Martin stared at the girl's receding figure, stunned for a moment, then slowly withdrew his gaze and turned to Duke Merlin and asked, "Who is this?"

Duke Merlin was straightforward and said without reservation: "She is Xiao Ba, my granddaughter."

Martin was filled with disbelief upon hearing this. He had originally thought that the one he would marry would be a member of the Merlin family's collateral branch, but he had never expected it to be a granddaughter of the direct line.

In an instant, a thought flashed through Martin's mind: Could it be that the marriage partner has changed because the Dragon Knight has changed his master?

Duke Merlin had lived in the world for so long that he saw through Martin's thoughts at a glance and immediately clarified: "Don't think too much. The candidate for marriage proposed by Lucy was Xiao Ba."

Martin smiled slightly awkwardly after hearing this, and then the few of them chatted for a while.

The Duke noticed that Martin was still a little nervous and hesitant, so he stood up and called Lucy over, saying, "Take Martin around the first and second floors of the Magic Tower. Remember, don't let him go to the third floor, or else something unexpected might happen."

After that, the Duke exchanged a few words with Martin and the dragon knight behind him, then hurried off to deal with his business.

As soon as Duke Merlin left, Lucy dropped her disguise, revealing her charming nature. She put her arm around Martin's shoulders and said with a sweet smile, "Little Martin, I didn't expect you to be so quiet and have a dragon knight accompanying you. Do you have any other surprises? Tell me now and let me be surprised too."

Martin's expression was calm. He unnoticeably removed Lucy's hand from her shoulder and took a step back. He spoke respectfully but at a distance, "Sister, this is a magic tower after all. Please respect yourself. Once we're out of this magic tower, I can do whatever I want."

Lucy smiled charmingly upon hearing this and stopped joking. She knew that this was Duke Merlin's territory and that if she went too far with her jokes, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore. Come with me and I'll show you around."

As soon as Lucy finished speaking, Martin instantly became interested and followed her with anticipation, while Eric and Shuang Ning followed silently behind.

Lucy first led Martin to the magic item storage area, where there were a wide variety of magic props. The very special ones were properly stored separately.

After Lucy gave a brief introduction, she took Martin to the next place. Martin couldn't help but take a few more glances before hurriedly following.

Then they came to the animal breeding area, which was a place specially used for magic experiments. Martin only took a quick glance and felt the bloody horror. He quickly looked away and quickly followed Lucy.

The next area was the core of the first floor—the location of the defense facilities. However, Lucy didn't explain much, just took Martin for a quick look before heading straight to the second floor.

On the second floor, Lucy introduced Martin to the magic library, divination room, meditation and training room, magical creature research room, etc. After the tour, Martin felt that his horizons had been broadened and his heart was filled with shock.

After the tour, Lucy was about to take Martin out for dinner, but Martin looked up at the sky and realized it was getting late.

The border war was tense. Although he had learned through communication that there was no serious problem for the time being, he still felt uneasy and wanted to rush there as soon as possible.

So Martin said goodbye to Lucy sincerely and asked her to convey his gratitude to Duke Merlin for the magic circle.

Seeing that Martin was determined to leave, Lucy did not try to keep him anymore. She took Martin and the others on the magic carriage and drove out of the magic city.

Martin had no idea that when he left, a petite figure was standing by the window, staring quietly at the direction he was leaving, her eyes full of complicated emotions.

After leaving the Magic City, Martin and his party quickly reunited with the Knights of Dawn, and then headed non-stop towards the border of the Dwarf Kingdom - the Iron Ridge Hills where the two sides fought.

Along the way, Martin was eager to return home and did not stop for too long. He just wanted to speed up the journey. They traveled day and night and finally arrived at the Iron Ridge Hills a week later.

The scene before us was very different from the past. All over the mountains and plains, tents were densely packed together, outlining a war scene full of solemnity and murderous atmosphere.

At this moment, a dispatch officer spotted the knights led by Martin and immediately stepped forward and asked, as usual: "Which family are you from?"

Martin answered truthfully: "The White family." The dispatch officer remained calm and did not react much.

After all, a large number of knights arrived here every day during this period, so he didn't have the energy to pay attention to the situation of each family one by one.

Afterwards, the dispatch officer assigned Martin a camp next to Earl White, called a soldier and ordered: "Take them to the camp." After that, he hurried to the next knight group that had just arrived.

Martin signaled to the soldiers that they could set off, and under the guidance of the soldiers, they successfully arrived at the designated camp.

Upon arrival, the soldier politely said his goodbyes and left.

Martin immediately ordered Roga to tidy up the camp and arrange the stationing matters, while he himself took Eric and Shuang Ning and strode towards Earl White's residence.

The knights brought by Earl White recognized Martin at a glance and came forward to salute respectfully.

In this way, Martin came to Earl White's tent without any hindrance. At this moment, Earl White was concentrating on looking at the military map. When he noticed someone entering, he subconsciously raised his head.

When he saw that it was Martin, his face suddenly lit up with joy. He quickly and enthusiastically called Martin over and said, "I didn't expect you to come here so soon. By the way, have you told your mother?"

Martin shook his head and replied, "No, I'm afraid she'll worry, so I don't plan to tell her." Then, Martin asked with concern, "Father, what's the current situation of the war?"

Upon hearing this question, the joy on Earl White's face was instantly replaced by worry. He sighed and said slowly, "The current situation is not optimistic. We are under tremendous pressure."

"We have to face attacks from two kingdoms simultaneously, but Dante's Kingdom only has to deal with one Dwarf Kingdom. Knights die on the battlefield every day.

Currently, Prince Herbert has been holding his ground in the camp, unwilling to go into battle easily, intending to wait until almost all the knights in the country have arrived before launching a general attack."

"But if we continue to consume at this rate, I'm afraid our kingdom will be unable to sustain it. The same is likely true for the Dwarven Kingdom across the way. After all, they have to support the armies of two kingdoms in battle. You can imagine the enormous logistical pressure they face."

After hearing this, Martin nodded thoughtfully. After a brief pause, he continued, "Father, how many sky combat forces appeared on the battlefield?"

Earl White frowned slightly, thought carefully, and then said, "Well... So far, since I arrived here, it has only appeared once. There is one on our side, and there is also one on the other side."