What did you do with the dice?

"Okay! You're such a kindhearted person! I promise you!" Before Sanitieta could say anything, Rusalka reached out and took the thing he handed over, adding, "No need for a contract. I have great trust in you."

Gao Hong hadn't expected Rusalka to be so straightforward. After a moment's thought, he drew his sword and held it before him, saying in a thunderous voice, "I swear on the honor of my family and the Great Knight that I will not betray the troops and trust you have left here."

However, Rusalka's sword was too large for such an oath, so she could only hold it out in front of her with her arms outstretched. "Alright, then I will also swear on the honor of my family, the Grand Knight, and even the Paladin. If your brother, the Great Duke Gode, has no objection and doesn't turn against us, then I will cooperate with him. If he encounters any difficulties, I will definitely help him."

Then both sides laughed and shook hands vigorously, which meant they had reached a temporary offensive and defensive alliance in Alice City.

Sanitta's eyelids twitched as he watched. In his opinion, the process of cooperation between the two great knights was a bit outrageous. It was like two guys who had not revealed any information or cards to each other suddenly announced their cooperation. It was like the friendship between men in the previous life only needed a game.

But the problem is, it was a peaceful time on Earth, but this broken place was clearly in the midst of war, with nobles fighting against each other. Can this also be applied to a formula?

No, let's not even talk about what Rusalka, with his intelligence of 5, was thinking. He might simply have thought the knight's oath was so cool, and he couldn't resist the allure of such a cool gesture. But what about Gao Hong? Did Gao Hong know what his group was really going to Alice City for? How could he be so sure that he was really going to support the king, to ensure that Prince Charens would open the treasury and ascend the throne right there?

And this isn't just a rhetorical question. The truth is, they have a contract with Theresa, and they're not really there to protect Prince Dai! You didn't even ask that? How dare you?

Perhaps this is the result of Rusalka's talent as a "social genius". Now it's like a turtle and a green bean, they are attracted to each other.

Oh, forget it. After thinking about it, this cooperation is purely beneficial to his side. After all, Sunita just wants the key, and what happens to the kingdom in the future is none of his business.

"Then I'll take my leave. By the way, if you don't mind leaving a little later to make sure everything is ready, I can prepare anything you need before heading to Alice City and send it to you."

"Nothing to prepare, thank you for your kindness."

"That's good. If you have any questions, you can always contact me. I'm in Chaudhry City."

Gao Hong then left with the guards standing at the door.

Next, Sanita and Rusalka looked at each other: count the troops, replenish supplies, set off, and head to Alice!

Chapter 258: Walking on the Road

Whether or not Gao Hong's support is obtained does play a huge role in the current situation. If the Guardian Knight Family still wants to become the "King of Knights" and is not in agreement with the seemingly "loyalist" Rusalka, then Sani Iron Tower will not only have to consider the logistical transportation issues in the middle, but also the supply reserves of the soldiers in the rear on the front line, and must fight on time.

Racing against time is always the key factor that determines victory or defeat in war.

Not only that, it was impossible for him to bring a large number of troops to Alice City for a fight, because several forces were gathered in Alice City. The more you show off your strength, the more likely you are to become a priority target. Rusalka's wealth was not so great that he could casually use up tens of thousands of troops.

But now with the endorsement of the Guardian Knight Family, Sanni Iron Tower can confidently and boldly select a part of the troops that can be used. There is no need to bring siege equipment and the like because the marching speed is too slow, and the catapults and other things in the Pearl Tear Territory are not strong enough. After all, the military industry has not considered going in this direction. Duke Gaode must have it, so he can use his and just bring a magic cannon.

It is enough for the light and medium cavalry to bring only a battalion of 100 people to be used as scout cavalry. After all, feeding the war horses is a heavy logistical burden. In a siege, the role of cavalry is still too limited. The supply requirements for long-term combat are too high. It is better to leave Chaudhry City and let Gao Hong take care of it.

Naturally, the more infantry troops there are, the better. However, Sani Tieta still left a few light and medium infantry regiments in Chaudhry City. On the one hand, they could take care of the cavalry troops. On the other hand, he still wanted to be wary of Gao Hong rebelling and swallowing up his army. The larger the number of troops in the city, the more military force he could use to form a deterrent.

