What did you do with the dice?

The elves were still not very happy. They were a little afraid of Rusalka because Rusalka killed their great elder in Alice City. And they were even more afraid of Phoenix because even Alice and Shana, two elves who seemed to have a high status in the Pearl Tear Territory and were almost on par with Sanita, were afraid of Phoenix. That meant that Phoenix, an orc, must be very barbaric and terrifying.

This husband-and-wife duo is not to be trifled with; they're like a special attack on elves! What if he refuses to pay?

Rusalka was furious. These elves actually dared to bully him behind his back. He had no intention of defaulting on the debt, but now he really didn't want to pay. This was the episode that showed his greatest support for entrepreneur Sunita.

Sanita thought about it and changed his words: "How about this, I'll leave the money with Hydra. If I don't come back, you can ask her for it when you come back."

For some reason, Hydra's credit score was exceptionally high, as if she were on the universal whitelist of the entire Pearl Tear Territory. Unlike Rusalka, a half-baked paladin, she was a true "White Knight." The elves immediately approved of the plan to use Hydra as a guarantor: "That's fine."

"Keep your word. Give the money to Hydra."

"Or you'll swallow a thousand needles."

"Yes, and you have to swear an oath. If you lie, you will have no water to plant beans, or no beans even if there is water."

Rusalka: (Haha, I don’t eat soy!)

Sanita was not as bad as Rusalka, and he still swore an oath. After all, he had no intention of staying in the Elf Forest. What was so good about such a conservative little place?

Rusalka: (Yes, there are uninhabited drifting islands and small island nations made up entirely of women. Each painting of this kind is a collection of over a hundred pages. The weight of knowledge is reassuring.)

Sanita was speechless about Rusalka who kept talking about the prototype of shrimp head.

----

The Forest of Elves is still some distance away from Rusalka's Pearl Tear Territory. After all, it is in the northeast of Sinidi, and Rusalka's territory is in the southeast. If it marches normally, even if it travels at full speed, it will take about half a month.

The mages were also curious. Generally, a march required a lot of preparation. Although Sinidi was now at peace, planning the supply routes to cities along the way, as well as logistics vehicles, weapons, and supplies, was a hassle. They hadn't seen any signs of a major mobilization from the Pearl Tear Territory, only troops returning to Silver City to set up camp. "So, how does the Lord of Pearl Tear plan his march?"

Rusalka answered without hesitation: "Of course I fly over there."

Let the army fly over?

The doubts of those mages turned into immense shock the moment they entered the Guided Explosion demiplane.

To actually create an entire stable plane of space capable of storing life force? What a magnificent spatial spell!

The blue-robed wizard pulled up a few blades of grass from the ground. Discovering that the plants in his hands were actually real, he exclaimed in amazement at the space that had transformed into a vast grassland. "Oh my god! This demiplane actually has pristine soil and an environment, even free elemental particles. Are these all the masterpieces of Master Sanita?"

Sanita wasn't one to brag. He spoke frankly, "No, it was already there. I just repaired the entrance's transmission circuit and modified the characteristics of the space."

However, the most basic soil data was provided by Rusalka. Without his data to support the automatic "refresh" of the soil here, even if the soil was transported from outside, it would soon become wasteland due to loss of fertility.

Ever since the advent of guided bombs, it's like the quality of life has improved with the advancement of technology. Now the logistics troops in Zhulei Territory feel that they can no longer travel long distances, and the sentries have started to doze off at night.

What need for logistical supply lines, what need for visible and hidden sentries? Just follow them aboard and cook. How could there be enemies on board? Unless there are enemies inside.

In this way, after eating, drinking and playing poker for a few days, they could reach their destination. Not only was one of the two major problems of marching and fighting solved, but it even became a pleasure.

The mages couldn't wait to start researching here: "Can we study this place?"

“Help yourself as long as you don’t destroy the space.”

Sanita left behind a group of mages from the royal capital who explored and probed the space inch by inch as if it were a relic, and went out to personally command the army, making them line up and board the ship in an orderly manner.

The troops that set out this time were also screened. Unlike the previous civil wars and the wars with the El Empire, the characteristics of the elves determined that light infantry were of no use to them. They could not catch up, could not deploy in the forest, and had insufficient defense. They were purely sitting ducks for arrows.

