Chapter 1 The Road of Iron and Glory 3
iv
May+13, Stilburg, April 14, 1664
The two flags of Xia Xia and the four-color cross fluttered at the top of the command tower of Steelburg, emitting dazzling light, proclaiming the results of yesterday’s bloody battle.
The door; Sorley’s lieutenant glanced at the brand new flags and turned to the officer’s quarters. Most of the quarters in the barracks suffered some losses in the shelling and melee yesterday. The two buildings were completely burned and 30% of the buildings were hit by shells. The craters on the road have been repaired by the engineering mages, and they can barely guarantee the passage of the carriage. However, the road is of little significance to him who is dragging a large row of empty dishes filled with luggage. He has almost no luggage, and these bags are ladies and gentlemen. There are only two ladies who can live in the official dormitory area: Metty; Crosso and the distinguished prisoner. Logically speaking, as a combat staff, he should not have time to do these small things, but this is the order of General Eugen.
"I know that you are very upset, but you are not in the state, lieutenant. You can't continue working, I have found a light job for you." Eugen tore his smashed smashing map, "Take two ladies to live in my house. If you see Luther there or on the road, let him come to me."
But even with such a simple job, he is still out of state. The official residence was the largest building in the dormitory area, but he found it after two rounds of winding.
"It's here." The door pushed the black wooden door of the largest house and showed the furnishings to the two ladies around. "This is the second official residence. The first official residence was burned down yesterday. General Eugen and Lord Luther will live here, you don't have to worry about security."
After hearing the "security question", Princess Olia’s mouth swelled and snorted. Nanimen ignored her and directly referred the situation to the two new colleagues who were in charge of the alert. He did not say the true identity of Olia, but only hinted that the lady is a very important and extremely dangerous prisoner. The eunuchs of the two first divisions heard that the soft-faced brunette beauty had the same level of magic as the bishop.
"We understand, we will apply for additional reinforcements. Please sign here, Lieutenant... Wait a minute, you are the door; Sorelton? The escort, the man who stopped the cardinal under the commander's tower?"
Mr. Metie with a pair of ponytails is not interested in this mansion, but She was suddenly excited when she heard the words of the guard. "Resistance, you blocked a cardinal? Really, let me talk about it."
"Repel? Not me to fight back." The lieutenant was cold and coping, and there was almost no ups and downs in his tone. "There is the Pluto who defeated the Knights; Lord Luther."
"What did Luther do? Is it very heroic?” Metty was even more excited.
"Very... heroic?" Naiman was stunned for a moment, and he didn't know how to describe Luther's battle. He will never forget the face of Bruto's ghostly appearance behind him, and he will never forget his way of fighting: he has never seen anyone who combines "anger" and "coolness" so arrogantly - ―But that is definitely not heroic.
"He alone killed half of the other officers, from the first floor all the way to the basement transmission point, forcing the cardinal with two The three confidants fled alone and blew up the entire positioning room in a panic. He is a true archbishop, and we can't win without him."
; The door also remembers the distorted expression on the face of the master. He had only heard of the Berserker, but he had never heard of the priest - but that day he saw it.
Pluto blocked Ionite’s offense with extremely cruel means, revenge for his sister. All the officers who entered the command tower have been in the same position. More than half of the female knights around Io were assassinated by Luther. They were used as a shield to block the cardinal's counterattack before they died. Pluto set up countless traps on the way to the transfer point, using these traps to kill the enemy. Nanimen also doubted who had blown up the entire transfer positioning room - he had no evidence, but he believed that it was done by Luther himself. Naimen was the only one to see the end of the battle, except for all the witnesses of both the enemy and the enemy who died in the underpass of the Commander Tower. This great cleric of the image is far more aware of the cruel and unscrupulous nature of war than he is.
"When the cardinal escaped, we calmed the chaos in the city. The fourth division of the emperor outside the city ate several rounds of volley and painfully withdrew to the north bank. We put the flag on Steelburg. The city's head, Eugen took troops into the station, and that's all." Nanimen looked at the traces of the buildings and shelling that were burned in the riots, replied faintly. In fact, the first division lost one-third of the officers, and the rounds of volleys also destroyed the shells of thousands of horse-drawn carriages.
