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On the night before departure, Hill, who had reached a "tacit understanding" with Lizzy, found Joey alone, and frankly expressed his "admiration" for Lizzy to him, in exchange for a heavy punch from Joey.

But after this punch, Joey forgave Hill, and only angrily asked him to be "better" to Lizzie, "If you dare to forgive her, I will beat you to the ground!" Joey threatened viciously. .

"I will marry her." Hill clapped his stomach and replied speciously.

Although he was punched by Joey, Hill felt that it was worth it to save their friendship.What's more, Joey and Lizzy were not a good match. Although he cheated Joey to a certain extent, Hill didn't feel guilty at all.

After dealing with Joey, Hill got another message from Lucy: Lizzie went to the back house alone, and stayed there for nearly ten minutes, and probably met Marquis Lucifer.

—Are you going to discuss adoption?

Hill couldn't guess Moriarty's purpose in doing so, so he could only wait and see what happened.

Early the next morning, Sirius and his party left the Oracle Manor as planned, and headed to Milan to board the airship.

Although the distance between Yagran County and Miranda County is farther from the other two provincial capitals affected by the earthquake, Sirius still made it the second stop of his cruise.On the one hand, this is certainly because of the serious disaster in Yagland County, on the other hand, because there are the Blue Dragon Legion and Duke Grant there, both politically and strategically, they are extremely important to him.

After nearly half a day of flying, the airship arrived at its destination - Yaji City.

Unlike the capitals of other provinces and counties, Yaji City was not built in a lush place with well-developed transportation, but was located in the border mountains bordering Oz.Nine out of ten residents in the city are soldiers of the Blue Dragon Legion and their families, and the remaining tenth are all kinds of merchants related to the legion.

The ancestral home of the Grant family, also known as the lord's mansion in Argland County, was also built here.Paris, the wife of the Duke of Grant, has completely moved here since her son Joey became an apprentice knight, and lives in the lord's mansion to accompany her husband.Hill's mother, Alicia, had a close relationship with Grant's wife, Paris. When they were in the imperial capital, Paris also took good care of Hill, which made Hill, who often didn't see her mother, very grateful.

When the airship landed, Hill quickly found her and the Duke of Grant among the crowd who came to welcome him. Joy, who was standing beside him, also spotted them, and waved his arms excitedly, trying to arouse his excitement. Parents' attention.

Although Duke Grant was over forty years old, he still looked mighty and majestic, standing there with an aura of power without anger.In contrast, Paris, Mrs. Grant, seemed a bit too ordinary. Her appearance was not outstanding. Only a head of pure blonde hair could add some color to her, and her clothes were not luxurious, just to show her identity. .

Hill liked her very much, and had always wanted to marry a woman like her as his wife when he was young.

Until later, Hill discovered that he couldn't marry the woman he liked at all—because he couldn't like women at all.

Hill sighed secretly, restrained his thoughts, and walked off the airship with the others.

After a brief greeting, Duke Grant took Sirius and his party to the Lord's Mansion to rest.

On the way to the lord's mansion, Hill and others learned a shocking news: the country of Oz was attacked by the Alliance of Lordaene.

"Why would Lordan launch an attack at this time?" Sirius asked suspiciously.At the end of spring and the beginning of summer, farmers are busy with farming, and herdsmen also have to take care of lambs, protect livestock, and domesticate horses. Attacking the outside world at this time will easily lead to insufficient troops and weak successors.

"We have only received news from the spies buried in Oz. The specifics are not clear, and it is temporarily impossible to determine whether it is the Lordaean Alliance or a certain tribe that invaded Oz." Duke Grant replied.

Lordaeun Alliance is not an imperial country like Oz and Yalong. They are united by tribes. The power is not concentrated, and there is no real king. The most powerful person is the leader of each tribe.The Holy See is also very powerful there. When the leaders of the various tribes cannot reach an agreement on something, they will ask the cardinals of the Holy See to mediate for them and help them make a decision.

"Fortunately, with the assistance of the Magic Association, I spread the news to Asshai immediately. I believe that the northern provinces have made corresponding defense preparations so as not to become Lordan's next target." Duke Grant continued.

