Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 195 A Wolf from the North

A huge group of figures gradually appeared in the wind and sand.

Behind is the shimmering Lion Heart River;

In front of you is the land of broken souls, the wilderness and yellow sand.

The man on the imperial horse walking at the front of the line looked a little strange.

This person has a head of half-length gray hair, which is roughly tied into a bundle at the back of his head, but what is even more strange is that his eyebrows and stubble are also the same. Only the old man has a light silver gray, which is placed on his young face appears quite discordant;
As if to match the color of his beard and hair, the young man even wore a plain woolen gray coat. It looks like a businessman is not like a businessman, a nobleman is not like a nobleman, and a soldier is not like a soldier. The overly long red scarf fluttered unruly in the wind, adding a ray of color to his gray figure.

The man held the leather glove and raised his hand, put the back of his hand on his forehead, and then stretched out his nose like a dog and sniffed vigorously.

Then, he babbled and muttered:
"Ah, there seems to be a, ah, bloody smell in the air..."

"Blood smell?" The silver-armored knight following the man in gray scratched his bright and bald head in confusion, and said with a sneer, "Commander Eldridge, are you joking? Where does the bloody smell come from in the wasteland?"

If the old team of Shuangfengling were present, they would definitely be able to recognize the identity of the bald knight at a glance:
It is the former Knight Commander of Eagle's Rest and Imperial Lily Knight Aaron Cousins!
However, the man in gray didn't seem to agree with Lily Knight's answer.

He shook his head slowly and said:
"No... my nose, ah, is smarter than a dog... I do smell blood..."

"Yes, yes, you are right..." Cousins ​​rolled his eyes wildly while the man in gray was not paying attention, but he was still respectful verbally.

No way, even though he is an official lily knight conferred by the empire, in terms of status, Commander Cousins ​​is really no match for the man in gray——

After all, this person is the double winner of the Empire's "First Class Blood Eagle Medal" and "Grand Cross Star Medal", and the commander of the Imperial East Military Academy who has made numerous military exploits with Grand Duke Rosario on the Eastern Front—

Pavol Eldridge!

Aaron Cousins, Knight of the Lily of the Empire, is regarded as the lowest rank of imperial nobleman. He is indeed a rank higher than Eldridge in terms of title, but it symbolizes the "First Class Blood Eagle Medal" for beheading hundreds of enemy soldiers on the battlefield. , and the "Grand Cross Medal" specially awarded to commanders with outstanding military exploits are enough for Cousins ​​to obediently play the role of a follower in front of Eldridge;
To be honest, once the war is over, with Eldridge's qualifications and achievements, it is more than enough to ask His Majesty the emperor for the title of baron or even viscount!
And the reason why Eldridge, who has made great achievements, has not been canonized as a noble until now, and serves as a commoner for the Grand Duke Rosario...

Cousins ​​only vaguely heard that there were some frightening rumors circulating among the people about Eldridge, and perhaps it was these rumors that made the imperial officials fear him.

All in all, the well-mannered Cavalier Commander Cousins ​​would not go against such a macho man.

"I'm serious, ah, the smell in your wasteland...isn't right." Eldridge said sullenly, "It seems that someone is, ah, fighting... Speaking of Frost Maple Ridge, where is it? what?"

"You just follow me and go straight to the south..." Cousins ​​smiled flatteringly, "The Grand Duke Rosario sent you to lead troops to support our Igor territory, and the lord will definitely welcome you very much..."

Eldridge had a bitter face:

"Why is it so troublesome to meet the lord... I'm actually a, ah, one who leads soldiers to fight... What a shit..."

Cousins ​​could only return an embarrassed but polite smile.

Indeed, Aaron Cousins, Pavel Eldridge, and the hundreds of soldiers who followed behind them had just rushed from the City of Roses to the Land of Broken Soul.

So far, Aaron Cousins ​​recalled his trip to Rose City as an envoy, and it still seems like a dream.

In Rose City, after meeting the Grand Duke, Bob Brook didn't even have time to submit the "sharp words" diplomatic document. Warm reception;
The Grand Duke Rosario not only accepted Bob Brook and Aaron Cousins ​​and his party according to the standard etiquette for receiving the Duke's envoys, he even expressed generously at the banquet that as a responsible imperial lord, he must "serve Contribute to the peace and stability of the wilderness"——

The "contribution" mentioned by the duke basically refers to the yellow gold coins.

