Alina clenched his hands into fists and began to pace back and forth again, looking very worried.
"Just as I said before... it should be okay, right?"
Loris is a bit confused.
"The previous consideration was one hundred thousand dinars, allowing him to establish trade routes within the empire, promising not to attack his territory, and repaying double the amount of food... Maybe these are indeed what he wants, but the problem is that he did not negotiate terms with us yesterday, and directly started to mobilize food and troops today - this may mean that he has more special requirements, and we may not be able to fulfill his requirements."
Alina sighed, "He once captured my father, but released him easily. If it weren't for the close relationship between my father and His Majesty, I'm afraid he would have been reviled like Livius... This is not a guy who plays by common sense."
But Loris shook his head. "Alina, in my opinion, Lord Li Ang may not make any excessive demands."
Alina stopped and turned his head. "Why?"
"There are many people who will not be merciful when facing enemies, but they will not care too much about personal interests when it comes to big issues... This is true for both His Majesty the Emperor and your father..."
Loris pointed at the sword on Alina's waist.
That's Sword of the Orator from Emperor Marius.
"The same goes for you, Loris Knight Commander. But... do you think Count Li Ang also has such a noble character? My father only said that he is difficult to deal with, but he did not say anything about his character..."
Alina asked with some confusion.
"Ha... of course not! I don't have such good morals..."
The Lord's voice came from the door of the inn. "Miss Alina, Sir Loris, I will spare no effort to provide help to solve Red Death and Snake Worship Cult... But of course I have conditions."
Alina closed his eyes and sighed, then opened his eyes and looked at Li Ang: "Lord Li Ang, if you have any conditions, just ask..."
"I plan to 'capture' Calundru Castle and rebuild Shield Wind Fortress--that is to say, this time I am not providing assistance to the Bacchus Empire, but leading the troops to capture the imperial city Calundru Castle alone... and laying down a strong fortress that Lionheart Kingdom has not laid down for thirty years. Maybe King Ulrich will appoint me as marshal..."
Li Ang looked at Alina with a smile, "I just found out that your father is Governor Justus, but shouldn't Justus's daughter be named Luciana?"
"My name was indeed Luciana half a year ago... Please call me Alina, Lord Li Ang."
Alina thought for a while and shook his head, "I can understand why you want to occupy Calundru Castle. This may satisfy King Ulrich. But in this case, you will inevitably become the enemy of all the lords of the Bacchus Empire..."
"I am Bacchus Empire's biggest enemy...Alina, I think your Emperor will understand that he actually needs a 'big enemy' like me. Probably only General Clerion will be unhappy, so you have to let General Clerion cooperate..."
Li Ang was still smiling and looked at the sword on Alina's waist.
"Since you have decided, of course I am happy to do it... I will let General Clerion cooperate."
Alina thought for a while and agreed.
"In this case, my food team will take action at noon, and the army can set off the day after tomorrow, so we can probably arrive at Calundru Castle at the same time. I know I have to hurry, and I hope Radiant Cross Knights can clear the way for my food team."
Loris nodded. "This is great, of course we will do our best."
"Very good, I still need to know a lot of details. Miss Alina, please come to the Lord's Hall in the afternoon to discuss specific countermeasures and tactics with me."
Li Ang turned around and left after saying that.
Alina was stunned for a while, then turned to look at Loris: "It seems we all guessed wrong..."
Loris was a little confused. "Although his request is a bit unexpected, it is just like what I imagined. Even if he does not occupy Calundru Castle, without support, it will be attacked by rebellious slaves sooner or later... or even directly destroyed by the plague."
"No, Loris, what I mean is that I originally wanted General Clerion to give up Calundru Castle and free up the troops to rescue Erudition City... This means that he didn't ask for anything, but took the initiative to help us. I'm even more worried now..."
Alina said worriedly, his voice getting lower and lower.
At noon, the convoy loaded with food was ready to set off under the leadership of Radiant Cross Knights.