"That's it? No one rushes up to overthrow the flag, or throws a glove to fight the flag-bearer?"
; "They don't dare. You know, the soldiers won't go to war without the command of the officer." The door did not dare to say the real reason: after the end of the mutiny, there were few A military commander went to the order. He always felt that it was wrong to tell these bloody truths to Metty’s unintelligible girl. He estimated that the Miss Corus Brothers Bank's actual age is not much smaller than Anne's, but they feel like they are two worlds... maybe they are already two worlds.
"It’s really boring, I thought there would be a heroic fight.”
Hear Metty's complaint, the tall brunette who walked beside her touched her head. "Don't be disappointed, Metty. For the southern soldiers, the greatest virtue is to obey orders. They don't respect heroic behavior because they think it will destroy the cohesiveness of the army."
; This statement by Princess Olia is quite harsh for Nami. He turned his head and retorted with dissatisfaction: "Sorry, I think that on the heroic behavior, the Free Army will not be worse than your serf soldiers, Your Highness."
"Really, lieutenant? I see you are quite heroic, dare to rush into a princess's bedroom and capture her under the enemy. If you are a member of our army, you have long been a knight or even a Aristocrats. But now they let you carry luggage... I don't think this can be a compliment to heroic behavior."
Black priest still face Hanging with the expression of indifference that can only be described as "noble". The door smiled bitterly: "That's because I am not brave enough, and... I really appreciate your love, but please forgive me not to kiss your ring."
Olivia does not retreat: "And what? Only the vassals who swore to the Coman family can kiss my ring, it is a solemn ceremony. Do you want to take the oath, Lieutenant?"
"Unfortunately, I have already sworn to the Constitution."
The two men’s conversations are In the direction of constructive development, Metty's unintentional words prevented this trend. "Do you two are in **?"
This time the two rebutted in unison.
"This unobtrusive and unconventional civilian is not on my list at all." "I am not kidding now, sorry."
< Br /> Nelmen and Olia looked at each other uncomfortably, and at the same time dismissively squinted, leaving Metty licking his hands. Fortunately, the door did not forget to pay attention to the house number, and stopped in time before the military suite assigned to the girls.
"Where, here is the room for both of you, the official number 4. The standard can be really high."
The lieutenant assigned to the narrow squatting room sighed and pushed open the door, pulling more than 20 floating trays with boxes full of boxes into the room. So many things are piled up in the room, but they are not crowded. The desk also houses the personal belongings of the owner of the room. There are diaries, notes and a few well-written letters. Several boxes are placed in the corner and look like the person's luggage. He gathered the scattered things and put them in an empty box for later delivery to the family of the deceased. The bed is a double bed and there is little problem for the two ladies to live.
"The officer can take the family ah... forget it, after all, they are the official."
Resist the door to open the fortress manual from the logistics department, check the status of various defensive magic, very good. He walked over to Metty and threw the handbook to her. "Metty, this manual is for you, write down the emergency starter above." Resist the door close to her ear, "Don't let Olia see."
The princess of the empire whispered his mouth, staring disdainfully at him as a little action. Resist the door to a red face and go back to carry the luggage. He untied half of the floating plate and dragged it to the door.
Resist the door and breathe, replied: "These bags are now Lord Luther's."
"Now? Was it someone else before?"
"They used to belong to one of my colleagues..." Resist the door and turned their backs and unloaded their boxes.
Metti still wants to ask something again, Olia grabs her mouth. "Is it a former Miss Kengler? Sorry... we don't know about it. We shouldn't..."
"It's okay, just missing... ...Break."
Everyone was silent, and there was a knock at the door. The knocker did not wait for a response, and directly pushed the door and walked in. "It's all here. It's best. I don't have to look for it one by one."
Hearing this voice, Namiman hurriedly turned to salute. His voice is a little shaken. "Ah, Lord Luther."
