"Is this Silver Moon City?"

Standing in front of the tall city gate, looking at the invisible bridge constructed entirely by magic, the werewolf girl showed an expression of extreme shock.

Because this was the first time she saw a city extravagant enough to use rare, precious and expensive magic on a bridge for ordinary people to enter and exit.

To be exact, the entire Silvermoon City is like a fairy-tale country.

Here there are various magical spires that stretch as far as the eye can see, as well as gardens built in mid-air and various fountains and sculptures.

Elves and half-elves riding Pegasus would occasionally fly across the sky, offering help to anyone in need.

There are even some magical instruments that play day and night standing in the streets and alleys.

Even the guards at the gate seemed so polite. They would smile and say a word of blessing to the farmers who came into the city to sell grain, meat, fruits and vegetables.

All the greed, selfishness, jealousy and arrogance in human nature seem to no longer exist here, leaving only the best side.

Even the bloodthirsty and money-hungry old dwarf Korgan inadvertently put away his usual rude and unreasonable look at this moment.

There is no doubt that all this is the result of the good environment created by Silvermoon City.

Because most ordinary people have a herd mentality, when other people and the environment around them tend to be orderly and kind, they will also be happy to show their friendliest side.

But once the surrounding environment is chaotic and full of evil people, people will rush to become the most powerful, evil and intimidating villain, even just to survive without being bullied.

Although Zuo Si did not know whether Alustriel created such a social environment in Silvermoon City intentionally or unintentionally, the fact that she was able to create such a paradise in the north where there were dangers lurking everywhere and orcs, dragons and dangerous monsters everywhere made her worthy of the title of "Lady Hope".

She did bring hope to all the people in this city and the entire North who longed for order and kindness.

If it weren't for the suppression of Silvermoon City, Luskan and the Arcane Brotherhood would have probably begun to expand recklessly and established a slave empire similar to Cyre in the north.

There are also rumors that Alustriel has formed an alliance with several ancient gold and silver dragons.

In addition to a large number of high-level wizards, there are also temples that tend to be kind or neutral, such as Lord of the Dawn Lathander, God of Guardian Heim, Goddess of the Forest Mielikki, Goddess of Magic Midnight, Goddess of Love and Beauty Suna, Goddess of the Moon Sulen, and God of Nature Silvanus.

So even though the number of Silvermoon City's soldiers is always small, with no one unit exceeding a thousand, the powerful foundation it possesses is by no means comparable to third-rate forces like Luskan and the Arcane Brotherhood who don't even have a backing.

This can be seen from the fact that tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of orc armies marched southwards but never approached Silvermoon City once.

Thinking of this, Zuo Si immediately said to the werewolf girl with great interest: "Yes, this is Silver Moon City. It is magnificent, isn't it? In fact, it originated from several small farms that were originally established on this land and gradually developed.

The local residents worshipped the forest goddess Mielikki and her mount, the unicorn goddess Larue.

Later it gradually developed into a small town, and was not officially named Silvermoon City until 637DR.

Later, wizards who believed in the goddess of magic came here and built the first library, imparting knowledge and magical skills to the locals.

Before long, this place became a well-known magical holy land.

The Supreme Mage is the nominal supreme leader and ruler of this city.

Later, due to the struggle for ambition and power, a series of internal struggles and even mutual vendettas broke out in Silvermoon City.

Eventually, Alustriel won the title of Supreme Mage in a vote of all citizens and began her rule that lasted more than a century.

It was under her rule that the city became so rich, prosperous and powerful.”

"It sounds like this Ms. Alastro is a very powerful person?" Fangs' eyes revealed a hint of curiosity.

"Yes, whether it's her political and diplomatic skills, her nearly three-digit children, her countless lovers, and her status as a legendary wizard and the Chosen One of the Goddess of Magic, all of these prove Alustriel's ability and strength. Most importantly, she has a good reputation. Apart from her slightly chaotic private life, there is almost nothing that can be blamed on her."

When saying this, there was clearly a hint of amusement in Zuo Si's tone.

Because based on the time of birth of Ms. Hope, it is basically certain that she is now almost 600 years old, but she is still energetic enough to pursue freshness and excitement in addition to her busy work.