Accompanying the food team is the medical team led by Ansen.
Ansen organized manpower to explore the surrounding areas of Long River Town overnight and disinfected important entrances and exits with lime. The members of the medical team and the patrol team have not rested for a moment since yesterday afternoon until now.
At present, it has been confirmed that no one in Long River Town has been infected with Red Death, and Li Ang is relieved.
"Sir Loris, let me introduce you to you. This is Ansen, an outstanding medical officer. He once studied at Erudition City Theological Seminary, and he is also very close to your knights... Therefore, I entrust his safety to you."
Li Ang stood in front of Loris's horse and pointed at Ansen, who was sleeping soundly in the carriage behind.
"Of course, protecting doctors is my mission..."
Loris nodded strangely. "Is he your relative?"
Loris probably thought that the people that a great lord like Li Ang would take care of deliberately would probably have some kind of blood relationship.
"No, he is my partner. But his lifelong wish is to become a Radiant Cross Knight..."
Li Ang smiled, "I just sincerely hope that all my friends can realize their wishes."
Loris turned to look at the somewhat thin Ansen: "In fact, in our knights, the status of outstanding doctors is higher than that of knights..."
"It's the same here... but the standard for knights in his eyes is probably higher."
Li Ang shrugged. "You go quickly, if nothing else happens, we will meet at Calundru Castle in three days."
In the afternoon, Alina came to the Lord's Hall.
"Alina, do you think I might have some conspiracy?"
Li Ang noticed that she seemed a little uneasy.
"Lord Li Ang, to be honest, I really don't understand what you want?"
Alina was indeed thinking about Li Ang's intentions with doubts. She didn't understand why Li Ang didn't ask for anything, but was willing to take risks to provide assistance.
"I just want to ensure my own safety... Since you are all asking for help on me, it obviously means that Bacchus Empire has reached the edge of life and death. If Bacchus Empire is destroyed by Snake Worship Cult, and Red Death spreads to the entire continent, then I am afraid that I will only die..."
The lord shook his head and smiled, "Let me first understand all the conditions in Bax, and then I will tell you what I want..."
Then, he pointed to the round table in the hall and motioned Alina to sit in front of the round table.
Alina was in a trance. Apart from not holding a wine glass in his hand, Li Ang's movements, demeanor and even tone of voice looked the same as Emperor Marius's.
She told Li Ang about the current situation of the empire without any reservation, without hiding anything.
It was as if she was facing Emperor Marius himself.
Bacchus Empire The current situation is indeed quite dangerous.
General Agathon had previously recaptured Marasburg after a hard battle, and the connection between the three major cities in the empire had been barely restored.
But the news I got later was all bad news.
Red Death is raging everywhere, Radiant Cross Knights is exhausted, and all the lords' troops are trapped in the plague.
The Red Death that broke out in the surrounding area and the Snake Worship Cult gangsters' crazy counterattack made Agasong dragged by Snake Worship Cult around Marasburg, unable to escape and unable to relieve Imperial Port's crisis.
Imperial Port was besieged by Snake Worship Cult for several months. The high-ranking officials and dignitaries either fled or surrendered. Instead, the people at the bottom of Imperial Port organized a militia on their own and barely managed to keep the port from being captured by Snake Worship Cult.
However, although Snake Worship Cult's large-scale fleet failed to successfully land from Imperial Port, Fear Legion went around the bay southeast of Siyuan City and landed from Qizha Village.
Emperor Marius After repelling a strong enemy, he faced a more terrifying enemy.
The key to solving the problem actually lies in the rebel army that besieged Erudition City.
This army developed from gladiators was originally created by Alina and Emperor Marius. Although they are currently out of control, they can at least communicate.
If they can be recruited and integrated into the empire's army, then this army can solve all difficulties one by one.
They have strong enough military power and sufficient driving force. After all, they would rather rebel than join Snake Worship Cult.
A month ago, after Alina returned to Erudition City with the emperor's sword, he originally reached an agreement with the rebel army led by Brutus with his father Governor Justus to recruit him.
