"… Peace is so boring."
"Do you really like fighting that much?"
"Aren't I working as a mercenary? If we can't fight, why don't you take care of me? I haven't worked for more than half a year already. I've lost so much this time. "
Ariel sat on the stairs and chatted with Rorschach in an annoyed manner. Rorschach could only smile politely since he was in the wrong.
Ariel's May Rain mercenary group had originally been hired for the battlefield. But since the battle hadn't started, the mercenary group had naturally been idle for far too long.
Although Ariel's basic mercenary fees wouldn't be low, she definitely wouldn't be able to get the major war subsidies and bonuses, which were at least five times more than the former.
It could be said that she was making a loss as a mercenary.
"Aren't you the silver elf princess? Why do you care about such a small amount of money?"
Rorschach had always been so direct when chatting with Ariel. He even dared to talk about anything private or sensitive. Ariel was already aware of this, so she didn't mind.
"First of all, I'm not a direct descendant, so don't call me princess. Besides, the situation on our side hasn't been so good lately. We've been shrinking our development plans, and you should know that we're spending a lot as well."
Shrinking our development plans? This "we" was really something. Was it the Elven Gods? Or the silver elves? Or was it just the church that Ariel currently belonged to?
"We? Elves? "
"Haven't you heard? Actually, it's not really a secret. The Mist Alliance is about to elect a new leader. Although the elves don't have much of a chance, this is still an opportunity. They don't have the time or energy to explore other worlds right now. "
The Northlands Mist Alliance was an unfamiliar and distant place to most Saul's citizens. In the eyes of the public, the Northlands Mist Alliance was a powerful military country covered in ice and snow. It was also the home of beastmen, elves, undead, and other non-human species.
Actually, the Mist Alliance was an alliance formed by many countries and species. However, the alliance was centered around the two human countries of the Mist. However, this was the first time that Rorschach had ever heard of an alliance leader changing countries.
As a somewhat experienced paparazzi … er, journalist, Rorschach instantly focused on this topic.
As for other reasons, Rorschach didn't think so.
"The previous leader of the alliance was the East Mist Empire's Rio the Third. It's said that his sexual orientation was slightly different from his ancestors' … Cough, cough, don't look at me like that. This is gossip that everyone in the Northlands knows. He married two empresses but didn't have any children. In fact, there aren't even any rumors about them, which is why there are such rumors."
"And then?"
Roxia furrowed his eyebrows. He also recalled some legends, as well as some background stories related to himself. This wasn't good news.
"There's nothing else. East Mist's royal family has always been lacking in numbers, and the throne has already been inherited by the side family once. In fact, many nobles don't even recognize the current royal family. It seems that the side family will have to inherit the throne again. It's hard to say how much prestige the royal family will have left. Also, I heard that …"
The young Silver Elf revealed a mysterious smile, lowered his voice, and leaned over.
Rorschach didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he shook his head at the sight of this young girl who was still gossipy despite her young appearance. He then moved closer to her to join in the fun.
"… I heard that the Roland Sword has been shattered!"
Oh, the Roland Sword has been shattered? This is such big news … Of course not. Rorschach looked at the excited Ariel in confusion. He didn't know what was so surprising about this. The broken sword was still with him. "Hmph, you Northlands.
"Hmph, you southerners really don't understand at all. In the North, everyone knows about the Roland Sacred Sword. The Roland Sacred Sword is the sword of East Mist's royal authority. Its breaking isn't just a matter of a single sword. Some people even say that it was caused by the royal family's immorality. Right now, the royal family's prestige is at rock bottom, and the nobles are full of ambition. Otherwise, how could there possibly be a new alliance leader? You should know that their bloodline ally, Sleuweir, has that thousand-year-old queen overseeing it …"
Ariel excitedly talked about a lot of things, such as how heroes were born in troubled times, how the elves responded to the call of the times, and how the elves had risen three times. Rorschach did his best to put on a shocked expression in order to make the little girl happy, and then … he was truly shocked.
It was said that this Roland Sword was quite miraculous. It didn't have any strong points, but it was astonishingly hard. It was rumored that as long as the country still existed, it would be impossible for it to be damaged. However, it suddenly went missing three years ago.
Not long after, there were rumors that it had been shattered. In fact, there were even shards being sold on the black market. Only then did the government admit that it had been stolen.
If it had simply been stolen, that would have been fine. But since it had been shattered, given that the Mist Kingdom's overall situation was good, it was only natural that people would think too much about it. For example, the royal family had lost the royal authority's recognition, and so on. It just so happened that the current kings of the Mist Kingdom had indeed been terrible, which naturally caused rumors to spread everywhere.
Without an eternal dynasty, East Mist's internal situation would be unstable. The other powerful countries in the Mist Alliance naturally had new ideas. It was said that there was going to be a new alliance leader election. It could only be said that East Mist had gone completely overboard.
Originally, this information had been suppressed. However, many shards of the Roland Sword had been leaked from some unknown channel. In the end, some people identified them, and this information was completely leaked.
King Rio the Third had fallen ill in a fit of anxiety. He hadn't been getting any better for the past few years, and he didn't have any children. The major nobles from the royal family's branch families had even more ideas.
Similarly, Rio the Third didn't have any direct children. There had already been a transfer of royal authority two hundred years ago. It was quite possible that it would happen again this time, especially since the royal family had already lost the Roland Sword.
As for the rumors about Rio the Third? Whether or not they were true didn't matter at all. It wasn't like the Sword of the King would break because of this … Otherwise, it would have broken long ago. After all, there had been far too many terrible kings in the East Mist royal family from generation to generation.
This information was no longer a secret in the Northlands. Reelecting the Mist Alliance leader would be an embarrassment to the East Mist Kingdom. However, the residents of other Aishi regions didn't have much interest in the Northlands.
Rorschach finally understood why Lori had disguised the broken Roland Sword and even warned him not to tell anyone about it, even though he clearly had the broken Roland Sword in his possession.
Rorschach then recalled the royal family's special equipment, as well as the Game Church's large number of Blood Tribe and Gray Elf specialties from the Northlands. He would truly be an idiot if he didn't connect the dots.
[Don't think too much about it. It has nothing to do with us … At least, it has nothing to do with us right now.]
Lori's words didn't reassure Rorschach at all. In fact, he even faintly grasped something, but was unable to recall what it was.
[There's something important that I need to discuss with Ariel. We need reliable combat strength. If possible, I'd like to hire you for two years. You can give me better conditions.]
At this time, a mission had been given to Roxia. Perhaps Loli was looking for him because of this, but Roxia felt like she was trying to change the topic.
Although he had many doubts, Rorschach still shook his head in the end and didn't ask anything.
Rorschach was quite certain that Lori wouldn't harm him. Since she didn't want him to know, it was likely that her chauffeur was still immature, so he decided to wait.
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