The mobility of the cavalry is sufficient, but it is not enough. Judging from their previous combat performance, the elves do not seem to have the characteristic of cherishing animals. Instead, the combination of man and horse has created a weakness out of thin air. Not to mention the loss of money, the cavalry who are shot off their horses are worse than infantry. At least the infantry can be equipped with thicker shields.

So this time, Sani Iron Tower only brought heavy armored infantry and ordnance teams. The long-range archers had almost no way to deal with the formed tower shield wall. He also did not plan to send soldiers into the forest to fight, as they would definitely not be able to defeat the enemy. He only needed to protect the mages and magic cannons to prevent them from counterattacking, and setting up camp would be enough.

The army marched into the portal like a long snake. When the mages in the royal capital saw their neat formation, they were amazed and thought that the Grand Duke of Pearl Tears was worthy of being called the Grand Duke of War. The troops under his command were assembled so quickly and trained so well. The armies in the royal capital could not compare at all and were far behind in terms of discipline.

No wonder he was victorious in every battle. With such an elite army, as long as there were no fatal tactical problems, it was hard to imagine how such an army could lose when the gap between the two sides was not big.

"Let's go home on the spaceship!"

The elves walking at the front of the army were very excited. They gathered together chattering about what they would do after returning. Some of them were covered with sparkling gems, some made their own pure gold arrowheads, and some brought large and small bags of snacks and food. They were all looking forward to showing off their gains from their visit to the human side to their sisters after returning.

Rusalka looked at these cheerful elf girls, then glanced at Sani Iron Tower who was also looking at them with a smile, but with a deep look in her eyes. Her Adam's apple moved, and she thought to herself, "Don't answer!" "Silly children, run!" "..." It was like a bone stuck in her throat, and she couldn't say it out loud.

Rusalka: (Fast forward to the Elf Queen's last words: "The history of the elves is a history of blood and tears, but we must move on.")

Sanita: (Don't make it sound like I'm going to go and slaughter the elves. I actually have no ill will towards them. Before the end comes, I hope there won't be any internal strife. We are all grasshoppers on the same rope of the Eternal Plane. Going to them is just to maximize the utilization of resources. Taking what they like in exchange for what we like, that's called trade.)

Rusalka: (Haha, I know what you're going to say next: "I, Sanitta, want to destroy the elves. What does this have to do with you elves?")

Sanitta admitted that sometimes reading good books is not necessarily a good thing. At least all knowledge will degenerate into rubbish in Rusalka's place. He is a pure garbage truck. No matter how good something is, once it enters his car, it will become garbage in the conceptual sense. He is really invincible.

Six thousand heavy armored infantry, three thousand ordnance soldiers, one thousand logistics and maintenance personnel, and more than one hundred "mages" formed the lineup with the highest proportion of mages in the army in history since the founding of Sinidi.

Considering that the elves are unlikely to mobilize all their forces and are not going to fight a racial showdown, the military strength of one division is more than enough.

Rusalka looked at the map on the boat and pointed to the "Advancher City" near the Elf Forest, their destination. She suggested, "If our large army goes there and the elves can't use it, wouldn't it be a wasted trip? How about this? If everything goes well with the elves, we can take this 'Advancher City' on the way."

Sanitta wanted to grab the map from the table and shove it in Rusalka's face, but out of consideration for his reputation, he couldn't get angry in front of others, so he could only chat privately: (Brother, are you a Grand Duke for nothing? The Delai family is very wicked. When they divided the land, they gave you all the disputed areas and the poorly managed border areas. The area we are going to is actually technically within your territory. Are you going to attack your own city?)

Rusalka: (I don't feel like this city belongs to me. I don't have any sense of ownership. If I use the mouse to select it, can I control the troops inside?)

Sanita: (You've gone crazy playing games, haven't you? The mayor of this city pays you taxes every month, so how can it no longer be your city? So, if you say that, just by selecting you with the mouse, can Prince Charens still control you? There aren't really detailed hierarchical relationships among the nobles. It's simply that when interests align, your higher rank and strength can wield the power of speech and gain a little more leverage.)

Rusalka was prepared for this and immediately changed the subject: "Brother Fei, you're right. Even the king can't control me. Why do you keep trying to control me? Shouldn't you reflect on whether this is just male chauvinism at work? I'm telling you, you can't do this. I'm going to the Elf Forest to complain to your parents-in-law."

