Vol 6 Chapter 29: Threatening approach

This is a thing that goes back to the beginning of the earliest eleventh generation.
At that time, the empire had just experienced unusually violent upheaval, when the fear of the invasion of the monsters in the north had not dissipated;
At that time, the empire had just lost an empress who loved art, cool poetry and literature, indulged in unrestrained and brutal blood, and lost a universal support, almost becoming the emperor, but eventually became the "duke of the apostate";
At that time, he had just succeeded to the throne, and was evaluated by the later generations as "mediocre inaction". Even Otto I, who was suspected of killing her mother, quietly restored the empire that was almost broken in her mother's hands, the road was cut off, and civilians were displaced.
He wants to negotiate with the Duke, and he needs food for his soldiers; he wants to revive the war-torn East Sackland. He needs to give Ebden self-government in order to borrow the money from the free aristocracy and the Chamber of Commerce; The status of the Ling Family strives for the stability of Byrne.
No one pleases Alto I, but no one pleases in the end; he did everything, so he did nothing;
Have n’t built a palace, built a church, and have n’t fought a war; no statues, gates, libraries, or bridges have his name and reliefs; if it ’s not the eleventh generation, the empire almost forgot. And this emperor.
But these were not matters of concern to an alchemist at the time.
The mad dragon queen collapsed, and the Black Duke was in disrepute; he was completely desperate in the face of the withered and broken empire, and he never wanted to pay more for this "betraying himself" country.
It's not yourself, it's not the queen, it's not the duke, it's the world.
So he turned his eyes to the misty sea to the west—on the other side of the sea, it was another country.
The kingdom of elves, the kingdom of Azores under the rule of the eagle king.
He set off with the ocean-going fleet, but the fleet did not actually reach the territory of the Azores kingdom; so he found a way by himself, and finally leaned on a small sampan and wandered across to arrive at a place called Yingxiao Island. Saved by the lord; he has been entertained for a long time, fighting with his sword, giving peace to poetry, talking and laughing ...
So far, it's all content that Loren has heard. But what follows is the real key.
"After a period of contact, the elf lord seems to have a strong interest in alchemy and wants to communicate with me in depth."
In the elf tree house in the morning star forest settlement, Harlem Van Ashamai sighed and continued: "I was still young at that time, and I agreed without much thought-after all, the other party saved me, not to mention too much. Claim."
The dark-haired wizard nodded and agreed.
Although the wizards of the empire have always regarded knowledge as more important than life, and the theoretical system between schools and even schools may be different, but as long as core research is not involved, "basic popularization" is still very keen ... not to mention that the other party is life-saving. benefactor.
"So after talking about it, I can say with certainty that the Azore elves know almost nothing about alchemy." Achamai tried hard to recall: "He was very sincere and hardworking at the time. The study of things-to be fair, in terms of the age of the elf lord, his rate of progress can be called talented. "
"But the fact is that the Azore elves know nothing about occultism, ancient runes, alchemy, or curse science--the level of knowledge in this area is almost zero!"
what?
This time it wasn't just Ain and Lucien, even the dark-haired wizard could not help raising his eyebrows.
Only Peter Fasha seems to have known something for a long time, and there are complex emotions in his eyes that are difficult to distinguish.
The empire has always had a very shallow understanding of the Azores, but the commodities brought by ocean trade, especially luxury goods, can also get some clues-the country across the sea, the achievements in literature and art are not inferior Yu Empire.
And in textile, pottery, metallurgy, forging, stone carving and other aspects, even far exceeds the level of the empire.
In the fixed thinking of the imperial people, especially the wizards, the elves can reach this height, they must have alchemy much more developed than the empire; even if the name is different, the development direction is different, it must exist and extremely prosperous.
But now Harlem van Ashamal told them that the elves not only did not have the school of alchemy, not even wizards!
"At that time, I suspected that it was because the number of wizards or the status of the wizards was too low among the Azore elves, which caused the elf lord to have no concept of them." Only listening to Azhama continued:
"But the fact is the exact opposite, and there really isn't--because it's not necessary."