Since Custer clearly expressed his desire to go to Alice City this time, this part of the army could only be led by Lei Xiukai, who had always been of low status and average strength, but was particularly good at staying away from danger. Therefore, he volunteered to stay in Chaudhry City to "monitor Gao Hong". Sani Tieta left a communication stone for him, believing that he would live up to his expectations and not suddenly decide to cosplay as Ma Su and force himself to be Zhuge Liang after returning to the city.

They counted 3 troops, 1900 heavy cavalry, 100 light cavalry, 23000 infantry, and 5000 miscellaneous logistics personnel. Gao Hong also had to continuously send supplies to Alice City, so they simply added some troops from Rusalka's side and sent an extra logistics transport team to Rusalka. In this way, they would not have to worry about fighting on the front line for too long, the logistics line from Zhulei Territory being too long, the transportation capacity being insufficient, or being intercepted by Grand Duke Delai halfway.

When taking the army back to Chaudhry City for resettlement and holding a routine combat meeting and task arrangement, Gao Hong applied to meet with the eldest prince who wanted to fight with the army but was arranged to be in the logistics regiment and not on the front line.

Sanita didn't refuse, and secretly cast an eavesdropping spell, allowing them to have a long conversation. The whole conversation was filled with motivational words and vague views on the future situation, with the knight's fantasy utopian vision. In practice, it cannot be said that it is impossible, but it can only be said that the journey is long and arduous - at least it is definitely not possible for the two of them.

For example, Gao Hong hopes that the eldest prince can make the Guardian Knight Family the head of the three families, assist in rectifying the national atmosphere, establish a more complete knight selection system, and spread the knight thought throughout the country.

Sani Tieta just thought it was quite funny. The Guardian Knight Family wanted to manage the kingdom, so they might as well take care of themselves first - their own economy was generally recognized to be bad, otherwise it would not be the case that the family had strong martial virtues and the territory had been developed for so long, but they gradually became the last of the three dukes. They relied entirely on the kingdom's chivalrous spirit to attract high-end combat forces to move in to support construction, and even had to introduce the Church of the Goddess of Wealth and the Guild of the God of Law and Contract to help pay for development.

Chivalry, when applied to upper management, can indeed prevent much political corruption. However, the problem is that applying this approach to ordinary people and businesspeople is inherently incompatible. They won't wake up each morning to a recitation of the Chivalric Code: If you can't make money just by shouting slogans, how can you get them to work hard and produce? Everyone needs to eat!

To put it bluntly, when a talent like Mayor Shapaero comes to the territory of the Great Duke Gode, these knights will definitely not understand the virtuous cycle of Sanita, which is to fatten the oil rat, then catch it and squeeze it personally, and then throw it back into the oil barrel to fatten it up. So Shapaero's fate is only to be sent to prison or demoted to a commoner, wasting his excellent management talent in vain. How can the economy be managed well?

But since he was eavesdropping, he couldn't say it openly afterwards, so he just treated it as a joke.

"Come on, Your Majesty, Siloxis! Lead your loyal Lord of Pearl Tear and the Guardian Knights to fight for your life in Alice City. Become the new king of Sneidi and bring a new future and hope to the kingdom!"

"Well, I will not disappoint the people and the loyal knights who support me."

Gao Hong and the eldest prince stretched out their hands and shook hands vigorously. After they had a sincere conversation with each other, which was a very meaningless 85-degree passionate conversation, they ended this completely meaningless communication that made Sunita want to yawn.

----

"I wish you all good luck in martial arts and a safe journey."

"Thank you."

Fifteen minutes after the scout team of the scouts left, the main force slowly set off.

The two elves originally rode a yellow chocobo together, but when they set out this time, they left the bird in Chaudhry City. When asked about it, they said that they had grown attached to the chocobo and were reluctant to send it to the front line to fight, fearing that it would die accidentally and be too pitiful.

The love that everyone here has for their mounts is mainly reflected in their daily lives. Why would you raise a warhorse if not for fighting? So I don't quite understand the two elves' idea.

