After more than half a month of travel, Giles and his party finally entered a relatively safe area, where Lord Minos, one of his most loyal vassals, was the lord.
Most importantly, the Royal Army's forces have not yet reached this area.
When Lord Minos was informed that several ragged, unshaven vagrants wanted to see him, he immediately ordered his guards to drive them away.
At this moment, Sir Minos was preoccupied with the current situation and had no time to deal with a few vagrants. Ten days earlier, he had received devastating news: Eagles Beak Pass had been captured by the Kingdom Army, and his lord, Grand Duke Giles, and several other high-ranking generals had disappeared without a trace.
For a moment, Sir Michael didn't know what to do.
Surrender or resist? That is the question.
He sent men to inquire of the neighboring lords, but without Giles as their leader, his vassals were in complete chaos, wandering around like headless flies. Sir Minos's inquiries yielded no useful information, only deepening his confusion.
"Sir, he, he, he..."
Just as the knight was feeling agitated, the guard rushed back in a panic.
"What do you mean, 'him'?" Minos was furious and really wanted to slap this clueless guy across the face.
"He is Grand Duke Giles!"
"What did you say?"
Ten minutes later, Sir Minos met the fuming Giles and his party in the hall of Lords Manor.
"My lord, how... how did you become like this?" Minos asked excitedly. His excitement stemmed partly from neglecting his lord and partly from finding his pillar of support again, like a lost dog finding its owner.
Giles glared angrily, "In just half a month, Lord Minos's prestige has certainly increased quite a bit!"
"My lord, please allow me to explain..."
Minos apologized profusely, finally calming his lord's anger.
Giles calmed down a bit, took the water Minos handed him to moisten his throat, and explained to the knight with a questioning look on his face: " After Eagles Beak Pass fell, we risked our lives to escape the Royal Army's pursuit, fled into the devil's belly, and walked for more than half a month to get here."
"I see. Thank you for your hard work."
"Quickly, tell me about the situation over the past two weeks."
As Minos began to speak, just ten minutes later, Giles couldn't contain himself and jumped up from his seat, his face flushed crimson with boundless rage.
"These spineless cowards!" the Grand Duke roared.
He learned from Minos's words that there was very little resistance from the Royal Army south of Eagles Beak Pass in the face of the Royal Army's offensive, and that several lords around Minos had already hinted in their communications that they would surrender to the Royal Army, while the attitudes of others were ambiguous.
It's all reversed! It's completely reversed!
"Even without news of me, I still have my heirs in Five Rams City! Have they lost their leader?"
"My lord…" Minos hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.
"explain!"
"According to the intelligence I received earlier, your son has been imprisoned by his uncle! Five Rams City is in chaos right now, and your men are fighting amongst themselves."
a bolt from the blue.
Giles was stunned by Minos's words. What was going on? The Kingdom Army hadn't even invaded yet, and their own people were already in disarray?
"Give me the fastest horse! I must get to Five Rams City as quickly as possible!"
Faced with this situation, Giles felt that there was no time to lose; he had to quell the chaos at headquarters, or everything would be over.
At the same time, he left his token to Minos, ordering him to spread the news of his return and commanding his vassals to do everything in their power to slow the Kingdom Army's southward advance—merely slow it down; Giles didn't have much hope that these guys could stop the Royal Army.
After quickly eating something, Giles changed his clothes and, along with Samar, Wendell, and others, galloped south on horseback.
...
Near Lakeheart Town, 51st District.
In the dim light of dawn, a Cannon stood quietly on the test firing range, its barrel gleaming with a cold metallic luster.
The gunners are conducting a tense but orderly final check to ensure that every part of the Cannon is in good condition.
"Is this the new toy you were going to show me?"
A group of people stood at a safe distance, all dressed in Alda's standard military uniforms, looking neat and orderly.
Standing in the center of the crowd were Lord Paul Greiman and his newlywed wife, Catherine Rodney. (Correction: she should now be called Catherine Glaeman.)
The princess, dressed in Alda military uniform, looked even more dashing than before, but she had no rank insignia—which indicated that she was not a true member of the Alda army.
Today was the first time she had worn this outfit, which drew frequent glances from Paul.
Catherine felt a little embarrassed in front of so many people, and nudged her husband gently with her elbow, saying, "I think you should focus on testing the new weapon."
"Ah, you're right." Paul coughed, then leaned close to his wife's ear and whispered, "We have plenty of time anyway."
Catherine blushed and quickly asked, "You said you were here to see a test of a new weapon, but that Cannon doesn't look any different from the previous ones."
Paul regained his composure, " Cannon is the same, but the ammunition it uses is different."
"Ammunition?" Catherine seemed to realize something. "You mean the shells it fires?"
"That's right, you'll understand in a moment."
Catherine focused her gaze on the experimental Cannon in the distance.
Under the gunners' skillful movements, the firing process was proceeding in an orderly manner: loading gunpowder, inserting shells... and so on. The shells seemed to be somewhat different from the usual lumps of iron.
Catherine, with her keen eyesight, noticed that unlike ordinary spherical shells, the shell used for the experiment could be clearly divided into two parts: the front part was hemispherical, while the rear part was cylindrical—it seemed to be made by inserting the original iron ball into a cylindrical wooden base.
Loading complete.
"Attention everyone, prepare for launch!" The experimenters all covered their ears with their hands.
"emission!"
With the commander's order, a gunner behind the cannon pulled a rope, igniting the fuse. Instantly, a deep rumble came from the cannon barrel, as if the earth itself was trembling slightly. The muzzle spewed out scorching flames and thick smoke, and a shell shot out like a meteor, accompanied by a series of sharp whistling sounds as it cut through the air.
According to Catherine's experience, the shells would land at a distance and then bounce and tumble—that's what makes them so terrifying.
However, today's shell is very different.
boom!
To the princess's surprise, another explosion occurred in front of the cannon, right where the shell had landed!
She clearly saw that the point of impact burst into a dazzling flash of light and scattered shrapnel, as if a flower of death had bloomed in an instant.
Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, cheers erupted from the test firing range.