"no need?"
"Yes, Lord Duke, there is no need." Achamai nodded slightly and suddenly turned his attention to the little wizard: "Ayin, you have spent so long in the wizarding union of the Bain, and once served as a new apprentice professor. tutor."
"Tell me, how long does it generally take to recruit apprentices, and how many people can become at least qualified apprentices?"
"Well ... at least, it has to be about two years." The little wizard groaned a little: "As for the ratio of people, it is generally between one-thirtieth and one-fiftieth, almost ... wait, you mean ?! "
Facing the crowd who raised their heads almost simultaneously, Azhama nodded again.
Loren's heart tightened.
"Amazed? When I noticed this, I was even more surprised than you-one of the thirty imperials has the basic talent to become a wizard; but for the elves, this is their innate gift. ability."
"Any elf can dream, no need to build a spiritual hall, no need to understand the boring ancient runes, no magic spells, you can master and use the power of the void equivalent to low-level magic spells, which is innate. It ’s like instinct like using a tool by hand. "
"Yes, they are not too low, but too high; of course, they don't need it, and they can't develop a theoretical wizard system like the nine-man star wizard tower!"
The low voice fell, but in the ears of everyone was no different than the thunder that burst.
The dark-haired wizard lowered his head and stared blankly at the ground without saying a word.
Ayin, immersed in shock, revealed an expression that he could not imagine.
The gray pupil stood silently on the side of the door, squeezing the sword handle around his waist-this was the only thing he could think of and he could do it.
The Azores elves have not developed alchemy because each of their craftsmen is an "alchemy craftsman", and there is no need to separately distinguish between the concepts of "scholar" and "wizard".
This is a more difficult concept to understand ... to explain in plain language, that is, the Azores might think they are living in a "no magic" or "low magic" world because of their power to the void The use of has been integrated into life, without forming a separate system.
And humans have such an independent "system" because the level is too low, and the proportion of having this talent is very small.
This is really ...
"The Azore elves didn't have the" wizard "business, but it doesn't mean that they don't have another system for using the power of the void." Achamai's voice sounded again:
"Samurai system."
The grey pupil suddenly raised his head and opened his eyes alertly.
"Similar to Byrne's knight system, the nobles of the Azore elves have learned the skills of swordsmanship and bows and arrows since they were young. The elf lord who rescued me is a warrior with superb swordsmanship and a sharp Azore long. The knife was in his hand, and he could even split the armor. "
"Not only that, they used the power of the void in swordsmanship in a very unique way, something similar to‘ beyond perception ’but completely different and terrifying; I do n’t want to exaggerate, but ...

Harlem van Asha took a meal and watched Loren saying one by one: "An Azore elf warrior can compete with at least four Bayern knights at the same time in a step-by-step match. "
Loren looked at him silently without interrupting.
"Not only that, the Azore Elves are a country with a tradition of 'worshipping by force'; according to the elf lord, the more powerful the samurai, the more respected the status-the best master, even with the eagle king Tied. "Achamai sighed:
"And this elf warrior who can cut off the armor, according to his self-confidence, is only because of the poor swordsmanship that he can only get an official position to defend the frontier islands."
"To be honest, today I am a heartfelt hope. It is really that he is too humble."
Lucien's pupils shrank suddenly.
It is many times more powerful than severing the armor, and is qualified to be tied with the king, wielding the elf warrior with the Azore sword ...
I really want to compete.
The dark-haired wizard was lost in thought.
"Master Azhamai, why ..." the little wizard said suspiciously: "Why have you never mentioned this before, and why the empire still knows nothing about the Azores?"
"Why?" Harlem van Azamal, whose expression was bleak, did not answer, and turned his helpless gaze to Loren with a wry smile.
"Because it is not necessary." Loren gave the answer silently.
Yes, there is no need.
