As early as the Month of Harvest, the villages and manors from the north of Bucce to the Grinoires Passage were notified that the Roman Black Rose of Bucce might be stirring. The White Winged Cavalry of the Vermeer Legion under Braggs was stationed there. The deputy commander, Walter, had already received the news from the princess, warning the local areas of the possible war and organizing the evacuation. However, this work was carried out in name only. The people of the land, especially the farmers, were reluctant to part with their most precious wealth. The nobles were also unwilling to send their hired farmers to the north and let the land go to waste. The key was that the last period before the autumn harvest, the fields were still heavy with wheat ears. If they fled at this time, the year's harvest would be hopeless, and it might even be affected in the coming year. Almost everyone stayed with a fluke mentality, except for a few craftsmen.
However, in the north of Bucce, these orders were carried out very well. The memories of the war from last year were still fresh in the minds of the residents, and a deep fear was still in their bones. However, most of the refugees from that time were originally gathered near Bruglas, and the fear brought about by the war brought more refugees. These people almost overwhelmed this city at the southern border. In order to ensure the supply of the army, the city lord, Baron Rockwell, had to reduce the rations of the refugees outside the city. A feeling of anger and uneasiness had spread among the people.
In early September, a letter was handed to Princess Gryphine by Freya.
"Your Royal Highness, Madara may have completed the unification today. The composition of the army has greatly changed compared to the War of the Black Rose. In the west of the Sea of the Dead Moon, a large number of necromancers have pledged allegiance to the immortal supreme. Therefore, there may be a large number of necromancers in Madara's army. Please be careful."
When Gryphine saw the letter, she was studying the history of the continent of Vaunte with Lady Wei Shasi. When she saw the letter, she was shocked. She looked up and smiled apologetically at her teacher. Lady Wei Shasi had always served the royal family and was the kind of noblewoman who was very well-informed. She was very astute and realized what had happened. She smiled and nodded at Her Royal Highness, put away her teaching materials and left. Gryphine hurriedly picked up the letter and went to find Oberwei. After reading the letter, Oberwei was a little puzzled. It was not easy to plant an informant in Madara. The Royal Faction spent a lot of effort in the past year to plant a few very peripheral informants, but the news they sent back was that everything was normal. How did Count Tónigel know so clearly? He flicked the corner of the letter and pondered for a moment, "Your Royal Highness, can you confirm the origin of this letter?"
"This letter was personally handed to me by Freya. There shouldn't be any problems." Gryphine blushed. She was embarrassed to say that only she and Brando knew about the secret mark on the letter because she did not tell anyone about it. She was also worried that Oberwei would think that she did not trust him enough. However, Oberwei's expression did not change. He shook his head and said, "This is a little too strange. Where did Count Tónigel get this information from?"
"But Oberwei, I don't think Count Tónigel has any reason to lie to us about this matter." Gryphine frowned and argued. Oberwei looked at his nominal student with some surprise. He had heard rumors that she had a grudge with Count Tónigel, but he did not expect them to reconcile so quickly. However, this was also good. Before Brando became famous, Oberwei had interacted with him for a long time. He always felt that this person was not as greedy as the rumors said. Although time would change everything, some deep-rooted nature was difficult to remove. Besides, Erouine needed stability now. If the princess was eager to fight for power and wealth, it would not be a good thing.
Fortunately, the princess knew the big picture. Oberwei nodded, but immediately shook his head and said, "The letter said that Madara may have completed the unification today. If this is true, this letter is too important. However, I have some doubts about whether Madara can complete such a major change in just a year and a half. Although Erouine had just experienced a war, it was the same for Madara. Madara is a huge country with more interests entanglements. It will take a longer time to digest the benefits of the war. Count Tónigel once asserted that the war was a border dispute instigated by the Blood Staff, and I agree. This kind of thing has happened many times in Erouine's history, and it is not only in Madara. Occasionally, the lords on the border of Erouine would privately lead troops into Madara to plunder. "
He smiled bitterly and did not tell Gryphine that in the early years, such situations were more common. The Blood Staff invaded Karsuk to retaliate against the Lord of the Golden City. At that time, Madara was in a state of disunity, and Erouine was a kingdom with complete sovereignty. In history, there had never been a tradition of the weak side repeatedly invading the strong side. But since the War of the Black Rose, this situation gradually began to reverse. In fact, most of the knowledgeable people in the kingdom could clearly see that the black cloth Roman rose might be budding. But if it was said that Madara quickly completed the unification and was about to start another all-out war, no one would believe it.