Rusalka was the only one who understood the two elves' thoughts. Perhaps it was a kind of resonance. Watching them pull Aerie onto the roof of the next carriage, their laughter drifting like silver bells on the wind, she translated to Sanita, who was riding a Chocobo alongside him, "They're probably like people who can't bear to use a new eraser because they're afraid it'll get dirty. That's why I always liked to use dark erasers as a child. My family bought me white ones, but I wouldn't use them. I'd borrow one from my deskmate, and finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and broke it in half and gave me half."

Sanitta had forgotten what happened when he was little, but he felt that this was indeed something Rusalka would have done as a child: "Okay."

Shana and Alijie were over there, pushing and shoving Ai Li, who seemed a little afraid of heights and didn't dare to let her legs hang out of the car, to make her happy. The latter was so scared that her face turned pale and she kept shouting, "Wow, I'm going to fall, I'm really going to fall!"

After a while, they started chattering about something again.

Since Phoenix was riding the bird, Rusalka, who didn't need to look in the direction, stared at the two elves on the roof of the next car for a long time, wondering, "Why are they so happy like two elves?"

Sunny Iron Tower was reading a book while riding the bird. This chocobo has some intelligence, like intelligent driving. If you ignore it, it will not actively crash into the obstacles in front of it, nor will it suddenly perform straight-line wall-climbing. Instead, it will follow the team and run slowly and orderly. You just need to feed it a carrot as "fuel" regularly.

"Because they are elves."

"I'm just speaking metaphorically, metaphorically." Rusalka spread her hands. "I'm curious about what they're talking about. Why don't you go ask them? Sentinel Sanitta, bring back the information!"

After a moment of silence, Sanita said, "We were discussing the differences between the three major capitals of Alice City, World Tree, and Light City. The two elves said that the World Tree is a huge tree located in the center of the Lake of Life. Most pure-blooded elves live in small huts in the tree's hollows, which are much more beautiful than human cities.

Then they were discussing how to ask me to obtain a parchment scroll, magically imprint Alice City on it, and bring it back to the Elven Forest, boasting to their compatriots that they could freely enter and exit Alice City and punch in, being noble pure-blooded elves revered by humans. Then, as if unable to continue the conversation, Aerie abruptly changed the subject and was now asking about their past lives.

"If you're not my brother, how do you know everything?"

Sanitieta pointed to a small magic circle unfolding next to his ear: "Low-level wind spell, sound transmission."

Rusalka: "Wow, brother, tell me the truth. Did you also plant a bug in my room? If you confess now, I can forgive you."

Sanitta laughed and said, "Do I need to install a bug? I guess you want to read before going to bed every night, but in the end, you think a long rest is more important, so you put the book under your pillow and go to sleep. After waking up, Phoenix drags you straight to breakfast. After breakfast, you think it's still early, so you don't rush to read. So you find a way to leave the affairs to me and Challens, and go to practice swordsmanship with those knights, enjoying the feeling of beating the weak ones. Then you bet on the soldier fighting skills and play a few real-life cricket battles. The whole day just flew by like this."

"And you said you didn't put a camera on me!"

"Haha, I took a look at the new book 'A Brief Introduction to Ethnic Customs' under your pillow last time. The first two pages were open, but from the third page onwards the pages were pressed tightly."

Rusalka ignored Sanita's exposé and said to Phoenix, "Cat, my life is a mess. You can't be like me. You should read more. Knowledge is power, okay?"

Phoenix's ears twitched. She has always been a loyal practitioner. She didn't know whether theoretical knowledge could be transformed into power, but she moved her body to absorb some of Rusalka's overflowing vitality, which would magically restore its vitality every day when she woke up. It can indeed be transformed into real power. Why should she read more books?

Shana, enjoying the cool breeze on the top of the carriage, tied her golden hair into a small braid, tied it with a ribbon and swung it behind her to prevent the wind from blowing her hair into her face, which would be very itchy. "Little Ai Li, how many places have you been to?"

Ai Li thought for a moment and replied somewhat disappointedly:

"Ever since I can remember, I've been a nun in the small church of 'Shishi Village'. This trial is my first time away from home. I never expected to end up so far away."

"So was there anything fun where you lived as a child? Didn't your parents worry about you?"