Sanita: (If you keep talking nonsense, I will throw you down.)

The guided-explosive missile flew very fast and reached the plains near the city of Adwinche in two days.

Troops came out of the spaceship one after another. Their shining weapons and heavy armor scared the people who came to join in the fun. They shouted, "The flying iron box is full of troops," "Quickly notify the guards in the town," and then turned around and ran away with their friends and family.

It was no wonder that they were nervous. Just as Rusalka had said, the civil war in the Kingdom of Snidi had only stopped for a few years. People on the border in particular were mostly refugees from the war who had come to the Elf Forest, known as the adventurer's paradise, to make a living. They were terrified to the core when they saw the army.

As for the Pearl Tear Flag, the literacy rate in the Kingdom of Sinidi is less than 40%. They are all common people who work from sunrise to sunset. Who would care about what the family crests of the nobles who live in two different worlds from them look like?

After all the troops came out of the guided bomb through the portal, lined up in an orderly manner, and their numbers were counted, the news of the arrival of Zhu Lei's army had reached the ears of the nearby nobles. They ordered the closure of the manor and town gates, and only carriages and horses were allowed to enter but not leave.

If they come, I will pretend to be polite and welcome them. If they don’t come, I will pretend not to see them. What else can I do?

Grand Duke Zhu Lei is the newly appointed Grand Duke of Sinidi. It is said that he has not made any big moves like liquidation since he became the Grand Duke, but he is obviously stockpiling food and troops, and traveling back and forth to other countries in the east. This is a terrifying accumulation of strength, giving people a feeling that he is about to launch a tsunami somewhere.

Has the Sinidi civil war really stopped?

If stop.

With the decline of the Mebius family and the eldest prince alone, whether the border of the Snidi Kingdom is in chaos or not, isn't it Rusalka who has the final say?

A new official has three things to do when he takes office, and no one wants to get into trouble. God knows how many names were in the family's grudge book when he was just an unknown little baron.

Not to mention, there was that bad thing involving elves recently. One unlucky guy was enough, and they didn't dare to get involved.

Chapter 436: The War Mad Duke

"Reporting to the City Lord, the sentries on the south wall have confirmed that the Grand Duke of Pearl's Tear's magical spaceship has landed. The estimated number of troops is around five legions, accompanied by a large amount of, uh, siege-grade ordnance. There are also quite a few who look like mages among the troops. Should we open the city gates?"

The city lord, sitting at his desk, wiped the few remaining hairs and sweat from his bald head with a handkerchief and shouted to the old butler standing at the door, "If we don't open it, are we going to wait for them to break it open? Butler! No matter who you find, use any method to delay their troops from entering the city. Try to make them come to me later."

No wonder these nobles were in no hurry to show goodwill and surrender, because they had long known that when Rusalka brought the sky down, there would happen to be a tall and conspicuous person next to them, which would make them feel very uneasy.

They did not think that the visit of the Grand Duke of Pearl Tears was a simple coincidence or inspection. After all, the forces near the Elf Forest were mixed, and the people in the city of Advinche had no faith. Someone must have leaked the news of what was happening in the elves, which attracted the attention of the behemoth - which noble would bring 5 legions of regular troops with him to inspect his territory?

Although Rusalka secretly has an elf army, it is said that those are captives. No one knows whether the relationship between the two sides is good or not, and no one dares to gamble the fate of their family on the positive or negative side.

If there is any sign of trouble, they don't mind being fence-sitters.

After all, they are looking forward to the change of fortunes and the next city lord coming to their home.

The mayor of the city of Advinche is named Davin Benitez. He is middle-aged and sits in this position, managing this place that is considered to be the freest place in the Kingdom of Snidi. In fact, he has done all kinds of good and bad things, and he knows very well where the bottom line of the superiors is.

He paid all the taxes he should have paid, delivered the best quality materials, sponsored many trade orders for Sunny Tower, and was the first to respond when he heard of a need.

After all, could any city lord be more afraid of being targeted by the new Grand Duke than he was? A careful look at the map revealed that the lands of the Grand Duke of Pearl Tears contained few resources worthy of praise. The most valuable assets seemed to be the ownerless ruins on the border and his own adventurer's paradise, which depended on the forest for survival.

