While the inexplicable audience left Tails confused, and the clash between Lysbane and Cambida off the table was suspicious, the Second Prince wasn't going to bother with it for long – if there's one thing he'd learned in a thrilling night six years ago, it's ......

"So you're coming for me?"

In the courtyard of blood, Putirai, who had been disturbed from his afternoon walk, paced and looked at the smiling prince dissatisfied.

"Yes," Tails leisurely mimicked Putile's steps, his right hand tapping his saber rhythmically, Rolf and Wyaa following them, "and expecting you to give me a satisfactory answer." ”

Putilai snorted coldly: "You are counting on a stupid and stubborn old man who has just arrived in Longxiao City for two days to analyze such a complex and difficult diplomatic and domestic affairs situation?"

The Lord flicked his pipe and said lightly, "Perhaps you ought to ask Gilbert, and I am really powerless to ...... about it."

A stupid, stubborn, and sarcastic grumpy old man?

Tails took a deep breath.

"Good. ”

The prince turned, walked upside down, and raised his hands to face Putirai:

"I'll not mention for a moment, how the grumpy old man found Mykoe and Nicola in the most desperate moment six years ago, and miraculously fished me out of the dark room and rumba......

"And decisively supported us to break into Valhalla, and skillfully sent the prince into the Hall of Heroes, and finally miraculously saved the glorious deeds of Longxiao City......" Waiya said very cooperatively behind him, and even Rolf nodded "ho" behind him.

Tails gave them a thumbs up.

Putile showed an ugly smile: "......'Don't mention it for now'?"

"I'll just say," Tails ignored Putillai's smile and said to himself, "That grumpy old man, on the first day he arrived in Longxiao City, told me inexplicably, colorfully, and in great detail what horrific secrets had happened in the heavily kept secret Hall of Heroes, in the inaccessible Longxiao City Listening Day meeting. ”

"Do you know how angry Lisbane was when Cambida revealed the contents of Politica Day?"

Puttilai raised his eyebrows: "I have more friends, that's all." ”

"And the most important thing is ......" Tails raised his right index finger as he stepped back, pointing at Putile: "In the complicated situation of Longxiao City, you suddenly appeared after being missing for six years?"

Tails leaned forward and narrowed his eyes, "You're going to tell me it's a coincidence, you're just here to introduce a teacher and give me a pair of glasses by the way?"

"Aha," Putile coughed awkwardly, "Speaking of those glasses, you know, they were made for the Grand Duchess, and they are ......"

Tails frowned.

"Waitya, Midira, keep a good watch so that no one can hear our conversation. He interrupted, wisely cutting off Putira's attempt to change the subject.

After the two of them, who were slightly confused, took the order, and Tails turned around again and looked at Putileh solemnly.

Putile looked at the prince with a faint uneasiness in his heart.

"You know, I didn't ask any questions that day," Tails' expression moved slightly, "but Waiya reminded me more than once. ”

"After I was trapped in Longxiao City, you disappeared quietly, and it took more than six years for you to reappear in front of me," Tails looked up, "It's not that I don't distrust you, but why not sooner, not later, but now, more than six years later?"

Putile's face froze.

"Wyay inherited his father's sensitivity," Putile sighed under his breath after a few seconds, "but he didn't learn his atmosphere." ”

Tails ignored him and continued:

"Six years ago, when I was just recognized as a prince...... You were able to return to Dayong Star City, and you were asked by Gilbert to protect me as a deputy envoy to the north. ”

Putirai stopped, his head lowered so that his expression could not be seen.

"As it turned out, Gilbert's decision was correct: not everyone could deal with the White Guards, the Darkrooms, the Black Sand Collars, the Secret Branch, and the Count of Lisbane with limited resources, in an isolated city, with a sense of intrigue and atmosphere, not only without falling behind, but even with ease. ”

Tails also stopped, he shook his head: "Although you are very good at hiding yourself, and everyone doesn't care much, I know better than anyone that a powerless prince can never save the world alone: from decisively evacuating, preserving strength, contacting the Quartet, rescuing the prince, suggesting that I fight back, breaking into Valhalla, playing with the Black Sand Collar, and reversing the situation......"

Tails took a deep breath: "Six years ago, the person who really saved Longxiao City countless times behind the scenes was actually you. ”

"Lord Putile Nieman. ”

"A former civilian officer of the Foreign Affairs Department with a strange identity, a former viscount who was degraded after the Year of Blood. ”

"And the eldest son of the former king, the attendant officer of Midil Bright Star,"

Putile did not speak.

Tails lowered his head, remembering what Putirai had said to him at Valhalla, about the Scarlet Years.

[In the summer of that year, I once made a decision......]

[But that's a mistake......]

【Unforgivable Mistakes......】

[This is the beginning of a catastrophe in the north...... The war burned, the blood flowed like a river, and the corpses were everywhere......]

"As far as I know, this is not something that ordinary people can do. ”

Tails' face paled slightly: "Don't you think there are too many mysteries on you, Putile?"

At that moment, Putile paused slightly, and his face stiffened.

It's like being told to be out of my mind.

