The Amber Sword

The first Jihad, generally referred to the Battle of the Saints, which took place a thousand years ago, when four Saints led the people of Black Iron against the brutal reign of the Dragon of Darkness, a glorious and sacred war celebrated by countless songs.

And the Second Jihad began at the end of the year of chaos. It was a sacred war waged by the Fanzans, the Krutz and the Wind Elves to explore the vast wilderness and black forest between the three countries. It belonged to the era of the pioneering knights. The magnificent and generous sorrow song on the wilderness lasted until after the establishment of Eruin. Since then, the layout of the three empires has basically shaped. There is only a narrow and dark forest left as a buffer zone between nations. This war is equally magnificent and lasts for nearly two centuries, and the name of the Jihad has also stood.

And the third Jihad began in glorious years and lasted almost half a century before and after - and then it proved neither glorious nor honorable, especially the November war of the last seven years, when the bloodshed became the only memory of the war. The reason for the beginning of the war stemmed from the magic technology brought about by the rise of the Hazers, the introduction of which had brought countries into the most prosperous era, but the hidden dangers of population expansion had also emerged one by one, and the eyes of the empire had to be cast on the only remaining unbroken zone as the population began to flow into the border.

Beginning with the Year of Glory, the three empires marched together towards the border of the Four Borders, in accordance with the sacred covenant, starting the war south of the Arkash Mountains, but this eventually turned into a terrible mistake. Throughout the war, due to contradictions in the division of land, the growing conflict between the mistrust of the royal family and the doctrine of the Temple, and the sneaking and alluring nature of all things as a community of believers, in the 320 years of the first century - the year of drowning - the local legions of the Kruze suddenly attacked the flanks of the wind elves who were allies - this battle was clearly in retaliation for an earlier conflict, but there was no shortage of shadows of things as a community of things. Then the human corps on the Wind Pokémon side began to retaliate as well, completely fuelling the contradiction. Humans and Wind Pokémon killed each other on a narrow battlefield. The high-ranking nobles, whose return would infiltrate orderly society, played an indispensable role in the battle, but when most nobles were awake, the result was long irreversible.

But this is actually a reflection of the human heart in some way, Ron Weinberg's scholar. In his writings, Samilian wrote that 'people disproportionately push sin onto some evil force without reflecting on their own sins, which, in fact, has long proven to be only a driving force in the entire course of the war, only to expose the ugly side of humanity even more -', describing the scene of the war at that time, after June, when the Finns joined the war naked, Tokenin lions, large and small principalities and kingdoms were caught in a swirl, and the war dragged all those involved into an endless battle, because of hatred, greed or whatever reason, until they exhausted each other.

After the war, the Krutz occupied a small part of the entire four-border wilderness plus the four-leaf plains, including a large portion of land that would have belonged to the wind elves, while the Finns were the biggest winners, benefiting from both sides, and the Lions addressed their need for hatred, while many large and small principalities were enslaved in the war - either because of the greed of the Imperial nobles or because of the needs of the war process - apparently the second Jihad had ended before or after the Cave Beast, but in fact the seeds of deeper hatred had long been planted, the last trust between the Empire and the Empire had been lost, friction on the border had intensified, and almost everyone understood that the three beasts had lost their strength and needed only a brief rest, and that each of them could not wish to jump and bite each other immediately.

The Krutz needed to make some sort of reparation for the blood of the nobles that had been shed in the last seven years of the November war, which, although they had benefited from the war, had been more painful and infuriating for the entire noble class, making them all the more eager to emerge from that ignominious war and to discipline the Finns and the wind elves. This culture has exacerbated the exploitation of small States by the Krutz and has created a wider market for the infiltration of all things together. Yet for the wind elves, too, hatred is carved out, both for the Faynesians and for the Krutz, who lost their territory in the war and naturally want it back. Fernzan, the only one who wanted to preserve the results of the last war, gradually began to become less impatient with the constant provocations of the Krutz and wind elves on the border.