I don’t know how her children would feel when they find out that their “mom” has found a lover who is younger than their great-grandson.

In fact, except for Kuilu who is a dark elf, the other six of the "Seven Sisters of the North" claim to be human, but without exception they all have elven blood.

Especially those children of Alustriel whose fathers are also elves, their lifespans are often very long.

"Really? I don't believe it!"

Alena couldn't help but interject.

For a capricious and chaotic group like hers, it is very difficult to not make mistakes for a lifetime, let alone for a few days.

However, based on the principle of not making big mistakes but making small mistakes constantly, this funny guy has learned on his own to control the harm within a certain range and try not to make his master angry.

"Believe it or not. Okay, stop talking nonsense and let's go in."

After saying that, Zuo Si took the lead and walked onto the invisible moon bridge which was completely made up of a magical force field.

Thanks to his arcane vision, true seeing and eye of knowledge, he could clearly see the force fields formed by drawing energy from the magic network.

But for those who walk on this magic bridge for the first time, it would be a little scary.

This is just like those transparent glass bridges that are set up for the sake of publicity at tourist attractions. Tourists know that these special glasses are even harder than steel, and that they may not be broken even if a big rock falls on them, but their legs will still go weak.

Especially the old dwarf Korgan who is afraid of heights. He would tap the front of his head lightly with his axe after every step he took to make sure he would not fall before taking a step forward.

Of course, he was not the only one who did this. The same was true for the orc Rhett, who knew nothing about the power of magic, and the outsiders who came to Silvermoon City for the first time.

The guards at the door were no longer surprised by this.

When the team finally crossed the moon bridge and arrived at the city gate, the guards began to perform their duties, looking up and down at this group of adventurers or mercenaries.

Zuo Si, who looks very young and is a human, obviously has no problems and fully meets the criteria for entering Silvermoon City.

Similarly, Alena, who is suspected to have fire elemental blood, the dwarf Korgan, the werewolf girl Fangus, and the elf magic archer are also within this range.

But the half-orc Rhett obviously gave the guards a hard time.

Because the orcs in the wild north are completely different from the orcs in the south who have been integrated into civilized society.

They are closer to orcs than to humans.

Therefore, they often plunder together with the orc tribes and are an absolute scourge.

The spotted cat people on the Maztec continent were also intelligent creatures that these guards had never seen before, so they were unable to make a decision for a moment.

At this moment, a woman wearing a light-colored robe, a crown on her head, and long hair that sparkled with silver light like a waterfall appeared out of nowhere in front of everyone.

She looks as beautiful as a twenty-year-old girl, but her temperament and eyes reveal the wisdom and maturity accumulated over time.

Especially the shining silver fire in his body, which was as bright and dazzling as a torch in the night sky in Zuo Si's eyes.

"Your Majesty!"

The guards in charge of guarding the city gates knelt down on one knee in unison to express their respect to this wise ruler.

Elastro waved his hand to signal the loyal guards to stand up, and he focused all his attention on Zuo Si.

After a full minute, she smiled and said, "It's not easy. I finally get to meet you in person today. Welcome to Silvermoon City, Soth."

"It's my pleasure."

Zuo Si politely placed his hand on his chest and bowed slightly.

"Haha, don't be so reserved. After all, we are all chosen by the Goddess of Magic, and you helped us resolve the massive invasion of orcs half a year ago. I still owe you a favor." Elastro blinked playfully.

It can be seen that she was in a very good mood, and even behaved like a young girl rather than an "old lady" who was nearly 600 years old.

Zuo Si couldn't understand how a man who had lived for more than 600 years could maintain such a mentality, so he could only agree with him and said, "This matter is not just about human feelings.

Because just two days ago, I just experienced an attack with about thirty one-eyed orc warriors with an average level of around LV14 and seven or eight priests involved.

In addition, there are two elects of the orc gods who are also legendary warriors and legendary priests.

Finally, a person who seemed to be the incarnation of God also descended, but for some reason he did not show up in the end. "

"What?!"

When Alustriel heard the news, his face changed drastically, and he instantly changed from the look of a girl in love back to the wise and decisive lord of Silvermoon City.

