"The eboden rebellion, the demons of duanjie mountain, the imperial capital''s pre imperial trial, the Centaur war, the cloud peak coup... Coupled with Azores and Ancient Wood Forest Elves, the Empire has become more and more restless these years."
"Really?"
"Yes, many people who came back from Golovin said that there were as many troubles in these years as in the past ten generations."
"So exaggerated?"
"What exaggerates is not how many things, but almost everything has something to do with you, Loren."
"Oh, you don''t say I didn''t find it, your highness Brandon de sallion..."
With a hypocritical and formulaic smile, in the side hall of the cathedral, the two people who closed the door talked without a word.
After three years, Brandon is obviously more cunning and tough than in the past.
If Brandon came across such a thing in the past, his first reaction was definitely that there must be a trap in it. He should hide far away so as not to become the "target" of crown prince Connor and the heavenly palace.
But now... No matter how much to hide, the black haired wizard can see the excited expression in his eyes - it is not the joy of being lucky to survive the assassination, but the appearance of sharks smelling blood when sweeping away their prey.
Of course, the only constant is that he is still as keen on adventure as in the past... Otherwise, his royal highness, who holds an army, will appear in a duke''s court, and the result will be absolutely disastrous!
Because he was aware that the assassination of the Azores was a great opportunity for him.
Once Eckhardt II, his noble father, is killed, no... Even if he is seriously injured, Brandon can turn the situation around and kick the king Connor out of the game as long as he uses it properly.
All he needs is a little strength, a little chaos, a little time.
But
"Don''t you agree?" looking at the black haired wizard who has always been beating around with himself, Brandon held his cheek in a sullen way, and the ends of his fiery red hair drooped down on his forehead.
"It should be said... This is not the best time." Loren didn''t shake his head, but he acquiesced: "you can see this great opportunity, and Conrad de sallion can do the same."
"With his wisdom, vision and means, will he be unprepared for such things?"
Brandon tooted his mouth and turned his head to show that he didn''t want to answer the question.
"Secondly, even if he is not prepared... Only 10000 troops can be mobilized at any time - don''t forget, he is still the legal crown prince, and the people who support him in the capital Golovin still account for the majority." Loren reluctantly persuaded:
"Once the sky palace really changes, the first thing those imperial nobles think of is connord, not you, the ''disgraced Prince'' - do you think those guys holding the city gate key will open the door to which army?"
His highness turned his eyes again.
"At present, the Royal wizard academy, grass-roots trade unions and several major chambers of commerce support you in the imperial capital... The wizard academy will not say much. The remaining two parties are willing to be loyal because they can make money with you; but if you think they will sacrifice themselves and gamble their lives for you, it is really wishful thinking."
The disgraced Prince collapsed on the chair, tilted his head, stretched out his tongue and made a false corpse.
"As for Archduke vilz of El mans... I have dealt with him. If you think he will give us face for Lucian''s sake, it is even more natural - in my experience, he is more likely to directly identify us as rebels."
"This opportunity looks very attractive, but in fact it is full of traps and difficulties... If it doesn''t work well, it will be labeled as'' conspiracy with elves''. Don''t you think it''s too much to lose?"
Brandon, who had "died", did not move, put his hands together on his chest, and his face was dead gray.
After that, the black haired wizard tutted his mouth and moistened his throat with water from the table - there has been no wine in the cathedral since Weber became bishop of Byrne.
The side hall of the cathedral with its doors closed was quiet for five minutes.
Finally, Brandon himself couldn''t help himself: "... Don''t you agree?"
"Yes." Lauren, with a pale face, answered decisively this time: "I don''t agree."
Then why did you just talk about a lot of things that didn''t exist -?!!!
Brandon''s face was covered with the black lines. He wanted to jump directly and strangle calm black haired wizard!
But he also knew that it was not three years ago... Loren was no longer his wizard adviser, but the prestigious Duke of Byrne.
The interests of the two people are closely linked, but the actual situation is that they need him more.
What''s more, what he said is very reasonable. The plan is very irrational, too bold and too risky. Once some variables are lost.
But... If you bow your head and admit your mistake, the disgraced prince will not be the disgraced prince.
"What a shame, Duke Byrne, who turned things around in the Centaur war and the ancient wood forest negotiations on his own, would be so timid and cautious."
With some kind of teasing and sour tone, Brandon deliberately looked at the black haired wizard with very provocative eyes: "really, where did the little wizard shine in eboden go? Isn''t it gone?"
How to motivate?
Lauren, who pulled up the corner of his mouth and put down his water cup, smiled: "no way, we are just ordinary people, not the protagonists in a novel - we must be as cautious as possible when we walk on the edge of the abyss and don''t want to be swallowed up by the abyss."
"Especially... Now we don''t even know who the enemy is."
The black haired wizard''s expression gradually became dignified.
Brandon frowned slightly, and his bright eyes twinkled with doubt: "you mean..."
"I don''t want to be alarmist, but... The fact is that the threat posed by the Azores kingdom is absolutely beyond our imagination." Loren looked at Brandon very seriously and his eyes were sharp:
"Brandon... If you still think this assassination is just a simple assassination, you are very wrong!"
"Yes, it must be just part of their invasion plan, I know."
With a still unhappy tone, Brandon shrugged his shoulders: "such a large-scale assassination must be to cause unrest in the Empire and give them a chance to take advantage; I guess it will be outside the port of eboden in about half a year or a few months..."
"No, you still don''t know!"
The dark haired wizard sighed and interrupted the prince who wanted to continue.
