Act I letterhead

"It's a little unusually quiet here." Gail said. The afternoon sun shone on the dead leaves, and the light of the surrounding trees kept changing: "My lord." ”

"There is a legend among the mountain people that there is a different and silent place in the forest, because there is a goddess of the lake watching, and in such a place, you must not turn back lightly." Tyris said, the viscount's pale and thin hand resting on the hilt of his sword, and his gaze fixed on the woods, where there was a path where wild beasts walked.

"Your Excellency, you're laughing," Gail said, a little creepy, as he glanced around. There really seemed to be a pair of eyes lurking in the shadows: "Chaos is above, and the gods are nothing but vanity." ”

"No, Gail," replied Tyris, "I think the gods are real." ”

Gale looked at the young viscount as if he wanted to see the source of these heresies in the kind eyes of the other man. Tester is the Holy Son of the One Society, and the person who can choose this position must have been screened from above, whether it is wisdom, talent or loyalty to the doctrine, he is one in ten thousand, although his personality is a little changeable on weekdays, but it still makes people can't believe that he will say such a sentence.

"If there are gods," replied Gail, "is what we are doing not blasphemous?" ”

Tyris looked at him with a look in his eyes as if he were mocking the young knight's weakness. "If there are gods," he said, "they must be right, I don't think so?" ”

Gail was speechless, and then realized the difference between himself and the other party.

The young viscount turned around, and at the edge of the forest, the knights finally dragged the boat ashore from the small inlet. "Get on the road," he snapped his fingers, "and in a place like this, you might encounter ghosts or something like that at night." It's not a threat, but it's troublesome. With one hand he held the hilt of his sword and swept the corner of his grey robe to the ground, and turned and walked forward.

Gail followed.

After a while, a knight chased after him, "My lord, the third, fourth, fifth, and seventh squads have all arrived," the comer reported in a low voice: "We received a signal from the north before, and everyone else except us has landed on the north side. As for the other teams, none of them seemed to be able to cut through the fog outside. ”

Tester looked at the forest with interest, as if the changing light of the woodland softened into his narrow eyes. "So," he said, "we've got thirty-seven of us, right?" ”

The knight nodded.

"Thirty-seven silver-tiered, plus me," he pointed to himself, "it should be enough to deal with a Lake Knight, if there is nothing wrong with the intelligence-"

Gail did not answer.

The footsteps rustled through the forest, and Viscount Tester turned around. Gail's hand remained tightly on the hilt of his sword, and his voice hissed in his nose, "How big is this island," he asked, "Your Excellency?" ”

"Are you scared?" "Gael, the fisherman said that the Knights of the Lake will not be outside the White Mountain. ”

Gail took a breath and stiffly let go of his hand, "I'm sorry, my lord. ”

Tester smiled kindly.

The group walked through the forest and joined their companions to the north. They arrived at the holy white rock in time for the afternoon before the sun set, and the afterglow fell on the white stone wall, which was dazzling. The young viscount rested his hand on the stone wall in front of everyone, his slender fingers caressing the potholed surface along the rock, the rough touch echoing a sense of historical heaviness.

The heavy feeling is as if the gaze has traveled back thousands of years ago, when the king came here with a sword and slept quietly in this forest.

"There is a king sleeping in it," he said, "do you know who it is?" ”

"Ek?" Gail asked.

"No," Tester shook his head, "not him." He replied meaninglessly, then lowered his hand and walked along the stone wall. It didn't take long for them to discover a depression that led to the interior of the rock. The cave in Tongguò has an emerald forest behind it, which the local mountain people call 'Sleeping Forest'. The young viscount paused, turned back and asked, "Is this it?" ”

"Yes, my lord," replied the knight behind him, "the Knight of the Lake is hovering in the forest behind him. ”

"So are you all ready with your weapons?"

Everyone patted their swords at their waists.

Viscount Tester nodded with satisfaction: "Since that's the case, then come with me." ”

"Chaos is above," the knights responded.

……

Brando sat at his walnut desk and suddenly felt the sage slate in his arms tremble slightly. Again? He was slightly stunned. But after a moment of doubt, the young man simply put down the quill in his hand, reached out and took the thing out of his bosom, and laid it flat on the table—next to the spread out letterhead. The sage's slate vibrated slightly, and it seemed to suddenly come to life on the wooden table.

But after a while, it calmed down again.

Motionless.

"What's wrong," Antitina asked, blinking slightly, "Lord Lord." She sat quietly in an aristocratic high-backed chair beside Brando, bathed in the sunlight out of the window—sitting in an upright and graceful posture, her neck as slender and graceful as a swan. Brando looked back at her, momentarily distracted.