"Yes, you heard it right. Because of what I did last time, I was targeted by the orc gods." Zuo Si gave a straightforward affirmative answer.

"Why would they target you? There are so many orc-slaying monarchs and dragons out there. There's no reason for them to do this."

Alustriel frowned subconsciously, obviously unable to understand why the orc gods were making such a fuss.

Zuo Si shrugged his shoulders and replied, "At this point, motives and reasons are no longer important.

What's important is that their behavior has angered me, so I plan to kill all the orcs in the north as revenge.

Congratulations, Ms. Elastra.

From now on, whether it is Silvermoon City or the Silvermoon Federation that you are actively promoting, you no longer have to worry about being invaded and looted by orcs every autumn and winter."

Although Zuo Si maintained a "gentle and easy-going" smile while saying this, in the eyes of others this smile was ten thousand times more terrifying than the devil from the bottomless abyss.

Because that means the death of millions of orcs!

Just thinking about so many corpses piled together is terrifying.

At this moment, Alustriel finally realized why Talona, ​​the goddess of poison and disease, wanted Zuo Si to be her chosen one no matter what.

It can be predicted that if this really happens, many people will choose to believe in Talona in pursuit of the powerful, destructive and destructive plague power.

In addition, she also understood what Elminster meant by "having a strong desire for revenge".

Just as Alustriel was shocked by Zuo Si's cold-blooded and cruel treatment of his enemies, far north of Silvermoon City, near the rolling mountains of the "Spine of the World".

A large orc tribe with more than 10,000 people is facing a catastrophe.

Ever since a falcon flew over the tribe a few hours ago and dropped a pool of grayish-white sticky feces, everyone in the tribe, from the strong warriors to the women who were responsible for washing clothes, cooking and giving birth, started to fall ill.

At first, they just had mild coughing, sneezing and tears.

But soon these symptoms began to rapidly worsen, leading to high fever, confusion, coma, difficulty breathing, etc.

What's even more terrifying is that this unknown disease or plague is still spreading at an extremely fast rate, and the herbal medicines made by witch doctors and shamans on a daily basis are of no use at all at this time.

Among the first group of people who fell ill, more than 70% have now turned into corpses, and the remaining 30% have not shown any signs of improvement. Death is only a matter of time.

"Chief! You must make a decision, otherwise our entire tribe will be wiped out without a single person left." A priest serving the orc gods reminded nervously.

The reason why he was nervous was because he had just used the three-ring magic [Remove Disease] on a very powerful warrior.

Although the soldier immediately regained consciousness and climbed out of the bed.

But after a while, the other party was infected again.

This means that there is no "immunity" to this terrible plague.

Unless enough disease-removing potion is prepared and all infected people are asked to drink it, and then all beds, tents, simple wooden furniture and other items that may be contaminated with unclean things are burned.

Otherwise all efforts will be in vain.

With so few priests in the tribe, it is a problem whether they can save people or even their own lives.

"Bastard! Are you asking me to abandon the entire tribe?" The tall and strong orc chief stood up and roared.

"But if we don't leave, we will all die, without exception. You will die, he will die, and I will die too." The priest issued a warning without compromise.

"Damn it! Can't we even take those who are not sick with us?"

The orc chieftain was obviously unwilling to give up the status and power he had worked so hard to obtain.

Because once he lost his tribe, he would be just a barbarian warrior of a slightly higher level, and would not be able to issue orders like he does now.

The priest refused without hesitation: "No! Absolutely not! Even though they have no symptoms now, no one can guarantee whether they have been infected with the plague, so we can't take risks. Otherwise, everything we do will become meaningless."

"How many people can I take with me at most?"

The orc chief was panting heavily, obviously extremely angry.

He still couldn't believe that the enemy's revenge would come so quickly and so desperately.

You have to know that this is a large orc tribe with more than 10,000 people! If there is a need for a war, they can always mobilize more than 2,000 fierce and powerful warriors.

"Twenty! Our magic and potions can ensure that at most twenty people leave alive. As for the rest, let them lie here and wait to die." The priest quickly gave an exact number.