The biggest hero who took over Steelburg leaned on the doorframe and nodded. Instead of wearing a military uniform, he wore a uniform of priests. "I am no longer a major, you don't have to salute. Now I am the chief of the Stilburg military, and maybe the chief of the Central Army... Nimora is really a good thing."
"So, after the state...Pluto and we are neighbors again?" Metty almost said Bonnie’s real name, but she remembered the scene at least Two people don't know this secret.
"Well, I live in the next door, Officer No. 5. You can come and play when you have time." Luther touched Metty's head and smiled. Reply.
The door hesitated and inserted a sentence: "Can we talk privately, Lord Luther?"
"Wait a minute, let's talk about business, there are a few new news to tell you." Bonnie took out several documents sandwiched under her right arm. "The first message is that the emperor's army. Choosing the Central Army as a breakthrough, they are following the retreat of their retreat to the old road of Gistov."
Although it is not appropriate to know the occasion, Oria Hugh; Cole still showed a smile. Is that her brother's army, can she finally be exchanged and captured?
"However, he was stopped by Marshal Fox, and it seems that he will not be able to reach Kengal for a while."
; Olivia’s mood is low. Indeed, it is impossible to wait so early, at least until the army and even the entire Free Army suffered a disastrous defeat, she will have the opportunity to return to her country. But what I heard next was totally beyond her expectations.
"Second, we heard that...Olivia; Hugh; His Royal Highness, attended the ceremony of the imperial swearing in Gistov."
"What happened to me?" the princess asked subconsciously. When she understood the meaning of Bonnie, she was surprised to step back in two steps. "I... attended the ceremony in Gistov?!"
"Well, the intelligence says so. We can vow that we can guess What happened, I can even guess who the princess is, but now there is no countermeasure.” Bonnie explained with a smile.
The door immediately reacted and widened his eyes. "Impossible... is it... why?"
What is the day that Nicola is doing? Is she afraid that her situation is not dangerous enough? Colluding with the security department, posing as an imperial princess! This time he will swear to keep secret to capture the real imperial princess! Once she was exposed... Once she was exposed...
He did not dare to continue thinking about it. Why is she so bold and doesn't know what is "safe"? The girl he knows, everyone is like this... can't come again, he can't afford it.
"It is Sid; Nasser! Sid; Nasser uses her to cover up her failure and control my brother, this git, this darkness Hound! How did he know?!" Olia's powder fist slammed on the wall of the room. At that moment, the whole room was shaking, all the protective magic was flashing, and the paint peeled off in more than one place. Obviously, the princess holding the royal blood is really angry. Seeing this scene, Metty was afraid to shrink in the corner, and even Bonnie took a breath.
"Tell me, Your Royal Highness. What do you mean by ‘control your brother’?” Naomi’s mood today is really gloomy. In other words, successive accidents have made him more than normal.
Oliya also shocked herself and hurriedly turned her head: "I mean that Sid is a strong man who can control politics through various means." "
"No, you don't mean this. Tell me, is Gustav like you? Tell me the truth."
The door slammed into her hand that shook the fortress, turned to her, staring at her eyes. He didn't seem to know that his hands had the ability to break him off in an instant—or he didn't care.
"Take your ugly face away from me!" Olivia avoided his gaze, squinting at his wrist, trying to open him "This has nothing to do with you! How can you treat a lady like this?"
"No, this is very important to me. We all know that it is in front of the emperor. The person who plays your role." Nana answered quietly, and the answer was almost impossible to refuse.
"Even if you know, what can you do? What is your solution? Even myself, I dare not go back now! If necessary, That Sid will kill me without hesitation!” The princess was almost yelling at him, using the maximum volume that a well-educated aristocratic lady could make.
"Tell me. If you don't want to say it, you can nod or shake your head. But please tell me the truth."
Bonnie stared at the door that was threatening Olia, and I don’t know why, she had an urge to escape from here. She quietly unscrewed the door lock and tried to exit the room.
"Please don't leave, Lord Luther, wait for me." There is a metal collision in the voice of the door. Bonnie made a footstep and suddenly realized why she was scared - the voice reminded her of the "other" resistance.
