If his son really died in the war, then sacrificing for the empire would be the highest honor.
Wilfin knew that his son was not a coward, he just hoped that his son would not regret his choice.
Compared with the iron-blooded general of the past, Wilfin has become a little sentimental now.
PS: Air-conditioned watermelon ice cream, I am so well prepared that I have to write some words (dayouxi)~
Chapter 1 - Childhood Friend 010 The Day She Left
Another heavy snow fell in Ed Fallon, and the residents sat around the fireplace in their homes. The most discussed topic was probably the war.
Almost all the people in the empire did not believe it when they heard the news for the first time. How could those weak countries have the courage to wage war against the empire?
The topic of discussion now has turned to how much water can be stuffed into the heads of the rulers of the coalition countries.
In the Duke's mansion, Licaro, wearing winter clothes, sat in the courtyard, looking at the snowflakes flying in the sky, her thoughts drifting back to the past.
After saying goodbye to the little black dragon, although she often went to the forest to play with Guoguo, she always had a feeling of loss.
She missed her dragon friends very much, but she didn't know how long it would take for the little black dragon to come back to see her.
Although Eloline once said that there was a way to contact Licaro, Licaro found it incomprehensible.
"Come and have a cup of hot tea, dear daughter."
The mother next to her handed her a cup of steaming hot tea.
Doris Edfallon is the second wife of Duke Wilfin and Licaro's biological mother.
"Thank you, mother."
Licaro was in a much better mood. Her mother finally came back a few days ago. It turned out that she visited her brother in the north on her way back, which delayed her for a long time.
As compensation for missing her daughter's birthday party, Doris has been accompanying her daughter all this time. She found that her daughter seemed a little different from before, as if there was something on her mind.
She held Lika Luo in her arms and stroked her head affectionately: "My dear daughter, if you have any worries, you must tell your mother."
"Ah."
Licaro would tell her mother everything, but the matter of the little black dragon was a secret that she didn't intend to tell anyone.
Now that her father had gone to the imperial capital for a meeting, Licaro felt that now was a good opportunity for her to fulfill her previous wish.
So she kept rubbing against her mother, begging in a soft tone: "Mother, I want to learn swordsmanship~"
Doris had expected Licaro to beg her, but her answer was still no.
This is also for the sake of my daughter's future. Although it is a bit cruel to prohibit her interests, my daughter's body is indeed suitable for learning magic. If she learns swordsmanship, even if she can succeed, she will have to put in many times more effort than learning magic.
Doris didn't want her daughter to suffer too much.
"Oh, I just want to learn!" Likalo looked at her mother pitifully with tears in her eyes.
"I told you not to. Your father doesn't agree with you learning swordsmanship."
"Why? My brother and the others can do it!"
"Because your two brothers are boys."
“This is prejudice!”
Licaro spoke very loudly, but even though she was making a fuss, she would never really quarrel with the mother she respected.
Doris was in a dilemma. Her daughter had insisted on learning swordsmanship for such a long time, but from a practical point of view, her daughter's special physique was meant for a magician.
That's the physique of the fountain of magic power. My daughter doesn't like such excellent conditions. It's really...
"Dear Likalo, how about this." Doris touched Likalo's head: "When spring comes, I will hire a swordsmanship instructor for you, how about that?"
"Eh...eh hey hey!? Really?!" Licaro was very surprised. She couldn't believe that her mother actually agreed.
"Of course, and I will try to persuade your father."
Faced with this huge surprise, Likalo couldn't hold back her excitement and threw herself on her mother, saying, "I love you the most, mother!"
Doris sighed secretly. With her daughter's stubborn temper, she would never learn magic even if she was not allowed to learn swordsmanship.
Now, Doris' idea is to hire an extremely strict swordsmanship instructor, so that Likalo can't bear the hard training and then give up on her own.
In Doris's opinion, Likalo's dream of being a knight is just a beautiful fantasy brought about by adventure novels and is completely unrealistic.
Once my daughter discovers the difference between dreams and reality, her enthusiasm will naturally disappear.
But Doris could never have imagined that Licaro's dream now was not just to become a knight, but to become a profession that might not even exist.
After getting her mother's assurance, Likalo began to look forward to the arrival of spring, but as she looked at the snowflakes dancing in the sky, her longing for the little black dragon still remained.
I wonder what the little black dragon is doing now? Is she bigger? Has she met any new friends?