The rebels still trust Alina. They had already agreed to the conditions - to be pardoned, restored to civilian status, and provided with enough food. Then they were willing to be incorporated as Imperial Second Legion under the joint guarantee of Alina and Justus.
This is Imperial Second Legion in the true sense, which is different from the banner Livius used to defraud military expenses...
Recruiting this army of tens of thousands of people will of course require a large amount of food. But Erudition City lacks food and grass, so progress will naturally be a bit slow. In addition, with too large a force, it is impossible to complete the reorganization in one step, so we can only do it slowly.
So Justus sent some low-level officers to appease the rebel army, and then let some of the leading gladiators enter Erudition City.
This was originally intended by Justus to show sincerity by letting some leading gladiators enter the city as witnesses. After all, the army of more than 10,000 people would certainly not be able to all enter the city.
But at this time, Red Death inside Erudition City broke out on a large scale...
And the most unfortunate thing is that many representatives of the rebel army who have just entered the city are also infected with Red Death in the city, and most of these representatives are scarred gladiators and core figures of the rebel army.
Although Radiant Cross Knights is headquartered in Erudition City, the doctors of the Knights were dispersed to various places a month ago. Faced with this situation, Governor Justus naturally had no choice but to suspend recruitment.
He completely blocked Erudition City and locked up those gladiators who were unfortunate enough to be infected.
This was a helpless and necessary solution, but the rebels, who were already a little uneasy, had a misunderstanding.
After all, this army is all slaves, and they do not trust the high officials and dignitaries of the empire.
Although Justus has always had a good reputation, this governor has a reputation as a 'think tank' - a reputation that represents wisdom in the eyes of the lords, but is basically equivalent to 'treacherous and cunning' in the eyes of the slaves.
Although Governor Justus tried his best to explain, the slaves with little education would definitely not listen. They only knew that many of their companions were forcibly detained as soon as they entered the city.
In the eyes of the slaves, this is probably a conspiracy - it is difficult for them to understand the measures Justus implemented against those infected with Red Death.
They thought that Governor Justus's previous promise was to deceive their leaders into entering the city, then divide and bribe some of them, and then kill most of them... This is also the result that rebels encounter most of the time when they recruit troops.
So the gladiators who entered the city escaped from the city overnight and returned to the army outside the city, saying that this was a scam by Justus.
Many people were killed in order to escape.
Fortunately, Alina and Brutus, brothers and sisters, were among the slave army outside the city, and they tried their best to control it, so it didn't turn into a tragedy where they cooperated inside and outside to seize the city in one fell swoop...
There are already many conflicts between the two sides. Once the seeds of doubt are sown, it will be difficult to regain trust.
Justus did try his best. He even left the city alone, explaining that it was Red Death. Alina and Brutus also tried their best to comfort the army.
The slaves were quite reasonable, but they asked Justus to open the city gate and let them enter the city for verification.
But how could Justus dare to open the city gate and let them in at this time?
These slaves do not know how to protect themselves. If the Red Death in the city were introduced to the slave rebel army, the result would definitely be a comprehensive spread across the entire continent!
In the eyes of the slaves, since the governor did not dare to let them enter the city, it was certainly not worthy of belief, so they killed all the imperial soldiers sent by Justus to appease them, and then surrounded Erudition City again...
That was hundreds of low-level officers from the Imperial First Legion, including hundreds of Imperial Knights.
If it weren't for Alina and Brutus's protection, Justus probably wouldn't be able to go back.
This feud has become serious, and there are many voices opposing the incorporation in Erudition City.
In addition, the rebel army besieged the castle, and the high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the city were unable to leave the city to escape the threat of Red Death, and the contradictions became more and more...
Fortunately, before the two sides were about to stage a life-and-death battle, Radiant Cross Knights's Loris Knight Commander came back.
Loris convinced the slaves that the situation of Red Death was indeed true.
The people at the bottom of the Bacchus Empire really trust Radiant Cross Knights.
