In Warnd, the Sabbath day is used as the dividing line in each year, marking the end of the year. After this day, both civilians and nobles will gradually reduce their outing activities, whether it is work or private travel; It seems that the hustle and bustle of the whole year has quieted down in this month, and people have begun to hold various celebrations and banquets, from the northernmost ten-armed city to Silman and Fir Castle on the southern border of Eruin. In the region, every family has begun to prepare and pray for the coming year, praying that the gods will bless the new year to be calm and everything goes smoothly.
But it seems that since the trivial conflict that was staged at the border between the Kingdom of Eruin and the Empire of Cruz at the end of the year of the Year of the Sword, a farce has officially been staged from south to north on the southern border of Cruz, breaking the old days. From the beginning of the Frost Moon, people seem to have gradually become accustomed to the news from the south one after another. At first, the Eruin captured the imperial fortress, and a Count from Eruin tried to challenge the empire. The majesty. However, in the subsequent rumors, the Lord Earl became the party occupying the axioms. What he did at the Black Sword Barrier was just to show some color to some arrogant nobles—in this year and month, Cruz People’s pride has not yet fallen to the need to show superiority in a small country. On the contrary, the grandeur of a big country makes the citizens of the empire pay more attention to moral legitimacy and legitimacy—so they are more willing to stand in Bran emotionally. On the other side, go to the arrogant, stubborn and rigid image of the imperial aristocrats who usually dominate. Therefore, every time Brando wins, it is a great applause among the empire's civilian class and even the lower aristocracy.
'We should teach those noble lords a lesson so that they understand. '
This is the common view of almost all the people of the lower tiers of the empire. This is not to say that the upper tier of the empire has been greatly disappointed, and the pyramid structure will be crumbling. As long as Brando raises his arms, the empire will fall apart. Most of the above mentality is a mentality of having nothing to do with oneself and gloating. This kind of counterattack is always a popular drama. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that a small number of conspirators were ready to move because of this, and even planned several small rebellions, but these unlucky people who misjudged the situation were seized by the silver queen because of this, and organized several operations to eliminate dissidents. In this respect, the supreme man of the empire really wants to thank Brando.
As a result, the south of the empire was unprecedentedly lively, and the center of the empire became unprecedentedly stable.
In any case, Brando and his envoy continued to advance north, regardless of willingness or reluctance, and rumors of the Lord Earl still gathered from all directions to the center of the empire.
On the last day of the Moon of Winter Qin, the Sleeping Festival in St. Osor, which is called the celebration of recovery in other regions, Brando was defeating the private army of the imperial aristocracy and a famous local squire in front of him. After the knights of the summer solstice knights formed by the children and the Anzeruta local defense army led by the Counts of Jean and the Counts of Alkans, the size of the envoys has been suddenly expanded from the original medium size of a hundred and ten people. A large convoy of hundreds of people, in addition to the carriage of the envoy itself, behind the team was dragged more than a dozen large caravans, which were all imperial nobles in custody, old and young, and most of them had names and surnames in history. At the beginning, this'hostage' convoy was no more than one or two carriages, but after each battle, one or two more were often added, which finally formed the scale of the long carriage dragon now.
For these imperial nobles, Brando did not embarrass them, at least to keep them at least decent, and even allow them to keep attendants and close followers-of course, the scope of the abilities of these followers is limited to running errands and preparing food and drinks for their masters. , To solve the problems of protection from the cold and life, in this way, Brando doesn't even need to worry about the rations of these captives personally, they have their own solution. Of course, it does not rule out that there are some hardliners who want to cause trouble for him, and hold people who would rather starve to death and consume the rations of Brando’s envoy. He has a very simple way to deal with it, and he will provide them to these guys who are usually pampered. Basic rations, but after the guys didn't eat two hard breads, they went to contact their attendants in tears.
Brando didn't worry that these people would run away. There were magical warnings provided by wizards around the convoy for 24 hours, and there were gargoyles patrolling in the air. How far can ordinary people run in this snow-covered wilderness? At first, there were a few people trying to escape. Brando didn't even stop them. In a few days, the hapless ones were cold and hungry and returned to the convoy like savages. They voluntarily wanted to continue to be prisoners, Bran. How deliberately relaxed the surveillance of these hapless men in the convoy, but through their mouths, everyone soon knew what happened to them, and it had a good deterrent effect for a while.
The climax of the second escape came from the envoy passing through the relatively prosperous area near Russef. The successful "escape" of several nobles gave the entire fleet of hundreds of prisoners a shot, and then they started. Large-scale escape operations began every evening, and people fleeing the convoy were in an endless stream, but they were almost always caught back. Then the unwilling imperial nobles began to contact the people outside the convoy through their entourage, and launched a battle of wits and courage to rescue the hostages again and again.