After a moment, the princess of the Holy Empire nodded reluctantly.
"Thank you. Let's go, Lord Luther." The young lieutenant turned away without hesitation, leaving only two girls to stay in their own room. in.
"Do you have an order?" Bonnie closed his door. "No one can hear it here, you can say it."
The door was released from the floating tray in his hand, and his head sat down on the bed with his hands on his head. "I have an order, General Eugen asks you to go. But I have a few other personal questions I want to ask you first."
Bonnie nodded: "Please tell me."
"Why... Why are you still so calm, talking and laughing? Anne, is she okay? I have seen you. Furious, don't lie to me."
Bonnie replied truthfully: "No, I don't have any news. I only know the depth of the mud in the basement." There was blood that once belonged to Anne, I can't find her. I don't even know why she became like that..."
"It is Ionite Dry, a net made up of cutting lines..." The doorkeeper cleared the bloody memories from his mind. "Do you have a way to resurrect her? As a bishop, you should have a way!"
Bonnie shook his head: "Unfortunately, now I don't have this power. If there is a body that is not very damaged, I can do it; but completely rebuild a body and resurrect beyond my ability."
"Why don't you be sad? You didn't go to the scene, there is no way to resurrect her?!" The door was finally unable to hold back. "Are you not a brother and sister?!"
; "No, you don't understand! You don't understand my relationship with Annie, you don't understand! You know her less than a year..." Bonnie's nail inserts at the angle that Nami can't see. Into the palm of your hand. "I trust her, I trust her thoroughly, I trust her more than anyone. Thought is the source of faith, faith is the power of magic. And she has enough ... thoughts and beliefs. I firmly believe that she has escaped. But I don't know how she got away. Every real magician has several ways to protect himself. That's the equivalent of a few extra lives, not so easy to die. She is only temporarily missing. ."
"Even if it is true, we are also psychologically prepared. The people in this fortress today will not live more than 30% after ten years." Bonnie sighed against the wall. "This is war."
Resistance repeats: "This is war?"
"This is war, and The whole war has just begun. I want to fight against it, and we swear to each other... No, she won’t leave so easily. She is a nine... No, her wish is... Then...strong." Bonnie slammed in the direction of the door. "No, I trust her. She must have escaped. She can't be defeated by such a simple attack. I am going to General Eugen. He must be waiting for me to discuss the proposal. Do you have any other tasks in the afternoon?"
"Nothing."
The head of the door is still deep. Bonnie sighed and gently opened the door. Suddenly, the special metal sound line rang in her ear again.
"I have one last question. You are a cardinal, you must be clear about the answer to this question. I know that prayer can bring power to the pastors... ...but if it is not a pastor, pray to the gods for certain things? Which god should I pray to? Is this effective?"
"I think, it will be useful." Bonnie replied, hurriedly left the room and rushed to the Commander Tower.
The door is still in her room, not coming out.
For a time Bonnie was a little embarrassed, but she was calm when she pushed the commander tower door. Ega; Eugen is waiting for her male identity, she can't panic.
"Don't you read my proposal? How do you decide?"
She pulled An armchair sits directly opposite the Eugen desk. The generals are smoking a pipe, looking at "Pluto" with a look of sorrow, and turning over the thick documents in his hand.
"The practice on this document is too much, Mr. Luther. Only the soldiers are recovered, the officers are not recovered, and even their teachings are expelled. They are called The traitor... I am sorry that I can't agree. I think that you should make an apology publicly, and then identify the martyrdom of all the victims, regardless of the soldiers and officers, and then talk about the promotion of new officers."
< Br /> Bonnie raised his mouth in a cold voice. "That was not a mutiny, but a just takeover. I don't think there is anything wrong with saying that they are traitors. They are not moving in Steelburg, trying to get us and the twelfth division to die under the gun, and finally Casting the fortress with Steelburg."
