Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 505 Chapter Jade from Other Mountains

On December 15th of the 996th year of the Imperial Calendar, the bloody battle front was covered with dark clouds, and heavy snow fell from the sky. The blood-soaked land of suffering was now covered in silver.

  Due to the extremely cold winter this year, the Empire had to slow down the originally planned siege and prepare to wait until the beginning of next spring to make plans:

In recent days, the Desolation Watch Division has been pouring hot water on the walls near the gates of Thorn City. Under the influence of the severe cold weather, the hot water quickly froze into large blocks of ice, sealing the area near the gates tightly, enough to deter any attackers.

Considering that the orc strongholds on the Thorn City Plains have been basically eliminated, the Imperial Army will not have any important military tasks in the next two months.

The imperial soldiers, exhausted from the long battle, were finally able to take a breath and rest, preparing for the siege next year.

Swan Castle occupied by Frost Maple Ridge, like other imperial strongholds on the bloody front, has a peaceful atmosphere.

As early as the Eagle Rest Castle era, the Igor family had the tradition of holding banquets and rewarding the people on New Year's Eve;

In the New Year of the 994th year of the Imperial Calendar, the newly established Frost Maple Ridge Territory defeated Grand Duke Houston's attack on Phoenix Terrace, laying the foundation for the territory's prosperity.

Since then, Frost Maple Ridge has held large-scale celebrations every New Year.

Although the "Wagner" special forces were far away from the territory and fighting outside, they could not miss this special day. Several high-ranking officials on the bloody front discussed and decided to wait until New Year's Eve to hold a small-scale New Year celebration at Swan Castle, which could be regarded as the professional counterpart of this so-called "art troupe".

Taking into account that at the same time, the Phoenix Tower far away in the Soul-Splitting Land will also be decorated with lights and celebrate the arrival of the new year, the lord joked that we will soon become the "Blood Front Branch Venue" of the Frost Maple Ridge New Year Gala.

So, in the past few days, Mr. Xiahou has been taking a few senior henchmen to review the Spring Festival Gala programs to be performed at the New Year's Eve party, satisfying his **** addiction.

At three o'clock in the afternoon on the 15th, the opera "The Lord of Phoenix Tower Shows His Power" choreographed by several Lotus Ridge mages was being reviewed on the stage by several high-ranking officials of the territory.

This opera tells the heroic epic story of how, facing the attack of Grand Duke Houston, the bully of Rock Creek City, the immortal Lord Elliot Igor, with the help of the ever-healthy Minister of the Interior Jonathan Joel and the relatively healthy Chief Mage Victor Lowry, commanded and planned, and led the Frost Maple Ridge soldiers to annihilate the enemy.

On the makeshift stage in the hall of Neuschwanstein Castle, the actor dressed in a gorgeous black robe who played the Lord of Frost Maple Ridge sang, recited, acted and fought for a while, and then stabbed a wooden prop sword into the armpit of the actor who played Andrew Spencer.

"Little wizard, how ridiculous!" The "Lord" on the stage kicked "Andre Spencer" to the ground, twirling his beard and laughing. The curtain slowly fell.

Master Lowry and Captain Cousins, who were sitting in the audience watching the opera, raised their hands to applaud, but hesitated and didn't clap, with a strange look on their faces.

These two were old revolutionaries of Shuangfengling, and they were eyewitnesses of the New Year's offensive and defensive battle. In their memories, how come the real situation at that time seemed to be slightly different from the script on the stage?

For example, Ander Spencer was not killed by the lord's sword in a handsome and cool manner as on the stage - on the contrary, Ander Spencer actually lost control of the vengeful spirit Messi he summoned, and was killed by the leader of the Knights of the "Pride of the South".

For example, although the lord on the stage was walking with great strides and a breeze, the real situation at that time was that he had broken his leg and had been lying on Clement's back like a giant baby...

Watching the performance on the stage that was clearly inconsistent with history, Master Lowry and Knight Commander Cousins ​​began to doubt the credibility of their own memories.

  In stark contrast to the two silent Maple Ridge lackeys, Julia Minetoska, who was sitting next to the lord, stood up excitedly, clapped her hands and shouted:

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

All the people from Frost Maple Ridge looked at Yulia, and Isa Sandria and Alice Comstock looked particularly unfriendly.

  Everyone still hasn't figured out why the lord went to Thorn City and brought back such a charming demon girl and five carts of demon equipment on his way back to Swan Castle?

Rumor has it that ever since the Lord brought Miss Yulia back to Swan Castle, the demon lady and Countess Isa Sandria have been engaged in a bloody, violent, and inhumane fight over the position of the Lord's bed. Even the bold Eldridge was silent about the specific details.

  These idiots never expected that the Lord would actually bring these two incompatible girls to review the program today!

Not to mention there was an angry Alice Comstock sitting in the back!

Everyone thinks the weather has been cold enough recently, but why is the temperature in this room still dropping...

