Old World, late March 2513 of the Empire calendar, Becafen, the capital of the Ostermark Province.
The Ostermark Province was a province that didn't have much of a presence in the empire. However, it was one of the most important and ancient provinces of the empire. There was a lot of evidence that showed that the ancient human Magus Empire had once ruled this place for a period of time.
However, for the residents of the Ostermark Province, no matter how glorious the ancient human wizard Empire was, it was a long time ago. The concept of Ostermark was formed about a thousand years ago in the Empire calendar. After the Great Calamity, a tribe called Ostergos built some villages and strongholds in the northeast corner of the Empire. This land was located in the northeast corner of the Empire, south of Kislöw, north of Sylvania, and west of the northern section of the Roof of the World Mountain Range. It was a province consisting of two large black forests and a large wasteland in the middle.
When Charlemagne rose to power, the Ostermark Province was already an established tribe. It was also an ancient and barbaric tribe. At that time, the King of Ostergos was called Adelhard. He worked hard to unite all the scattered tribes in the region to fight against the invading Green Skins, Orcs, and Trolls. Therefore, the people of this region were naturally barbaric and had a strong sense of unity. They firmly believed that a united human was far stronger than a divided human.
At that time, the Ostermark Province was facing a terrifying Green Skin invasion. King Adelhard tried to gather all his forces to defend a few strongholds. However, the people here could not survive the Green Skin invasion. Therefore, Adelhard sent a messenger, Gagarin, to Rickdorf to ask for Charlemagne's support. At that time, many people in the Carolin tribe thought that Ostermark was too far away from Rickdorf. However, Charlemagne went against the opinions of the masses and personally led an army of thousands to support Ostermark. He smashed the head of the Green Skin warlord with a hammer.
After the Green Skins were driven to the other side of the Roof of the World Mountain Range, the human alliance cheered for victory. The Ostermark Province announced that it had joined the Empire. King Adelhard gave up his crown and called himself a Kurfürst. In the battle at the Black Fire Pass, a group of axemen from the Ostermark Province joined the battle and played a key role in the decisive battle against the Green Skins.
At this moment, in a villa in the city of Becafen in the Ostermark Province, the remaining female members of the Garland Parliament were sitting in the villa to discuss what to do next.
Becafen City, also known as Baker Harbor or Baker Haven, was the political and economic center of the Ostermark Province. It was also the seat of the Ostermark Alliance's parliament. What was interesting was that this was originally the economic center of the Ostermark Province. The Brunwasser River flowed through this place and exported large amounts of wood, pottery, and livestock to various parts of the Empire, making a huge profit.
An important branch of the Garland Parliament was established here. Because the main supply of resources for Heaven's Vault Castle came from Becafen City, a female member of the Parliament was stationed here to be responsible for the distribution of resources. However, the Garland Assembly had left this place completely empty. After Aurora and the others were teleported here, they could only temporarily stay here. Most of them were injured or had exhausted their magic power, so they needed time to rest. As for what to do next, the witches were divided into three factions.
One faction was led by Teresa. The female Warlock believed that the only way out for them was to go to the Brittany to seek refuge with Laing and ask the Knight King to take them in. Based on the relationship between Laing and the Garland Parliament, Laing would definitely take them in.
This faction's opinion was supported by about half of the witches.
The other faction was led by the legendary Sky Witch Adriana. This witch didn't want to go to the Knight King's Kingdom, because there was already another faction led by Veronica in the Knight King's Kingdom. Moreover, King Laing had the Lake Goddess Witch Morgiana and the Lake Goddess Prophets by his side. Therefore, she believed that if they went to the Brittany at this time, wouldn't they become third-class or even fourth-class people? They should try to find a Kurfürst of the Empire to seek refuge with, or go to Kislöw to seek refuge with the Ice Queen. She strongly advocated that they go to the Auster Territory to seek financial support from Kurfürst Wamir. If that didn't work, they would collectively seek refuge with Tsar Katarina.
The third faction was led by the only survivor of the war, the Sanctuary Witch Aurora. She couldn't decide what to do and chose to remain neutral for the time being. In her heart, Aurora was still somewhat against the idea of seeking refuge with Laing. She wanted to make seeking refuge with Laing the last choice. Now, they should see if there were any other options. The Garland Parliament had been an "independent" spell casters' organization from the beginning. Unless it was absolutely necessary, they shouldn't bend their knees.