"Be honest," Tails observed the other man's reaction, sighed, and turned around again to wait for the other to follow, "Putirai, don't study the secret guys, you know I don't like them." ”

"Tell me, what kind of chess game am I in now?"

They walked past a large tree, and Putirai knocked off the ashes from his pipe, his expression gloomy, and he did not say a word.

Tails just stared at him silently.

"I understand," Putile finally sighed slightly, and returned to the tone he had said when they first met: "What do you want to know about the current situation, the little prince who has a headache?"

Tails frowned slightly, recalling the doubts in his heart.

"Connection," said the young prince after a few seconds, looking around, and said cautiously and quietly, "I wonder how all the great things on the table are connected by the hidden interests under the table—I think that's your forte." ”

Putile put the pipe back into the pouch and was stunned: "Connection?"

Tails nodded, his hands behind his back, his eyes drifting into the distance.

"Six years ago, Miranda Arend told me in her cell that everything that happened in Longxiao City and seemingly unrelated things actually had an important clue running through the front and back," Tails narrowed his eyes, "and then we found out that the clue behind the scenes was called 'Dragon's Blood'. ”

At that moment, Putile unconsciously slowed down and was one step behind the prince.

"In the past few months, starting from King Chaman's new decree on separation, Qiyuan City has drawn all sides to denounce the king, Rumba has been condemned and anxious, I have been accused as a hostage, the female archduchess of Longxiao City has encountered forced marriage, the internal instability of the Freedom Alliance, and the Black Sand Leader has come to Longxiao City strangely," Tails was unaware of everything around him, and continued to think hard:

"Even though everything is very fragmented, some things are not even related......"

"But I feel that the situation now is the same as it was back then, and there is a faint clue connecting the front and back. ”

"I want to hold on to it...... Rather than reacting to the trouble that comes to your door. ”

Putira's gaze paused slightly.

They were both silent for several seconds.

Finally, Putile let out a long sigh.

"You know, when we met the day before yesterday, I thought you were more cheerful than back then," the thin man shook his head: "But I only now realize that the real you are more anxious, more vigilant, and more nervous than you were back then—can you really sleep at night?"

This time, Tails stopped.

"Six years ago, I fell once in carelessness and self-satisfaction," the prince's eyes slowly focused, "and the price is my freedom, and an enemy as a king." ”

"That feeling, the helplessness and panic that you can only drift with the wind, not knowing where to go in the next second," Tails said calmly, looking at a stone slab under his feet that had been shattered by age, "I don't want to go through it a second time." ”

At that moment, for the first time, Putile felt that the fourteen-year-old boy next to him was a prince named Bright Star.

The Lord shook his head lightly and whispered, "You have changed. ”

Tails came back to his senses and smiled slightly: "Everyone changes. ”

"More or less. ”

Putile stared at him for a long time.

Finally, just as Tails thought centuries had passed, Putileh took a new step, and this time, the Lord's expression changed from his previous laziness and sarcasm to a serious and nervous expression.

"For many years, the Freedom Alliance has been attached to the city of Qiyuan for survival. ”

Here it comes.

Tails hurriedly kept up and pricked up his ears.

"As vassals of the dragon, they convey the benefits of the Golden Corridor to Exeter, and Exeter also maintains control over the Golden Corridor and the west of the continent through them, and holds back Comas from afar," Putile scratched his chin and said seriously:

"You know, it's like our relationship with the Duchy of Thera: the vassal state where the stars hold the Dragon's Kiss Land controls the southeastern end of the Golden Corridor and the Corridor Coast, and even affects the ...... of the Thornlands."

"I know, Selma's teachers taught that Exeter had a fight with the Liberty League twenty years ago," Tails coughed and waved his palm, cutting off the former bard's desire to talk and perform, "Straight to the point, theme ......"

Putitier glanced at him dissatisfied, as if very upset with the fact that the little prince, who was obsessed with listening to stories, had become a teenager who would interrupt him, but he continued: "About what you said, there was a fight......

"More than twenty years ago, the governor of the Free Alliance found a new ally, and he thought that King Nun was busy with the perils of the glacial defense line, and that he had too much trouble with the city of Qiyuan to care about the West, so he first came up with the idea of independence. ”

Tails was slightly stunned: "New ally?"

Putile nodded.

"White Mountain. He said cautiously.

"These arrogant white elves have a rare meddling in the affairs of humanity: they are small but not to be underestimated, and support the Freedom Alliance in its quest for independence," the Lord said as he walked, "Of course, there is a suspicion that the Commaths are also involved in the back—Exeter's marriage to the vine city south of Commas, which has upset several northern city-states of Commas. ”

Tails was slightly stunned, remembering the Marquis of Sleiss who was always smiling.

"The result?"

"The result?"

Putirai snorted lightly, his tone a little sarcastic: "The overconfident Governor of the League seized the goods that had paid tribute to the Kingdom of Exeter without authorization, and wrote a letter with a tactful but resolute tone, asking to 're-face the friendship between them'. ”

"Although there are many contradictions between Qiyuan City and Longxiao City, as the supreme ruler of the Dragon Kingdom, King Nun did not gloat or reply to the letter," Putilai straightened his face: "He did not hesitate to blow the conscription order, and the army of Longxiao City traveled a long way to meet the soldiers of Qiyuan City and the guarding city, and marched towards the Freedom Alliance. ”

Tails listened quietly to the past of the Liberal Alliance and Exeter, quickly connecting the details of the situation that would not have been recorded in the classroom or history books.

