Chapter 672: Act 34 – Another Chance V
Delphine appeared particularly calm as she was taken away, her snake-like gaze fixed on him, making Brendel feel somewhat unnerved. To be honest, if it weren’t for his concern about his relationship with Veronika, he would have seriously considered executing this woman. After all, making an enemy of the Empire’s chancellor was inevitable, and he believed that the Crusian would hardly dare to declare war on Erluin for a woman.
Laurena watched as Delphine was led away, wanting to say something but finding herself momentarily speechless. Being treated this way as an imperial envoy was naturally dissatisfying, but the problem was that she seemed to lack the qualifications to voice any complaints.
After a long while, she weakly said, “My Lord, I hope you can carefully consider how to deal with the Empire.”
“I understand, but it depends on who we’re dealing with. I can distinguish between enemies and friends. I can only say that Lady Veronika chose the wrong person for the wrong task this time,” Brendel replied.
He gestured to Charles, and Laurena and Phillas felt a relaxation in the magical bindings that had confined them to their chairs. Laurena managed to maintain her composure, but her fiancé couldn’t help but let out a long breath and looked at Brendel with some fear.
Due to his loose tongue, he had suffered quite a bit at the hands of the chancellor’s daughter, but he hadn’t expected such a terrifying woman to be thrown into a dark dungeon by this almost inhumane fellow. He thought for a moment; if it were him, he would certainly be reluctant to do so—Delphine’s beauty was well-known throughout the Empire.
Thinking of this, Phillas couldn’t help but glance at Brendel with some trepidation. In his eyes, he had already concluded that the other party was presumably one of those legendary wild barbarians from the wilderness—no, it should be called a chieftain. No matter how beautiful a woman was, it was meaningless to such a coarse individual, and some chivalric novels even mentioned that these barbarians seemed to prefer men.
The young knight’s thoughts wandered to the extent that he couldn’t help but glance again at Charles, who was controlling him and Laurena with magic, revealing a contemplative expression.
Brendel, of course, had no idea that this “fool with legendary luck who lived off others” was turning some strange thoughts in his head—this title was not something he had given to him, but rather the real title of the person who was known in history as the greatest lucky knight of Crus. First, he had defeated numerous excellent scions from noble families within Crus and married Laurena, the most talented beauty of the future Crus—Laurena’s future achievements in Crus could even rival Freya in Erluin, and due to her higher starting point, her accomplishments would far surpass this. If he recalled correctly, Laurena later became deputy commander alongside Faina in the Azure Sky Legion.
This alone was enough to astonish anyone, but Phillas’s luck didn’t stop there. Unlike all other noble scions who had grown up amid schemes and plots, his path to inheriting the title could be described as smooth sailing, being the only offspring of Prince Barano, without any competitors or even pressure from collateral lines. This undramatic path to nobility made everyone around him quite envious.
Later, under the emperor’s call, the knight participated in the Holy War, and strangely spent quite a long time at the frontlines during the “Eastern Front Truce,” and then inexplicably achieved a series of astonishing victories, ultimately accumulating enough military merit to ascend to the throne of a legion commander.
He was often referred to as the “picked-up legion commander.”
As time flowed on, Mr. Phillas wielded great power, and his story became one of the most legendary tales sung by bards.
Now, this legendary couple from that tale sat before him—they—still, Laurena was just a small knight commander under Veronika, and Phillas was still a roguish young man; their journey hadn’t even begun, and he appeared to them more like a legendary figure. At least after the battle of Ampere Seale, Brendel’s reputation in Crus was certainly more than just a “sword saint.”
Brendel scrutinized the two and after a while picked up the envelope on the table, took a glance, and asked the young knight:
“Lady Laurena, may I ask when did the Crusians become aware of this matter?”
Laurena looked at him, momentarily startled as she racked her brain to comprehend what he was inquiring about. She frowned slightly, adopting a businesslike demeanor, and replied, “Two months ago, my Lord.”
This question and answer were indeed referring to the second matter mentioned in the letter Veronika had sent him. Compared to the first matter, which was somewhat trivial, Brendel perceived the second as much more troublesome.
The matter had to start from the battle of Ampere Seale. In that war, the Erluin people ultimately shattered three gates of fire, forcing the demons back to their home beneath the sulfur river—of course, Brendel had personally experienced this part of the story. After the demon army was defeated, they scattered and were entirely driven away by the Silver Elves and Highland Knights, as well as the craftsman wizards who arrived later.