As for the whole process during this period, it was full of aristocratic wisdom and whimsical. For example, a passing circus invited the Lord Brando to visit, or the aristocratic daughter who was in trouble asked him, a foreigner, for help. The romanticism of the knights, some even made Brando dumbfounded. As for the result, Brando severely taught several times to pretend to be robbers, merchants, prostitutes, women, mercenaries, family members of nobles, and even circuses. After the various noble knights of the regiment, the caravan convoy behind the envoy regiment unexpectedly added another section.
After a month of tricks and tricks, the imperial nobles finally realized that their futile escape plan was not feasible in Brando's eyes. Although the Lord Earl seemed to be only twenty years old, But they are shrewd like the heads of the old mercenary regiments who have been walking on the mainland for a lifetime. The disguise and ghost tricks used by adventurers, mercenaries, and Nightingales are not similar to him. Of course, what they did not expect is that cloth While Lando was teaching these whimsical guys, he was laughing at the same time, these people actually played these things with him-these were things he had broken in his previous life, and the adventurers of the players played in the next half of the world. It's much more exciting than these naive nobles, some things they didn't even think about.
There is a famous example in the Second Age. In order to ambush the mountain king Xalifinger, a player used illusion to shape an exactly the same rock mountain fortress less than five miles away from Alice Anna, and then used barrier spells to The entire Alice Anna disappeared from the map, and no one thought that someone would play such a big trick under the eyes of countless people, even the famous NPC of the mountain king Xalifinger. If it weren't for the player's guild at the time, there was a mistake, I am afraid that the great cause of killing Sharifinger would really have to be completed. It can be seen that the tricks of these nobles are really boring and boring in Brando's eyes.
He, Sophie, in the previous life he had been the leader of the game intermittently for almost thirty years. This is not a particularly outstanding experience among gamers, but it is very good when placed among NPCs. Even old mercenaries such as Fern and Yuta may not be qualified.
Not to mention that there is an older leader beside him, Nimesis. Although the female knight is not willing to admit her own identity, this does not prevent her from exerting her experience.
The two people often studied the tricks of these nobles in the carriage all night, and the result was naturally that some unlucky ones were eaten to death.
Leaving Russef, the envoys began to gradually leave the boundaries of Anzeruta. At this time, some of the little noble families in the long convoy were finally unable to bear it. They began to make redemption requests one after another. For these people Brando is not particularly embarrassed. After receiving the money, he generously releases people. This kind of generosity has won him a reputation among some little nobles. The rumors about Kicking Swordsman and Mad Earl are not like the beginning. So bad. Of course, this is only one aspect. On the other hand, the nobles whom Miss Ouni let go under his instruction finally began to play a role. Under their added propaganda, Brando's identity has successfully become a different from a foreigner. The regular and unwelcome stranger has evolved into the image of a great devil.
They are so propaganda, in fact, there is nothing wrong with them. After all, if you don't describe Brando as insidious and cunning, and how good at playing with people's hearts, wouldn't it appear that these guys who were arrested by him are very incompetent? After all, losing to a strong opponent may indicate that you are weak and incompetent. Losing to a wise opponent may indicate that you are a total idiot. Losing to an old opponent may point out your naivety and innocence, but if Your opponent is despicable and shameless, so at least you can win the sympathy of the audience. After all, kindness is innocent, isn't it
So in their description, Brando’s treatment and dignity to the nobles disappeared. The nobles who were captured by Brando were living a life inferior to hell every day. They were not clothed. Sheltered and can’t eat enough—Although people probably doubt what a Count Eruin did by robbing them of their clothes and rations, such a description is in line with the imperial’s speculation about the effect of the savages in Fanbang, so these nobles Our statement successfully aroused the indignation of almost all imperial nobles throughout Anzeruta.
Of course, this kind of indignation has always existed since the beginning, but Earl Jean and Earl Alcons hadn’t thought for a while how to stand on morality and justice, so that they could have a reason to continue to this Eru. It’s only because of the people’s envoys that they have finally found a reason to start the war under the guidance of the Duchess of Vieiro. But this reason sounds so absurd and unreliable, but it is used to persuade Her Majesty the Queen. It should be enough.
So under the eyes of the entire empire, the two Count Lords began their action to save face.
As described at the same beginning, this farce that started from the border of the empire all the way to the hinterland of the empire was staged again. It is clearly its second season. As for whether there are third and fourth seasons, it is still very different. Easy to say.
The Eruin’s envoys finally passed through the last barrier of the Anzeruta Mountains at this time. The position they are now in is called Floating Cloud Hill on the map of the empire, which is quite famous for the empire. Where-in the battle of the saints, this is the starting point of the Great Plains, from here to the east, there is an endless wilderness-that is, the most southwestern end of the Wilderness of the Four Realms. And to the north of this place, through a long and narrow corridor called the Evergreen Walkway, it is connected with the famous mosaic collar in the north; and in the east of this place, close to the Broken Sword Mountain Range, is the Rokozy Heights, where it is the closest In the Torquinine Plain, there are countless fortresses and barriers at the junction of the mountains, blocking the offensive from the Lions.