As a result, more than 20,000 Exeter warriors broke through every gate of the Liberty Castle and rejected horses, and Prince Surir's troops even made their way into the White Mountains, threatening the White Elves' court. ”

"They stained the Shanliu River red with the blood of the enemy," said Putirai, with some emotion inexplicably, as if he had seen it himself: "It is said that for the next two years, the nobles of Shanliu City did not dare to drink the water flowing from the upper reaches of the Freedom Alliance, and the price of the famous river fresh products in the Shanliu River valley also plummeted. ”

"That year, King Nunn reaffirmed the absolute dominance of the Dragon Nation at the end of the Golden Corridor, shocked the small nations and city-states that had lost their minds in peace, and told the Liberty League in blood that there was never any 'friendship between dragons and ants'. ”

"Nunn," Tails groaned, remembering the mighty old king, and of his embarrassing end, "it's him again. ”

"It is not for nothing that King Nunn has reigned in the Western Continent for thirty years," Putirai sighed softly: "Not every king is worthy of his oath to 'stand at the forefront of the kingdom' - since then, the attitude of the Ronnie family of Qiyuan City towards Longxiao City has changed from the previous unruly and unruly, and even the Comas people have become much more disciplined, Shanliu City even surrendered himself, and the Marquis of Yicheng personally came to the Northland to apologize with a smile. ”

Tails' heart moved.

"Twenty years ago, the Grand Duke of Longxiao City, as the king, sent troops to support the interests of Qiyuan City in the name of all Exeter. ”

The prince slammed his fist into his palm: "So, when the Freedom League is unstable again, Lisbane will say 'Ronnie must choose'......"

Tails recalled the words of the Regent of Lisbane in the hall: "If the city of Prayer Yuan wants to receive the support of the whole country led by the king, as it did back then, Archduke Ronnie will choose to compromise with the king and give up the act of gathering nobles to denounce King Chaman......"

The skinny lord snorted.

"Indeed, this is a good way: in the name of the king, with the righteousness of Exter, the initiative to order the archdukes to fight for the kingdom is in the hands of the Black Sand Lords," Puttilai nodded: "It is conceivable that in the face of King Chaman's outstretched help, Ronnie ......"

But Tails shook his head resolutely.

"I know Grand Duke Ronnie, and he won't choose to compromise," Tails remembered a grim-looking Rumba and Ronnie, and a tense image of them fighting each other in the hall: "He would rather live out his faith in blood and fire and fight the king to the end." ”

And.

Tails thought:

Now, the conflict between King Chaman and the Grand Dukes is far from being comparable to the conflict between King Nun and the Grand Dukes in the past.

Putirai laughed, "That's even more fun." ”

They walked up the steps that led to the prince's bedroom, watching a ruined root stretch at their feet.

"If Ronnie refuses the king's 'help', then he will have to face the civil strife of the Free Alliance alone, and even go it alone if necessary, to reaffirm the majesty of the dragon kingdom. ”

"It is a small matter to sit back and let the Freedom Alliance get out of control, and the loss of a large sum of money in the city of Qiyuan, but the prestige of Archduke Ronnie must suffer a serious setback: it is not a good thing for him to disgrace the city of Qiyuan or humiliate Exeter. ”

Tails desperately recalled the geography west of Exeter: "Solve the Liberty League alone...... Can Prayer City and Ronnie do it?"

"It's time to test the strength of Qiyuan City, as well as Grand Duke Ronnie's control over the vassals," Putile seemed to recall something: "But I think that even if it won't go as smoothly as the three Grand Dukes joined forces twenty years ago, it will be more than enough to pack up a small free alliance for Qiyuan City, which is adjacent to the desert and the Golden Corridor and has been guarded all year round." ”

"But the problem is that once all his energy is invested in the internal strife of the alliance, Ronnie will presumably continue to contact the nobles, and his actions to denounce the king will also be affected. ”

Tails furrowed an eyebrow.

"So the suspicion of the Regent of Lisbane is true: the civil strife of the Freedom Alliance is related to Rumba, and may even be the ghost he is behind the scenes," the prince said lightly, "Let the city of Qiyuan and Grand Duke Ronnie, who are on fire in the backyard, stop their pressing steps and save the Black Sand Collar from the national condemnation of the burning ass." ”

Putile raised an eyebrow: "Who knows." ”

But Tails stopped again, and his face was puzzled: "But I still can't figure it out: if this is just a game between the King and the Grand Duke of Ronnie, then why did King Chaman send Cambida to Longxiao City, and why did Lisbane say that Longxiao City was sent to the center of the storm?"

"Why Longxiao City?"

Putile also stopped, he smiled slightly, and his eyes gave off a strange light:

"You've found the point, little prince. ”

Tails' eyebrows moved.

(End of chapter)