"Well... I have always had a bad memory and can't remember many things. I don't have parents. People around me said that I was found lying near the village when I was very young and was picked up, but I have no memory of before that. Later, I was raised by the nanny in the village and was determined to become a great person like the nanny. As for other things... I also have a very good nun friend in the church." Ai Li showed the "Mirror of Love" necklace on his chest.

"Later, she was chosen by a powerful priest to be a candidate priest and taken away by carriage to the big city. Before she left, she gave me this necklace as a gift. It's exactly the same one she wears on her chest. She said that we would definitely meet again when we grow up and become powerful people. I think I will be able to meet her when I become Sister Radiance."

Alice looked at the necklace. It was indeed very beautiful, with a charm that seemed to absorb all eyes. If you feel it carefully, you will find that while you are looking at the necklace, it seems as if the red crystal on the necklace is also looking at you.

However, she quickly turned her eyes away from the necklace. Speaking of red, she would think of fire, and it felt far less beautiful than the fireball scroll she had kept. How could a necklace be more precious to the elf than the blazing magic power, the exquisite and perfect spell structure, and the expectations from Teacher Sanita contained in that scroll?

If Rusalka knew what she was thinking, she would definitely laugh at her and say that her life was ruined by Fireball. She could only think of using Fireball. After completing the 3rd ring position, she had to upgrade to a higher ring to release Fireball. She felt like her life was over without Fireball.

"So you've been separated from her for hundreds of years now?"

Ai Li was a little confused by her question: "I... I think I'm only 20 years old this year? But now that you mention it, I can't quite remember when we broke up, but it shouldn't have been more than ten years, right? About seven years?"

"You two have only been separated for a short time."

The elves' concept of life span was indeed very different from Rewi Alley's. In Rewi Alley's view, 10 years was enough to be considered a span of time that had passed. In the eyes of the two elves, it was just a few steps in the long journey of life.

Ai Li looked towards the distant Alice City and felt a sudden unease in his heart. As usual, he clasped his hands together and began to pray to the Light God. "I hope that the Light God will bless me. May this trip to Alice City go smoothly and that there won't be so many casualties. Otherwise, their families will surely be very sad. I hope that everyone can live in peace and happiness, just like the village where I grew up. I also hope that the Saint Lady can give me guidance on this journey so that I can save more innocent people."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm praying to God Wright that everyone is safe."

"Will that work?" Alizee glanced at Shanna doubtfully. "I once prayed to Elune, hoping that donuts would grow on my apple tree, but in the end, it still grew apples. Facts have proven that a tree can only produce what kind of fruit it can bear. The gods are very busy and probably won't care about our little wishes."

Shana puffed out her chest proudly and mocked Alijie, "Wow, you've made such a boring wish before. You really have small breasts and no ambition!"

Alijie was immediately furious. "What? Don't think I don't know you made a wish to Elune, hoping for a husband like in the novels, a dragon-slayer willing to give up power and wealth, with only you in his heart. Then you two could leave the Elven Forest together and journey to the perfect flower sea of ​​Elune's Kingdom to be together forever. Oh, and you also wished for the magic to make cakes appear out of thin air, so you two wouldn't go hungry. You're pretty thorough."

Shana's face immediately turned red, and she was very stubborn as she yelled in frustration, "I didn't do that! Even if I did, it was when I was very young, over two hundred years ago! If you tell this to Teacher Sanitieta, when you die, I will dig your body out from under the maple tree and bury it in the stinking mud under the Queen of Flowers!"

"Wow, you're so vicious! Then I'm going to throw your body into the rotting swamp where the black dragon lives in the book!"

"What plant do you think Teacher Sanitieta will be buried under after his death?"

"I heard that humans don't like to be buried under plants. They usually erect a small stone tablet for themselves and carve their names on it. This means that their souls are stored there, marking their location and names for the gods, waiting for the gods to lead them to the kingdom of God."

"Then can my name also be engraved on Teacher Sanitieta's monument?"

"I don't know, you can ask him when the time comes."

"What if he doesn't agree?"

