Brando coughed softly.
Seriously speaking, he really did not know how to start this topic. Should he just tell these people that the Empire's supreme ruler had betrayed the Empire and led the wolf into the house? But what was she after? A person always needed a motive to do something. If he said that the Silver Queen had led Jorgendy Ridge and Toquinin to invade the Empire just to purge the country of dissidents, even he himself would not believe it. How politically naive and childish would she have to be to do such a thing?
Unless the Silver Queen tolerated the loss of a large part of the Empire forever in exchange for the stability of her throne. This idea sounded very tempting to some lunatics, but in fact, it was ridiculous because it meant that she had to keep the whole thing a secret forever. Otherwise, her throne would be like a castle in the air. More importantly, whether it was the Jorgendy Ridge or the Lionmen, they could use this to threaten her. With the Silver Queen's character, she would never make such a choice.
No matter how crazy the Queen was, it was undeniable that she was the Emperor of a huge Empire who had reigned for decades. No one dared to treat her as a fool.
Brando thought about it and felt that there was only one possibility for what Chiyara said to happen.
Her Majesty the Queen had supreme power in Jorgendy Ridge and the Toquinin Lionmen, so of course, she could use her own forces to protect the King. But this idea sounded like a fantasy. Brando thought for a while and finally said, "Chiyara, I still have to confirm. Why do you think it's' her '?"
Other than Chiyara and the Roman, almost everyone else did not know who the so-called 'her' Brando was talking about was. Chiyara snorted confidently and said, "Isn't that simple? I've told you everything I need to say. About what that stupid dwarf did, anyone with a little intelligence would understand. There are only a few people in the Empire who can do this. Who are they?"
"The supreme ruler of the Holy Cathedral of Fire, the prime minister, the dukes, and that woman.
"That's all —"
There seemed to be a cold wind passing through the forest, like a ghost hovering above the canopy, making a whistling sound. Chiyara paused for a moment before continuing.
"But I've already ruled out the first few possibilities. I don't think the Prime Minister would expose his own daughter's shortcomings. First of all, there's no need for him to make such a stupid move. Even if we think about it from another perspective and assume that the Prime Minister did this to clear his name, what's the point of him doing so? Letting the suspicion fall on that woman? It's not necessary because it's too ridiculous. no one would believe it, just like you don't want to believe it now.. "
Brendel nodded. That was true.
Chiyara smiled contemptuously and said, "This is the inherent rigid thinking of you humans. They will think — how could she betray them? Why would she betray herself? How ridiculous. Most people will not think about this: the Empire is hers, but it's also not hers."
What do you mean by 'you humans'? Brando could not help but roll his eyes. This little girl was good at everything, but sometimes she was too arrogant. She was exactly the same as those Bugas. It was a pity that she did not become a wizard. But even so, he still had to play the role of the 'stupid human'. Otherwise, the honorable Miss Chiyara would be embarrassed. "So, honorable Miss Chiyara, what do you think?" Chiyara was very satisfied. She squinted her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt that this guy was not so annoying. She showed her sharp canine teeth and said, "You just need to think of another situation. Under normal circumstances, the truth we know is very difficult to happen. That is to say, whether it's the supreme ruler of the Holy Cathedral of Fire, the prime minister of the Empire, or that woman, most people would not easily suspect them. They would not even have similar associations. The traitor of the Empire could not be the three of them. So for them, not doing anything is the best cover — assuming they are really traitors."
"But they did. Does this mean that the traitor is actually one of the grand dukes?" Chiyara shook her head. "Maybe it is. Before we met Miss Mithril, the gap between dragons and mortals was like the gap between mortals and ants. I know that those grand dukes have no connection with the dragons. On the contrary, in the Cruz Empire, I know someone who has a deep relationship with the dragons —"
Everyone's eyes subconsciously fell on Mythril, the dragon lady who was present. Mythril smiled awkwardly, indicating that it was indeed the case. However, no one knew whether she agreed with the first half of the sentence or the second half.
"Maybe you are right, but what you said is also applicable to 'her'," Brando said at this time. According to Chiyara's words, Her Majesty the Queen was the least suspicious because everyone's first suspicion would not be pointed at her. So, there was no need for her to cover up, right? In fact, Brando had a faint feeling that the truth was very likely to be as Chiyara said, especially when she mentioned the relationship between 'that woman' and the dragons. This was an irrefutable reason.
