A corner of the Great Hazel Plains could be seen to the west of Rushta. Under the night sky, the dark sky and the horizon merged into one, and the stars were reflected as if there was no end.
Brendel's team stopped in the middle of a forest. There was a farm nearby, and the twinkling lights could be seen from afar through the shadows of the trees. The southern edge of the forest was located on a small, open plateau. Looking south from here, more than ten miles to the southwest was Mulberry Castle, and the shining border of Stroy Lake was clearly visible.
It had been half an hour since they left the city.
The people who went out to search soon came back dejectedly.
"Didn't you find the witch?"
"No."
"Didn't you find Babatha and the others?"
"No."
"The Shire and the others are back?"
"No."
Brando asked one by one, but he got disappointed answers. Usually, if the witch had succeeded, she would have been waiting for them here.
And even if the witch lied, Babatha and the others should have arrived by now.
But in fact, the news was that there was no news from the two groups.
Even The Shire and Hipamira were nowhere to be found. It was as if they had disappeared in the city. The existence of the Duons had disrupted the mental network near Rushta, and the latter had lost the last means of communication with her men.
The situation was worse than he had imagined. Although he had known that the plan could have all kinds of accidents, this development was still unexpected.
Fortunately, they finally found Ko Hua, who had been left outside the city in advance. When they bumped into the latter, the black-haired girl was sitting barefoot on a huge white wolf, reflecting the bright moonlight like a forest elf.
"Looks like you're in trouble." Ko Hua, as always, expressed pleasure in Brando's bad mood. She used to like to find joy in the pain of mortals, but now the fun was much less. Or rather, she had become picky about her food. Instead, she only tasted Brando's pain.
But it seemed that the taste was not bad.
"Do you have any news about Babatha and the others?" Brando frowned and stared at the she-wolf.
"They left you a message and asked me to pass it to you. Otherwise, how could you find me?"
"Your sister is in my hands."
Ko Hua's good mood was instantly ruined. He gritted his teeth and made a whining sound, as if he was growling in a low voice.
"Tell me, what did they say?"
"Your woman is still in the hands of the Silver Queen, but that witch didn't lie to you. She was just transferred away in advance."
"Our information was leaked?"
"I'm not the only one with bad intentions around you." Ko Hua sneered, "There are plenty of people who can't wait for you to be unlucky. Of course, count me in."
"You mean Delfien?" Brando's face sank: "Impossible, she has no chance, Metisha is watching her."
"She didn't betray you, but she only needed to do nothing."
"What do you mean?"
"In your dreams."
Brando reacted. At their level of power, they could easily control their dreams. Therefore, the witches' spells to control dreams were meaningless to people with strong willpower. The latter only needed to prevent themselves from entering the dream easily.
With Delfien's intelligence, she would have thought of this, but she never mentioned it. That was to say, when she entered the dream, the witches had already invaded the Cat and Beard Inn more than once.
He and Metisha thought of arranging for Old Kent to stay outside the inn, but forgot about this.
He was silent for a moment, then asked again: "Babatha and the others only said this?"
"They went after your woman."
"How long?"
"I don't know about that," Ko Hua looked at him teasingly in turn: "Hey, what are you going to do?"
Brando glanced at her coldly, without the slightest intention of answering her question.
He returned to the crowd. The nobles of Cruz were originally very interested in Ko Hua, but since someone's arm was almost bitten off by the latter's black wolf, these people kept a respectful distance from this witch, and even a little more reverence for Brando who could order her around.
"What are you going to do?"
After listening to Brando's statement, Prime Minister Nidevan asked the same question.
Brando was almost stunned for a moment before he realized that Delfien was the granddaughter of this important person. However, the former was calm and low-key, and her words and actions contained wisdom, while the latter was obviously too far away. Although she was also smart, she was too sharp and made people afraid.
Sometimes, she was simply an out-and-out madwoman, an unpredictable bomb.
