The Amber Sword
Chapter 913: Act 68 Jihad Time Node I
The landscape of Anzeluta Autumn Twilight is beautiful, and the mixed forests between the mountains blend into the speckled rusty reds, like the speckled colors flowing on the oil canvas, depicting the narrow misty valleys of Anzeluta and the basin plains scattered between the hills. But in late winter, the landscape shifted again, the forest stripped out of its branches and the bare woodlands revealed the precarious cliffs and cliffs, snowy and magnificent, as if they were giants guarding the canyon basin; the finesse and warmth of autumn turned into the fortitude and ambition of winter.
These four seasons are the most fascinating natural landscapes here, and every year, far from war, adventurers from all over the world travel here. But at this moment, the Lion Army is approaching, and the Wind Elves of St. Osor are battling the Imperial Legion in the four northern realms, a charming mountain that rarely calms down.
Brando wrapped a thick fur coat and stamped his feet in the snow beneath the pine trees, his gaze at the westerly striped plains beneath the foot of the mountain, or what should be called a basin, scattered between the undulating hills, but the further west, the shorter the hill, the flattener the plain, and gradually it was an infinite plain, rising again towards the western mountains, forming a shadow far from the sky - that is the Sword Mountains.
“Let them sit in their castles and reflect," replied Brando, looking at the valley at his feet. He answered the question that Miss Owney had asked him about how he should deal with the Cruz nobles he had captured, and the Duke stood in the woods, keeping a certain distance from him, as if he were a little closer, and what trouble he would cause to involve her in the future. He did not care and went on to say: "Counts Olkons and Gene seem reluctant to pay us the ransom, which is to prepare for continued retaliation. ”
The Duke stood there reluctantly, thinking it was just a more normal mission, but then became a rebel army, and now a bandit-like thing - the ransom for hostages of the noble war, thanks to which the Count came up with the name.
But she can't say no, what can she do? Now she's already on a thief boat, tied up with this asshole's bloody envoy, even if she wants to say that Brando made it all up, well, that's until she meets Her Majesty the Cruz or returns to Eruin; as for now, she can't run back to Eruin alone, or simply surrender to the nobility of the Cruz, although she really wanted to do it so many times, but after thinking about the consequences of doing so, she bit her teeth and put up.
“Count…” Duke Kim took a deep breath and finally asked: "I wonder what you really want to do, you broke through an imperial fortress, swept away the face of the nobility of the Anzeluta region, defeated the Knights of the Cruz, OK, forget it, the former can be described as a lesson of arrogance to the Rogerian Legion, as a mission representing Eruin, we do have the right to do this, the latter because they attack us on their own initiative, and we are only fighting back, but now why are you asking the Cruz for ransom? ”
“Exactly. So what?” Brando asked back.
Ownie is almost fainted. The average Eruin nobleman can hardly help but to be more complimentary in the face of the Cruz nobility, but the Count is well, as if to slap the pain in the face there, as if afraid to embarrass the Cruz Empire enough. But the nobility of Eruin can't face the Empire, but the Empire can't. How many countries does the Empire have and how many eyes are staring at this huge thing every move. It is unlikely that it will let a small country in a district of Eruin ride on its head. The rulers of the Empire at least have a little bit of intelligence, so it is easy to realize this.
And this is the least she's ever understood. What good is this Count doing? To build a reputation? Well, he's famous enough now that almost no one knows everything from the south of Eruin to the King of the Cruz, and in most empires, throughout the kingdom, all the nobles should be discussing the glorious story of the Count every day after having reduced their outdoor activities since the winter.
However, this prestige is not expected to do much good, because from what she has learned, even within the Mission there are people who bet when the Count will be unlucky.
Of course, Brando's bad luck had nothing to do with her, and she had nothing to worry about, but what made the Duke so sad was that they were on a boat now, and if the Count turned over the boat, she would have to fall.
To think of it, she looked at Brando angrily, and the latter's indifferent colors almost made her bite her teeth off —— does this idiot know what he's doing?
