The vast starry sky hanging obliquely above the highlands, the starlight reflecting the gray-brown rocks, the sparse dead grass on the plateau, the bare trees, this picture seems to have never changed since the age of chaos - for thousands of years, although the old constellations on the ancient starry sky continue to dim, but they will re-ignite the bright new stars, the old and the new alternate, until the gods are far away from the world, but the stars are bright and always the same.

The cold wind swept and howled from the plateau, the grass and trees hung low, and the sound of horses' hooves came from far and near, and it was soon clear that the knight on the highland warhorse was wearing a gray battle robe, and there was a magic ball of light floating not far from his shoulder. These frontier cavalry were not uncommon in the region, and routine patrols had become frequent since the Toquinen Lion's massive incursions, but at the imperial end of the Broken Sword Mountains fortress cluster in the Rokozi Highlands, such patrols had a more or less human connotation.

The knights let the magic ball of light fly around the avenue for a circle, and then returned to themselves, and the grass swept by the swift light was nothing unusual, and it was unlikely that there would be anything unusual, because this was the territory of the empire, and the lions were still far away on the other side of the Broken Sword Mountains.

"Nothing out of the ordinary."

"I don't have it on my side."

"Well, to be honest, I still don't understand the point of our work, those stinky lions are still far from here, we don't have to brave this cold weather to come out and see these stones, this hell is the only stone left but the stones, I sometimes even wonder if even a lizard would be willing to stay under these damn stones?"

"Rock lizards build their nests under these rocks, brother."

"So the enemies of the Empire are those rock lizards?"

The knights chuckled.

"Enough, you idiot," the knight captain scolded, "don't knowingly ask, our main task is to guard against bandits and cultists in our territory, don't be content - those Rogerians have heard that even the Eruin can't defeat them." I was chased away by a hillbilly from the south. ”

The knights let out a burst of laughter, and the laughter faded away, fade away.

As the glow of magic faded away, a pair of glittering eyes shone in the shadow of the rocks, a pair of prismatic pupils, like cat's eyes embellished with burnt amber. Its owner stood motionless by the weathered rock, staring in the direction in which the Imperial knights had vanished, its scaly skin almost dissolving to the gray-brown dirt, and it was only after the Imperial knights had gone far away that it moved slightly, revealing a triangular head.

This strange creature wears simple leather armor with metal plates on it, but the surface has been treated so badly that it seems to blend in with its skin. It carried a longbow on its back. This was apparently its main weapon, and it hissed as it turned around and walked back behind the rocks, where a cliff appeared after a large meadow, and it stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down at the bottom of the cliff, under the cliff. In a steep narrow passage, a creature almost identical to it was watching warily in this direction.

It immediately raised its hand to the other and hissed something strange.

The latter immediately turned back. The same sound was passed down the cliff, and then three or four of the same commands were heard in the canyon.

A moment later, one, two, three, and four identical creatures parted from the mist in the canyon and emerged from beneath the cliffs, trailing a long tail behind them. It was clearly a large army, made up almost entirely of these lizard-like creatures, well-trained and silent, and as soon as they received the command, they clung to the cliff and began to climb upwards. At first, it was sparse, but soon the entire cliff was covered with dense black spots.

A few more black dots rose from the bottom of the canyon, a human-faced bird-like monster that was piercing through the mist, vibrating their wings and flying out of the mist. The bird-like banshees whizzed over the lizardmen's heads, and the lizardmen standing next to the cliff turned around, and the moment it turned back, countless bird-like banshees were emitting a mist and flying towards the southern sky, as if in an instant, these monsters were all over the night sky.

The lizardfolk are beginning to climb the cliffs, and behind them, more quirky creatures soon appear.

The caveman, the bull-headed Minotaur, the Lair Lord, the Manticore, the Cave Giant, and finally a Medusa in a white linen robe with a serpentine face.

Medusa approached the lizardman and said something with a strange accent.

The lizardman looked back at her, nodded, and said something in the same language.

Medusa smiled slightly, and when she spoke again, it was in the ancient Toquinine language: "Praise the earth holy, praise Martha!" ”

And at this moment, beside these two people, an army hidden in the darkness, hidden in a piece of history and legends, hidden in everyone's expectations, is stepping onto the stage of this era.

They have a common name – it's called Jogandigang.

……

The night in the hills was quiet, and in the valley between the mountains, the camp of the envoys was divided into two, and there were more tents and carriages, and the prisoner camps of the nobles of the empire did not have to worry about the tents and carriages, because they were all prepared by the nobles of the empire, and these nobles who were once arrogant but were now hostages were not mistreated in any way, except that they could not enter and leave the camp freely, and Brando allowed them to buy a luxury - except for the women, of course.