The problem is, this time he really didn't do anything wrong to Rusalka, but the "Pure-blood Elves", his half-old employer, came to him with a time bomb, saying that they wanted him to express his attitude and take sides.

Before, he would show them whatever attitude he wanted. Not only attitude, he would also show them his strength and sincerity, ensuring that they would go back satisfied and cheer for their plans.

What is treason? It's just some necessary social means. When the city lord makes a living and profits for the residents, can it be called treason? This is called self-sacrifice.

Besides, what's the difference between being a dog for some earl or grand duke and being a dog for the pure-blooded elves of the Forest Emperor? We're both dogs anyway, and I'm on both sides the same. This is what's called healthy!

Without the support of these pure-blood elves, how can the half-blood elves carry out the slave trade? Where will the forest materials for the nobles above come from? Who can guarantee the safety of the land outside the forest for adventurers?

Benítez was completely helpless and could only curse quietly to himself, "Tsk, this Grand Duke of Pearl Tears couldn't have come earlier or later, but at this very moment. This is truly infuriating! This living devil must be a member of the iron-blooded Grand Prince's party. I heard he's on the Rangers' hit list, implying he has a conflict with the elves. What the hell is going on?"

"Hurry up and tell that elf in the guest room with its nose higher than the watchtower, that in my heart, Sneedi has only one sun, and that is Prince Charens. Let her take that second prince, whose true identity is unknown, and go back to where they came from. I will never support them."

But before he could finish his words, the wizard-dressed staff member beside him stopped the messenger, asking the city lord, who was overwhelmed by fear of Rusalka, to calm down. "Wait, Lord City Lord, this is not appropriate. The situation is still unclear. Duke Pearltear may only be here temporarily. He may not be coming for us. But our city is not immune to attacks. These elves are our eternal neighbors. We must not let them down. The Forest Rangers are still very powerful."

The implication was: If the Rangers couldn't handle the Grand Duke of Pearl Tears, could they handle you? Offending the elves was basically guaranteed death, but there was a chance you wouldn't have to offend the Grand Duke.

The wizard suggested, "We still have to coax them as usual, but we can't say anything against the Second Prince."

The bald city lord felt the last of his hair begin to shake. He was facing death anyway, and who could bear it? "Well, what should we do? Why don't you ask Grand Duke Pearl Tear if he agrees to escort the Second Prince back to Alice City to fight the First Prince for the throne? I don't know about the elves, but Grand Duke Pearl Tear has an elite army, complete siege equipment, and even an ancient flying wizard tower."

"If we dare to disobey him in the slightest, this war-crazed maniac will probably order an attack on the city and send us to the kingdom of God. Moreover, there will definitely not be any family around to help us. I even think they will help Grand Duke Zhulei to fight us."

The mage's aide waved his hand. "It's all right, Lord City Lord. As long as we don't let them meet, everything will be fine. We can just give different responses on both sides. The elves are just talking big. In reality, they only send out rangers occasionally to carry out missions. They're unlikely to leave the forest en masse, let alone leak information."

Benítez had no choice but to do as he was told. The only thing he could do was pray that the Duke of Pearl Tears was here for tourism.

----

Rusalka and Sanita were the last to get off the spaceship. The former was still mumbling, "Xiao Xie, before you go out, check that the windows are closed, the gas is turned off, and the electricity is turned off. Don't be so careless in doing things."

The latter no longer had the energy to complain, so he could only curse: "You idiot, don't block the road if you don't want to move."

The air quality outside is different. The world suddenly becomes wider and my mood becomes very good. It feels like I have taken a trip out of my busy schedule.

Sanitta didn't understand how Rusalka got the word "in the midst of her busy schedule" from the dictionary, and he hadn't even said anything yet.

Rusalka felt the comfort of the spring breeze on her face, took a deep breath, stretched herself, and then when she put down her hand, she touched Phoenix's ear beside her.

From Phoenix's puzzled look, it can be seen that she wants to fight Rusalka a little, but this is indeed not a very sufficient reason. First, record the 0.5 level of hatred value.

It is now the end of April, a perfect season with spring flowers blooming. Looking around, this place is a very suitable environment for camping. Near the city of Adwinche in the distance, there is a river given by nature. The city uses it as a moat, extending all the way to the big forest behind the city.