Chiyara shook her head. "She is not trying to distract us, but to find an excuse. Does she really expect the Jorgendy Gang and the Lion Clan to fight their way to the Imperial Capital Rushta? You and I both know that that is impossible. After all, the Empire is the Empire. Even if it is one against three, it will not be defeated. Everything here is just a cover. Or rather, it's just a curtain being pulled open. Her Majesty's real move must be in the imperial capital. "
"First, she had to deal with the old Prime Minister's forces, then the Holy Cathedral of Fire, or both. But her enemies were too strong, so she had to make them careless first. Most people wouldn't be able to guess this. Even if I didn't know the details of this plot, I wouldn't have thought that she would dare to do this, right? The White Legion is heading to the Evergreen Corridor from the Violet Valley, the Red Legion is fighting against the Wind Elves, and the Black Legion is far away in the north in Ludwig. There is only the Azure Legion near the Imperial Capital. "
"The Azure Legion is not under the direct command of Her Majesty, so the nobles can let down their guard."
"But the question is, where is their commander Veronica now?"
Chiyara asked softly. Her voice was like a curse, lingering in everyone's ears.
Charles seemed to only react after a long time. He asked leisurely, "This … If I didn't hear wrongly, the two of you seemed to be discussing Her Majesty the Queen of the Empire. Are you saying that the so-called traitor of the Empire that Rogers and the others are talking about is Her Majesty the Queen herself?"
As soon as he said that, Mythril frowned slightly, but the Duke's daughter Oni and Princess Magadal had an expression of disbelief on their faces.
"How is this possible?" Eugenie said subconsciously. She wanted to say that it was impossible, but considering Brando's previous actions, it seemed that he had never done anything without a goal in mind, which affected her judgment. But even so, it was impossible for her to believe that the Silver Queen would betray the Empire. She thought carefully about the question and answer between Chiyara and Brando, and realized that they were explaining the reason behind it to her.
But so what?
She still found it hard to believe. The key was, what benefits could Her Majesty the Queen gain from this?
Could it be that she could obtain even more supreme power than she had now?
She wanted to completely destroy the Holy Cathedral of Fire and let the Kirrlutz people's millennia-long struggle for religious power go up in smoke. This sounded like digging her own grave. Not to mention the backlash from the Holy Cathedral of Fire itself, the other three Holy Cathedrals would not sit idly by.
So other than this reason, what else could motivate her to do such a crazy thing? That's right, crazy, this was the only word that could describe Her Majesty's behavior at this moment. If what Brando and Chiyara said was true. At this moment, the Duke's daughter fell into the same confusion as Brando. The source of this confusion was that although they found clues that Her Majesty the Queen might have done this, the problem was that they could not figure out her motive.
The only explanation now was that Her Majesty the Queen was completely crazy.
But this explanation was obviously not satisfactory.
As for Eikkel and Princess Magadal, they only frowned slightly. The former had a kind of blind trust in Brando. If Brando said that Her Majesty the Queen betrayed the Empire, then Her Majesty the Queen must have betrayed the Empire. He only had to think about why she betrayed the Empire. Princess Magadal pursed her lips and did not say a word. But it was obvious that she was willing to believe in Brando, but she also found it hard to accept the fact for the time being.
She was silent for a while before asking, "Is the Holy Cathedral of Fire in danger now?"
"I don't know about this." Chiyara spread out her hands and replied, "I can only guess that Her Majesty the Queen would do this. As for the result of her doing this, it could be that her conspiracy succeeded, or it could be that she dug her own grave. But foreseeing all of this is the job of an astrologer."
She added bitterly, "Although they have never predicted accurately, and will always give you an ambiguous answer."
It was easy to imagine that some astrologer might have offended this young lady at some point in time because of her unwillingness to accept the situation.
After asking this question, Princess Magadal fell silent again.
Out of everyone, only the officer from Yanilasu opened his mouth and asked, "Everyone, if — I mean if what the Count said is true, what should we do now?" He saw Brando looking at him and hurriedly bowed before continuing, "After this period of interaction, everyone should have established a certain understanding of each other. I believe that the Count has no reason to lie to us about this matter. We all know the Count's character. Furthermore, this is only a guess, and even if it is a guess, there is still a possibility of it happening."
"So, what I mean is, if the situation really develops as expected, how should we deal with it?"
Brando looked at the officer in surprise. He did not understand why the officer would suddenly speak up for him. In fact, this was not a good thing, but he was already used to the traditional nobles of Erouine standing against him. For a moment, he was not used to having someone on his side.