In other words, this place is probably the closest place to war for the Empire at this moment, except for the Four Realms and the eastern foot of the Broken Sword Mountain Range. Since July, this place has entered a state of alert. Today, You can no longer see the atmosphere of festivals in other places. There are few pedestrians on the roads between towns and towns, and between commercial stations and commercial stations. Instead, patrols have begun to appear frequently.
This place is currently the military station of the two battlefields, and it is also one of the weakest links in the empire. If on weekdays, Brando really worried that the two earls of Anzeruta would try to persuade some of the two legions of the North and the South. The great imperialists came to chase and intercept themselves, but now, the soldiers of the empire are fighting bloody battles, and it is obviously unlikely that they will come to participate in the little game between these nobles.
At this time, Brando finally contacted some of the imperial nobles who favored him through Lenaret's influence in the empire-but the nobles he first came into contact with were not the hardcore supporters of the emperor's eldest son-after all, military The sphere of influence of the nobles is mostly in the north and south, which is the traditional sphere of influence of the local nobles and temples. The nobles that Brando came into contact with happened to be some local forces that favored the eldest son of the emperor in terms of emotion. Some say it's soy sauce.
But these soy sauce audiences seem to be very important to Brando at this moment. Through them, Brando finally understands some conditions within the empire at this time—especially after Veronica and Mangrove return to the empire. What happened, after the entire history has changed, although Brando still has a forward-looking judgment on the customs of the empire of this era and the habits of the nobles in handling affairs, he still has a forward-looking judgment on the empire after the big bang and before the holy war. The details of the specific direction of the situation are rare, but his eyes are smeared. In fact, this is the first time he has encountered such a situation since he returned to this era.
After contacting these small families, he finally understood what happened after that. As Veronica expected, she was deprived of her military power as soon as she returned to the empire. However, the Silver Queen did not condemn it. The Erica family, instead, let Veronica's brother succeed as the commander of the legion, and at the same time took over the position of the Erica family's parent. She apparently hoped to appease the military, so as not to offend the people she was going to use, but Brando knew there were deeper reasons, because he knew Ms. Veronica was actually It’s just a scapegoat in the whole incident. In the eyes of those who don’t know the truth, this incident was punished because Veronica accidentally embarrassed the royal family, but in fact this is just a cover-up, and Her Majesty knows it. Ming her role in it, she is so pacifying the Erice family, it is inevitable that she is a little guilty of conscience.
But what makes Brando a little puzzled is that Veronica was not put back into her own territory, but was put under house arrest in the Imperial Capital, which made him a little bit unable to understand, is it true that Her Majesty the Queen? Hard-hearted, want to cure the guilt of this corps commander? No matter how he thought about it, he felt that it was unnecessary. The Silver Queen wouldn't be ignorant of Veronica's ability. She didn't seem to need to offend the other party to death.
But Brando didn't think deeply after learning the news. He didn't realize until Nimesis reminded him that there might be a conspiracy in it-something was indeed wrong.
After Nimesis learned the truth of the whole incident, the original words to him were: "Your Majesty the Emperor of the Cruz people will make big moves."
"What's going on?" Brando knew that his political experience would not be much better than a certain righteous knight in the regiment, Eco, so he didn't feel anything wrong, so he asked directly. road.
Nimesis glanced at him with a rare look of hatred for iron and steel. This look is very similar to the eyes of the senior sister when he looked at him: "Do you think about who Veronica is? Brother can become a great weapon? Since you and I know this, how can the Queen of Silver not be clear. By doing so, she said that the Blue Legion hangs out. What are the forces in the central area of the empire? Without the Blue Legion, strength The balance is easily broken. A mature politician would not make such a risky move, but if she did, it shows that she has attempted to eradicate the logic that risks are proportional to returns. Her actions must be Not small."
The female knight stopped for a while, and then faintly replied, "It's just that we have too little information to infer what she wants to do."
Brando's heart jumped slightly. He saw this lady Cavaliers who was usually taciturn and only occasionally said a few words when discussing tactics against the nobles with him during this period of time. For a while, she was so familiar. It seemed as if she had returned to the other person. When she said that before, it was almost like the scene when the senior sister gave them an analysis task. It's just that at that time, Bai Jia-senpai was much gentler.
He pursed his lips, and thought about Nimesis's remarks in his head. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was possible.
But whether the actions of the supreme were good or bad for them, just as Nimesis said, because there is too much information missing, it will not be inferred for a while.
"This matter is really getting more and more complicated," Brando couldn't help but mutter to himself: "But your majesty's actions, presumably will not have anything to do with what we are going to do next. We are going to do it now. The matter is still dealing with the two Lord Earls. Only when this matter is done well, can we take the initiative in the next trip to the empire."
After hearing this, the female knight was noncommittal, but Metisa on the side replied: "Lord Lord, I think it is a good thing to focus on one thing, but we'd better inquire about this."
Brando nodded this time. In fact, he already had a suitable candidate faintly in his heart.
Speaking of it, the other party is the only person he knows in the empire.
Coincidentally, at this moment they are still very close in geographical distance.
…