"Oh, silly! What does it matter if he disagrees? Humans can't be resurrected anyway. After Teacher Sanitieta dies, we can just run over and secretly carve our names on his tombstone, then die there and leave our souls nearby, right? The gods don't know what's going on, and since all souls are the same, they'll just follow the guidance of the human tombstone and take us along."

"Genius! But if we do that, won't our souls flee to the kingdom of the Supreme Lord of Arcane? Then the God of Nature won't be able to find us?"

"You're already dead, why are you still thinking so much? Then stop talking nonsense and just go find a maple tree to lie down under, and wait for your death when you'll be all alone with those elves who can't even cast a fireball."

"That's too tragic. I'd better go with you to the Supreme of Arcane."

----

Rusalka found that when his good brother put his hand next to his ear, the light on the magic circle went out.

"Huh? Why did you turn off that eavesdropping skill of yours?"

Sanita rubbed his eyebrows, looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh.

"Forget it, they're too noisy, and nothing useful can come out of their mouths. My head is a little swollen, so I won't listen to them for now."

Chapter 259 Rewi Alley's Nightmare

A girl in a white robe passed by him. Her figure was blurry, but the only thing that was clear was the necklace hanging on her chest, with the ruby ​​on it sparkling.

Ai Li was stunned for a moment, then turned around excitedly and shouted to her: "Ah! I found you, we finally meet again!..."

But her enthusiasm was stuck in her throat, and she suddenly couldn't say the rest of the words, because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember the past events and details. She only remembered the vague scene of parting under the tree that day and the gentle feeling in her heart.

She couldn't even remember the girl's face. Her brain was like the environment she was in now, shrouded in a fog and she couldn't see anything clearly.

What was her name? She was once my best friend, but I couldn't remember her name at all. Why?

The other person turned around and looked at Ai Li. His face was just as blurry as in his memory. Ai Li tried hard to open his eyes wide to see clearly, but he still couldn't leave a clear impression in his memory.

The girl slowly said, "Aili."

"Hey? You still remember me! Sorry, I forgot your name, you..."

"You... killed me."

This statement was completely groundless and incomprehensible. From childhood to adulthood, Rewi Alley didn't even dare to kill fish. When he saw earthworms on the roadside after the rain, he would water them and put them in the soil. Not to mention having the intention to harm others.

But the moment Ai Li heard these words, she felt as if her heart was being grasped by a huge hand and then squeezed tightly. Her whole body felt as if she was falling into an ice cellar. A tide of fear surged from all sides, crushing her. She could hardly breathe. Her feet seemed to be filled with lead and then stuck to the ground, unable to take a single step.

At this moment, she finally saw the girl's face clearly, but the face was switching rapidly. There were old people, children, men, women, countless different faces, each looking at her. The only thing they had in common was the pair of eyes filled with strong hatred and disappointment. Their gaze was like a poisonous snake that bit Ai Li tightly, injecting the toxin of despair into her body.

"It was your birth that brought the curse here. It's you who killed us!"

The girl's shadow gradually lengthened, and new "girls" walked out of the shadow in the fog one after another.

Ai Li used all her strength to turn around and run away, but when she turned around, she found that there was a group of people pressing towards her step by step. She had no way to escape and no way to retreat.

They wore identical red gem necklaces on their chests, and their exposed skin gradually burned and festered, becoming hideous in appearance, and eventually turned into charred corpses.

Even so, this group of ferocious monsters continued to approach.

"No...it's not me. I...I don't want this to happen either. Why, why is it like this..."

Ai Li squatted down with her head in her hands. A tearing pain came from her brain. Countless chaotic memories flooded into her heart, but they rushed through the ocean of memory at a speed like a slide that was accelerated thirty-two times. She could hardly see anything clearly. Only the painful emotions that permeated every memory fragment were left, spreading in her mind.

The reflection on the ground also revealed the girl wearing the red necklace and her blurry face.

"If you hadn't been born, if you had died then, we would have survived."

"Aili, we hate you. We are all dead, but why are you still living so happily?"

"You actually forgot about us and just walked away, you traitor! Demon! Heretic!"

"You must atone for your sins! You must atone for our deaths! You will burn in the flames of hell for eternity. You are a sinner, and you must pay the price!"