"How did Oz react?" Sirius asked.

"I haven't received any definite news yet." Duke Grant shook his head. "The Magic Association may know something, but they refuse to share such news with us."

"I see, Your Excellency the Duke." Sirius didn't say much, but nodded calmly.

"However, at least they are not adequate in responding to the earthquake." Duke Grant said suddenly.

"Why do you say that?" Sirius asked a little puzzled.

"If you are not too tired, you can follow me to the city wall to see the scene on the opposite side, and then you will understand why I said that." Duke Grant did not directly give an answer.

"Why are you tired? We came here on the airship of the Magic Association, Your Excellency the Duke." Duke Grant's intentions could not be more obvious, and Sirius could only follow his words and asked to go over and have a look immediately. .

Duke Grant of course agreed, and immediately ordered people to divide the team, let the women and servants continue to go to the Lord's Mansion, and he took Sirius and others to the western city wall bordering the Oz Empire.

As a frontier fortress, everything in Yaji City is based on defense. It is built among mountains, and on the left and right are the Ulamara Mountains that serve as the border between Oz and Yalong.

According to historical records, Yaji City was built with the assistance of the first batch of magicians who fled to Yalong. There was only one narrow path for ordinary people to walk through. In order to let Yalong's reinforcements arrive as soon as possible, To prevent the Holy See Silver Knights from chasing them, they used magic to split the mountain range and turned the narrow path into a broad passage.

Later, the Yalong Empire built a fortress-like city on this open space split by magic, which is today's Yaji City.

Some historians joked that the existence of Yaji City and the Ulamara Mountains played a pivotal role in the reason why Oz and Yalong were full of gunpowder but never fought.With this fortress-like city, the army of the Oz Empire is unwilling to take the risk of heavy losses to attack rashly, and the army of the Yalong Empire is also unwilling to give up their own convenience to take the initiative to attack, so that everyone can only look at it here. Stare small eyes, and vent their hatred with each other in a non-violent way.

The city walls of Yaji City are also several times higher than ordinary cities, and the watchtower at the peak is even higher than the mountains on both sides. It seems to prevent the enemy from crossing the mountains and launching a surprise attack from the mountains.

Sirius and the others followed Duke Grant up the city wall, looked towards the side of the Oz Empire in the direction of the Duke's finger, and soon opened their eyes wide in surprise.

Although it has entered summer, there is no green grass under the city walls, but instead, there are colorful tents and unkempt people. At first glance, it looks like the scene that Siris and others saw when they first arrived in Yani City.

But that is not Yalong's territory, and the people there are not Yalong's subjects.

"How could this be?" Sirius asked in amazement.

"They are all disaster victims." Duke Grant said, "I have sent people to inquire. The reason why they gather here is because there are no bandits here who dare to approach."

"...What is Oz doing?" Sirius gasped.

"I'm afraid I didn't do anything." Duke Grant smiled wryly.

At this time, Hill was also listening to the conversation between Duke Grant and Prince Siris, while carefully looking at the victims below.They looked even worse than the victims outside Biani City. In Yani City, at least since the beginning of the earthquake, priests had come forward to provide relief, but here, he could not see any traces of priests' existence.

--how come?

Hill frowned, interjected and asked, "Your Excellency, even if the officials of Oz did not perform their duties, what about the Holy See? Does it also ignore their believers?"

"This also makes me feel strange." Duke Grant spread his hands helplessly, "Although there are no priests in Aji City, there are still churches in other parts of Agran County. After the earthquake, those priests stood up immediately. came out, moving faster than my men, but the priest over there—”

Duke Grant pointed to Oz.

"They only showed up twice after the disaster victims gathered here, and they didn't try to help the victims, but instead threatened them to return to their hometowns. One of them, they almost fought with these victims, but it was because we erected on the city wall Only then did I leave in despair.” Having said this, Duke Grant sighed, “Seriously, Your Highness, we are now making these disaster victims feel safer and more trustworthy than Oz’s army. Many of them People hope to seek refuge in Yalong, and even join the Yalong nationality."

"I don't think you made a corresponding promise to them, did you?" Sirius asked with a frown.