Bob Brook, who planned to follow the instructions of the lord to slap Rose City hard, never dreamed that the famous Grand Duke Rosario in the mainland was actually an epic grand prince. Throwing a large sum of money into Shuangfengling's arms, he will be in a hurry with you if you don't want him!
In fact, just behind the returning mission, there are more than a dozen mule carts full of goods, most of which are the "startup funds" donated to Shuangfengling by the Grand Duke generously.

The Grand Duke Rosario, who is the most powerful in the east of the empire, originally ruled a relatively wealthy area in the empire. Even though the tax revenue of his territory was slightly reduced due to the war, the Grand Duke Rosario, who was also the commander of the imperial army, Fully capable of commanding large sums of Imperial military supplies;

Therefore, it is not unusual for Bob Brook and Cousins ​​to support Frost Maple Ridge with huge sums of money when the Grand Duke disagrees;
However, since the Grand Duke reluctantly gave away such a large amount of cash, it is obvious that he wants to give a helping hand to Shuangfengling in the early days of the establishment of the territory, and win over the young lord of the Igor family——

——It's a pity that Cousins ​​and his party in Rose City and Grand Duke Rosario didn't know that the lord had actually made a fortune in the elves' treasure house on Dragon Bone Peak.

In the process of this mission, the most prominent role was undoubtedly Mr. Bob Brook, who was personally appointed as the plenipotentiary by the senior officials of Xiahou.

This rotten hermaphrodite who was born as a former Eagle's Rest clerk, after getting the "startup capital" from the Grand Duke of Rosario, somehow asked someone to find the Grand Duke, expressing his deep concerns about safety issues:
Bob thought that if they, a diplomatic mission with no combat capabilities, rushed back to Shuangfengling with a huge sum of money, they might be robbed by bandits while eating hot pot and singing songs on the way!
Facing the majestic Grand Duke Rosario, Bob Brook quoted extensively and eloquently, from the famous "The Theft of the Imperial Crown" in the history of the empire to the countless supplies lost by the military in the wasteland. The people I saw were talking about the lord's sister who was kidnapped by bandits...

——There is only one central idea: You have to send troops to escort us back!
Aaron Cousins ​​didn't know what ulterior deal was reached between the whispering Bob Brook and Grand Duke Rosario at that weird dinner party;

All he knew was that when he woke up the next day to lead the team back, Pavol Eldridge, the famous god of war in the Eastern Realm, had already led three hundred elite infantry at the gate of the Rose City embassy, ​​ready to escort them on their way home. .

Even, while chatting with Eldridge on the road, Cousins ​​also learned an explosive news:

The instruction Eldridge received from Grand Duke Rosario was not to send them back to Frost Maple Ridge, but to temporarily serve Lord Elliot Igor after arriving at the destination to assist This "close ally of Rose City" appeases the wasteland!
——In other words, Grand Duke Rosario not only sent a lot of money, but even packaged and mailed [-] elite soldiers and a senior commander to Shuangfengling!

All of this did not even make Cousins ​​doubt whether the lord is the illegitimate son of Grand Duke Rosario;
Because what he doubted in his heart was whether Grand Duke Rosario was the illegitimate son of the lord——

This is too fucking generous!

On the way, Cousins ​​once asked Bob on the sidelines how he negotiated with Grand Duke Rosario;

But Bob Brook, Cousins' old friend, only gave his friend a mysterious smile, and then assured him that all this was within the lord's plan.

Cousins ​​really relied on Superman's perseverance to hold back from asking:
"But, Bob, at what cost?"

So, no matter how many dirty political insiders there were, the diplomatic mission led by Aaron Cousins ​​and Bob Brook, and the [-] elite soldiers sponsored by the Grand Duke Rosario finally arrived at the Cracking Soul on this day. The place announced the official completion of the mission.

It is worth mentioning that the Rose City spy, Karim Loki, was also ordered by the Grand Duke to follow the team back to this old base—as for what new things he has in the Land of Cracking Soul? As for the task, he can only wait for him to personally convey the Grand Duke's instructions after meeting the Lord Shuangfengling.

Because Eldridge insisted that there was a "bloody smell" in the air, after crossing the Lion Heart River, the team deliberately accelerated their pace and rushed towards Shuangfeng Ridge;
Along the way, Knight Commander Cousins, who didn't take it seriously at first, finally noticed something unusual.

