Agate City.
The sun passed overhead, and a huge dragon was crawling in the garden under the sun. Apostle, wearing iron armor, sat cross-legged in front of Giant Dragon, drinking slowly with Giant Dragon. The atmosphere was leisurely and soothing.
"Being able to drink with Dark Star should be a privilege for humans. I didn't expect you to take Agate City so easily."
Apostle Kahn put down the wine glass, stuffed the sliced cooked beef into his mouth and chewed it.
"I didn't expect it to go so smoothly, but there will still be a battle in the end, and I will have to rely on your strength when the time comes."
Ferrum looked at him and asked, "After Divine Descent, how powerful will the Apostle disaster be?"
"That depends on how much force the container itself can withstand."
Kahn said, "The most powerful Apostle, after accepting Divine Descent, can be infinitely close to the legend."
"Is it just close to a legend?"
"If you don't get Legendary Proof, how can you be called a legend?"
Kahn shook his head. "However, human power is still too weak after all, and its performance under the same disaster is far inferior to that of dragons. Even if it can be close to legend, in the war between Tagoma and Aino Kingdom, there was also Apostle who was surrounded by a large army and died silently.
"If caught in a tight siege, Giant Dragon will also die."
Ferrum said, "Before launching the war, we were mentally prepared. Everyone may die, including me."
"Not fearing life and death is the courage and determination of a warrior."
Kahn smiled, "Cheers!"
Ferrum had a drink with him, Kahn held the wine glass, and Nether Dragon simply held a wine barrel in his paw. The wooden barrel next to him was already empty.
"We have drunk Aino Kingdom's wine, called Aino Red, but Agate City's fruit wine is also good, so we use it to entertain, what do you think? Kahn."
"It's really good."
Apostle replied, "When we were at Southern Territories, we drank mostly malt liquor, which was not as spicy and mellow, but civilians could also drink heavily, sing to their heart's content, and climb on the tables to dance."
"Like a dwarf."
"There are indeed many dwarves in the Southern Territories hinterland."
Kahn came closer and said, "Dwarves only drink malt wine, never fruit wine. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because dwarves cannot pick fruit, they never make fruit wine."
Kahn finished speaking calmly and then burst into laughter.
Ferrum was startled before he realized that this was a dwarf joke.
It was only after personal contact that he discovered that the other party had such a temperament, but as a warrior and Hand of the War God, it seemed natural.
I feel a little closer.
"Speaking of which, how many Apostles does the Tempus god have in this land?" Ferrum asked
"Two in total."
Kahn held out two fingers. "I am one of them. The other one claims that her appearance has been destroyed and she lives in the armor, so she does not want to come out to spoil the fun, but if necessary, she will also invest her own strength in the war."
Ferrum nodded slightly and chatted some more with Kahn.
"I'm already very full. Any more food will be a waste of food, so let's stop here. The matter of War God Temple is settled. From now on, we will be allies."
After a long time, Ferrum stood up and said.
"They are also friends." Kahn said.
"Of course."
Kahn finished his drink and stood up, regaining his solemn expression.
"By the way, I came from Golden Grain City and brought a message. Southern Territories's mission is coming soon. Southlanders believes in God of Strength and Courage Kord, in my Lord's opinion, Kord is the only one among the blasphemous Seven who is worth saving, so you can also win over them."
Kahn said, "Of course, this is just my personal suggestion. War God Temple will not interfere in secular politics. What you want to do depends on your own wishes."
"Got it."
Ferrum accepted the news and said goodbye to him, "Then, let's do this for now, and then drink together in a few days."
--
At dusk, the Southern Territories delegation arrived at Agate City.
They brought no troops, only about twenty knights wearing white smocks, two secretaries, and six tightly protected armored carriages.
Wildland Warriors outside the city searched them from head to toe. Even the bottom of the carriage was struck with a spear. The dragon warlock checked them again to make sure there was no danger before letting them into the inner city and Lord's Castle.