But if Brando was here, he would tell him that the nature of this war was very special. To put it bluntly, it was the Supreme One of Madara and the Queen of Banshees, Yalvete, acting together to deceive the Blood Staff to die. On the surface, Madara was still divided, but as he said, in essence, it had completed the unification. This war was the Supreme One's last battle to eliminate the dissidents. Now, in Madara's territory, all the resources and forces were united, preparing for the next battle to revive the Dark Kingdom. And now, under the connivance of the Supreme One, the Blood Staff's army was the first to complete the transformation. This would be the first 'New Madara' army that the Kingdom of Erouine encountered. In history, Duke Grinoires had suffered a great loss.
Unfortunately, Brando was not here, and could not explain all this. He could only hope that Princess Gryphine and Oberwei would pay enough attention to his opinion.
After listening to Oberwei's words, Gryphine still could not make up her mind. This time, she was facing an almost unknown opponent. Before the War of the Black Rose, Madara was a scourge on the borders, and the local nobles were pressing on step by step. In fact, this still represented the thoughts of most of the nobles. If it was not to solve the problem of Randner, this autumn war would still be just another border dispute for Erouine. Although Gryphine faintly recognized that the rise of Madara could be a threat to this ancient kingdom, it was impossible to understand the other party in such an environment.
She thought for a moment before replying, "Although this judgment is logical, it is too arbitrary. I believe that the Count will not speak without thinking."
"I'm not doubting the Count." Oberwei could not help but smile bitterly again. It seemed that his student trusted Count Tónigel more than usual. He suddenly realized that the battle in Ampere Seale might have left a deep impression on the princess, causing her to somewhat blindly trust Brando's military ability. In fact, he and Count Audine knew that Brando's military ability was only average, but his judgment of the development of the situation was extraordinary. He thought for a moment. Perhaps he had described Brando's battle experience too romantically when talking to her. He originally wanted to leave a deep impression on the princess out of admiration. After all, Tónigel was indeed a rare talent, and he was more loyal to the kingdom and ideals. Compared to people like Makarov and Fleetwood, he admired the younger generation more. But at this moment, Oberwei shook his head. It seemed that it was necessary to remind the princess to prevent her from having unrealistic thoughts. This was not a good thing for Brando and for her.
He pondered for a moment before adding, "I'm just worried that Count Tónigel has been misled by the information."
"You're saying that Brando … Count Tónigel's information might be false, or even a trap?" Gryphine reacted and asked with a frown.
Oberwei nodded.
Half an hour later, Duke Audine, Duke Viero, and the Highland Knight's delegation were summoned. Duke Viero read the letter in his hand and pondered for a moment before calling for his men. The middle-aged Knight, who claimed to have dealt with Madara for a long time and had some understanding of the Roman's black rose, shook his head after hearing the princess's question. "Recently, there have been rumors that Madara is undergoing some changes, but I think it's precisely this time that they will be more cautious in their actions. If what Count Tónigel said is true, but at this time, how can the Blood Staff receive full support from their Supreme?"
"I think our main enemy should be Count Radner," Duke Viero expressed his own opinion. "We have just signed a peace treaty with Madara, and the Blood Staff should not be too reckless. He should have been bewitched by Count Radner, and thought that he saw an opportunity to send troops to take advantage of the situation to curry favor with their Supreme."
Duke Viero's answer was too subjective, and everyone present could not help but shake their heads. Gryphine even frowned because her grandfather's analysis was almost the complete opposite of Brando's. It could be seen that the focus of Count Tónigel's plan was on Madara. This was also in line with her thoughts. She did not want to make any changes, so she pretended not to hear her grandfather's answer and looked at the Highland Knight.
The leader of the Highland Knight's diplomatic group was an experienced and steady old Knight, but the one who spoke was a slightly younger wizard. The wizard simply replied, "According to the information we received, we do not support Count Tónigel's view. Although the Supreme of Madara has almost unified the opinions of the dark nobles, Madara is not completely unified yet. Most of the vampire families support him, but the dark lords are divided at heart. The liches are only temporarily bowing their heads under the pressure of the first two. In addition, the Queen of the Banshees, Yalvete, has always been resisting the recruitment of the Holy Palace of Elodenir. In our opinion, there will be a battle between the two sooner or later."
It seemed that almost all the information was against Brando's judgment. Gryphine was a little embarrassed. From the bottom of her heart, she was willing to believe in Count Tónigel. Although she was a little afraid of Brando's ambitions, she trusted Brando's judgment of the future situation, especially when the two of them had surprisingly similar views on politics. [But how can I convince the others? Or did I really make a mistake?]