Now, in the open-air courtyard of a villa in Becafen City, the surviving Garland Witches were discussing what to do next. Everyone's willpower was very low, and their spirits were very low. In the open-air courtyard, there was the Sanctuary Ice Witch Aurora, the Legendary Ice Sorceress Teresa, the Legendary Sky Witch Adriana, and the Legendary Beast Witch Annie Lorak.
The weather in Oostermark was as gloomy and desolate as the land here. Although it wasn't as cold and unfarmable as Kislöw, a gloomy atmosphere always shrouded this place. The sun seemed very weak under the forest and the mountains. The melting snow had turned the entire city into a muddy gray and brown environment. Even though it was the capital of a province, there weren't many people here. The wind blew in the courtyard. The four Garland Parliament members sat together, looking at each other without saying a word.
Even now, they still couldn't accept the fact that Skyvault Castle had been destroyed and the Garland Parliament no longer existed.
Everyone was very weak, because they had more or less overdrawn their bloodline power or life force in the battle at Skyvault Castle. Teresa was even more tired. The sorceress had rested for an entire day, but she still hadn't recovered much of her energy. Her voice was very tired. "We can't continue to stay here. It won't help us. What we need now is a good and safe environment to rest and hope to rebuild the parliament. Only Laing can give us this."
"I agree with the first half of your words, Madam Teresa," Adriana said. "But there's no need for us to join the Knight King. You're His Majesty Laing's courtier, but we're not. He already has many magic consultants around him who can provide him with magic advice. I don't see any need for him to treat us well. Besides, even if he's willing to accept us, we're bound to become his vassals. That's not what we want, or at least not what I want."
"But we've already suffered such great losses. If we can't unite now, how are we supposed to rebuild the Garland Parliament?" Teresa said tiredly. "President Margarita used her life to give us a chance to escape. If you want to be independent, Adriana, then do it. Let's see what happens next."
"I don't want to be independent, but I don't want to be a vassal either!" Adriana knew that Teresa was making things difficult for her. She said impatiently, "Madam Teresa, you're from a family of wizards. You've enjoyed all kinds of benefits since you were young. You've paved the way for yourself. You've even hit the jackpot. But we're not like you. I doubt if your Knight King will sincerely accept us."
"We don't know if he'll be sincere or not," Aurora said. The Sanctuary Witch still maintained her mature and beautiful demeanor, but she looked a little haggard. She shook her head and said, "But for now, Adriana, we can't go to Kislöw. If you know a little about the situation in that country, you'll know that this choice is not very likely."
"Then, what about Auster?" Adriana also knew that Kislöw had fallen into turmoil.
"Elector Wamir will be very happy to have another female courtier. Maybe you can be ranked in the top ten?" Teresa said impatiently. "He has ten illegitimate children! And that's acknowledged! Do you think he'll acknowledge you? "
Adriana stopped talking.
Finally, Aurora decided to speak. The Sanctuary Witch shook her head and said, "There aren't many choices left for us. Everyone, we all know that the southern part of the Empire is the world of the Royal Wizard Academy. Even in the north, our influence is limited to Nords, Hawk, Tarabek and Auster."
After thinking for a while, Aurora felt a little unwilling. Did she really have to submit to Laing? The Sanctuary Witch still felt unwilling to give up. She simply said, "How about this, we'll go and meet the speaker of the Ostermark Union, Elector Becafen, His Excellency Wolfram Hertwig, and ask him if he's willing to take us in. If he's willing, then we can discuss and compare the conditions. If he's not willing, then we can leave for Brittany. But everyone, please remember one thing. At this time, the most important thing is to be united. We must stay together."
After Aurora said this, no one had any objections. Teresa was a little anxious about why Aurora didn't choose to stand with her at this time. But after seeing her mother's warning look, she didn't say anything in the end.
Everyone was very tired. After lunch, Aurora and Teresa both took a nap. But they still felt very sleepy. But they had a mission to do, so they had to set off and go to the Kurfürst's palace in Becafen.
The sky was gray, the buildings were gray, and the mood was gray. The two mature and beautiful witches, Teresa and Aurora, were particularly eye-catching when they walked on the road in clothes that were much more colorful than the locals. The locals couldn't help but take a few more glances at the mother and daughter. But there wasn't any hostility because the bloodline of the Ostermark people was very complicated. The first Elector Adelhard's harem included women from almost all the provinces of the Empire. For this reason, the people here didn't reject marriage with people from other places, so they weren't hostile to foreigners like many other places.