Finally, after careful selection by the chief, twenty warriors and priests quietly left the camp and drank the [Remove Disease] potion near the river. Then they burned the clothes they carried with them and threw even the armor and weapons into the fire for high-temperature disinfection.

After doing all this, they crossed the river and headed east to see the situation of other orc tribes.

But what they didn't know was that similar situations were happening all over the North.

Spread by falcons, thousands of orcs died as a result.

Some believers knelt on the ground and prayed to God desperately, but received no response.

After all, Geumsh had tried to kill Zosi before, but was eventually intercepted by a group of hostile gods and lost two very capable elects.

It would be strange if he dared to show up at this time.

After the chief and the pastor walked a few kilometers, the camp was already littered with corpses.

A human woman held her half-orc daughter tightly, completely unharmed.

Because the bacteria and viruses used by Zuo Si are only targeted at the orc race.

Even if orcs and humans are infected, they will not feel any discomfort, and the infection will be eliminated from the body through the body's internal circulatory system in about three to five hours.

As all the orcs in the tribe died, the human, elf, dwarf and half-elf slaves they had looted finally regained their freedom.

Especially the women who had been ravaged and tortured to the point of becoming numb, they immediately knelt on the ground and burst into tears.

But soon these people began to gather together, kneeling on the ground, praising the goddess of poison and disease, Talona, ​​loudly with fanaticism on their faces.

It can be predicted that when they return to the civilized world, they will inevitably spread this news and the belief in Talona, ​​greatly increasing the number of believers and influence of this goddess.

You should know that there is not a single town or village in the entire North that has not been threatened by orcs.

There is no God who would bring down divine punishment to punish these filthy, bloodthirsty and cruel beasts and rescue the innocent civilians who were looted.

Zuo Si obviously had no idea that his revenge against the orcs would bring such great benefits to Talona.

Before this, the church and priests of the Goddess of Poison and Plague had always been hated by everyone in the North.

In fact, the situation of this tribe was just the beginning of the mass extinction of the orcs in the north.

Over a long period of time, from the glaciers and icebergs of the Far North to the mountains of the Spine of the World and the great tracts of pristine boreal forest to the south, millions of orcs would slowly die out.

Because the viruses that Zuo Si personally screened and evolved would continue to spread over a wider area as scavengers and vultures in the sky gnawed on the corpses of dead orcs.

Although the plague can be cured by divine magic, the problem is that divine magic can only cover a small part of it.

As the orcs died or became too weak to move, the freed slaves immediately took up arms to seek revenge.

Several women even used scissors to tie up the orcs who had violated them, cut their lower bodies into sections, and listened to their cries of pain and despair.

Others would use a sharp blade to cut a hole in the orcs' skin, then peel off their skin alive and sprinkle salt on it to vent their anger.

After venting all her anger, the human female fell to the ground with a thud. She seemed to be exhausted and no longer had the strength to stand up.

Through the dirty and tattered leather clothes on her body, one could vaguely see a large number of whip marks, bite marks, and dark purple bruises, which were obviously marks left by the male orc when she was violated.

That skinny body had obviously reached its limit long ago.

However, her motherly instinct made her unable to let go of her half-orc daughter, fearing that the little girl would suffer the same fate as herself.

You have to know that the extremely ignorant and barbaric orcs have no concept of family at all, and they extremely discriminate against and despise women.

在兽人主神格乌什的教义中，女性就是为了勇士服务而存在的。

她们的任务是生育后代、煮饭、洗衣服、擦拭盔甲、保养武器等等一系列的杂活。

所以兽人女性基本跟奴隶没有太大的区别。

因此当男性有欲望想要交配的时候，可以随意在部落内找到自己中意的女性，无论对方同意与否强行与之发生关系。

至于生下来的孩子，也都是由整个部落共同抚养。

这位人类女性显然无法眼睁睁看着自己的女儿成为嗜血野兽发泄欲望的工具，所以一直咬着牙坚持到现在。

当兽人的威胁彻底消失，她便也失去了活下去的动力，整个人迅速衰弱并进入奄奄一息等待死亡降临的状态。

“妈妈！妈妈你怎么了？”半兽人小女孩惊慌失措的大叫道。

“抱歉，科琳娜。妈妈可能没办法再继续陪着你，以后的路要靠你自己了。”