  Xiahou Yan seemed to be completely unaware of the tense atmosphere in the air. He imitated the leader of the Northern Puppetry and stood up and clapped his hands in restraint:

"Yes, this play is well performed. It can be said to be a good example of Frost Maple Ridge's literary and artistic creation!"

The actors on the stage were flattered and bowed repeatedly to express their gratitude with joy on their faces.

  But the Lord immediately changed the subject:

"…But the arrangement of the script's plot doesn't seem to match the actual situation at the time?"

Master Lowry and Captain Cousins ​​breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the boss was an honest man after all.

Xiahou Yan pondered and said:

"Can you adjust the plot setting, so that the actor playing 'I' on the stage not only executes Ander Spencer, but also kills five or six 'Pride of the South' knights in a row? You should highlight the protagonist and promote positive energy! By the way, when 'I' executes Ander Spencer, I should say a few cooler lines, such as 'You are just an ordinary person born in an era without me'..."

Master Lowry and Knight Commander Cousins ​​were stunned.

"Oh my God! Your suggestion is so insightful! It immediately raises the level of the work!" the leading actor on the stage exclaimed.

"Look! He hit the nail on the head! This is the Lord!" Another actor warned his companions earnestly, "This is the depth of a veteran artist!"

Master Lowry looked around, just wanting to find an excuse to leave quickly.

As a result, when the master looked up, he saw Sean Mountbatten hurriedly walking into the castle hall with a file book under his arm, and then trotting to the lord's side.

"Continue with the next show!" Xiahou Yan instructed loudly, then sat down again and turned to look at Sean.

"My lord. The troops have completed the distribution and trial use of the demon equipment brought by Miss Minetoska." Sean reported in a low voice, but stopped abruptly halfway through and glanced at Yulia who was happily watching the show next to the lord.

"Let's talk outside." Xiahou Yan patted Sean Mountbatten's arm and walked out of the castle hall with his chief of staff. As soon as they walked out of the castle gate and came to the snowy outdoors, the temperature suddenly dropped.

The sky was still as gloomy as in the morning, and large flakes of snow were still falling from the sky. The training ground outside the castle had been cleaned up by the soldiers of Frost Maple Ridge. There was no snow left, only dark wet mud. A team of pioneer soldiers in training, led by an officer, ran past the two men shouting slogans. Farther away, several engineers were wiping the snow off the body of the "Orel" tank.

As soon as they got outside, Sean Mountbatten took off his cloak and wanted to put it on the lord, but was rejected by Xiahou Yan with a smile: With his current magical strength, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is immune to cold and heat.

Xiahou Yan leaned against the outer wall of the castle next to the door, took out an iron cigarette case from his arms, gave a cigar to himself, Sean and the soldier standing guard at the door, then took out a flint and lit it.

Xiahou Yan did not escape the curse of the magical laws of the Haven continent: as the price of advancing to a high-level necromancer mage, his sensitivity to elements other than netherworld magic had declined drastically, making it much more difficult for him to light fire with his fingertips as he did before.

——If one day he is lucky enough to advance to the eighth-level archmage, he may even completely lose the ability to cast elemental magic of other factions due to the effect of "promotion purification".

For Haven magicians, "broadness" and "depth" are binary choices that cannot be achieved at the same time.

"You just said that the batch of demon equipment sold by Yulia has been tested by the soldiers?" Xiahou Yan asked lightly, leaning against the cold stone wall.

"Yes." Sean Mountbatten hesitated for a moment and asked boldly, "Do you really trust this demon woman?"

  Xiahou Yan couldn't help but let out a bitter smile:

Should we say that Sean Mountbatten is worthy of being a top student from the Imperial Royal Military Academy? This kid's human chauvinism and suspicion of the demons are really deeply rooted. Back then, Sean was cold even to Karen Lepage, a human-demon hybrid. Now he is even less likely to trust Julia Minetoska, a pure demon.

"Don't worry. Have you seen the cat maid who is always with Yulia? She is a female agent I transferred from the Military Statistics Bureau. If this girl dares to make any unusual movements, I will be the first to receive the report." Xiahou Yan patted Sean on the shoulder and gave his chief of staff a reassurance. "Don't be too nervous. Since Yulia Minetoska came to Swan Castle, all her connections with the demons have been cut off. She has become a traitor to their Chamber of Commerce and the demon prince Raphael! Now, she is just a lonely person who can only rely on Frost Maple Ridge."

"Yes." Sean Mountbatten lowered his head, obviously embarrassed by his overreaction.

"Besides, what's wrong with the demons? Racism is not acceptable! The one who was killed by the King of Gowther was the ancestor of His Majesty Basil III, not my ancestor!" Xiahou Yan taught Sean, "Our territory still has to do business with the demons, so what does that racial grudge mean? We can't fight them to the death. How can we make money if we fight to the death!"

"You're right!" Sean said sadly, "By the way, the demon equipment that Miss Minatoska brought is indeed top-notch stuff! You've made a fortune by intercepting this batch of goods from the Federation orcs!"