The Fourth Jihad - or the Third, because of the disgraceful effects of the Third Jihad, the world is increasingly reluctant to associate the subsequent Jihad with the Battle of the Saints, especially scholars, many of whom do not regard the Battle of the Saints as a war of the same type of expansion of territory, but take it out of history alone and put it aside - and so the pain of the Second War, doomed to erupt in the Third War, is something that all nations had long anticipated, but it really began earlier than all expected.

At the end of July, the Dead Frost Forest exploded.

On the same day, areas such as Tokenin, Wallace and Auggins were bombarded by the judgment of the Fourteenth Ring Magic God, causing countless deaths and injuries, and three cities were almost turned into flying ashes.

Within the following two months, the Golden Lions began to assemble a large army, whose attacks removed their gaze from the gray mountains to the south, along the Janilassu area, crossed the Plains of Santa Blanc and began marching towards Cruz. At the beginning of the frosty month, the lions left the warm plains and arrived at the Fortress of the Lion, where the news of the war spread throughout the Cruz Empire for half a month. Within the same month, Wind Pokémon's Revenge Army set off from the ruins of Auggins and attacked the Red Army of the Cruz on the Four Leaf Plains. Wind Pokémon quickly recovered several towns and fortifications on the Four Leaf Plains, holding them together on the border of the Four Borders Wilderness.

And as for the Finns, while apparently still inactive, their troops had long begun to assemble from White City, from Greyheus--

When Constance and the High Priest of Walla arrived at the command of the Temple of Fire to gather envoys and nobles to Rusta, Brando understood that the second chapter of the game - the era of war and chaos - had arrived early.

Her Royal Highness identified the candidates for the Mission in the shortest possible time.

First of all, the head of the mission was naturally Brando. Although there were many voices of opposition in the Royal Party, Griffin pushed down all the objections. She understood the real purpose of Brando's trip and supported the Count in doing so. Most of the opponents of the Royal Party thought it was an act of indulgence and impulse, but she didn't think so. Brando's saying, 'This is the bone and pride of a people' ultimately touched her. The kingdom really needed some pride of its own, and Griffin understood that such a flag would give her some true support, not some frightened aristocracy.

They had already parted ways with her in Ambesseur, and Her Royal Highness had no luck with that.

If the nobility of a kingdom does not stand with her, then she must at least stand with her people, as if Brando had lit a lighthouse for her in the dark.

Next, the royal candidate, Her Royal Highness, still stubbornly chose Haruze - which surprised Brando a little, he was well aware of the rules between the Vaughn aristocrats, and therefore of why Her Royal Highness chose to do so - because Haruze was the future Crown Prince of Eruze, and it was impossible for the Cruz to detain him in the Empire for any purpose, otherwise the Silver Queen would not only offend all of her kingdoms, but would even leave a very bad reputation among the imperial aristocrats.

But doing so still entails some risk, and the Crown Prince's expedition itself is fraught with instability, as is now the case with Prince Leonarette, who is still hiding in Tonigle. But Griffin made up her mind to let her beloved brother take the risk and to protect Brando, the head of the mission, because she knew exactly what Brando meant to Eluin at this moment, and if he died in Cruz, then her future and that of Haruze were just as bleak, and she knew exactly what she was going to do, and in her view, it was time for Haruze, as Eluin's future king, to take responsibility for the future of the kingdom.

This is what she said about her only brother: "Haruze, this experience of your mission and that of your teacher is likely to be the most precious asset of your life; Haruze, perhaps this is the last time I tell you that you must be strong alone, because you are king of Eluin. ”

The little prince had no objection, but was frightened by his sister's harshness, almost crying out, but was stared hard by Princess Griffin. She swallowed the tears back into her stomach and nodded honestly.

Brando, with a little gratitude to His Royal Highness, returned to Tonigal and began to select the 'servants and deputies' accompanying him. He hated it in his heart that the so-called emissary was nothing more than a front, that he was really going to do, and that everyone around him knew it, so that the so-called emissary needed not a courtesan full of nobility, but an army that could overthrow Cruz.