The more Angry Ownie wanted to be, the more she thought about a good end to the show was totally screwed up by this young arrogant maniac. She was supposed to join the mission with a tourist attitude, but didn't expect it to eventually turn into a war. An angry woman is terrible. This elegant and graceful Duke Kim finally lost his mind at this moment and decided to tear it apart completely with Brando. She shouted in a tone she had never used in her life: "Count, I know that you will be in power today or in the future with Eruin. My daughter, a duke like me, is insignificant to you, but I would like to remind you that there are still many people in this mission, your students, the future kings of the kingdom, your men, and many innocent people, and we do not want to go with you to ruin because of your discretion. Can you hear me? ”
Brando turned around and looked at the Duke Qianjin. It was hard for Miss Qianjin to put up with this for so long. Guys like Avram had long been scared to hide in their carriage without asking questions. He pursued an ostrich policy, which was hilarious. And he said, "You're right, Miss Owney, I never meant to hurt anybody. ”
“I don't want to hear these crowning words, Count, I've had enough! You said you had a point, so tell me, why did you catch the nobles, the Alcons and the Genes, and not let them go, but the rest of their family for ransom?” The Duke asked impatiently.
When I heard the question, Brando looked up: "Miss O'Neill, while I accept your opinion, I would also like to tell you one thing: these people are now my prisoners, and as for why they became my prisoners, it was because they came to provoke us, not because we hit their territory for no reason. They want to export gas for the failure of the Black Sword barrier, and logically, the conflict over the Black Sword barrier lies with the Empire, not with us, so since they intend to be strong and weak in the beginning, they should be mentally prepared in the morning. ”
He photographed the snowflake on the fur collar. In fact, with his strength, he did not need such thick protective clothing. He just didn't want to look too special. Besides, everyone was good and evil. If he could be warmer, he didn't have to make himself look like a bitter monk. And Brando went on to say, "As for what you said about me asking them to pay the ransom for the hostages, isn't it natural that the war between the nobles of Eruin and the Cruz has been so noble that they don't have to pay? ”
“Now that you have completely liberated yourself,” Duke Kim no longer tries to use euphemisms. She has read no more books than Bran, so she answers directly: “Count, you and I both know that that is the Krutz, and the dispute between the Krutz and the Krutz, between the Eruites and the Krutz, and between the Eruites and the Krutz, is different. In nominal terms, the kingdom and the people of the Empire were born equal under the Temple of Fire, but in fact, it is just an empty phrase. As you all know, empires can give no face to kingdoms, but kingdoms can't give no face to empires. What are we going to do tomorrow when empires take their chances? ”
“I don't believe you know that, Count, you don't have to pretend to be crazy. The outsiders say you're crazy, and they give you a nickname 'Mad Count'. They call you 'Kick the Door Sword Saint’, but we make it clear to the people in the mission that you know better than anyone that your people can make it out, and even if you can't see that, I think they'll warn you, but your wizard named Charles, and the elf knight lady, they're too smart to let you do whatever you want, which means you already know that everything you do has a clear purpose. ”
Euni replied coldly: "But for this purpose, you keep all of us in the drums except you and your people, and you say that you fight for the honour of the kingdom, and you treat all of us like fools. ”
For that matter, Brando realized that the Duke Kim was really here to stall him today.
And he nodded, "Well, you're right, what I did was something else. ”
Ernie looked at him with such a cold eye, as if he were saying, "You'd better tell me everything, otherwise Miss Ben wouldn't be here - there's a third way to not lose cards besides playing and winning, and that's to lift the table. ”
“But Miss O'Neill, you're still mistaken about one thing.” Brando shook his head again.
Eunifox looked at him suspiciously as if he was wondering what the Count was playing at.
