HPDBC Chapter 197 : Chapter 197
Chapter 197 : Chapter 197
However, this plan had already failed due to Merlin's intervention. So far, he hadn't received any news about an undead army appearing within Romunik's territory.So where did Bartovita get the capital to declare war on Romunik?
Could it be that the Queen was so blinded by rage over the news of her son's death that she decided to go all out and declare war directly?
Yan Yunqing hesitated. He actually didn't believe that the Queen had much affection for her son. After all, she had thrown Fitch out to handle the undead matter without informing him of the specific plan. This approach made Yan Yunqing suspect that Fitch was an abandoned pawn pushed out on purpose.
It would be best if he survived to complete the mission, but it didn't matter if he accidentally died; either way, he would eventually become one of the reasons for starting the war.
...Ah.
Could it really be like that?
Yan Yunqing felt that if this speculation were true, the Queen's ambition and ruthlessness had refreshed his understanding of her once again. Could someone really discard their own biological son as a stepping stone for the family without any qualms?
"Is there any other news?"
Berlos remained silent, looking up at him with those black-blue eyes. Perhaps it was Yan Yunqing's illusion, but he actually saw a trace of moisture in those black-blue eyes...
Yan Yunqing: ...?
What, was he showing him a pair of sparkling, doe-eyed eyes?
Yan Yunqing and Berlos stared at each other. Ten seconds later, Yan Yunqing gave in and reached out to ruffle Berlos's head, shifting his gaze. "Alright, can you speak now?"
Berlos narrowed his eyes. In the end, he temporarily suppressed himself under Yan Yunqing's petting. "The spies Blood Mist planted in Bartovita have gathered some intelligence. After Fitch's death, the Augreer family has been very close with a group of black-robed figures. They seem to be plotting something, and by now, certain transactions should have already been concluded."
"Figures from the Eternal Divine Sect have also appeared in Bartovita's border cities. The specific plan is hard to investigate, but it is definitely related to this war."
Yan Yunqing frowned tightly. "Has Bartovita cooperated with the Eternal Divine Sect?"
He tsked, his fingers unconsciously applying a bit of force. Suddenly feeling that the texture under his hand wasn't right, Yan Yunqing looked down and saw his fingers still buried in the other's hair roots, stiffening slightly.
Ah, he forgot he was still petting the wolf.
He released the hand that was gripping Berlos's hair and patted him soothingly, trying to make the other forget that he had just accidentally pulled his hair. However, as he lifted his hand, a few strands of silver-gray hair slowly drifted down.
Yan Yunqing: ...
Yan Yunqing guiltily shifted his gaze away; his hand strength really was a bit too much...
Berlos didn't seem to mind. He continued stating the intelligence.
"Although Bartovita has declared war on Romunik, the candidates for the expedition have not yet been decided. Originally, the Bartovita royal family favored General Sawyer, who is already stationed at the border, and his Sawyer Army."
"However, when the decree was sent down, General Sawyer refused the expedition on the grounds that demonic beast riots have been frequent recently, and he cannot spare the manpower to attack Romunik."
"The current news is that the Bartovita royal family and the nobles are negotiating regarding the expedition. But given that Queen's personality, and the fact that news of the declaration of war has already spread, this negotiation period won't be too long. It will be officially finalized in half a month at most."
"If nothing unexpected happens, troops stationed around the Royal City should be allocated to merge with the army guarding the southwest to attack Romunik together."
Yan Yunqing looked at Berlos with a strange expression. How did this guy know such things in such detail? Did he plant spies within the Bartovita royal family as well?
"Based on the army's marching time, the earliest this war can start is November or even December." Yan Yunqing estimated the distance from the Royal City to the border. This kind of large army march was different from him running back and forth alone. Those troops basically relied on walking, which would significantly lower the speed. Even at the fastest speed, it would take nearly two months to reach the border line.
"At this time... start a war?" Yan Yunqing was even more confused.
The Ailman Continent had winters. Although for Bartovita's terrain and location, the temperature was similar throughout all four seasons and relatively warm, the winter weather at the border line where the Two Great Empires met was extremely harsh.
Choosing to go to war with Romunik in the low temperatures of winter...?
Yan Yunqing suspected once again whether the Queen had lost her mind from anger to make such an unwise decision. She couldn't possibly feel that her army had too many people and wanted to send some to the battlefield to consume a bit of the population.
...That sounded too hellish.
Or was it that the Queen, having lived in the Royal City where it was like spring all year round, selectively ignored the difficulties winter posed to soldiers in combat at the border?
Yan Yunqing couldn't figure it out and didn't plan to keep thinking about it. He decided to go to that border line to take a look personally.
Berlos finished what he had to say, but he was unwilling to leave, dawdling and lingering by Yan Yunqing's side. After Yan Yunqing processed a few more documents, he realized Berlos was still watching him from by his feet.
"Are you not busy over there?" Yan Yunqing asked casually, rubbing his finger joints which were sore from being unaccustomed to writing with a quill.
This small discomfort was noticed by Berlos. He took over Yan Yunqing's fingers that were still being rubbed. His large palm pressed against Yan Yunqing's finger joints, massaging them gently. Yan Yunqing could feel the slightly rough fingertips with thin calluses sliding lightly across his palm.
Yan Yunqing unnaturally tried to pull his hand back, but failed.
Berlos lowered his eyes, seemingly massaging his finger joints with extreme seriousness. His warm breath fell on Yan Yunqing's skin, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up layers of ripples.
Yan Yunqing remained sitting in the chair, while Berlos was in a lower position. This perspective could completely satisfy some conqueror's desire—looking down from above, gazing, staring...