The snow gradually stopped and the sky cleared up again. Licaro stood up and decided to go to the forest to play with Guoguo.
If the little black dragon comes back, she might just happen to meet him.
"Where are you going again?" Doris asked.
"Let's go back to the city and play games with my friends~"
Although she said that, Licaro had very little time to play with her friends in the city. She spent most of her time in the forest, either playing with Guoguo or staying alone in the place where she used to live with the little black dragon.
Licaro has become accustomed to the peaceful and tranquil feeling in the forest. Even though the little black dragon is no longer there, she still feels comfortable and relaxed, which is incomparable to the noisy city.
"Don't forget to go home before dark," Doris reminded.
"Don't worry, mother!"
After leaving home, Licaro ran straight to the market in the city. She used her pocket money to buy a lot of fruits. These fruits were for Guoguo. Because they were brought by merchants from other places, they were fruits that could never be found in the forest.
As a wolf who only likes to eat fruits, Guoguo loves all kinds of fruits sold in the city of Ed Fallon.
After the snow stopped, there was still thick snow on the road leading to the forest. Likalo's boots left small footprints, but the magical thing was that not long after Likalo passed by, these footprints disappeared immediately, and the snow on the ground became smooth again.
"Is Guoguo here?"
Licaro shouted loudly in the forest. The wild animals in the forest were all her friends, and she would not be in danger even if she shouted casually.
Soon, a sturdy white wolf suddenly appeared, knocked Licaro to the ground, and then rubbed her body.
"Wow, Guoguo, you're growing up so fast."
It snowed for a long time before, so Likalo hadn't seen Guoguo for a while. Now she found that Guoguo had grown bigger.
Licaro took out the fruits she bought in the city from her backpack. When Guoguo saw them, he let out a cry and then began to enjoy the fruits happily.
"Hehe, so good~"
Licaro stroked Guoguo's thick wolf fur with her hand, then put her face against it, feeling very warm.
It has been more than a month since the little black dragon left. When will it come back?
And how will he inform me after he comes back?
Chapter 1 - Childhood Friends The plot of these two chapters is unreasonable! Modify! Fourth update!
After some consideration, I increasingly feel that this plot is too unreasonable and too stupid. It will definitely be a failure if it is kept, so I have deleted these two chapters and revised them again!
Thank you for your understanding, I will delete some related things! Anyway, I am also quite dissatisfied with this plot!
Of course I will make up for the updates, so I expect that in the early morning (when you should all be asleep), I will release reasonable and no longer so outrageous chapters.
Updates for today and tomorrow will still be released as usual, thank you everyone!
Chapter 1 - Childhood Friends 011 Diplomatic Failure
[Changed. I’ll use a small hammer to make you lose your memory. Forget what you saw before.]
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The imperial ambassador had returned to the imperial city and had an audience with Emperor Pate in the palace. With a somewhat embarrassed look on his face, he reported the situation truthfully to Pate.
Instead of being unwilling to cease fire, the rulers of the Five Nations Alliance asked their ambassadors to convey a message to Emperor Petr - the Silver Eagle Empire will eventually perish.
There is no doubt that diplomacy has failed.
Emperor Petr was filled with anger. Since the founding of the empire, no country had ever dared to challenge it.
Do you think that the five countries can defeat the empire by uniting? That is simply wishful thinking.
Pate convened another meeting of nobles, but this time there was nothing to discuss. Since the Five-Nation Alliance had taken the initiative to start the war, the Empire would naturally fight to the end.
Now we have to choose a marshal from the military generals, who is more suitable?
Pate was a little undecided. Many of the empire's old generals had rich combat experience, but considering the cold climate and harsh conditions in the northern region, he was a little worried about their health.
However, those young generals were unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility because the scale of this war was not small and they were not experienced enough and might not be able to cope with some problems.
Therefore, only generals who were in their middle age could be selected as marshals. Many of them became generals shortly before the establishment of the empire. Although they did not participate in the entire war from beginning to end, they also took part in many battles.
The selection of marshals has nothing to do with the nobles, because imperial law does not allow the coexistence of titles and military positions. However, noble lords are now also eligible to participate in the discussion of selecting marshals.
"Your Majesty, will you let me go?"
Faron, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke. He was the commander of the Imperial Guard, guarding the imperial city and the imperial family with great loyalty, but he was also very old.