"That's just a hypothesis, it didn't happen!" Eugen took the table. "The problem is your instigation." Means, is there any trace of the normal treatment?! Do you know how many non-commissioned officers and officers died in the mutiny of the Republic? Three hundred! One hundred and ten ten officers and officers, one third of them died. They are the soldiers of their own soldiers! How could they be traitors?! Do you want to bring us back to the age of religious vendetta? Master the Lord!"
"I I don't think there is a second choice for the situation at the time. Steelburg must be taken down. The officer is dead and can be promoted again, Major General."
Europe Roots irritatedly re-sucking the cigar, "Yes, I know, I know. I know you didn't Wrong, Machiavelli is not wrong, even the Pierre who killed Pict is not wrong. But more than 300 officers! This is the most experienced and combative officer of the Free Army! You It is the most outstanding backbone of the Freedom Army to clean up the indiscriminate troops!"
"The loss of the officer’s troops, as long as the soldiers elect their trusted officers to take the lead The officer can do it. Losing the caster's troops, just let me or the bishop of the ruler give a ceremony to volunteers who are willing to become quasi-priest officers. How to make up for the loss, I wrote very clearly on that document, not Bonnie took out the eloquence of the politicians. "We don't need a group of mixed-armed officers! We want officers who are united with our subordinates, who live and die together. People without such enlightenment cannot save our country."
"But who can we rely on to guard the fortress and resist the emperor?! They have not even received the most basic officer training!"
"But we are too. Don't forget, the fortress is not only used for defense, it is the blade used to attack the enemy. Occasionally the blade will also cut the hand."
"Thank you for your reminder, but now is not the time to worry about cutting your hands. The diamonds in the crown of steel are just about to shine again. Whether you want it or not, we must add officers and magic power. There is no second choice. We can't get reinforcements from the outside. Or, do you have a better plan than my proposal?"
"...No." Eugen took the lead Buried under the hands, answered with anger.
"That's the decision. From this afternoon, I will select qualified soldiers in each company to make them qualified in the shortest possible time." Priest. Please prepare the order. I will go to the execution."
Bonnie turned away and forced the door to close, leaving only the powerlessness on the table. Eugen.
Even in the face of three times the overthrow of the government, he has not been so desperate.
In fact, when reading this document, Eugen has already conceded, he just wants to do the last resistance. He believes in the power of Bruto's proposal: the number and compilation of the proposal is very detailed, and even the training and equipment costs of each of the quasi-Christian officers are taken into account. At first glance, it is from the hands of skilled military officers. Very operability.
If you guarantee that each company has three or more prospective priests, they will be able to defeat the positive emperor. How powerful will it be to set the command system to the company. But...
"There are three divisions under my name, but I can’t control them. Gods. Tell me, how can I reconcile this unit, I How can I save my country?"
The only answer to him is silence.
A Knights belonging to a free country. An army commemorated by the blood of his own officer. An army belonging to Pluto; Luther and his priests.
He got the glory, but the fortress of steel is no longer in his hands. He doesn't know what will happen next.
The shift clock is very regular one hour and one knock, from the lunch clock to the dinner clock. Resist in the door of Bruto; Luther's room, numbly listening to the bells. He knew that most of the postal tasks were carried out from the Sixth Division, and the troops originally belonging to the First Division and the Twelfth Division were undergoing reorganization. Luther is probably doing this, so he didn't come back.
This is war.
The furnishings in the room are simple and simple to a bit shabby. If someone says that Luther had been a hermit, no one would believe it. There is only one box of luggage for the bishop, and it is inconspicuous in the more than ten boxes of Anne. His grass green wooden box is marked by the Crosby Brothers Bank, and Anne's box is colorful, from leather to metal. The door stood up and looked at the boxes by detecting the magical vision. The box is of course protected, and only the owner can open it in some way. If forced to open, it will trigger a trap or a strong acid trap. The only box of his own is the same, and no one wants his luggage to fall into the enemy's hands.
This is war.