女人挣扎着做起来轻轻抚摸着小家伙黑色的头发，眼神中充满了不舍。

尽管她也曾经憎恨过这个在接受强暴后生育下来的女儿，但最终身为母亲的天性战胜了一切。

“可……可是我该去哪呢？我甚至穿带不起沉重的盔甲，也从从未像男孩那样接受过武器训练。”女孩明显对自己的未来充满了迷茫和恐惧。

“跟着那些重获自由的人前往南方，去银月城或者无冬城。

最后，也是最重要的一件事情。

搞清楚这场突如其来只针对兽人的瘟疫究竟是怎么回事。

如果是剧毒与疾病女神塔洛娜降下的神罚，那么你以后就要成为她最虔诚的信徒； 如果是某个人做的，那你就要成为他的追随者。

因为如果没有这场瘟疫，你未来的命运将会无比凄惨，甚至连选择的机会都不会有。

好了，去吧，去跟那些重获自由的人一起出发，他们应该会把你带到安全的地方……”

说罢，女人便将女儿赶走，自己独自留在散发着恶臭的帐篷里等待死亡的降临。

由于在被兽人劫掠成为奴隶的时候，无论怎么向信奉的神祈祷都没有用，所以她早就抛弃了原本的信仰。

但此时此刻，女人又一次开始进行祷告，而对象则是剧毒与疾病女神塔洛娜。

她并不奢求对方会接纳自己，只是单纯想要表达感激之情。

就在女人的意识开始模糊，感觉身体越来越冷、越来越僵硬，随时都有可能咽下最后一口气的时候，一道光突然凭空出现在面前。

只见一个头上有着犄角、身后有着翅膀和尾巴的魅魔从里边走了出来，用十分轻柔的声音说道：“感谢伟大女神的仁慈吧，人类。塔洛娜决定接纳你的信仰，并允许你前往她的国度。”

听到这句话，女人原本暗淡的眼睛顿时闪烁着激动地光芒。

只可惜，她此刻已经说不出话来，唯有从喉咙里发出一阵意不明的古怪声音。

仅仅几秒钟之后，死亡终于如期而至。

看着倒在地上那具脸上残留着笑容的温热尸体，魅魔立刻换上另外一幅面孔，嗤笑着讽刺道：“凡人还真是愚蠢，竟然连这种明显是欺骗的鬼话都愿意相信。伟大的女神怎么可能会接纳一个在临死前才改信、一辈子都没有做过一件哪怕符合教义事情的灵魂。”

不用问也知道，她就是塔洛娜派往物质世界解决那些地狱探子的乌尔丽卡。

大概确认了一下周围的环境跟自己的位置，这个狡诈的魅魔迅速将自己伪装成奴隶中的一员，跟随那些重获自由的人一起，踏上返回文明世界的艰难旅途。

从世界之脊的群山前往南方的城市可不是件容易的事情。

他们首先要面对的就是各种各样的怪物和比其他地方更加凶残的食肉类猛兽。

越过从冰川上留下来的河水，还有大片危机四伏的原始森林。

一路上无论是遭遇霜巨人、冬狼、白龙、熊、老虎、豺狼人、地精部落，都有可能在极短时间内全部死光。

不过乌尔丽卡显然不会坐视这些能够为塔洛娜带来巨大影响力跟信徒的难民死去，而是会确保至少有三分之一能够平安抵达城镇，把他们的经历传播出去。

这也是魅魔大老远传送到世界之脊的目的。

……

与此同时，远在银月城内。

左思正坐在华丽的宫殿内，享用着由一位美丽精灵送上来的当地美食。

而艾拉斯卓就坐在他的对面，小口抿着一杯琥珀色的果酒，白皙的脸上和脖子上浮现出诱人的红晕。

大概一分钟过后，这位银月领主才放下杯子，用略带玩味的语气问：“这么说你已经跟无冬城的纳西尔领主缔结了盟约，打算一起对路斯坎和奥术兄弟会动手？”