"Of course I can't accept this kind of request, and I can't give them food and other assistance." Duke Grant laughed at himself, "However, there are some hunters among the victims here, and they can rely on entering Hunting in the mountains to solve their own hunger problem. However, as more and more disaster victims flock here, fewer and fewer people can support themselves. In addition, many people came here with injuries. When it comes to medical treatment, it will soon die."

"Did a lot of people die?" Hill asked sensitively.

"Yes." Duke Grant nodded solemnly, "It's not convenient for me to deal with it, so I can only ask the Magic Association for help and ask them to send someone to deal with the corpse to avoid a plague. But there are not many magicians who can solve this problem , The priority here can only be ranked after other provinces and counties, and before they come, I can only control the gate of Yaji City and prohibit anyone from entering or leaving without authorization."

"Thank you for your hard work." Sirius said sincerely.

"This is what I should do, Your Royal Highness." Duke Grant smiled, and he didn't seem to take Serris' thanks to heart, but instead said, "There is something that I would like Your Royal Highness to pay attention to."

"Please tell me, Your Excellency the Duke." Sirius said hastily.

"Although no evidence has been obtained yet, it is obvious that some unexpected changes have taken place in Oz." Duke Grant put away his smile and said seriously, "It doesn't matter if you don't do anything after the disaster. Regardless of the great contrast between Zi and Yalong, in the final analysis it is the lack of order. And the importance of order to a country, I believe His Highness knows better than me."

"I understand what you mean." Sirius nodded, but did not give a clearer comment on the Duke's words.

——Does the Duke of Grant wish to send troops to Oz, and together with Lordan, attack Oz from both sides?

Hill secretly guessed.

But just as Sirius couldn't respond to Duke Grant's comments, Hill could only think in his heart, and would never say such words.Neither he nor Siris is the true master of the empire, and any decision involving the fate of the empire should not come from their mouths.

The group of people waited and watched on the city wall for a while, seeing that it was getting dark and it was time for dinner, they left the city wall and went to the Lord's Mansion where they were supposed to go an hour ago.

The dinner in the Lord's Mansion is not rich, and the taste is even more difficult to compliment.When the food was in the mouth, Hill couldn't help thinking of the cook in the Grant family's mansion in Assia. Obviously, he was of the same line as the chef here, even the lack of taste was exactly the same.

——If he suggested that Sirius use his own chef, would it arouse the suspicion and displeasure of the Duke?

As Hill struggled to stuff the plate of steak into his mouth, he wondered how he would get rid of the bad food for the next few days.

——By the way, there is someone who obviously hates this kind of food more than him.

Hill glanced at Joey from the corner of his eye, and sure enough, he was angrily cutting the large steak in front of him with a knife and fork, as if it was not food but his enemy.

——Well, let Joey solve this matter.

Hill thought to himself.

But the matter about the taste of food is just an insignificant episode, and the priority can only be ranked at the bottom of the list.

After dinner, Hill met Sirius alone, and proposed to him to go to the contact tower of the Magic Association, use the magic mirror there to get in touch with Amir magician in Yani City, and ask him about the specific situation of the Oz Empire .

Sirius readily agreed, and told Hill frankly that he had asked Sean to go to the hidden guard to find out the news, and believed that he would get some information soon.

——Unfortunately, both he and Sirius can only stay at the level of attention to such things.

Thinking this way, Hill was about to bow and bid farewell to Sirius, when A-Dong, who had been silent beside him, suddenly spoke.

After being taught a lesson by Moriarty at the Oracle Manor, A-Dong has become much more honest. He no longer has the arrogant air of the past, and is so well-behaved that he looks more and more like a "male favorite".

"Hey, wait." A-Dong stopped Hill, "Yesterday, no, the day before yesterday, were you the one who brought me back to Sirius?"

Hill was slightly taken aback, nodded and admitted, "Yes, Your Excellency."

"Thank you." A-Dong spit out a word quickly, and then turned his head away without looking at Hill, as if the thank you just now didn't come from her mouth at all.

Hill was stunned for a moment, then quickly laughed.

"It's nothing, Your Excellency A-Dong." Hill responded lightly, then bowed to Sirius again, and exited the room.