Warhammer: Return of the Dragon.

"I like you... Karl Franz." Elvis closed his eyes slightly, looking at the emperor with admiration, with his back to the two generals and the academy's chief tutor, and spoke with sarcasm in his tone.

"Your attitude has improved my impression of the empire. It is not easy to find a pragmatic person among a group of flatterers and sycophants..."

The elf suddenly became very leisurely, no longer as anxious as before, and went to find some food in the tavern. He brought a chair to the sand table and sat opposite Carl.

Taking a sip of... probably the wine from Bretonnia, Elvis waved his hand, signaling the emperor to shift his attention from the sand table to him.

"So, Carl, how does it feel to spend some time communicating with the Phoenix King? Your father and grandfather did not have the honor of communicating with the monarch of the elves for a long time."

"The Empire respects your monarch, and I will not make useless comments about my allies."

"That's it?"

Silent Carl argued that he did not believe Elvis. For many years, the Empire, the Dwarves and the Elves maintained a relatively harmonious state, supporting each other, but at the same time keeping a distance.

"It's okay." Elvis smiled, thinking that Carl's behavior was not right, but it was definitely not wrong.

"Many years ago, when I first arrived in the Empire, I was surprised by the ignorance and backwardness here... You are a little better than Bretonnia next door, but only a little better.

Exploitation, oppression, deception, conspiracy... are everywhere. Magnus ended your foolish and dark era of division, but he still could not escape the limitation of life span. Three generations of Reikland were all kings who maintained the status quo, and they could only make up for the trauma brought by Ditek IV.

Reik has taken control of Marienburg, but is also suspected by the electors... Elspeth's support is not out of her heart, am I right, Master Bayershazer?"

The Metal Mage remained silent. He had little interest in communicating with the elves. Talking more would reveal problems, so the best way was to keep silent.

"I'm optimistic about you, Karl Franz. You have the potential to revive the empire, but the premise is..." Elvis pointed to his temple and reminded him, "You should believe that an ally who cares too much about gains and losses will not be liked... I brought twenty dragons, which is enough to show the elves' sincerity."

After Elvis stood up, he glanced at Kurt's cheek and said, "To prevent some idiots from thinking that the elves' favorite thing is to watch the show and are unwilling to shed blood for their allies."

The Grand Master was about to leave, but after turning around and taking a few steps, he heard the Emperor's serious voice.

"and many more!"

"What is your business, Emperor Karl Franz?"

Carl stared at Elvis for a long time. He seemed to have thought of treating the Phoenix King in the same way as he treated the Elector, so much so that he was reminded by a person who had nothing to do with politics.

Winning over, inducing, causing trouble... there are countless ways to gain the friendship of the Elector, but it seems that they are very different from the elves' ideas.

"After the war, the Reik's Guard will select an elite team to lead the Imperial Army to join the expedition to Norsca. The Empire will spare no effort to destroy Sigmar's enemies and wipe out every remnant of Chaos that approaches the civilized world."

The seemingly unrelated topics allowed the two to reach a consensus.

Elvis nodded slightly: "I will pass your words to the Phoenix King... I believe you will see the demeanor of the elves' most elite warriors in the near future."

…………

After a while, Imrick, who learned of Karl Franz's determination, rubbed his cheek and wondered whether Elvis's behavior was too harsh.

"Your Majesty, how should I respond to Elvis?"

After waiting for a long time and not getting any answer from His Majesty, the herald officer North suddenly gave a reminder.

This is the rule that His Majesty himself stated a long time ago. If there is no response to a matter after ten minutes, then the thinking will be interrupted.

"Dispatch some of the Flame Knights, Phoenix Guards, White Lion Guards, Black Guards, and Eternal Guards to obey Karl Franz's orders... only Karl Franz, not Kurt or Ludwig." "How many people?"

"Make your own arrangements. It's best if you all go together so I can go back to Aldorf and get some sleep while waiting for the good news of victory."

The messenger did not take the joke seriously. He thought about the number of guards accompanying him and made a suggestion.

"How about five hundred people? At least half of the guards must be left here to prevent the greenskins and beastmen from offending us."

"Hmm... who do you recommend leading it?"

This is a troublesome question. North shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I dare not judge your guards without authorization... But Lord Creon will definitely not obey the orders of Emperor Karl, and Kadroin will not consider anything other than fighting. The best choice is Kuran."

Having a Druzy represent the Phoenix King would have been unthinkable in the past, as everyone knew that Kuran only submitted to His Majesty out of duty to Druzy, and that was by no means loyalty.

But what is beyond doubt is that Kuran's ability is impeccable.

"Then let's go Kulan. I hope my captain of the Black Guard won't give the Emperor too many surprises."

When Kuran learned the news, he was forced to stop his research on the physiological structure of the beastmen, thinking that the Phoenix King had a brain cramp again.

"Repeat the order. The Phoenix King requires me to lead half of the guards to support Karak Dreadnought Fort and obey the orders of the human emperor."

"Yes, Lord Kuran, this is His Majesty's order."

North looked calm and paid no attention to Kuran's indifference.

"Boring order." Kuran commented like this, put down the evil book written in human skin, picked up the reshaped scarlet death halberd, and prepared to gather people to fight.

The composition of the Phoenix Guard is very complex. While Asur is the main body, it is supplemented by the elite forces of Druzi and Asrai.

The weakest among them... is generally believed to be the White Lion Guard. Originally, Asrai's Eternal Guard was a strong competitor, but as the Wild Cavalry awakened one after another, these reckless men who conquered the world with a woodcutter's axe and received the double blessings of Kunos and Val gradually became silent.

When Kulan was looking for people, he was straightforward and ordered half of the people to go without hesitation, but there were some problems with the Flame Knight.

"Dragons. I need dragons, not thirty mobile platemen on donkeys."

Creon was stunned, and then he became a little angry. Even if the Flame Knights were riding donkeys... horses, they were undoubtedly the elite of the royal court. Why did Kuran speak as if they relied on dragons to make a living?

"There are no dragons. All dragons of the Flameborn Knights are required to stay in Ulthuan during this trip."

Kuran remained noncommittal. He didn't believe that the Flame Knight had no backup plan and would follow the Phoenix King to travel the empire without a dragon.

“This is your business. I want to see the dragon in two hours.

Remember, this is the order of the Phoenix King."

Creon's face turned blue and purple. Usually he would wink at the black guard, but this time he was outwitted.

"Five, but I will only send five Flame Knights."

"Yes, dragons are much more useful than you." (End of this chapter)