(Of course, the people of the Ostermark people especially hated people from the Rick Domain, especially those who liked to seduce the local young women. This kind of people in the Ostermark people were called "Rick Flies")
On the road, Aurora and Teresa didn't say anything. They still hadn't recovered from the huge change. In front of the Kurfürst's palace, Aurora noticed that the elite army of the Ostermark Alliance, the Death Skull Army, was stationed here. This army was established in the War of Vampires and had an extremely outstanding performance in the war against the three vampire counts. In the battle of Helfinn, they followed Prince Martin of Steyr to completely defeat and kill the last vampire count, Man Frey Von Karstein. This elite army was famous for using black and red flags and heraldry, wearing skull masks, fighting to the death without retreating, and being incomparably tough. They were especially good at dealing with the giant undead beasts.
"Daughter, you go up and tell them your name and title." Aurora looked at the Death Skull Army's expressionless face and said to Teresa, "We all know who Herwig is, it's useless to tell them my name."
"Okay." Teresa took the initiative to go up and told them her name and title, asking to see the Kurfürst, Wolfram Herwig.
The Death Skull Army was an army that hated magic. Originally, they were a bit hostile when they saw the appearance of a witch here, but when they heard that Teresa had another identity other than Councilor Garland, they didn't dare to neglect and immediately went in to report.
Two minutes later, a soldier of the Death Skull Army trotted out and said, "The Kurfürst welcomes your arrival. Please come in."
Teresa didn't feel anything, but Aurora sneered in her heart, thinking that Laing's name was indeed useful. The name of this wild son-in-law was simply a passport to the old world.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad.
Becafen's Kurfürst Palace was not as luxurious as she imagined. It was very simple and plain, and just like the province, it was monotonous in color, gray, brown, and red. Except for the personal coat of arms of the Kurfürst and his private guards, everything was so monotonous. Teresa noticed that the men in the palace all had thick mustaches. The servant led them to a very plain reception room with only simple wooden furniture and asked them to wait for a moment. "Please wait for a moment, the two of you. The Kurfürst is wrapping up the Alliance Meeting. When he's done, he'll come here to see you immediately."
"Okay, thank you." Aurora nodded.
The Ostermark Province was different from most provinces of the Empire. The Kurfürst families here were not hereditary. The hereditary Kurfürst families had been wiped out in the Moldheim Twin-Tailed Comet incident between 1999 and 2000 in the Empire calendar, including all the noble families and civilians in Moldheim. Only the sisters of Charlemagne received the oracle of the God of Man and hid in the deep underground monastery in advance to avoid the disaster. After the destruction of Moldheim, the remaining provinces, cities, strongholds, and villages of Ostermark united and formed the Provincial Alliance Parliament, and the Speaker usually also held the title of Kurfürst.
"The current Kurfürst Hertwich is the Speaker. This Speaker is famous for vigorously defending the interests of the civilians and the middle class. He often spends his energy on dealing with the corruption and greed of the nobles in his territory. He goes against the nobles, the Church, and the Order of Knights. He asks them to do their duty and strictly forbids corruption and exploitation of the lower class. He protects the interests of the civilians and the middle class. He repeatedly emphasizes that the justice of the nobles is not the justice of the civilians." Aurora told Teresa the story of this Kurfürst.
"If it were in any other province, Hertwich would have been pulled down from the Kurfürst throne by the nobles. However, the political system of Ostermark is special. Here, the civilians and the middle class have a large number of seats in the Alliance Parliament. Therefore, Hertwich's actions not only did not shake his position, but also made his position more stable. The civilians all love this Kurfürst, and Ostermark is thriving under his rule."
Before she finished, a burst of deep laughter came from outside the room. Kurfürst Hertwich walked into the guest room with two servants and spoke to Teresa. He looked very surprised. "Oh, Moore above, Madam Teresa? Why are you here in a rural place like this? It has been almost ten years since we last met in Brunswick, right? In any case, you are very welcome. What can I do for you? "
"Hello, Mr. Hertwich. We are in trouble." Teresa quickly stood up and said, "We need your help."
The Kurfürst sneered in his mind. He knew that these witches would only bring him trouble.
He could ignore the Garland Parliament because his court magic consultant was from the Royal Academy of Sorcerers of the Empire.
However, Hertwich had to respect the Knight King, "the Devout" Laing Macado. He knew very well what Teresa's identity was.
Thinking of this, the Kurfürst nodded enthusiastically and gestured for Aurora and Teresa to sit down. "No problem. What are you in trouble? What can I do for you? "
"We …"
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