About a few kilometers away from Shuangfeng Ridge, a group of people bumped into a bandit who was fleeing in a hurry.

The land of the broken soul, the wasteland, the bandit is also a popular local creature, Cousins ​​didn't pay much attention to it at the beginning, and told the left and right to catch and cut it;
But soon, the soldiers in charge of the execution came to report.

"Mentally abnormal?" Cousins ​​asked in amazement.

"Yes!" The Rose City infantry who had just entered the Shuangfeng Ridge battle order also had a hesitant expression, "Master Cousins, I feel that this guy is crazy!"

crazy?Cousins ​​and Eldridge looked at each other blankly.

"Bring him here!" Commander Frost Maple Ridge ordered.

Two big-armed soldiers pressed the shoulders and led the bandit to two senior officers and Bob Brook who hurried from behind the team.

Haven't seen it, but smelled it.

What appeared with the bandit was an extremely foul stench. Eldridge, who had a more sensitive sense of smell, even covered his nose with his red scarf——

——The trousers of this bandit are already soaked through, with feces and urine flowing out!
—a standard performance of being scared out of your wits.

"Hello!" Cousins ​​pinched his nose and asked sharply, "What's your name?!"

As a result, the caught hapless bandit's eyes were empty, and he didn't answer Cousins' question, but kept repeating:

"... fire ... blood ... canned food ... stones ... ah ah ah ..."

Apparently lost the ability to communicate normally.

"This guy has probably gone crazy." Eldridge concluded.

"Damn..." Cousins ​​cursed in frustration, "It would be great if Master Laurie was here, that old wretch is pretty good at dealing with mental patients..."

"Ah, Victor Laurie?" Eldridge, who was born and raised in the eastern part of the empire, actually knows the name of the chief mage of the Igor family, "That's the one, ah, the 'Three Heroes of the Phoenix', an expert in spiritual magic , right? Actually, ah, I really want to meet this magic master..."

"You'll regret it..." Cousins ​​muttered inaudibly.

"So how did this bandit go crazy?" Bob Brook scratched his hair, "Is the family eating so well?"

"I don't know, but there are often dead bandits, but crazy bandits are rare. I guess something happened in the wasteland..." Cousins ​​sucked his teeth, and ordered the soldiers to take the crazy bandit away. Take it down and cut it off, "We have to go back to Shuangfengling quickly!"

So, several people led the team at full speed and rushed all the way to Shuangfengling.

It was okay not to speed up, but with this speed up, they happened to catch up, and were stunned to see many rare wonders:
For example, the catapult standing alone on the wasteland and burning alone, surrounded by crumbling corpses, equipment and blood, and numerous hoofprints left by the horses' rapid charge...

For example, the bandits fled like headless flies, and the colors of their costumes were so diverse that Cousins ​​even thought that the bandits in the Land of Soul Breaking were having some kind of big party;

For another example, near the foot of the Green Dam, there are shocking corpses, pools of blood, and the remains of skeleton soldiers scattered on the ground.

"Shocked!" Eldridge was dumbfounded. "What happened here? Is...is this reasonable?"

At this time, Cousins ​​was no longer in the mood to talk to Eldridge;
He rushed to the gate of the green dam in a hurry, looked up, and saw a completely strange young face dressed as a soldier sticking out his head.

This made Cousins ​​quite uneasy.

"Who?!" The young soldier on the wall shouted sharply, "Report your name!"

"Are you a leader of the Igor family? I am Aaron Cousins, the knight commander of Frost Maple Ridge!" Cousins ​​yelled.

Hearing the name "Aaron Cousins", the soldiers on the wall were obviously taken aback, and then retracted their heads with a "whoosh".

Appearing instead of him was a familiar face that reassured Cousins ​​a lot.

"Knight Commander Cousins?!" Chris Mann was a little dazed at first, but then his face beamed with joy, "You're finally back! Hey, we just finished a match with the Bandit Alliance!"

Bandits...Allied Forces?Before Cousins ​​realized what kind of novel concept this was, he saw Chris on the wall remembering something, and his face suddenly changed.

"Knight Commander Cousins, I'll open the door for you right now, come in quickly..." Chris shouted, "My lord, he...seems like something happened!"

(End of this chapter)