On the other hand, the camp of the envoys themselves was much smaller in comparison, and the carriages were surrounded by a few tents, the largest and most luxurious of which was the tent of the nun princess Magdal, followed by the tent of Duerferry, which was specially prepared for the daughter of the Earl of Swallow to take care of her body, and the tent of the little prince Haruzer was not very conspicuous, and even slightly inferior to Ephram's, which was also in line with his sister's usual teaching to him.

But at this moment, the little prince's tent was lit with candles, and even the sound of disputes came from time to time.

"Your Royal Highness, Little Prince," said Baron Rutney, who was an envoy from the kingdom - an envoy to the legations. This sounds very strange and unreasonable, but it also shows the helplessness of the Wang Party from a certain aspect. What Brando had done was so shocking that Macarlo and Overwell certainly couldn't guess what His Majesty the Emperor of the Cruz Empire would think of it, but the only thing they could think of was to send an envoy if they looked at it from the worst possible perspective. Let's find a way to get the Earl to restrain himself a little.

At the moment, this baron actually represents Macarlo's meaning, but he is not Makaro's cronies, but a more fanatical member of the royal party. He had made up his mind before he came, he would definitely not be able to convince the unruly Earl, but he had not forgotten that there was also a crown prince in the envoys, and if the little prince supported him and the descendants of other nobles were on his side, Brando could not just go his own way?

He had a good plan. Therefore, as soon as he arrived at the legations, he found the little prince overnight, and chose a time when most of the others were there, and Brando and Nimesis left to reconnoiter the battlefield. He looked at Haruzer and continued, "Are you just watching things go on these days? ”

Haruzer looked at her puzzled: "Mr. Envoy, I don't understand what you are talking about?" ”

"I mean, since the Black Sword Barrier. You never seem to have expressed any opinion on what the current situation is. Can't you see it, Your Highness? ”

Haruzer lowered his long eyelashes and thought for a moment, "I think I understand," he said, "but I don't think he's done anything wrong, teacher." ”

Baron Rutney looked at the future crown prince in astonishment, as if he had misheard something, and for a moment he almost wanted to go up and pull the other man's face to see if the little prince had been secretly replaced by his mad teacher. I was still poured some ecstasy soup by that guy. "Your Royal Highness, Little Prince......" he couldn't help but say with a dry mouth, "do you know how dangerous it is for what he wants to do, he is gambling, gambling with the fate of the kingdom and the fate of millions of people!" ”

"Baron Rutney," Dilferry, who was beside her, finally couldn't help but speak, though she still looked a little sick at the moment. Her complexion didn't look very good in the candlelight, but she still frowned and replied weakly, "When you said this, did you really think about what the fate of thousands of people has to do with you?" ”

Baron Lutney replied without blushing or heartbeat: "Well, I admit that it is just a rhetoric, but you can't let his temperament run wild. ”

"I think the Earl has his own measure, he is not such a selfish man." Dilferi thought for a moment and replied.

"You ......"

The baron from Ampesel looked at these people, and couldn't help but feel a little unreasonable for a moment, are these people still nobles, and where are their positions? In desperation, he had to turn to the outsiders present: "Princess Magdal, what do you think?" ”

"I'm not from Eruin, so I don't interfere in your affairs, but in the Black Sword Barrier, it's indeed a faux pas on the Imperial side, and when this matter reaches the Temple, I'll also be on the side of justice," Princess Nun smiled gently, "Besides, I owe the Earl a favor, and I will help him if it is reasonable." ”

Baron Lutney was speechless for a moment, so that the only one who stood on his side was the dead fat man Ephram, who originally thought that there was also the duke's daughter who looked more sensible, but Miss Ernie bit her lip and looked bitter and hateful, but she didn't speak. He couldn't help but look at Enid on the side, who kept his head down and just looked at his toes, not saying a word on this occasion.

As for the fellow Lantonilan, needless to say, he was firmly on Brando's side, and since that fellow had saved the refugees at the Black Sword Barrier, he had stepped into the same boat with the Earl. And the non-commissioned officer from Yanirasu, Baron Lutney felt that a small non-commissioned officer might not be qualified to participate in this meeting, so he didn't bother to deal with the other party.

But in this way, he suddenly found that he seemed to be unable to convince anyone, which was quite different from his original plan, he stood there for a long time, and finally Haruzer said to him considerately: "Mr. Envoy, I think I understand what you mean, I will persuade the teacher a little, it is getting late, you go and rest first." ”

Baron Rutney looked at the little prince with hard words, he didn't want a little persuasion, which sounded unreliable. If that madman had been able to listen to advice, he would not have done such a heinous thing. When he walked out of the tent in a daze, he didn't understand for a moment what the problem was, but it occurred strangely in his mind that it seemed that the little prince was a little different from when he had seen him before, and that His Royal Highness would not dare to ask him to leave so 'tactfully' before.