Not only him, but also Her Majesty the Queen would not like such a person too much. That Supreme One would never tolerate the existence of such an unruly person within her scope of power.
In this regard, Delfien's performance was obviously far less far-sighted than her grandfather. Politics was the art of compromise, not the arm wrestling of smart people.
It had to be said that this young lady once again created a rather bad mood for him. It was probably because he saw this point that the old Prime Minister of the Empire took the initiative to ask.
Although the Prime Minister had not shown any malice in their previous conversation, he had faintly revealed a respectful attitude towards him. Clearly, this was the common understanding of the upper echelons of the Empire. No matter what, the internal strife of the Empire was a matter of the people of the Empire, and outsiders were not to be interfered with.
Not to mention Prime Minister Nidevan, who appeared humble on the surface but was actually incomparably arrogant on the inside.
But no matter what, it was Brando who had helped these old fellows. Moreover, the latter could be said to have indirectly saved his granddaughter's life. The politicians of this era had not evolved to the point where they could renege on a debt. He stood up not only to return a favor to Brando, but also to make up for his granddaughter's mistakes.
Brando thought for a moment.
"I have to save Scarlet. If Babasha and the others don't catch up, then I can only enter the city again."
"That won't do," Veronica interrupted before the others could speak, "You underestimate Her Majesty too much, little one. Did you think that your arrangements at Frostdew Manor caught her off guard? Now it seems that she was only testing you. If you return to Rushta, you'll be walking right into a trap. "
Most of the nobles present had different expressions on their faces, but almost all of them expressed the same thoughts. It was obvious that they had escaped from the Imperial Capital with great difficulty, and no one was willing to return.
Although they had escaped without encountering the Dragon Queen or Andesha and the other Tree Herders that Sidney and Veronica had mentioned, this did not mean that they would be so lucky to enter the city again. Moreover, the situation along the way was obvious to everyone. Rushta was probably in a mess right now.
Who would be willing to step into danger again?
Brando naturally understood this principle. For this operation, he had used all of his trump cards, but there were still too many unexpected situations. In particular, the Dragon Queen actually dared to ignore the threat of the Dragons and swaggered into Rushta. This greatly exceeded his expectations.
If he had a fifty percent chance of success the first time he attacked Frostdew Manor, then this time, there was not even a ten percent chance that he could kill his way into the city again.
This was a gambler putting all his eggs in one basket.
But he had to make a choice.
Scarlett was not the only one trapped in the city. The Shire, Mephistopheles, Andrique, and Hipamira were all missing. He could not leave any of his subordinates behind.
"Teacher …"
Vahina clearly saw the plight of the nobles. She looked at her teacher with pity. In her opinion, Brando was the one who saved the nobles. In order to achieve this goal, he had sacrificed so much, and they should be responsible for it.
At the very least, they should not show such a disregarding attitude. It was chilling.
Veronica sighed and patted her student's shoulder. "But if you have made a decision, no matter what it is, I will accompany you, little one."
Brando was not surprised by Veronica's words. He knew that this was her way of the sword, but he was still very grateful.
Ever since he met the Sword Saint, the Sword Saint had helped him a lot more than once. In his heart, he even regarded the Sword Saint as a senior.
Not to mention the unspeakable relationship between her and his teacher, Greysword Saint-mephistopheles.
But what surprised him was that many of the nobles present in Cruz expressed the same opinion. He looked at the nobles of the empire in surprise. In his impression, these people, even Vahina's father and brother, were not kind people. They were almost the footnotes of these nobles. Since when did these nobles become so easy to talk to?
He could not help but look at Chancellor Nidevan. The old man did not say a word and only quietly waited for him to make a decision. But the fact that this important person did not say a word was enough to express his attitude.
"We are first and foremost soldiers, Count." One of the nobles said to Brando. "Right now, we are on the same boat. As long as you make the decision, we will follow it."
Brando finally understood the hidden meaning in this sentence. The point was that 'we are on the same boat'. The nobles of Cruz were still as smart as before. But in any case, he still felt a little touched.