Yet a small portion remained, fleeing into the hills of Erluin. This small remnant caused a huge problem for the Crusian.
Originally, after the Crusian were forced to withdraw completely from Ampere Seale Port for the sake of face, the matter should have ended there.
But perhaps no one could have predicted how history would develop afterward.
About a month after the beginning of the flower of the month, monks from the Temple of Fire discovered, after thoroughly cleaning the battlefield, that all three gates of fire had varying degrees of missing parts. These missing fragments were quickly sent back to Crus for the high-ranking clergy to identify; however, half a month later, news that cast the whole Temple of Fire into a nightmare was confirmed.
The missing parts of the three gates of fire were sufficient to form a new teleportation gate.
Thus, the situation became clear. This meant that at least one or more groups of demons, underground creatures, cultists, or something similar from Jotungrund were presumably preparing to carry out some less-than-pleasant business in Erluin using these fragments.
For the Temple of Fire, this was simply a ridiculous joke.
Or rather, it was a resounding slap in the face of the Temple of Fire. Even Brendel couldn’t help but feel a mix of laughter and tears upon seeing this news, let alone everyone else—though it was almost an open secret that the Temple of Fire had been infiltrated by the Everything Returns Society, he hadn’t expected them to be this abysmally incompetent.
No wonder the power core of the Crusian Empire was leaning more and more toward monarchical power each day; facing such a farcical enemy, it would be somewhat difficult for Her Majesty the Silver Queen not to win.
Brendel thought to himself and shook the parchment in his hand; he was almost certain that Veronika was undoubtedly restless right now. If possible, that legion commander would probably prefer not to deliver this letter to him. The Crusian hadn’t lost such dignity for centuries, and to lose it consecutively was even worse.
But the problem was that there was a group of people wandering around with these teleportation fragments, potentially finding an energy core to reconstruct the teleportation gate at any time. Veronika could not simply turn a blind eye to it.
For Erluin, this wasn’t really a serious problem; after all, they could destroy three gates of teleportation, hence they could deal with a broken temporary gate. But for the Temple of Fire, it was a significant hassle, regardless of when or where these cultists might establish the teleportation gate.
Even if it were set up in some pigpen in a rural area of Erluin, the Temple of Fire would likely not be able to hold its head high in front of the other major temples for half a century. As for the so-called Holy War, they might as well lay down their weapons and yield whatever benefits they had worked for.
Furthermore, concerns about face were secondary; such incidents would severely damage the reputation of the Temple of Fire, inevitably leading to many followers wavering in their faith. Brendel never believed that the vast majority of farmers and craftsmen among the Temple of Fire’s believers had exceptionally firm beliefs, and once faith crumbles, rebuilding it is immensely challenging.
But this was not the worst disaster. For the Crusian, the worst possibility was undoubtedly that these cultists would bring the teleportation fragments back to the Crusian Empire; by Martha, just imagining that scene would likely cause the higher-ups of the Temple of Fire to have nightmares at night.
Not to mention the demons taking these fragments for research or replication—though this possibility was low, if successful, it would likely force the higher-ups of the Temple of Fire to pay with their lives.
If it weren’t for such a severe situation, the proud Sword Saint of the Azure would probably not have hoped, in the context of those words, that he would prioritize maintaining the Temple of Fire. To be honest, as an Erluin person, Brendel would take pleasure in the disgrace of the Crusian, but for Veronika to say this, the implication was that she hoped he could lend a helping hand based on their past friendship.
If one were to say who holds the most power in the southern lands of Erluin today, it was undoubtedly him, supported by the Highland Knights, the Duke of Lantonrand, and many from the Southern Army along with Her Majesty the Princess.
Thus, this letter was sent to him and Princess Grifian.
Thinking of Veronika, Brendel couldn’t help but sigh.
To be honest, the female legion commander of the Crusian Empire left a fairly good impression on him. Moreover, he knew that the domineering young lady, Faina, actually regarded him as a friend in private.
“After you discovered it, did the Azure Sky Legion immediately enter Erluin?” he thought for a moment and asked.
“No, in fact, a high-ranking person from the Temple of Fire entrusted Lady Veronika to assist. I’m not quite sure who specifically. Because this matter is of great importance, even within the Empire, not many people are aware of it,” Laurena replied.
Brendel couldn’t help but shake his head, “You know it’s a significant matter, but the person sent as an envoy seems to have lacked some consideration.”
The young knight was slightly taken aback and immediately showed a hesitant expression.
