Captain Saran stood at the bow.
Above his head is the "Raven" flag fluttering in the cold wind. This flag has accompanied him and his partners for more than ten years. When driving on the sea, they only need to look up to see the white crows on the black flag flapping their wings. Much like the unwelcome pirates themselves.
"Captain, when are we going back, I'm going to throw up after eating the barbecue here every day..."
A pirate eagerly approached Saran and asked.
"Eat and eat, you will know how to eat." Captain Saran kicked him angrily.
"What else can I do but eat?"
The pirates shrugged aggrievedly. Originally, their first mate "magician" turned into the emperor of the Elmian Empire. They still felt a little excited, feeling like they were following their long faces.
The results of it…
The situation of being happy with the first mate did not appear at all. The captain, who was more fond of gambling than them, was uncharacteristically, not only forbidding them to gamble in Ermia, but also forbidding them to go out to have fun. On the boat, you are not allowed to come down and run around.
This can suffocate the free-spirited pirates.
The pirate who was scolded by the captain walked away lazily, leaving behind Captain Saran with a gloomy expression on his face.
He didn't expect these guys to realize that they were unwelcome "outsiders" in the Elmia Empire. In the past, Gurion always disliked that Saran's political sense was too low, and he often caused trouble. But that was only relatively speaking, at least Captain Saran was keenly aware of the malice towards them from most of the Elmians.
Even with Gurion's suppression, this kind of malice still lingers, or in other words, it is precisely because of Gurion's suppression that this malice has become stronger.
"When I don't want to go back early."
Saran couldn't help cursing in a low voice.
During the half a year in the Elmia Empire, the leader of the Raven Pirates was as uncomfortable as if he was covered with lice. But firstly, he is acting as the envoy of the two countries under the order of Queen Roland, and secondly, Gurion's kingship is indeed not stable enough, and the Ermian army supporting him is not enough, so he needs to rely on the Raven Pirates firepower for deterrence.
According to the practice of the Elmian Empire, after Gurian became the new king, he needed to conduct a tour.
The Elmians were too repulsive and hostile to the Raven Pirates. In order to avoid conflicts, Captain Saran only brought the pirates to the pier instead of going ashore.
to be honest…
Ever since Captain Saran discovered the Lute figure in Elmia, the ominous premonition has shrouded. This is also confirmed by the increasingly tense atmosphere in various places when the guards patrolled.
Captain Saran was thinking, looking in the direction of the city of Achai, he saw that the city walls and turrets were covered with golden cloth, and patterns of the sun and sunbirds could be seen everywhere. He guessed bitterly that Gurion, with his messy paint and golden wings that were so heavy and stupid, should be more depressed than them.
—That guy is the most annoying and cumbersome thing.
When he looked back, Captain Saran caught a glimpse of the Elmians on the shore looking at him with repulsion and vigilance.
With another sweep, Saran saw the ships of the Root Empire docked on the other side of the harbor.
Captain Saran: …
To be honest, he didn't understand why Her Majesty the Queen had no reaction to the arrival of the Root Empire in Elmia. These people in the Root Empire hypocritically maintain a superficial friendliness that makes people sick to their stomachs. But then again, the queen didn't respond, as if acquiescing to the collusion between the Elmia Empire and Root, which made Captain Saran heave a sigh of relief.
He didn't know what he would do when the Queen ordered him to fight against Gurion if Roland and Ermia were torn apart.
On the other hand, Gurion's contact with Root gave him a subtle feeling of being betrayed. But he had no reason to ask Gulian about it.
After the joy of helping his friend regain the throne faded away, all kinds of complicated emotions came one after another.
He hates politics.
Captain Saran thought while listening to the sound of drums in the city.
Just when he was full of depression, he only heard a penetrating horn sound from the city of Achai.
Captain Saran immediately stopped and drew his gun. That is, the moment he drew his gun, the Elmia guard who had been staring at this side took off his longbow without hesitation, and with the sound of a long and thick horn, fired towards the pirate ship like rain. Like dense arrows.
—They are not excluding outsiders, but are brewing a conspiracy.
"Hold."
Captain Saran cursed and rolled quickly, avoiding the rain of arrows.
The Hermians were backward in weapons, and they had easily sent Gurian to the throne with the sharpness of their muskets. However, the two sides have fought against each other so many times, and the Ermian people have a certain understanding of them and hot weapons. Now these Ermian soldiers distanced themselves and used dense hard bows to shoot arrows to suppress them.
These arrows are specially coated with poison, and even the most skilled pirates have to be cautious when firing them intensively.
"Damn it!"
The lookout hid on the height of the mast and watched as the crowd on the shore parted, and the Hermians lifted the colorful cloth strips and flowers and plants covered on the cart.
"Where did they get the cannon?"
cannon
Captain Saran's mind immediately flashed the Root ship moored on the other side.
In a harbor with calm waters, the Lute ship is moored at the other end.
"Are we really going to help those idiots?"
A captain asked the Duke of Monsi, who had been sent as an emissary.
The Duke of Mengxi was happily watching the Roland pirates on the other side being attacked by the Elmians, and couldn't help but smile when he heard this: "Help them? No, no, no, barbarians are not qualified to fight alongside us. "
"Then we are now...?"
The captain was confused.
He remembered that the Duke of Mengxi had agreed to the cooperation of the priests of the Sun Temple to jointly kill Captain Saran, and today was the agreed day. For this reason, the Root Empire sponsored the Ermian cannon and some gunpowder in advance.