左思轻轻点了点头：“没错。即便是站在银月城的角度，如奥术兄弟会被消灭，路斯坎从一个邪恶混乱且充满侵略性的城邦转化成为中立秩序，也不是什么坏事，对吗？”

“我不明白，你为什么突然对路斯坎和奥术兄弟会产生了兴趣？毕竟与宝剑海和中南部剑湾的富庶相比，北部剑湾是如此的贫瘠。”艾拉斯卓继续试探道。

“你搞错了一件事情，女士。

那就是这场战争不是我挑起来的，而是奥术兄弟会和掌控路斯坎的海盗们先挑起来的。

我现在所做的，仅仅只是先下手为强而已。

其实我所控制的耐兰瑟尔群岛势力自从建立了海上秩序之后，经常会跟想要南下劫掠的路斯坎海盗爆发冲突。

光是零星的战斗就有上百起之多。

由于劫掠不到足够的商船和货物，路斯坎繁荣的黑市正在迅速萎缩，同时奥术兄弟会的钱袋子也在急剧缩水。

如果没有办法解决眼下的困境，甚至都不用我动手，他们自己就会陷入为争抢资源和财富而爆发激烈的内斗。

通常情况下，转嫁内部危机的方法就是对外发动战争。

所以我与路斯坎和奥术兄弟会之间必有一战。

这是客观因素和经济规律导致的必然结果，不是靠几个人的意志就能够避免的。”

左思用漫不经心的语气做出了解释。

他相信以对方的政治智慧，肯定能明白自己想要表达的意思。

事实证明，艾拉斯卓的确是个非常出色的统治者，马上就点头表示理解：“好吧，我知道了。对于这件事情，银月城和银月联盟的态度是既不支持、也不反对。你可以做自己想做的事情，但必须保证在战争结束之后尽快恢复贸易。”

“贸易路线？银月城有什么东西是必须从路斯坎那边进货的吗？”左思敏锐的抓住了关键。

他以前一直都认为，银月城跟路斯坎之间并没有什么太密切的贸易往来。

包括盐等重要生活物资都是从深水城出发，经过复杂的河流运输路线送到银月城。

但现在看来，事情显然并没有那么简单。

“是的。有很多来自冰风谷十镇的特产和魔法材料，需要经过路斯坎作为中转才能抵达银月城。如果这条贸易路线断了，那么很多法师都会对此表示不满，到时候我也会很难做。”

艾拉斯卓没有隐瞒什么，大大方方的给出理由。

毕竟法师可是这座城市最重要的支柱。

如果没有了他们的协助，光靠那点可怜的军队，恐怕早就被茫茫多的兽人大军夷为平地了，就如同所有遭到兽人劫掠的城市一样。

“原来如此。别担心，这场战争会进行的很快，快到超乎所有人的想象。”左思意味深长的保证道。

艾拉斯卓脸上浮现出满意的笑容：“那就没问题了。希望你能在战争结束之后能彻底改造路斯坎，让它成为其他所有城镇的盟友而不是敌人。到时候我们可以联手打造一个繁荣、富庶与和平的北地。”

左思直截了当回应道：“关于改造，我已经有了详细的计划，请不必担心。

至于一个繁荣、富庶与和平的北地，我就不敢苟同了。

毕竟眼下各个城镇会团结在银月城和无冬城周围，就是因为切身感受到了来自路斯砍与奥术兄弟会的威胁。

在这种强大的外部威胁下，他们自然愿意放弃一部分权力和利益，首先确保生存。

但要是外部威胁消失，那么权利和利益冲突就会变得愈发明显。

那些看似牢不可破的联盟，或许会在极短的时间内就反目成仇，最终形成新的地缘格局。

比如说好几个盛产矿石、武器和铠甲的城镇，必然就会为了抢夺市场份额而明争暗斗，搞不好还有可能爆发战争。

或许你可以凭借崇高的威望和高超的外交手腕进行调节，但矛盾是客观存在的，并不会因此而消失。

它只会随着时间的流失不断积累，直至以更猛烈的形态爆发出来。

So I suggest you don't have too much hope for the future of the North.

You know, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment."

There is no doubt that Zuo Si's remarks immediately made Alustriel fall into deep thought.