Wait until everyone has left one by one. A wonderful figure quietly sneaked into the little prince's tent, and the comer, dressed in a white robe, sat down beside Haruzer with a smile, looked at the little prince with prismatic eyes, and said, "They support your teacher verbally, but they may not think so in their hearts." ”

Haruzer replied with some embarrassment: "Because everyone doesn't know what the teacher thinks, after all, Eruin can't afford the thunderous wrath of the Empire, Sister Lesmeka, what do you think?" ”

"Let's be realistic," Medusa smiled mysteriously, "and his reasons for choosing are naïve." Empires can be dignified, but small states don't, and in the eyes of the aristocracy, the reason for war should be something more real: land, population, power, and money. ”

"But ideally, for your kingdom there is a need for a banner that gathers hearts and beliefs."

"But—"

Lesmerka looked at the little prince playfully. It seems to be very interesting: "Legitimacy and legitimacy, these sacred words." What does it mean to an earl, and why are those who support you and your sister so frightened and angry? You and your sister are really a pair of naïve cuties, and the Earl is also ridiculously naïve, and I am really curious. The fate of a kingdom will be in your hands. ”

"Yes, maybe it's fate, it's always so wonderful."

Haruzer looked at the Lady Medusa in a daze: "Sister Lesmeca, but you know. I was never interested in it, the teacher was very nice to me, he was an upright person, and I liked him very much. ”

"This is where you are childish, little cutie," Medusa approached the little prince, held his face in her hand, and exhaled like an orchid spraying on his face: "What belongs to you, will always be yours, this is the meaning of orthodoxy, if you are still in this world for a day, he will never be the king of Eruin." People gather around him because of righteousness, and they will leave him because of injustice, and one day, I really want to see what he will choose in the end. ”

"But," the little prince shook his head earnestly, "I don't think the teacher is that kind of person. ”

She giggled, "Maybe, maybe he'll surprise us all." ”

Lesmerka let go of Haruzer and said to him with a smile: "You just asked me what I think, so what about you, your future king, what do you think?" ”

Haruzer frowned slightly.

"I think," he said, "I think my teacher has a point, that ideals have value for people, but my sister, Mr. Macarlo, and Mr. Overwell, they all taught me the importance of ideals and beliefs, but why do people always prefer practical interests when it comes to things?" ”

"Ideals can't be eaten, Your Royal Highness the Little Prince." After Lesmerka said this, she suddenly thought of something, her eyes flashed slightly, and she gently patted Haruzer on the shoulder: "But maybe this is just a weak man's self-consolation statement, little prince, if you really want to know what your teacher thinks, you might as well let me go and meet him." ”

"Sister Lesmerka, you want to see the teacher, isn't it possible at any time, and no one in the camp will stop you?" Haruzer asked, puzzled.

Lesmeka smiled mysteriously and looked at the little prince with a silent smile, as if the latter had said something stupid.

Haruzer was slightly stunned, as if he understood something, before he replied, "I understand, then please go and see the teacher, Sister Lesmeka." ”

"Little cutie," Lesmeka kissed the little prince lightly on the forehead, "let me tell you a secret." ”

"What?"

"The magic that your teacher taught you is a long-lost ancient magic, and even I have only seen a few records of it on some remaining stone tablets, and I still haven't figured out the meaning of what he did—"

"I know," replied Haruzer, "the teacher told me, and he said that my aptitude was better suited to this type of magic. ”

Medusa looked at him teasingly with prismatic pupils, "Then he must not have told you anything else." ”

Haruzer looked at her puzzled.

"Ancient magic, taught by the hand of Tumen, was given to only four people, and their names were the sages of the earth and forgiveness, Elranta. Sage of Light and Justice, Faenzan. Flame and brave sage, Gilt, Lord of Fire. The sage of the wind and wisdom, St. Osore after the wind. They are the kings of kings, the wise kings of antiquity, and the pioneers of the history of black iron. Since them, no one has systematically mastered ancient magic. ”

The little prince opened his mouth slightly, and sat there in a daze.

……

Brando and Nimesis rode side by side on the undulating mounds, the starry night was fading, and the eastern sky was pale blue, and the glimmer of the horizon of Anlez could be faintly seen, where the evergreen walkway, the most prosperous area between the clouds and the flowery collars.

"Count Guien has chosen a good battlefield." Brando's gaze looked out at the rolling hills of a forest one after another, and suddenly spoke.

Nimesis looked back at him.

"The players of the empire have written the most singable stories here, changed a piece of history, and today we are going to do the same thing here, and the stories that happen in this land are always so similar," Brando's vision suddenly reflected a sea of spears, the army of the local nobles of Anzeruta was entering the battlefield they had already prescribed, he took a breath, patted his mount, and said to Nimesis beside him, "Go back, you can see the same thing." ”

The female knight nodded silently.

…… (To be continued......)