Seeing the familiar gold trademark on the box, he laughed and thought about his memories at Lenny. He still remembers the first time he met, and there was a fierce misunderstanding between him and Anne, Anne's sister and their hostess, almost making a life... his own life. However, this is not a bad idea, after which he often sees this girl who is rashly rash. A lot of strange questionnaires, many practices have exotic desserts, and as powerful as 黛妮卡, no, maybe more powerful magic. Like the trick of fate, she and he also met in the rebel army, after returning to the Free Army and he was in a unit... He always felt that he would be such a person who had no experience, no magic and no good luck. Challenge the dead line. But actually...
This is war.
Everything happens in war, anyone will die - but a very familiar person who knew before the war died, unlike ordinary comrades who died of. Even Marshal Govar, who is a rebel, is always ready to face death. At that time he also witnessed and only felt sad. But this time it is different.
He took out the only thing she had left for him - the silvery pistol. He repeatedly looked at it and muttered to himself: "Why? Why is this?"
He should have had a chance to save her. If he disagrees with the adventurous combat plan... If he can ask Luther to fight down earlier... If he is the one who is in front of him... but in any case, he can't sit here and remember her. Anne; Saphir has enough magic to disappoint everyone, but it is only a minor, and her officers at the same level died dozens of days yesterday. Tomorrow he will still return to his job and enjoy the glory of "The Hero of Steelburg".
The door knocked outside the door, and the door was shocked to be dinner. Luther will always come back and he must go back. He didn't come to open the door, just stood up and listened to the snoring of the door lock and the key hit.
"Lord Luther, I’m sorry to stay for so long..."
"How to get your luggage Moved here, Bonnie..."
The door opened, and the people outside the door talked to themselves. The stealth magic on her body is fading, and she almost hits the door. Both of them were stunned and stared at each other in disbelief.
"Sorreton?" "Annie?"
The blonde girl is almost physically, I only wore a piece of dirty black cloth that I didn't know from, and couldn't even cover her graceful figure. Probably because of the invisible relationship along the way, Anne is also dirty, full of blood and mud, and there are many faint red marks on the skin. Her arms and legs were dyed gray-black by the soil, just like climbing out of the ground.
But Nana did not hesitate to step forward and put such an Annie in his arms.
"You can come back, it’s great. It’s okay."
An unexpected surprise of Anne Zhang opened his mouth and looked like he wanted to scream. But her cheeks were red with disappointment, and the screams stuck in the scorpion, becoming a whisper that only the other party could hear.
"That... that, can I take a shower and change my clothes? My luggage is in this room..."
The door suddenly reacted, let go of the hand, and stepped back a few steps. He stumbled on Luther's bed, and the mud that had just been glued to him had a bed. He buried his face in the pillow and heard Annie close the door and quickly ran past him and rummaged through her luggage. After a while, she wrapped a large bath towel and took a clapping to tell the door to turn back.
"How did you escape? Even Luther could not find you, did you escape to a different world?"
; "I haven’t tried to liquefy myself, and I’m almost unable to recover.” Annie smiled. “It took me a whole day to reflow all parts of my body. I came back together and I couldn't help it, but I could only liquefy myself to avoid such intensive attacks."
She said My baggage was dragged into the middle of the house and two of the boxes were opened. Both boxes are empty, and she put them into a portable square bath in a small tune. The handle of the corner is the starting device, and the box can be attached with a convenient magic that can generate hot water at any time, and can also pull out a layer of one-way transparent frosted glass. This is why Naomi understands why her luggage is so much.
He turned his head again and whispered: "Don’t use such dangerous tactics next time, Anne."
"Are you worried about me?" Annie jumped into the bath, and the sound came out of the frosted glass, which sounded a little different. "Do not worry, look at me, is this not coming back?"
"Of course I will worry!" The door sounds louder, "one, two This is the case! You guys, you don’t know what is dangerous?! Next time, like the ladies, hide in the corner and wait for others to charge?! You are a logistics officer, not a charge officer!” Br />
There was some sound from the frosted glass. Annie only replied after a moment: "We will not rush those who will magic, who will rush? I am such a magical person who does not rush, do you want those who do not magic to rush? Know what you can solve I have to let others go to death. I can't do this kind of thing. After all, every magician has his own life-saving methods. It can be said that my life may be more than others."