This Demon Wolf, whose reputation had always been rather poor, was currently kneeling by his feet in an extremely docile and harmless posture, carefully massaging his finger joints.
His half-long silver-gray hair draped over his shoulders; it looked soft, but Yan Yunqing knew the texture when touched—it was just as tough as the hardness hidden beneath Berlos's soft exterior.
This dependent seemed to have always shown this face in front of him.
Ever since he was a little wolf cub, it was the same—cute, harmless, loyal... It seemed all positive adjectives could be used on him. However, Yan Yunqing couldn't forget the first reunion in that dungeon, that Yuchir who was filled with a baleful aura.
Despite having the most ordinary face, he displayed Berlos's imposing manner vividly.
He was even crazy enough to dare hit Yan Yunqing's dagger with his chest.
Yan Yunqing zoned out a bit, staring at Berlos's side profile in a daze.
Speaking of which, since crossing over this time, he seemed to have discovered many different sides to his dependents?
Like Divic, rumored to be a madman, is actually a good dog, while Berlos, who always looks like a good dog, is actually crazy?
When the always cold-hearted Silf appeared, she also deviated from the figure in his memory.
Was it that the dependents under the Demon King's perspective weren't their true personalities, or did the nearly two thousand years change them into these personalities?
Eh, looking from this angle...
Berlos's eyelashes were actually quite long.
This thought suddenly popped into Yan Yunqing's mind. By the time he realized it, he had been staring at Berlos's face for a long time.
Long enough for Berlos to look up. Those black-blue eyes met his gaze, and Yan Yunqing could even see a hint of silver revealing itself within them.
"Your eyes..."
Yan Yunqing abruptly pulled his hand out and touched the other's eyes, frowning. "Your eyes weren't this color before, right?"
When Berlos was still a wolf cub, his eyes were a clear blue, transparent like beautiful sapphires. Later, due to the influence of the succubus bloodline, his eyes gradually were dyed with a touch of blood-red belonging to succubi. Under the guidance of the Demon King's contract, they finally turned silver-blue.
He vaguely remembered that when Berlos was at the Blood Mist headquarters, his eyes were still silver-blue. Only when he was Yuchir would his eyes be disguised as black.
But Berlos was now appearing in front of him in Berlos's image; they shouldn't be Yuchir's black-blue eyes.
Berlos held Yan Yunqing's hand, allowing his fragile eyeball to be at the mercy of Yan Yunqing, who could harm it at any time. His voice was low, "You don't like it?"
Yan Yunqing felt the eyeball under his fingertips roll slightly through the thin eyelid, the dense eyelashes sweeping against his fingertip, bringing a slight itch.
"...It's okay." Yan Yunqing withdrew his hand. "Just a bit unaccustomed to it."
"Then I'll use my original eyes next time." Berlos spoke softly. "Or do you prefer the initial blue eyes? Or red eyes like yours? —Of course, golden eyes are also fine, as long as you like it."
Yan Yunqing: .
Why suddenly mention golden eyes?
Seeming to sense Yan Yunqing's confusion, Berlos spoke softly, "After all, the one you favored most in the past—had golden eyes."
"How nice, to be trusted and liked by you like that, even though he only joined halfway..."
Yan Yunqing: ...
Yan Yunqing looked away, ignoring Berlos's green-tea-like speech, and issued an eviction order: "Alright, you should go back. Pay more attention to the matters regarding Bartovita, and tell me if there is any new intelligence."
Berlos's expression froze. He seemed not to expect Yan Yunqing to drive him away so decisively. After two seconds of silence, he lowered his head slightly, once again showing a well-behaved appearance. "Yes."
***
Things turned out just as Berlos had said. Bartovita publicly declared war on Romunik, but General Sawyer refused the expedition. Consequently, re-discussing the candidates for the expedition delayed some time, but not for too long; half a month was enough for the Queen to persuade the nobles who were unwilling to go to war.
In the end, a noble general with a similarly foundational background was sent on the expedition.
The timing was about the same as Berlos predicted. It took a month to assemble the grand army and head towards Romunik.
Bartovita officially declared war on Romunik.
At the same time, a system announcement appeared before the eyes of all players.
【The Bartovita Empire has officially declared war on the Romunik Empire. A great war is about to unveil its curtain. How can Descenders who have embarked on the journey to find the return miss this thrilling moment?】
【Warriors, the horn of war has been blown. Glory and dreams await your realization! Now is the moment to demonstrate your strength! Join a faction, fight side by side with your comrades, and fight for the glory of your faction! Let us leave our legend on this battlefield!】
【The 『Frontline Campaign』 series of quests is officially open.】
【You may choose the [Bartovita] or [Romunik] faction to start the 『Frontline Campaign』 quest.】
【Participating in quests and completing quests has a certain chance to affect the development of the subsequent plot. Please choose your faction carefully.】
Players: ?
Players: !!!
What? Why did this game start a faction war without saying a word?!
Wait, why did Bartovita want to fight Romunik again? Why doesn't this faction war quest have a pre-quest?!
Yan Yunqing looked at the faction war announcement that popped up, also feeling a bit dazed. This game dug a pit for him without a word.
He was still thinking about whether to prevent the deterioration of the war between the Two Great Empires, to at least save the innocent border citizens from suffering the hardships of war.
As a result, the game dragged the players into this muddy water, completely disrupting Yan Yunqing's original plan.
Originally, due to the cold winter, the war might have dragged on until the spring warmth before fighting fiercely. Now that the players had intervened, this battlefield would become uncontrollable!