This‘ army ’is small, and he already has the right man in mind.

“Since almost all the money in the territory is invested in preparing for war - mainly the recruitment and training of the White Lion Guard, the building of weapons and armor, the cost of magic crystals, routine maintenance, the acquisition of rare materials, etc. - in short, the construction in the Black Forest has now largely stopped, and this can last about three to four months, six months at the latest, shaking our previous gains. ”

The carriage was bumpy, the forest shadow went through the window, and as the wheels advanced and left a patterned pattern on the black dress, Brando's face was all dark under the interlacement of the light shadow, he held one hand and listened to the merchant lady rarely read the report to herself - which seemed like a boring thing to Little Roman, so the little eyebrows were all screwed together, as part of the merchant's interest, she didn't mind reading a pile of books or similar literature, but to read them out and turn them into audiobooks, she began to feel a little dry.

But this is what Brando wanted her to do, and she convinced herself for about five minutes or more for about a decade, but soon she found a new excuse - Brando always liked to see her embarrassed, which made her very upset. Lord Roman was unhappy, and Roman began to realize this. She raised her feather-like eyebrows and quickly moved her mouth and said: “Almost a hundred White Lion Guard casualties in the previous war grunted...”

Brando stared at the guy and said, "Wait, I didn't hear what you said in the second half. ”

“That's what the second half is all about, isn't it? It's just that I read it fast and you didn't hear it clearly, but I've finished it.” The businesswoman began to cheat as usual.

“You're cheating, didn't you say you'd read the report to me this afternoon? I need to know what happened in the territory during this time.” Brando answered in a bad way.

“But I've finished reading it, using the way my aunt taught me - 'The Witch Reads Fast', Brando didn't hear it clearly that Brando is not a witch, that has nothing to do with Roman, 'she turned her sneaky eyes and stuffed a pile of reports into the hands of Flo next to her:' But you can let Flo read it for you, she won't ‘The Witch Reads Fast', so Brando doesn't have to worry about hearing it clearly. ”

Brando was convinced that her "witch's way of reading quickly" must have jumped out of that little brain melon temporarily without knowing what corner, but the businessman's imagination was so rich that he could make a difference before and after the same name, he turned a white eye and was too lazy to tear it down, because the young lady must finally be able to say that it belonged to Lord Roman's stunt, rolling all over, the average person could not learn.

He looked at Flo, the latter sitting opposite him, without looking at the two living treasures in front of him, including her lord, and she silently sorted out the manuscript and continued reading: “The White Lion Guard casualties have been replenished by recruits drawn from Tonigle and the Mintai District Guard, in addition to an expansion of another 500, for a total of 1,500, along with the previous expansion, although the recruits are still training in Tonigle and Jean de Neil, which has been unusable for a short time. ”

“Caglis did a good job.” Brando said a compliment.

The view outside the window had long changed to a quiet mountain forest, the second day after returning to Tonigal, he had stretched a lazy waist in the cabin and found himself more relaxed when he returned to the territory, which was very cozy in Pragues' home but very unusual in the face of his father - after all, this was his own territory built with his hands. He wanted both his parents to move to Tonigal, but Old Scott stubbornly refused to accept that his mother, Windsor, who seemed a little heartbeat, did not make it in the end, good enough that Bunid promised to send someone to take care of his family, with the protection of the highland knights, despite possible revenge from Madara.

His Royal Highness did not succeed in the end, and Lord Griffin arranged for him, as head of the mission to Cruz, naturally to come personally to Toniguer to examine his chosen team to the Empire - in case the Count really took an army to Cruz. Of course, this is only a plain excuse. The princess's private visit to a subordinate's territory is in fact somewhat irregular and adversely affects her reputation, but the world knows that Tonigal and Denel's territory are next to Vlada, and she insists on a detour from Tonigal, and it doesn't make any sense.