But for this question, he already had an answer in his heart. He gathered these people here to let them know what to do, so that they would not panic when the time comes.
He could not believe that Cruz was in the situation. Now, he could only trust these nobles that he brought out from Erouine. This was a fact that he could not help but feel helpless about.
He thought for a moment and replied, "The answer to this question is actually very simple. First, we have to confirm our identity. We are the ambassadors of Erouine."
It would have been better if Brando did not say so. Once he said so, everyone's faces immediately showed different expressions. Except for a few who snickered, most of them looked a little strange. Most of them were thinking that the Count still remembered their identity. Well, they were the ambassadors. But the problem was, what they did along the way was not what the ambassadors were supposed to do. Those who did not know would think that the people from Erouine were a group of bandits. They burned, killed, and looted along the way, although they were targeting the nobles. Of course, they did not dare to say this out loud. The Count had always been arbitrary. According to him, they were teaching the Empire a lesson for the glory of the Kingdom, although it seemed like they were taking the opportunity to vent their anger.
But at least there was one thing that everyone was convinced of. That was, as Brando said, the Empire did not seem to have the time to teach them a lesson. And now, it seemed that not only would they not teach them a lesson, but they would also become the Empire's heroes — if Her Majesty did not go crazy.
The others did not agree with him and kept nodding. Only the Duke's daughter, Eugenie, did not have this habit. She asked, "Count, what you mean is that the war with Cruz has nothing to do with us. That is to say, for now, we have two choices. Either we continue to move forward, or we choose to retreat and return to Erouine."
"I'm afraid we can't retreat," The Shire shook his head. "Behind us are the people of Jorgendy Ridge. We had a hard time breaking out, how can we go back?"
"So the only way left is to move forward?" Roman asked.
"More or less." Brando nodded. "But there are some changes to the plan. Our previous idea of trapping Loen seems unrealistic now. After all, the other party has three dragons. With them around, no matter how high the city walls are, they will be ashes under the flames. We have to find a way to leave Loen by boat and head to Metz or Cloak Bay." He glanced at the dragon lady and continued, "Our top priority now is to leave this troublesome place and send Madam Mythril out to inform the dragons. As for the rest, it's not something we can control."
"But how can they let us go so easily? Those are three dragons," Eugenie questioned. She looked at Mythril and asked boldly, "Madam Mythril, may I ask if you can still fight in your current state?"
Mythril shook her head. "I'm afraid it'll be difficult, young lady."
"We don't have to face the Dragon Queen directly. The sprites have Nature Affinity Emblems on them, so they won't dare to act rashly. But I guess they will go to Loen Harbor to burn the ships ahead of us. This is a trick the dragons often play." Brando had already considered this question and answered confidently.
"Burning the ships? That's even worse. If the dragons really burn the ships in the harbor, won't we be trapped in Loen?" Fatty Ephram couldn't help but ask with a frown when he heard the news.
"Can we reach Asaph first?" Marjory asked further.
Brando shook his head. The north was already filled with troops in Jorgendy Ridge. It was obvious that the Cruz Empire was retreating, and to break through the heavy encirclement and reach Asaph before the Lizard King was something that could only be imagined in his dreams.
He replied, "Don't worry, the Dragon Queen won't be able to burn all the ships. As long as we reach Loen, we will have a chance. So now we have to think about how to reach Loen."
Everyone looked at the count strangely, not understanding where his confidence came from. But now they had gradually developed a habit. Since Brando said that the Dragon Queen couldn't burn the ships, they would treat it as if she couldn't. Eugenie said, "Since the Count said that the Dragon Queen won't appear in person, then they will definitely send the Jorgendy Ridge people to intercept us. What we need to be careful of are the Jorgendy Ridge patrols."
"I don't think it's difficult," Marjory said after some consideration. "The Jorgendy Ridge people's primary goal is definitely Fort Asaph. It's impossible for them to mobilize too many people to find us. We just need to follow the pre-planned route along the northern edge of the Rokezi Highlands, where Jorgendy Ridge's forces are the thinnest. There shouldn't be too much trouble. And according to the information collected by Rogers, Loen Harbor shouldn't have fallen into the hands of Jorgendy Ridge."
"After leaving the harbor, which route do we take? Metz or Cloak Bay? "Dilferi spoke for the first time.
…
(PS: It's a little late today.)
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