At this time, Freya finally could not help but speak, "Maybe Yalvete and the Queen are just a couple in appearance? The Blood Staff has started a war, which is tantamount to violating the peace agreement between the two countries. If they win, it will be fine, but if they lose, it is likely that they will be eliminated directly. The Blood Staff itself is the most unruly of the dark lords. It has no reason to curry favor with the Supreme One of Madara. Qiuge is a cruel and greedy lord. When he took revenge on Karsuk, it was only out of his irritable nature and not driven by reason. He may also be despising the authority of the Supreme One again. If this is the case, the information on the stage will make sense. "
Her words silenced the entire study.
No one knew that this was the closest guess to the truth. Even Freya herself did not understand. She just heard Brando mention it by chance and blindly trusted his judgment. But after a moment of silence, she saw the Highland Knights shaking their heads. The middle-aged Knight under Duke Viero even said, "Ridiculous, this is purely a conspiracy theory. This is a war. How can we speculate about the relationship between the Supreme One and the Blood Staff? The key is, what you said, other than speculation, do you have any evidence?"
"Evidence?" Freya's face turned red. The evidence was that this was what Brando told her, but she also understood that this sentence obviously could not be used as evidence.
In the end, it was Griffith who helped her out. "In any case, the Count's proposal is for the purpose of caution. Pass the contents of this letter to the generals below. It is not a bad thing to be prepared." After that, Her Royal Highness glanced at the daughter of the Earth Knight and could not help but shake her head. She knew that Brando hoped that this little girl could be independent in the future. She did have the qualifications and background, and after experiencing so many things, she had indeed become calm. But when it came to the debate with Count Tónigel, she still seemed a little too anxious. For some reason, she was faintly envious. Brando's political ideas were actually her political ideas, and one of the ideas in her mind was to guard against Madara. But she could not stand up and defend her and Count Tónigel's opinions bluntly like Freya.
Because she was the sister of the future King Erouine, the actual holder of the balance of the kingdom at the moment.
Oberwei looked at the handwritten letter written by his nominal student. It was the opinions that everyone had passed on Brando's proposal. He secretly shook his head. Her Royal Highness was still a little too inexperienced in these aspects. She did not understand the people below her. Viero and the Lantonilan messengers seemed to be very indifferent, and the attitude of the Highland Knight did not show enough importance. If the higher-ups were like this, then the subordinates were even more disobedient. It was very doubtful how much enforcement of this order would be left.
But the Wolf Knight did not expect that they would soon not have to worry about this problem, because before this order had even walked out of the gates of Vallenden Castle, the black rose of Bucce had quietly bloomed in the shadows.
Golan-Elsen Corridor.
This corridor was located in the northern part of the Uzon Mountains, between the Tosankard Forest and Bucce. It had another name, the Silman Region. Like most of the territories located at the border of Erouine, Silman was not a rich land. The west of Silman was full of hills, and only the east of Silman had flat areas. Scattered villages and manors were scattered on this valley belt. There were two rivers in the south. One flowed through Bucce, and the other flowed through the Silman River valley, and finally merged into Lake Vallenden. The second river was the lifeline of the Silman Region.
Since the Month of Harvest, three regiments of cavalry had been scattered along this lifeline. It sounded powerful, but they were loosely distributed to every town. In fact, it was only the strength of one or two squadrons. In order to prevent the forces from being scattered, the deputy commander Walter concentrated most of the effective forces in the most prosperous Owl Town in the Silman Region. Then, he released the patrols and scouts of the entire cavalry division in squads to monitor the Uzon Mountain Pass in the south. And it was in the evening that the patrols that were supposed to return on time disappeared one after another.
It was around seven o 'clock in the morning when a scout reported that there were traces of undead activity in the south. However, most of the people in the Silman Valley were still holding on to their wishful thinking, and even Walter thought that this was just Madara's probing. The reason was simple. Since Madara controlled the wider Bucce region, they did not see any need to attack from the Silman River valley. At half past eight, Walter saw a messenger from Vermeer, and learned that a large number of undead troops had been attacking Vermeer's first line of defense since the afternoon.
Madara's main offensive force was indeed in Bucce. Walter was relieved. Although he also received a warning from the princess, Vermeer's army was actually closer to the Duke of Grinoires. This was a fact that everyone knew. The princess reminded the Duke out of kindness, but the Duke, especially his subordinates, might not appreciate it. Moreover, these people who had been fighting with Madara all year round thought that the higher-ups were just randomly giving orders.
They knew too well what the skeletons on the other side of the mountain were thinking.
At ten o 'clock at night, Walter rubbed his eyes and walked out of the tent. He tried to take one last look, and then he saw the miracle of stars rising in the sky.
… …
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