Emperor Peter respected Fallon very much, because Fallon had saved his life more than once, and they were brothers in life and death on the battlefield. He looked at Fallon and smiled, "My old friend, you are about the same age as me, and you have to lead the Guards. I can't let you go."
"That's not a problem. I can hand over the command of the Guards at any time." Fallon knelt on one knee and said to Pate sincerely, "Your Majesty, I am old and I don't have many years left to live. If I can make contributions to the empire in my twilight years, it will be the highest honor."
"Falon, you followed me to fight when you were young, but now you don't even have an heir. If something goes wrong on the battlefield..."
"Ha, doesn't this mean that I have no worries in my heart?"
Faron wanted to serve as the marshal of this war, and with Faron taking the lead, many old generals of the empire began to volunteer for the job because they were unwilling to admit defeat at the age of old.
This made Pete a little difficult to decide, so he looked at Wilfin. In the past, if there was a problem that could not be solved, Wilfin could always think of a solution that satisfied him.
"Your Majesty, I do have an idea."
"Oh? Tell me?"
Wilfin looked at the old generals headed by Fallon and gave them a noble salute.
Faron smiled and said, "We are old friends, so let's not talk about these rules."
The other old generals also laughed. They were all comrades-in-arms with Wilfin, but Wilfin resigned from his general position after the war. In fact, the friendship between them as soldiers was still the same as before.
"Ahem." Wilfen cleared his throat. "The enemy of the Empire is the Five Nations Alliance, which means we have to fight on five fronts if we fight back. It would be better to split the legions and let the veteran generals go to different fronts."
Wilfen then added: "And I suggest that all the generals present who have no combat missions should go to the front line, especially the young generals. This is a precious opportunity that you have not earned easily."
The young generals were very happy to hear Wilfen's words. They were able to become high-ranking generals of the imperial army at such a young age. Naturally, they were all capable people, but they lacked the opportunity to display their talents. Due to their lack of qualifications, they did not have the right to fight for opportunities for themselves during the conversation just now.
According to Wilfin's idea, not only will they have the opportunity to gain military merit, but they can also gain a lot of practical experience. You know, not everyone can go to the Wilderness Legion, the only place where military merit can be gained in peacetime.
The old generals naturally understood Wilfin's idea. Wilfin was training the next generation of imperial generals. This made them feel a little embarrassed when they were competing to go to the front line.
It is better to leave this opportunity to young people.
Emperor Pate listened to the discussion for such a long time and finally made a decision: "The Empire has been at peace for too long. We should indeed go through another war to prevent the blood of the Imperial people from disappearing."
This war actually turned out to be beneficial to the Empire. In everyone's eyes, the army of the Five-Nation Alliance was here to train the Empire. Whether in terms of numbers, equipment, or training level, the Empire's army was overwhelming.
Now the Northern Legion alone can easily defeat the invading enemies, not to mention that the Empire has more than a dozen large legions.
Emperor Petr announced: "Tomorrow we will hold a war meeting and assign duties to the generals. Dukes and earls, please return to your respective fiefdoms tomorrow. It has been a long time since we have all been together. I will hold a grand banquet in the palace tonight."
After the noble meeting ended, Emperor Peter asked them to return to their temporary residences first, and then ordered people to prepare for the banquet.
The last time so many people gathered together was at the celebration banquet when the empire was first established...
Thinking back to his youth, Pate couldn't help but feel a little emotional. His life was very dreamy. When he was a child, he would never have thought that he would become an emperor high above everyone else, right?
Petr's original intention in establishing the empire was not for power and fame, he just wanted to end the chaos at that time. This is why the empire did not continue to expand. He had no ambition to unify the continent because he understood the value of peace better than anyone else.
Why did the rulers of the five countries start a war this time? Pate had a good personal relationship with them. Although he knew that those people would forget their principles for the sake of profit, they could not defeat the empire even if they put all their efforts into it.
Thinking of the news that the ambassador had brought back, Pate felt even more confused. They actually dared to threaten that the empire would be destroyed. Who gave them the courage?
However, although the empire is powerful, Pate will not take it lightly. The abnormal behavior of the enemy makes him more vigilant.
Could it be that they have mastered something that can change the situation of the war?
This possibility would not be very low, so Pate decided to have the Imperial Guards step up their alert first, and the court wizards also set up detection and defense barriers in the palace to prevent assassins and the like from sneaking in.