Amidst the misty sea, even the empire's ocean-going fleet can only travel back and forth once a year, and there are only two or three thousand sailors and mercenaries.
That is to say, even if the Azore elves launched a full-scale war and a full-scale invasion, the army they can invest in is only four or five thousand at most, and they can only attack the port of Eboden, and only once a year.
Even if each of them can play ten, one can defend against the invasion of elves by the local strength of Ebden, there is no need to worry at all.
What's more, what can they get when they cross the ocean to invade the empire?
wealth? Compared with such a huge expedition, how much wealth is not cost-effective;
land? Not to mention whether they can control the occupied land across a misty sea, even if they want to open up the colony, the next thing they face is the siege of the empire on all sides, the lack of troops, and the insurgency inside, it is impossible to keep it.
slave? Although it is inappropriate to say so, if they really want it, the Chamber of Commerce and Ocean Fleet of Eboden can definitely find a way to satisfy them in exchange for the huge profits of ocean trade.
Such a costly expedition, a labor expedition, destined to get nothing at a loss, what kind of war madness can you think of?
"Then ... the irreparable error that Master Ashamai said ..."
"I didn't really come into contact with the warrior system of the Azores, but ..." Achamai smiled bitterly: "They should already know our wizarding system very well."
"I guess that I may have accidentally exposed the actual war potential and level of the empire."
The black-haired wizard sighed. When Master Ashamai said this to himself, he thought it was just some private question ...
"Also ... If the elf who came to the ancient wood forest was my benefactor, I want him to see that I am afraid it would also be detrimental to the Duke-you know, one's happiness is often based on the suffering of others; unfortunately , The happiness of my two daughters, and a niece, all weighed on the father and uncle ... "
"Of course, it's a bargain in terms of alchemy, because we created three times as much happiness, but only one pain ... but I guess he might not think so ..."
"..." Everyone.
The room closed by "silence like water" is so quiet that you can even hear everyone's heartbeat.
"Half a year ago, Eboden sent a team to investigate the deceased ocean-going fleet.
Just as everyone was quiet, Peter Fasha ’s voice suddenly murmured:
"Although there is no conclusive evidence, they did find the sea area where the fleet was killed-it is said that there were no severe weather and no signs of hurricanes or waves on the day of the death."
"At least, in the Nine-Man Star Witch Tower, wizards who are proficient in astrology and astrology predict this."
"You mean ..." Lussin sneered.
"In the place where the incident occurred, they also found some fragments on the ship." Peter Fassa ignored him and continued to say: "Especially on one of the fragments of the mast, a trace of being cut by the blade was found. "
"That's the ocean-going fleet, the flagship main mast;"
"Someone, an unknown knife ..."
"Severe cut."
The voice fell and the room was quiet again.
Frowning frown, Loren looked at Peter Fashabi's right hand without squinting; the trance's line of sight seemed to have passed through time, going back to a scene three years ago--
In the dark night, in the rain-drenched sea, an elf warrior carried the sword over the deck of the flagship; in the exhilaration of the sailors and mercenaries, the panicked footsteps, shouting and drinking in the grand phase that surrounded him, gently holding Knife handle.
Xueliang's blade of light shone out at the moment the thunder burst.
Plasma ~ EbookFREE.me ~ swells like ink; screaming, one after another.
After a moment, there was no second person standing on the deck except him.
The lonely elf warrior waved his sword to his side and returned to the sheath; the blood drop that fell with the body of the sword drew a crescent-shaped semi-arc beside him.
When turning around, there was a neat cut in the main mast behind him, capsized in a whine.
"boom--!!!!"
The door was opened.
The nervous crowd turned their eyes to the door of the room almost at the same time, and Peter and Achamai did not forget to put on the hood and disguise again.
"Sorry, did you bother you?"
A cold voice sounded from outside the door. The expressionless female elf hugged her shoulders, staring straight at the dark-haired wizard with her back to her:
"Mr. Morning Star Lin commanded them, you asked them to agree!"