This place was not far from the river, so it was convenient to get water. The terrain was open and it was a good place to set up camp. Rusalka asked Sanitta, "Why don't you say that? I see beautiful scenery and flat and open terrain nearby. Should we set up camp here?"

Sanita rolled his eyes at him and said, "If you want to camp here, you can just send the army back to the demiplane of the Guided Bomb. There's a ready-made camp there."

Rusalka thought about it and it seemed to make sense. "Yeah, then why did you drop us off here? How did you drive this online spaceship driver? Why didn't you follow the navigation to take me to my destination? Believe it or not, I'm going to complain to you."

Sanita rolled his eyes at him and said, "Idiot, we're going into the city. Tell me how to get the spaceship in. Do you think this is a parking lot in the community?"

Rusalka patted Sanita's shoulder and said with relief, "I'm sorry, brother. You really want me to fight you, but don't open the Nine Rings yet. Let me challenge you to take down the city wall in five minutes."

Sanita extended his fingers and fired several flaming arrows, unceremoniously knocking Rusalka's hand off his shoulder. "Fight you, you idiot! All you do is fight. Isn't there a possibility? I sent a messenger to tell the city lord that we would be visiting soon and temporarily taking over the defense of the north wall. We already have this city built, so why aren't we using it?"

Rusalka: "Oh my god, you can do this! Are you a Crystal Vanguard? Can you activate friendly buff crystals in the jungle?"

Sanitieta said gloomily, "I've noticed that since you came to this world, you've completely lost your social skills. When you see people, you're thinking about either making them surrender, starting a war, or starting a rant. Are you still human? I'm worried about whether you'll be able to take care of yourself after you return to Earth."

Rusalka laughed heartily and said, "Sending me to a mental hospital? Isn't that your long-cherished wish? Come on, Brother Fei, let me see how much progress you've made after this long journey through time and space! BGM, start!"

Sanitta: "I'm more worried now that even the mental hospital won't accept you."

Even without combat orders, the army advanced in an orderly manner in the form of an infantry shield formation, with tower shields connected together, like a moving city wall approaching the south gate of Adwinche.

Since they were not on the battlefield, the officers had no psychological burden and blew their whistles as usual during training. With the sound of the whistles, the soldiers' steps became neat, and even the soft soil and grass under their feet made clear thumping sounds and the metal collision sounds of the chain mail on their bodies.

Such a massive formation, coupled with the catapults and the powerful magic cannons rolling in the distance, frightened the soldiers on the city wall so much that they subconsciously touched the heavy crossbows fixed in the parapets.

It seemed that only heavy and reliable city defense weapons could give them some courage - even though they knew that this army was not here to attack the city.

Rusalka drove her white horse forward: (There's nothing I can do about it. I'm the only cavalryman in the entire team, so I have to do the challenging work.)

Sanitta: (Can you clear your mind a little? We are not fighting, so where does the challenge come from?)

Speaking of Rusalka's mount, his white horse seemed to have a bug. Although he could not summon the mount after breaking his oath and losing the spell, the horse stayed. Considering that the horse may only have one life, Rusalka decided to cherish its life.

The way to cherish it is to ride it more.

Rusalka's original words were: You see, this horse is now almost like a rented one-time mount, right? So if I ride it one more day, I earn one more day, and the average daily consumption of rings will be less.

Anyway, Sanita didn't understand Rusalka's logic. Isn't it normal for a horse to have only one life? Besides the mounts summoned by the second ring, are there any mounts in the world that can be reused and revived repeatedly? Even if you want to summon it, you have to shake it ten minutes in advance.

Okay, it’s not important. Sanita was too lazy to talk about these trivial things with Rusalka. He felt that as long as he was happy riding a horse, it was fine. Anyway, the attributes of this horse were indeed higher than those of the Chocobo.

It's just that the horse doesn't seem very happy.

It knows in its heart that it is just a horse, and it is its duty to be ridden, and it does its job without complaint.

But the reason why it was unhappy was that it couldn't understand: why was it being ridden by someone born with the same background as itself? Was it because the guy it summoned looked like a human and could talk?

Rusalka: "I am Rusalka, the Grand Duke of Pearl Tears, and I have come to visit you with my army."

Sanitieta: (Brother, here we go again, common sense question. You are now a Grand Duke. When a superior visits a subordinate's territory, you cannot use the word "visit". You must use "inspection". Even if you respect the other party, you must still use "visit".)