"Nothing," he said, pushing his hand lightly against the slate—but there was still no movement. "It's about another low-frequency resonance," Brando thought for a moment, "something that has been the case lately." With that, he opened the drawer and put the slate inside. Then he pulled the quill from the inkwell, but his train of thought was interrupted, and he didn't know where to start.

Brando rubbed the corners of his forehead, a little headache.

"You're writing to Miss Freya?" The aristocratic girl glanced at the letterhead on the table.

"yes, headache." Brando replied, "Kill Grudin, but the real trouble is just beginning. He looked up again: "Say, Antitina, what are we going to do with Count Jean Denel?" ”

Antitina raised her eyes and gave him a somewhat annoyed look. "I thought you had a way," she replied, "why didn't you ask my opinion when you insisted on going your own way?" ”

"If I give up," Brando smiled, "you'll be at ease?" ”

The aristocratic daughter turned around and simply kept silent.

"Tsundere." Brando thought to himself. He poked the paper with the tip of his quill pen and asked, "By the way, what do you mean by those words you said to the mercenary chief?" ”

"On the face of it."

"I don't think so," Brando shook his head, "I understand that you have complaints in your heart, but you and I both know that you are not a man of all words, let alone say so much in front of an outsider." He picked up the parchment, crumpled it and threw it out of the window, "Clever isn't it, Antitina; I'm so lucky to have someone like you—"

Antitina looked back at him with a hint of appreciation in her eyes.

"Because I think that my lord will have to subdue those mercenaries," she replied, "I will make my own claims." ”

"So you don't blame me?" Brando breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. ”

"It's never been weird," the aristocratic girl smiled lightly, "it's just that I've been left behind, and I'm a little angry." She frowned: "It's not so much that I'm worried about not being able to keep up with you, I don't know, maybe there are some deep-rooted things that will make me go further and further." ”

Brando smiled, thinking that he wouldn't be too far wrong if he had a heart—but he didn't say it—and instead pulled out a new piece of paper. "So you have an idea," he asked, "Miss Staff?" ”

Antitina nodded. "Almost," she said, "the great soldiers are dangerous, and I am afraid that the danger that follows cannot be resolved by ordinary means." However, when it comes to the struggle between the nobles, it is nothing more than unloading and borrowing strength. First of all, it depends on whether we can find any backers, but I am afraid that the traditional ones will not work, and our roots are still shallow, and others will not risk offending Count Denel to accept it; We can consider his enemies, but not that we are too small in our own right, and that we have already challenged the rules of the game by doing what we have done—" She was a little embarrassed and thought for a moment, "The rest are the more unreasonable choices. For example, in the case of the Southern Army, Madara is not impossible to consider—"

Brando shook his hand. "Forget about Madara," he replied, "and tell me about the Southern Legion." ”

"For the Count of Denel to form an alliance with Mardara, presumably, there will be no more than these reasons," replied Antitina, "and one is to weaken the Southern Legion by the hand of Mardara; Second, I'm afraid it's also to let it suppress the power of the mountain people in Denel's territory, have you noticed? The army of the undead of Madara has not yet crossed the Thunder Pool of the Lake of the Goddess. According to the news from outside, the areas where they are most active are also within the autonomous areas of the mountain people. She said, "In this way, the Southern Legion is isolated, and I am afraid that it will also hate Count Jean Denel, who has turned a blind eye to them." But most of the areas where the Southern Army was stationed were barren and barren land, or in the mountains and forests, and the biggest problem they faced was the lack of supplies. And if we can form an offensive and defensive alliance with them, not to mention the confrontation with Count Denel, at least we can ensure that we have no worries behind us. ”

"You mean Madara?"

The aristocratic girl nodded.

"It's a good way," Brando scribbled meaninglessly on the parchment with a quill, his eyes focused on the window, as if thinking about something, "It's just that the Southern Army is still mired in a quagmire, and has long since been cut off from the outside world after the battle with Madara. Even whether this compilation still exists is a question, and even if there is a zài, how to contact them is another problem. The tip of his pen paused and took a breath, "We can't rely on luck, so this should only be used as a backup." I can send men in the direction of Mount Grals, but this is only as a means of insurance until I get any definite information. ”

He looked back: "Is there anything else to consider?" ”

"How about the silver elves that adults have befriended, can they help?" Antitina asked, "If you want to borrow power, they're the biggest help—"

……

(PS. The plot behind the design, today's update.)