That bard is such a charmer!

Chapter 164 Expedition to the Southwest (Part 2)

Inside the princess's residence.

Isabella only realized after hearing Richard's question that the latter was unfamiliar with the affairs of the Empire.

She immediately took out a map and patiently explained, "Look here, south of the Miracle Plains, east of the Dragon Tooth Mountains, on the southwestern border of the Empire, there is a castle pattern. This is Lion Fortress."

"It is the southwestern gateway of the empire, bearing the heavy responsibility of blocking the invasion of the orcs from the Great Swamp."

"However, just last week, the orcs assembled an unprecedentedly powerful legion, even gaining the aid of a mighty dragon, and launched a surprise attack on Lion Fortress, breaching it in just three days—"

"At this point, the orcs invaded the southwest region, burning, killing, and looting on a large scale, and even went so far as to besiege the large city of Tieyuan City further behind."

Richard looked at Isabella's finger tracing patterns on the map and discovered that the affected area was almost one-fifth the size of the Empire.

And if Iron Abyss City were to fall—

Oh wow, then it won't be too far from the capital after that.

It seems that the situation is indeed quite serious.

"Not only that—"

Across from her, Isara added, "My brother Marcus—the same one I mentioned to you before, the sixth prince who, like Jonas, is vying with me for the crown—is currently in Iron Abyss City."

"He has always focused on military affairs, and for the past two years he has served as Grand Duke Gunther's deputy, guarding the southwest and clearing out local bandits."

"I never expected the orcs to arrive so suddenly. He initially planned to resist on the spot, but by a twist of fate, he ended up staying in the city."

"Now, the orcs have not only besieged the city with troops, but they have also deployed a large number of shamans around the city to set up magic arrays, cutting off teleportation spells. He can't escape even if he wanted to."

Richard's eyes widened.

Goodness, the prize pool is still growing.

He asked Isabella, "So, how does the Empire plan to deal with this crisis? Wait—they don't mean they want you to go and rescue people, do they?"

Richard recalled the princess's tense expression and added the last half of a sentence.

Isabella nodded, then shook her head.

"I will definitely participate in the rescue, but this involves the entire southwestern region of the country, and it is not something I can lead alone."

"To be specific, my father appointed Field Marshal Ludwig, who had just returned from the North, as the commander-in-chief to lead a large army to the rescue."

"And Jonas and I will both be his deputies."

"That Jonas fellow has a good relationship with the major nobles and merchants in the southwest region. With him on the front lines, the army can get more material support."

"As for me, as a paladin, I am relatively close to the church, so my father intends for me to act as his representative to contact the local church and persuade them to send their friars to help—"

Richard nodded repeatedly as he listened.

So that's how it is; it's a bond mode where the whole family goes out together.

That said, this also reflects the fact that the Holy Roland Empire's level of centralization was not very high.

They call themselves an empire, but when in crisis they must mobilize a large army, they still have to send princes and princesses to seek the support of local powers.

But on the other hand, could this also be considered a test that the emperor was giving to his children?

Richard looked at Isabella with a puzzled expression. She nodded slightly, though it was unclear whether she agreed with the poet's guess.

After a few seconds of silence, Isabella asked, "So, Richard, are you interested in coming with me to rescue Iron Abyss City?"

Richard answered decisively, "Of course!"

On one hand, Jonas will also be going this time, and William will most likely follow him, leaving the sensitive capital and heading to the chaotic battlefield.

For Richard, this was a perfect opportunity for revenge!

How could I miss it?

On the other hand, after eating and drinking at Isabella's house for so many days and ordering her maids around quite a bit, he should at least do some work in return.

To put it more bluntly, nowadays, the interests of the princess and the poet are closely intertwined; helping the former is essentially helping himself.

Once the idea was made up, Richard and Isabella began preparing for their trip.

This included purchasing supplies, packing luggage, and resigning from the Robin School, etc.

That last thing took Richard much longer than he had anticipated.

It wasn't that Principal Bernd wouldn't let him go—although the old man genuinely wanted to keep Richard, he still honored the original contract that allowed Richard to leave at any time and even paid him double the salary.

The real reason was that all the students were reluctant to see Richard leave, and they held farewell events on campus.