"Our task has been completed." The Duke of Mengxi replied, "The priests have launched an attack on the Rolands. Without our help, the priests will have a dead end—ah, they really think they can deal with the ravens with the cannon Is there a pirate group? When the Roland people kill the priest, the warrior clan will force Gurian to expel the Roland people. If Gurian refuses, he will usher in a full-scale riot in Elmia. The battle between Roland and Ermia The alliance is going to break down."
"So, besides Root, what choice does Elmia have?"
"That's it."
When the captain looked at the Raven Pirates again, he couldn't help showing pity. But soon, he thought of another thing, showing a worried look.
"But the Elmians have the cannons we provided, will the Rolands also attack us?"
"Do they now have evidence that we sent the cannon?" Duke Mengxi spread his hands, "If not, so what if they know? Attacking us rashly may trigger Roland and Root to declare war. In this way, we will benefit Only Elmia is the only one, Roland will not be an idiot."
The captain suddenly realized that just when he was about to flatter and flatter this great man, the gunfire rang out.
The muzzle of the Raven's cannon burst into bright flames, and the shells pierced through the air, hitting the Root warship moored in the same harbor.
The color on Duke Mengxi's face hadn't disappeared, and he saw flames rising from the bow of the warship on the left.
Under the unexpected bombardment, Lute's warship seemed to be stunned for a moment. After being hit by two shells in a row, it started to fight back in a hurry.
"what happened?"
The Duke of Mengxi was furious. He watched Captain Saran insist on carrying the attack of the Ermians and did not fight back, and attacked them.
"Are these idiots crazy?!!!"
… … … … … … …
The sound of cannon came from outside the city.
"Let the people of the Root Empire fight the Roland people."
Pali patriarch stood beside Gurion and said gloatingly.
This man is one of the ancient nobles of the Elmian Empire, the patriarch of the Pali family. In addition to the support of the Roland people, Gurion could not regain the throne without the support of the Pali family.
He still didn't say a word: It's best to let the people of the Root Empire kill Captain Saran.
They only need to wait until the Rolands and the Roots arrive after they are both injured, and get rid of the stubborn priests.
In this way, they eliminated the most extreme opponents, and they could use the death of Saran and others to give an explanation to the nobles and religious believers in the country who were worried that Gurion was overemphasizing outsiders, and win over local forces. They could also use the execution of the priests as an explanation to Roland, avoiding the direct responsibility of the Elmian Empire for this incident, and they could also take the opportunity to provoke a dispute between Roland and Root.
Only in the event of a war between Root and Roland, can Elmia become an existence that both sides must win over and fight for, in order to get the greatest benefit.
Gurion didn't speak, Pali Patriarch thought he was deep in thought, and didn't dare to bother this young king whose wrist had already begun to show. When he heard the guards coming to report the situation, he hurried out.
Just as he was about to go out with his front feet, a raven flew down with his back feet and stopped in front of Gulian.
Gurion's green eyes slowly looked at it.
The raven flapped its wings, landed on the shoulder of this familiar human, and stretched out a leg skillfully.
Gu Li looked at it calmly for a long time, it tilted its head, and seemed to blame him for being so dawdly this time, and pecked him twice.
Gurion finally raised his pale hand and untied the letter for help.
... ... ...
"Who told you to let the ravens fly!"
On the deck, Captain Saran swung his fist and mercilessly knocked down the ship's clerk.
In addition to the pirates, there were also the queen's clerks who came to Ermia. Captain Saran knew very well that these clerks were actually different types of intelligence personnel, and the glamorous queen had always been very good at expanding the intelligence network. It's just that these clerks who looked like literati didn't do anything other than record things after they arrived in Ermia.
After a long time, the pirates have become accustomed to the existence of these people.
Just such an oversight, since the clerk on this ship released the raven of the pirate group just now—who knows, when did they get acquainted with the raven exclusive to the pirate group.
The gentle clerk got up from the deck and wiped the blood off his lips without haste.
"Allow me to remind you," he said calmly, "that you are the navy of the Empire, not the guard of Gurion."
Captain Saran almost wanted to kill this guy with a single shot. He frantically called another raven, ready to resend a letter.
The clerk smiled politely:
"he came."
On the coast, an army from the city came out, and the leader was Gulian.
……………
"I don't trust the Raven Pirates," the queen said to Abigail. "They are genuine pirates, and their loyalty to the empire is rare, let alone compared with their friendship with their companions."
The queen's fingertips were on the table, and there was a secret letter from Ermia on it.
"If you are Saran, if you choose to bombard the priests of Elmia now, it will put Gurion in trouble-of course, Gurion can wipe out the warrior clan with their help, at the cost of Gurion and Elmia The Asian Empire's dependence on Roland has deepened again, and it has been completely reduced to Roland's vassal. And if you shoot at Root, although it will harm Roland's interests, it will benefit Gurion, what would you choose?"
"Shoot Root."
Abigail answered without hesitation.
"Then Gurion also came. He killed those priests and started a war against Lut. So, now, as a new king, he executed those who had great influence but did not directly resist him. Only by relying on external forces can the situation be stabilized and the rule consolidated .The war against Root left him with the only choice... Roland."
The queen's tone was flat, but chilling.
"For at least ten years, Elmia and Roland will be on the same warship."
"What did you have someone write to Gurian in Saran's name?" Abigail asked.
"Do not come."
the queen replied.
Abigail was taken aback for a moment, then opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything. The answer is unexpected...but it is true...
"How could it be possible not to come?" After a long time, Abigail said softly, "They are friends."