Under the guarantee of Loris, Justus collected the remaining grain in the city and provided it to the rebels, in exchange for the last bit of restraint from the rebels.
In fact, this last bit of restraint was obtained by Brutus, the initiator of the uprising, with his last prestige. The slaves have now begun to doubt the brother and sister Brutus.
But in any case, with the joint efforts of everyone, the slave rebel army did not forcefully attack the city, but they also no longer trust any nobles in Justus or Erudition City.
This is not because they still think Justus lied to them, but because they have killed many of Justus's subordinates, including many new generation nobles.
Most of the gladiators were not too worried about killing those slave owners who had committed many crimes. They also knew that those slave owners were not the same group as Emperor Marius.
But the soldiers who killed Imperial First Legion and Justus, the new aristocrat under the reformists, are completely different. Everyone in the Bacchus Empire knows that Justus is Emperor Marius's closest comrade-in-arms.
Even Brutus himself feels that the rebel army is likely to be settled by Qiu Hou...
The leading gladiators naturally had many different voices, and Brutus could no longer be regarded as a common leader. This army was currently leaderless and in chaos internally.
But fortunately, they didn't know what to do next in the chaos, so they still surrounded the city but did not organize an attack.
Because of this, Alina began to try to find other support.
As long as a large amount of food can be transported to Erudition City and the food is used to regain the trust of the slaves, it is still possible to save the situation.
However, Red Death was breaking out everywhere, and there was basically no place within Bax that could provide support. Alina had no choice but to ask for help from the Lionheart Kingdom together with the Loris knights.
"That's it... it's Loris Knight Commander's suggestion to come to you. He thinks you will be willing to help us, and you are also capable of helping us..."
Alina finished explaining the cause and effect, and then asked with some anxiety, "Lord Li Ang, now, can you tell me what you want?"
"Of course, this situation is pretty much what I expected... Alina, what I want... is this army, this slave army that has gradually grown from gladiators."
The lord was also very happy and gave Alina an accurate answer directly.
"This... this is impossible, this army..."
Alina was obviously a little flustered. She had imagined many answers, and even imagined whether what Li Ang wanted would be herself, but she really didn't expect it to be this answer.
"I know, you plan to lead this unit to solve Bacchus Empire's predicament... You want to relieve Imperial Port's crisis, free General Agathon, and then join forces to kill the powerful enemy and save Siyuan City... I know. But listen to me, Alina..."
Li Ang waved his hand and signaled Alina to listen to what he said, "Your father can no longer gain the trust of the rebels. In fact, no Bacchus Empire noble can gain their trust, including you. Even if Emperor Marius makes a promise in person, they will still worry about the Bacchus Empire settling the accounts in the future..."
Alina closed his eyes and nodded sadly. "I admit that you are right, but..."
"No but... they will only believe me, because I am Bacchus Empire's enemy, the biggest enemy. But, Alina, I will organize them into a strong army, and then work with the Bacchus Empire to deal with Snake Worship Cult... until Radiant Cross Knights takes control of Red Death. The rebels are Emperor Marius's own enemies, but Snake Worship Cult is our common enemy..."
Li Ang interrupted Alina again.
Alina's eyes suddenly widened.
"You... I understand... Thank you for your help, Lord Li Ang!"
She sincerely bowed to Li Ang: "Maybe, this is indeed the best solution."
Yes, Alina also knows in his heart that if the rebel army is recruited, with the hatred they currently have with the Imperial First Legion, they will be retaliated sooner or later...
Especially the leading gladiators, such as Brutus, and Brutus's sister Elina.
And Elina is her only friend...
One day later, Vendathir led the Noldor troops to Long River Town.
But what I didn't expect was that Amy also came with her female soldiers, insisting on following Li Ang to Bax...
Amy is not a subordinate of the lord. She is a royal knight of the Princess family. Li Ang can't do anything to her.
So an elite force of 800 people began to move south, embarking on this special journey.