The leader of the envoy is called Roderick Weilan. He is a grey-haired human being in his fifties. He was born in the old Southern Territories aristocracy. He served as Duke Riwen's attendant when he was young and is now in charge of Eagle's Nest City's foreign affairs.
When he walked into the giant hall, Ferrum was lying on Throne to rest. He had been overeating in the past few days and had eaten a little too much. He felt a little older, so he was a little lazy.
Roderick stopped at the foot of the stone steps, pressed his right hand on his chest and saluted.
"Good day, Your Excellency Solaxus, Lord Eagle's Nest City, Guardian of the Southern Land, Duke Riwen·Beoranz, sent me to send you my regards."
Ferrum raised his eyes. "Your Excellency?"
"A title between humans. The Duke believes that such a title will not easily cause misunderstanding before the two parties have established formal diplomatic relations with each other."
Roderick said, "We are here for the purpose of capturing prisoners. We are ordered by the Duke to redeem his daughter, Olysia·Beoranz."
"You seem very anxious and have skipped many steps. The delegation has already arrived before I even made the request."
Ferrum looked at the clerk behind him. "So, how much are you going to pay to take away my Lya?"
This sentence was so baffling that it made Roderick frown deeply.
He hesitated for a moment, then finally ignored Ferrum's offensive words and turned to signal to the clerk.
The young scribe unfolded the parchment forward.
"Southern Territories is willing to pay fifty thousand gold coins, two hundred pounds Mithril, ten authenticated magic artifacts, and three hundred high-quality war horses as a ransom."
Ferrum was silent. He rewarded the entire army at Golden Grain City, and it only cost him 100,000 gold coins.
One hundred thousand gold!
Juvenile Dragon people didn't speak, but their hearts were bleeding and they wanted to kill them all.
Roderick looked at the tall Nether Dragon and bowed again. "Your Excellency Solaxus, you should know that according to the practice of redeeming nobles in wars between princes, this is an extremely high ransom, second only to the king."
"I don't like this title. Just call me by my first name. You are not my subordinate, so it is not offensive."
Ferrum After thinking about it, he nodded and said, "It is indeed a very generous ransom. I agreed, but I have some additional conditions."
Roderick was startled.
Before meeting Giant Dragon, he had already understood the greed, ferocity and cruelty of dragons. He had also thought about Solaxus's sky-high asking price. He had prepared various negotiation plans, but he did not expect that the other party would agree so lightly.
Thinking of Giant Dragon's previous strange words and current abnormality, Roderick was filled with surprise and uncertainty.
Shouldn't...
He immediately said, "Before the official handover, I ask to check whether the rights of the prisoners are protected, and I want to confirm the health and mental condition of the prisoners."
Ferrum did not hesitate, still nodded in agreement, and ordered the guards around him, "Go and tell Lya that the person she is waiting for is here."
The guard turned and left, and the side door quickly opened.
Olysia had no chains on his body and had changed into a long white dress worn by an orthodox nobleman. His red hair was neatly combed and there were no signs of abuse or torture, but his face was a little pale and haggard.
"Your Highness."
Roderick After seeing her, the calmness on his face finally changed, and he knelt down on one knee to salute.
"Good day, Uncle Roderick, I'm fine."
Olysia said that she knew that her family was worried about her situation, so she answered first.
"The Duke asked me to take you back."
Roderick raised his head and found that Olysia actually found a seat and sat down very naturally, seemingly without any awareness of being a prisoner.
"How much does this cost the family?" Olysia asked, folding his hands on his knees.
"This is not something you need to consider. The Duke just hopes that you can return to Southern Territories safely."
"How much?"
Roderick Silence.
"Fifty thousand gold, some Mithril and magic items, and three hundred war horses."
Ferrum answered for him.
Olysia frowned. "It's too much. We don't need to give Giant Dragon so much. The money will be used by Solaxus as military supplies."
"If this money can be exchanged for peace between Westerlands and Southern Territories, then it will be worth it."
Ferrum said.