But Brando knew that Her Royal Highness would not leave this time, I'm afraid. His departure from Eruin to Cruz was a destabilizing factor in the situation in the kingdom and, at least ostensibly, the Tonigars were standing behind Her Highness in the eyes of the world. If Count Tonigars was absent from the kingdom for a short time, she would most likely be at risk of being overrun again by the Royal Party.

Her own territory, that is, the mentality behind the inspection, was also meant to show the outside world the close relationship between her and Count Tonigle. Brando didn't think too much about these considerations from the beginning, considering that Her Royal Highness had come to resign for him, but only after Antitina reminded him to come to understand. In fact, Tonigal and the royal family are also interdependent, and during his absence from the country, his territory especially needs royal approval, which is related to the legitimacy of the territory and avoids being taken advantage of by the royal party.

Therefore, after understanding the considerations of the Princess, he also began to cooperate tacitly.

For this reason, on the first day of her arrival in Tonigal, Princess Griffin sealed the title of Count Jean de Neil - a compensatory one, in fact, because Tonigal was never the Count Leader. Brando had little ambition for Denel, who, in his original plan, would have preferred him to be integrated into the royal territory, further strengthening central authority and giving him an exemplary role elsewhere, not to mention the fact that he had the Kingdom's second best source of troops, the Highlanders (the main source of Eruin's troops came from the Grey Mountains region), and the most prosperous territory in the South, apart from Ambessel, in which the Royal Family had an important say.

As for himself, Count Tonyger was nothing more than a cover. The pioneering place of order in the rings of the wind itself was nearly half the size of the southern realm, and when it was fully grown, it would not be difficult to build another Eruin. The key was that it contained impressive minerals and resources, leaving him little interest in running other territories.

But Princess Griffith dispelled this idea with only one strength, and Her Highness seriously told him that the seal itself was not only a reward, but also an endorsement, and that if he did not receive the seal of Count Denel today, it would be easy to arouse suspicion and thus destabilize the situation in the kingdom. Instead of accentuating the royal voice, it would only sweep away the prestige of the Corcova family and shake Tonigal's legitimacy. After listening, Brando realized that his ideas were somewhat too childish and had to be streamlined.

And with the title of Jean de Neil, nominally, he gained some command of the Southern Legion, and this expansion, in fact, took place under that name.

Princess Griffin only pretended not to see it, not to mention the question of belonging to the former Southern Legion, who was still resting and resting in the area of Ambesseur at this moment, Brando also pretended to forget this, the two men kept their tacit agreement to perform the scene, the outsiders pretended that the two young people had not yet understood the operation of the local forces in the Kingdom, including the King's Party, hardly anyone reminded them of this, as if to hold a joke-seeing attitude to wait to see them look ugly. But there are many inside Tonigal who understand that their lords have apparently been given some kind of authorization to clean up the roots of the nobility of the South - this mess of regimental forces holding each other back and pulling their legs.

But the plan had just begun, and Brando had no choice but to put it aside and give it to Caglis or Her Royal Highness, because the Cruz had put him in great trouble. He interrupted the sister of the wild elf in front of him and skipped the paragraph and asked: "In terms of preparing for war, the stockpile of supplies could be slowed slightly. If war were to be waged against the Krutz, it could not be just a Tonigal matter, and Her Highness would find a way to help. The material and financial focus should be on Valhalla, Flo, if I need to use all the goddesses of martial arts, how long will the territory last? ”

“If we slow down the rest of the way and supply that magic crystal mine in the Black Forest, there should be no problem maintaining it for a year, Lord.” Pokémon Girl Face replied unchanged.

“What if we keep building in the Black Forest? ”

“Three to six months. ”

Brando nodded: "What about the materials acquired? ”

“At present, only the wings of the phoenix and the silver of the singing are very scarce, and there are no eyebrows about what other lords want.” Flo looked at him and said.

……

(PS:) The drama of these recent chapters has been quite painstakingly written. It takes a long time to consider the drama, so it's late to upload. Please forgive me and ask for a monthly ticket for the hard work of writing these days.