For example, giving gifts, writing farewell poems, or standing on the desks in front of Mr. Allen, the discipline teacher, and shouting "Oh, Captain, my Captain!" at Richard.

Incidentally, Professor Allen has no intention of stopping the students at all, and even seems to be subtly interested in joining in.

They truly are a group of poets.

In every sense, this left Richard both amused and exasperated.

Three days later.

The preparations are finally complete.

Isabella led Richard and Grace to the Military Flag House, located on the northeast side of the capital, right next to the Imperial Palace.

Originally a place where the Imperial Guards settled veterans and wounded soldiers, it was later transformed into a dedicated site for displaying the glory of the Imperial Army, reviewing soldiers, and holding departure ceremonies.

Now, all the people who will participate in the expedition have gathered here.

Richard spotted Marshal Ludwig Usher, the commander who had recently returned to the capital. Usher was a man in his sixties with a mustache, wearing armor, stern-faced, and a level 16 warrior.

A mysterious level 19 guard wearing an iron mask followed behind him.

Tsk, you can tell at a glance he's a formidable character.

Besides these, Richard also saw some noble officers he had met a few times before, the second prince Jonas, his enemy William, and his old friends, the three siblings, Peggotty.

Yes, Isabella summoned these three again to be her attendants.

There's no way around it, the combination of mage, warlock, and priest is just too comprehensive. The whole family standing together is like a toolkit, it's hard not to want to carry it with you.

Let's get back to the present.

"Richard! I heard you taught those cultists a lesson at Robin's Nest, that was truly remarkable—"

The three siblings also saw Richard and immediately went up to him to chat.

However, the group did not have much time to talk before being interrupted by Charles VII, who arrived last.

As the emperor, he naturally had to visit everyone before setting off on his campaign.

However, due to physical limitations, he could not stay for long. He only chatted with Ludwig and his two children for a few minutes, instructing them to defeat the orcs and rescue Marku before hurriedly returning.

After that, Marshal Ludwig officially took over the entire field.

"—Everyone, let's set off."

After offering some platitudes about divine protection, he solemnly issued an order and led everyone away from the Military Flag Institute.

However, instead of heading to a city gate, the group went to the Mage Tower in the north of the city, where there was a large, permanently fixed teleportation array.

Since there was no human powder keg like Elsa in this group, the group naturally didn't need to waste time traveling and could directly teleport to another city closer to Iron Abyss City.

And that place will become the true base camp for everyone to assemble their troops and prepare supplies.

soon.

The group proceeded to the foot of the mage tower.

Richard was surprised to find two familiar faces there.

One is Sylvia, and the other is Dorian!

The former waved enthusiastically to Richard.

But as a princess, she couldn't just jump over there; instead, she turned around and greeted Ludwig and her brothers and sisters first.

The latter, however, walked straight toward Richard.

This surprised Richard slightly, and he asked in a low voice, "Professor Mueller, what brings you here?"

Dorian smiled and said, "Of course, I'm here to see you off."

Richard was even more surprised.

"In front of the Second Prince and William? Aren't you afraid—"

"As for them, it's alright. I thought about it for a long time the other day and finally decided to formally resign from my position as His Highness's advisor. From now on, I'm no longer on their side. I've made up my mind to become an adventurer!"

"!"

Richard blinked, completely unprepared for Dorian's answer.

Has this guy changed that drastically?

Well, thinking about it carefully, it should be considered a good thing. Another colleague has decided to stop being a canary in the palace and instead challenge himself to become a real bard or something.

Richard smiled in response: "Congratulations, Professor Muller! I wish you a wonderful adventure!"

Dorian waved his hand: "I wouldn't dare. I'm still a newbie in this area. Fighting goblins will be enough for me. By the way—"

He changed the subject, lowering his voice, and said, "Besides seeing you off, there's something else I need to tell you."

Richard, also lowering his voice, asked, "What is it?"

"Regarding William, you have a grudge against that guy, right? He was the one who encouraged me to test you before, but I think you probably already guessed that—"

Dori paused for a moment, then said, "So I suppose you're planning to deal with him too? In that case, as a way of repaying you for saving my life, I must remind you that guy isn't an ordinary mage."

"I once accidentally witnessed him secretly talking to his dimensional bag. Not only that, but many black tentacles also emerged from the dimensional bag and snatched away a piece of raw beef."