Brandon''s idea is actually similar to that of Loren at the beginning. The purpose of the enemy''s raid is nothing more than to weaken, so that when they invade on a large scale, the empire can not quickly gather enough forces to fight with them, so as to obtain strategic advantage.
There is nothing wrong with this, and it is roughly consistent with the intelligence dug out from the Elven warriors and Meade.
The only problem is the size of the invasion.
There are only two directions of invasion - landing from eboden and marching all the way along the gem River to the capital Golovin; Or take the ancient wood forest and raid the deep forest castle.
Across a misty sea, even if you think about it, the enemy''s troops will not be many; Even if the imperial ocean fleet is two to three times as large, it will be about 30000 at best; It was a little difficult for these troops to besiege eboden, let alone enter the imperial capital.
So although he was assassinated and nearly died, Brandon still didn''t care about the Azores invasion, but regarded them as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Defeating a powerful force whose strength and reputation are no less than that of the Empire under eboden and even the imperial city can win more prestige and recognition of the empire than defeating the demon invasion in the fortress of duanjieshan.
But the premise of all this is that the strength of the Azores is really only twenty or thirty thousand.
"What do you mean?" Brandon looked more confused and blinked. "Do you mean... They have other ways to make more troops cross the fog sea and land on the coastline of the Empire?"
"It is not possible, but necessary."
Loren shook his head and his eyes were meaningful: "for the Azores, the result of this war is related to the life and death of the whole race!"
"So whatever the outcome and means... The Azores will certainly create a miracle that will astonish us, and let an army of large scale appear on the border of the Empire!"
Heavy words echoed in the side hall.
Brandon, who finally understood the seriousness of the problem, finally put away his disapproval and became much silent.
But he still has a lot of things he doesn''t understand.
"Although I don''t know much about Azores, but... This should be a kingdom comparable to the Empire?" he frowned and scratched his head desperately: "how can it be inexplicable that it will face the problem of life and death?"
The confused Prince looked at the dark haired wizard and wanted an answer.
But Loren said nothing, just raised the index finger of his right hand and pointed to his head.
Brandon suddenly.
The fortress of duanjieshan, the northern ice sheet... Niederhogg.
"Do you mean that the Azores, like the Dragon Kingdom, were invaded by evil gods and demons, and the whole kingdom and even the mainland were destroyed?"
"Natural disasters, demons, evil gods, civil war... Are all possible." the black haired wizard nodded slightly and looked very calm: "but no matter which kind can make the Azores feel threatened, I''m afraid it won''t be very friendly to us."
"What''s more, the empire is not only facing the Azores... In the north, the evil god apostle faoda who was killed last time just fell asleep and did not disappear."
"The threat lurking in the ice sheet will shut off the boundary mountain at any time to deter the whole empire."
Brandon bowed his head, fell into meditation without saying a word, and his expression was very tangled.
Even if everything the dark haired wizard said was true, it was still a very difficult choice for him.
Should we seize the present opportunity or remain silent?
"In fact, Brandon... This Azores invasion is indeed an opportunity for you," Loren said abruptly, "and it may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
it happens only once in a thousand years?
"When the unprecedented enemy appeared on the coastline border, when the Empire was in life and death, and on the earth covered by the iron crown flag held by the three dragons, thousands of people were terrified."
"What kind of ruler will they appeal to in this time and situation?" the black haired wizard said meaningfully:
"Is a wise, wise, noble, reasonable and legitimate monarch followed by all, a wise monarch who can bring benefits to all and make the Empire in a sea of joy?"
"Or... With unparalleled power, with the roar of frightening the earth, the flame of destroying the world, all the enemies who invade will be swept away, and the ''black walls'' of the Empire will ravage the enemies into dross, pile their bodies into mountains, and hang their heads all over the city gate..."
"... where''s the Savior?"
Brandon''s face changed and he was suddenly stunned.
"All along, Brandon... You''ve always regarded your greatest talent as the reason why you''re targeted," Lauren continued with a smile
"But when this terrible power is needed by everyone... That''s your chance."
"If you make good use of this power, you can not only get what you want, but also become a high-profile savior in this war..."
Bang -!
With a loud noise, Loren''s voice stopped suddenly - the door of the side hall was knocked open.
It was Lucian who broke in.
"Lord Loren! No... Your highness Brandon?!"
As soon as the grey pupil boy who rushed into the room raised his head, he was surprised by the second familiar figure in front of him; His face suddenly changed, he was in a trance for half a second, and immediately closed the door behind him again with a "bang!".
If the news of his highness Brandon''s appearance at Byrne Cathedral leaked, it would be all over!
When he looked back, the unhappy prince had rearranged Yi Rong''s dress, covered most of his face with his hair, and stared at Lucian with only one eye:
"Come on, what happened?"
Twitching his throat, the grey pupil boy first secretly glanced at the black haired wizard next to his eyes; After acquiescence, he took a long sigh of relief and took out a letter from his sleeve.
"This is... Information from the imperial capital. It has just been sent."
"The intelligence of the imperial capital... Doesn''t it say that there are too many rumors to be sure?" Loren then frowned slightly: "where did you get it and how much credibility?"
"It''s 100% credible, because Peter FASA personally gave it to me... He''s in the red blood Castle court now. You can ask him yourself later... You''d better wait, because he''s badly hurt."
Badly hurt, by whom?
"So..." Brandon raised his eyebrows in amazement: "this is the internal intelligence of the night watchman headquarters?"
"Yes, it''s more accurate to say that it''s absolute first-hand information." the gray pupil nodded, hesitated for a moment, and slowly opened his mouth:
"Although... There may be no ''night watchman headquarters'' anymore."