Brando looked back at the direction of the valley and then said, "Eruin's strength and weakness have nothing to do with you, but they are important to me, which may seem strange to you, but I'm going to teach the Rogerians a lesson at the Black Sword Barrier, for good reason. As for why I did this after, it was precisely to prevent the Empire from retaliating against us," He paused, as if waiting for the Duke to digest his words, and then went on to say, "Do you think we will stop now and the Imperial nobles will stop? If we return the hostages we have, they'll let us leave Rusself in no time? ”
“Then I can only say that you think too much. Miss O'Neill, you're smart, but your understanding of empires is often influenced by others, and as I told you, so is empires, but if we return these people in our hands today without any harm, don't you tell them that they can provoke us at no cost?” Brando shook his head: “It's impossible, and I'm going to make them understand that once you provoke me, they're going to feel a pain until they can't afford this loss. ”
Duke Kim heard this and thought the Count was stubborn. She couldn't help but coldly ask, "Well, maybe you're right, but did you ever think that things would get bigger and bigger? Do you know who's behind the Alcons and the Genes? It's the Grand Duke of Paloot, the Paloot family, and now even the most powerful nobleman in the empire, if they come to the stage against you, Count, can you release such a euphemism that it makes them feel painful? ”
It is possible that Brando, while confident, is not so arrogant as to claim to challenge such a huge family of Paluto.
But things don't go that far.
He shook his head again: "Don't worry, Miss O'Neill, things can't go that far. ”
“What makes you say that?” The Duke asked in disgust, "With your so-called intuition? ”
“You don't believe me?” Brando, raise your eyebrows. “How about we make a bet? ”
“What bet?” Ernie gambled airways.
“You help me convince the Krutz nobles that I will make it, and if they fail to pay the ransom, I will tie them up to Rusta and take them to Her Majesty to reasoning before Her Majesty.” Brando replied.
The Duke looked at him with amazement and said, "You want to make things bigger, are you crazy? ”
“I'm not crazy, you said it, I know it," Brando looked back at the Grand Duke Vieiro's daughter and asked in a provocative tone, "What, don't you dare bet me on this? ”
“How dare you?” Ornie bites his teeth and says, "But you're only halfway there, and if I do, what about you? ”
Brando replied: If you do this, I assure you that after this, it will have no impact on me, on you, on the whole mission and on the kingdom. Not only will this mission be unprecedented success, but you will also get the reputation you want, so that your father will marry you at least not so early to an unknown country nobleman, not to mention maybe some famous scholar master will appreciate your talent and take you as an apprentice, and you will be able to fulfill your wishes. ”
Apparently, the Duke was shocked, and she couldn't help but look at Brando with shock: “How do you know that you used some evil spell against me? ”
“No,” Brando chuckled. "I bought your daughter. ”
“Shameless!” The Duke Kim finally couldn't bear to speak out loud.
Brando smiled in the dark, he had no time to buy the girl, but only occasionally knew something about the young lady. In the previous life, the other party was just an unexpected NPC. His understanding of the young lady was just that, just casually, I didn't expect to really frighten the other party. He laughed and continued: "Well, it's good for you now. You can't escape now, whether going to Cruz or going back to Eruin. You're guilty of the Empire and the Temple of Fire, and you're going to end up on your head. But in case I have any credit in the future, you can't be divided because of today's hesitation. ”
Euni glanced at him, biting his teeth and answering, “It's a real misfortune for a man like you, but since I promised you a bet, I would do it naturally. ”
She stopped and suddenly there was some suspicion: “You said this to me, naturally it wasn't because of conscience, but then again, it seemed that there were better people around you to do this, why should I do it? That wizard named Charles and that elf lady, they're loyal to you, aren't they better men? ”
Brando couldn't help but be a little embarrassed. Does he look so untrustworthy? Even this should be questioned.
And he thought about it, and he said, "It's Charles they're loyal to me, and that's why they're not fit to do it. ”
“Why?” Duke Kim was a little confused: "What exactly do you want me to do? ”
“Forget explaining to you that I asked you to convince the Cruz aristocrats, and at the same time you had to pretend to let one or two of them go and at least convince them - you and I are not in the same group - yes, as you do now, you just have to explain to them that all this is crazy on my own and that I held the rest of the regiment hostage, just tell them the truth, and then let them go and let them report to the messengers.” Brando stared at his ownie and couldn't help but shake his head: “Don't look at me like that, I know that's what you're thinking. ”
“You have self-knowledge," replied the Duke, biting his teeth. "But I don't see why you're doing this. Didn't you aim to stop the Krutz from coming to us, but it doesn't seem like you're in enough trouble to be afraid of yourself? ”
Brando put a finger up and shook her.
“Because it's that simple to beat snakes to death. ”
……