"As for more, I don't know. In short, you should be careful."

Richard frowned slightly.

This sounds like they're raising some kind of monster?

It's something you can't see on the panel again.

He nodded to Dorian: "I understand, thank you."

Dorian winked at Richard one last time, then picked up his lyre and walked away, playing as he went.

At this moment, Sylvia finished her greetings and came to Richard's side.

The little princess didn't suddenly decide to become an adventurer or tell Richard any secrets to be careful of. She simply gave Richard the half-revised poem to review and wished him a safe journey.

Richard sincerely thanked him.

Then he said goodbye to the little princess, caught up with the main group, and entered the mage tower.

Sylvia gently bit her lip with her pearly teeth.

As she was speaking, she clearly felt the gazes of her sister Isabella and teaching assistant Grace.

Indeed, beautiful things are always firmly guarded by the strong.

However, she doesn't want to give up easily now!

Just like Richard said, she is only a 16-year-old student, and if she has a goal to achieve, it is not too late to start working hard now!

Hmph, just wait and see, she'll be as persistent as Juliet in the story!

the other side.

Richard was unaware of the girl's thoughts.

He followed instructions and entered the teleportation array at the bottom of the mage tower in the same batch as Isabella.

In a flash of white light, he felt as if he had been stuffed into a washing machine and spun around for seven or eight seconds before he recovered.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself having left the mage tower in the capital and arrived in a rough-looking stone hall.

"here it is----"

"Naturally, this is our destination: the teleportation hall of Rock City!"

Isabella laughed and explained to Richard, "By the way, more than half of the residents in this city are dwarves, so I advise you to take a look at the inscription on your left beforehand and then be careful what you say."

Richard suddenly realized.

So this is a city mainly inhabited by dwarves. No wonder the name is so unique. The windows in the hall are all so low; you can't see many strangers looking around at eye level. You have to look down to see them.

Wait, what about the inscription on the left?

He stepped out of the teleportation array and looked at the wall to his left, where he saw a sentence engraved on it:

Bards are not welcome here, especially bards who love to tell jokes!

"?"

Richard's lips twitched.

"What do you mean? This city is openly discriminating against people of color? That's outrageous! Isn't the Empire going to do anything about it? Seriously, they're actually condoning us poets making fun of dwarves. Don't look down on us! There are plenty of good poets like me who never make jokes about height!"

"Oh well, when you're in someone's house, you have to bow your head—let's go, Grace, watch your step, don't accidentally step on them—"

As soon as he finished speaking, Richard noticed more than a dozen unfriendly gazes fixed on his chin.

broken.

The urge to tell jokes has become second nature to me!

"Isabella, do we really have to meet here? Can't we go somewhere else?"

"I'm sorry, Richard, this is the closest major town to Iron Abyss City, but don't worry, we won't be staying here all the time—"

Isabella did not deceive the poet.

After putting down their luggage and doing some necessary paperwork, Isabella took Amelie, Richard, Grace, and Peggotty out of town to visit the surrounding churches one by one.

First, there is the Church of Radiant Light, an old friend, followed by the churches of the God of War, the God of Law, the Earth Mother, and the Goddess of Wealth.

After completing the round trip, they had gained a lot.

Specifically, this included 600,000 gold coins, 50 carts of provisions and 5 carts of healing holy water or blessed weapons, 120 priests of various ranks who volunteered to accompany the army, and a total of 2,000 warriors from eight different knightly orders.

Well, how should I put it?

Although he had anticipated the strength of the churches, Richard couldn't help but marvel at how they could muster such resources without exerting their full strength.

These guys are really fat!

cough cough.

Five days later.

After circling around, Isabella led everyone to a small hill.

She said, "What we are looking for today is the Knights of the Night's Watch. They are stationed in a temple deep in these mountains. They worship the God of War and have a total of five hundred highly skilled warriors under their command. They are the strongest knightly order in this region."

Everyone nodded, filled with great anticipation for today's visit.

However, just before they were about to head into the mountains along the road, they found a group of knights blocking their way.

"By order of the Baron, all travelers passing through this area must pay a road tax of five silver coins per person!"

Richard pursed his lips.

Damn it, it's the Bandit Knight again!

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