  When Xia Houyan heard Sean mention his gains from his trip to Thorn City, he immediately became excited and asked hurriedly:

"Oh? Can you tell me in detail?"

"That batch of equipment includes many kinds of things. I will only talk about the important ones..." Sean nodded and sorted out his thoughts. "First of all, the most important ones are a batch of 'Bell Crystal Microphones'. These are great treasures that can be used for short-range instant communication. It's a pity that we have the 'Undead Express' in our territory and can't use them..."

When the term "Express Line of the Dead" was mentioned, the two of them smiled knowingly.

The so-called "Undead Express" is actually a new technology recently developed by Xiahou Yan in order to improve the communication efficiency of Igor's Pioneer Army.

In the past, the imperial army often used messengers to deliver messages between superiors and subordinates, or between troops, by running on horseback or simply using winter pigeons. Only when the distance was right and the conditions were met, would beacons, flag signals, drums and horns, and magic be used occasionally.

There is no doubt that these means of communication are not only severely limited but also inefficient.

Xiahou, who is an expert in necromancy, discovered that the high-level necromancy magic "Lothric Soul Condensation" seemed to be useful in this situation:

The function of "Lothric Soul Condensation" is to collect the resentment in the local air and condense it into a small resentful spirit. Its working principle is similar to that of Ander Spencer's summoning of the resentful spirit Messi. However, the resentful spirit generated by "Lothric Soul Condensation" is a super-reduced beggar version of Messi, with basically no combat ability and can only float in the air as a translucent pet for the necromancer.

Due to its lack of practicality, the "Lothric Soul Condensation Technique" has long been regarded by necromancers as a useless trick and has been abandoned. Until a few days ago, when Xiahou Yan was summoning ghosts for fun, he accidentally discovered that although the little ghosts summoned by the "Lothric Soul Condensation Technique" could not fight, they flew fast and were obedient, and seemed to be a good ox or horse for delivering letters...

Therefore, the senior officers of the Igor Pioneer Army now carry a small ghost floating beside them, who are responsible for delivering messages. These small ghosts can deliver oral messages to any place within 30 kilometers within one minute, and their efficiency and applicability are more than a little higher than the "Bell Crystal Megaphone" developed by the demons.

So what Sean said was right: the crystal megaphone that was regarded as a treasure by the "Wave" Chamber of Commerce was really of no use to Frost Maple Ridge.

"It's okay. We won't use this batch of 'Bell Crystal Megaphones' ourselves. We can just sell them to the regular army of the empire." Xiahou Yan held a cigar in his mouth and smiled like a cormorant. "From what I know, those old-fashioned people in the military are very fond of the demon products."

"That's what I thought, too." Sean grinned. "Yesterday I notified the regular army and asked them to send logistics personnel to Swan Castle to discuss the transaction of this batch of 'Bell Crystal Megaphones' - with Bob Brooke here, we can definitely negotiate a good price!"

Xiahou Yan sincerely sympathized with the cardiovascular health of the imperial army's logistics personnel.

"Except for the somewhat flashy 'Bell Crystal Telephone', the other goods are interesting." Sean said, "First of all, there are several large boxes of 'Moonlight Secret Medicine', a specialty of the Demon Clan. These wound medicines are made by the White Tiger Priestess of the Demon Clan. They can heal any external injuries in a short period of time. They have always been a taboo product that the Demon Clan never sells to the Empire."

Xiahou Yan thought for a long time about which "white tiger" in "White Tiger Priestess" referred to.

"In addition, Miss Minatoska also brought thousands of 'Moonfall Arrows'." Sean continued, "You can think of the 'Moonfall Arrows' as the demonic version of the Thracian Annihilation Arrows. The principle of their destructive effect is not the collapse of runes, but the summoning of the power of moonlight to tear the target apart from the inside."

"Good stuff." Xiahou Yan remembered that he had heard Karen introduce similar demon weapons before.

"Finally, I think the most valuable thing is actually what's loaded on the last truck in Miss Minetoska's convoy - ten pureblooded nightmare foals from the demon race!" Sean spoke faster and faster, his tone very excited. "They are not the mixed-blood nightmare beasts you see in the market, but pureblooded nightmare beasts that are exclusive to the Gowther Royal Court and have unrivaled endurance and strength! As long as we give this nightmare beast tribe time to multiply in Frost Maple Ridge, the mounts of our territory's cavalry will no longer be war horses, but pureblooded nightmare beasts burning with the Orchid Demon Fire!"

"Immediately arrange the breeding of these nightmare beasts!" Xiahou Yan slapped his thigh, "I want to see the breeding of these nightmare beasts proceed without stopping, and its efficiency cannot be lower than that of my work at night!"

Sean Mountbatten thought that this seemed to be a very high requirement, considering the lord's lifestyle of being open-minded and hunting widely.

(End of this chapter)