―Edward Eitling Shulfaga I.

"Calling everyone. Edward spoke word for word.

"War is coming. (To be continued.) )