At least his work was not in vain.
"Thank you very much," he replied. "I understand what you mean. Rest assured, I will not make a hasty decision, but I will not give up my goal easily either. Wait for another half an hour. If there is no news, I will re-enter the city."
Brando looked at everyone present.
"As for you, you can wait for me here, or organize yourselves to go to the Metz area first. I believe that for a long time in the future, the Silver Queen will not be able to find the time to hunt you down."
He did not say this out of impulse. He knew that even if he brought these nobles with him, they would not be of any use. The combined effect of these nobles in the battle was not as important as Veronica. He might as well do them a favor. He could only choose to side with the eldest prince in this internal power struggle. Once these nobles returned to their territories, they would be potential allies of Erouine in the future.
Now, this was all he could do for this ancient kingdom.
And the rest was his personal affairs.
Everyone was silent.
Obviously, if there was a way to avoid death, no one would be willing to die. Brando's words touched all the nobles present. In the eyes of these upper-class imperial nobles, which a mere Count of Tónigel could not reach, this country bumpkin lord from Erouine had become a great person.
They suddenly realized that there were such people outside of the Empire who had the style of the ancient nobles.
He was not afraid of danger, benevolent, tolerant, and responded with the greatest degree of loyalty from his subordinates. This kind of noble could only be seen in the most glorious era.
"Young man," Nidevan suddenly said slowly, "I'll go back with you."
Brando was stunned. He almost thought that he had misheard.
Everyone in the Cruz area was also stunned. They subconsciously looked at the former Prime Minister of the Empire.
Prime Minister Nidevan was a big shot.
If one was not a citizen of the Empire, it would be difficult to understand. A few decades ago, the people of the Empire called him 'our Prime Minister'. This was an exclusive title that no one could use except for Old Nidevan, not even the most famous Prime Ministers of the Empire.
He single-handedly created the most concentrated and prosperous era of the Empire. If one said that he was a meritorious minister, he deserved it. If one said that he was a powerful minister, he could accept it calmly.
In an era where the average political life of an imperial noble was less than ten years, or to be exact, eight years, Prime Minister Nidevan had been in this position for fifty-three years. Even until the death of the former Emperor, he was still the latter's close friend.
If there was a miracle in this world, then this was already a miracle.
His power extended to every corner of the Empire, but in the end, he completed the transfer of power without using any weapons. He safely stepped down from the altar and handed over a prosperous Empire to the Silver Queen and her successor. He could even enjoy the rest of his life.
If history had moved in the direction that Brendel knew, and not become a mess like this, Brendel would have thought that history was going in the right direction.
Would such a person be a hot-blooded and impulsive noble?
Obviously not.
Then the background of his words was worth discussing. Even the nobles who had made a decision before seemed to be a little shaken.
Only Sidney frowned when she saw this scene. It was not that the Saintess of the Leo Palace did not frown, but in fact, she rarely showed any expression, so this subtle expression was a little rare.
Brando did not know this, but Sidney knew that this was the second time the old prime minister had asked to see Her Majesty the Queen.
Did he really think that he could persuade the headstrong and self-opinionated supreme of the Empire?
This was obviously a false proposition.
The old prime minister was definitely not that naive. If he made such a request once, it could be said that he did not see the situation clearly, but if he made the same mistake again and again, then he was not Nidevan.
Sidney could not help but carefully observe the old man's expression, but unfortunately, she could not find any clues. Old Nidevan did not seem to want to talk about this issue in detail. He only said this one sentence, and the others did not dare to ask.
On the other hand, little Nidevan seemed to want to say something, but was suppressed by his father's stern eyes.
Brando happened to notice this detail, but he did not say anything.
After thinking for a moment, he did not dare to answer any of the prime minister's words. He only replied, "Thank you very much, but no matter what, we will wait for half an hour first."
Half an hour was not a long time.
But at certain times, it was still long enough to make one restless.
…
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