She had thought that once the Arcane Brotherhood was eradicated and Luskan was restored to being a normal city, one of the greatest threats to the entire North would be gone.

In addition, the orcs were almost all killed or injured by the plague, so they will not pose a new threat for at least a few hundred years, so peace and prosperity can be expected in the future.

But now, Ms. Hope suddenly realized that things were not as simple as she had imagined.

As someone who has ruled Silvermoon City for more than a century and has been actively promoting the formation of the Silvermoon Federation in the past decade or so, she is well aware that there will always be more or less friction between the various towns.

Some of them are due to trade issues, while others are land and mineral disputes.

Because they had a common external enemy and needed to unite, in most cases these disputes were resolved with the mediation of Alustriel.

But if there are no foreign enemies, will those towns be willing to give up the interests that should belong to them?

This undoubtedly raises a big question mark.

After a long silence, Alustriel finally raised his head and asked in a slightly anxious tone: "Now that you have seen this, is there any good solution?"

Zuo Si answered without hesitation: "Three options. One is to remain neutral and not help either side, watching them fight until they are broken and bloody and can no longer continue the war, and then intervene to mediate.

In this way, after learning the bitter lesson, no one will try to start a war for at least fifty years.

The second is to support one of the towns and let them annex another town.

If one of the subjects of the contradiction disappears, the contradiction will naturally cease to exist.

As for the last one, Silvermoon City would initiate a war itself, annex the surrounding towns of all sizes, and establish a unified country.

There may be a lot of bloodshed and sacrifice in the initial stages, but after unification, a stable national structure will be formed, and local forces can be suppressed by relying on a strong central government.

Over time, when the concept of the country is deeply rooted in people's hearts, similar situations will improve a lot. The Kingdom of Cormyr is the best example.

They practiced the feudal system of fiefdom for thousands of years, but never had an aristocratic rebellion like in other countries.

The royal family has always firmly held supreme power and suppressed domestic conflicts through complex political tactics.

But considering your personality, I'm afraid you won't adopt any of these three options."

"How do you know I won't accept it?" Elastro raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked back.

“For it is by kindness, goodness, and justice that you are loved and praised.

If one day you personally break the most perfect image in people's minds, even the citizens of Silvermoon City will no longer support you.

What's more, you have set a very high moral bottom line for yourself.

This is both a noble act, but also a powerful constraint.

You are constrained by this and cannot let go of your hands and feet like me, using many methods that may seem cruel to outsiders but are very effective to deal with things quickly and efficiently."

As we all know, once a character is established, it cannot be easily changed.

Especially for a public and political figure like Alustriel, if the image he has worked so hard to build collapses, the consequences will be disastrous.

What's more, this is her nature. Whenever she does something that goes against her conscience, she will feel strong guilt and remorse.

That is why Zuo Si was so direct in stating the method to resolve the real contradictions in the North.

Because he knew that even if he said it, the other party would not accept it.

As for the Silver Moon Alliance formed through diplomatic means, it is essentially a loose alliance.

Dwarves, elves, humans, and halflings established large and small strongholds and cities here as racial units.

Each town has almost 100% independence and autonomy, maintained entirely by Alustriel's personal charm and prestige.

If she died or left office one day, the entire alliance could be disbanded at any time.

Therefore, Zuo Si was not optimistic about the future of the Silver Moon Alliance at all.

Alastor smiled and said, "Yes, you are right. I can't adopt any of the above three solutions. But it doesn't matter. I believe that everyone has a kind side in their heart. As long as we guide them correctly, the conflict will always be resolved."

"The beauty of fairy tales lies in their unreality. I can only respect your ideas, but I will never agree with them. So in the future Luskan will be a neutral city and a trading city." Zuo Si gave a very clear guarantee.

"I feel relieved to hear you say that. Well, after talking about so much serious business, it's time to relax a little. Let's go take a bath together and relax a little."

Elastro stood up and extended an invitation to Zuo Si, who was a full head shorter than him.

Because she was very tall (over 1.8 meters) and wore a pair of women's shoes with relatively high heels, even the fully armed knights at the palace gate did not look so tall in front of her.

Of course, compared to Alustriel's height, what Zuo Si wanted to complain about most was whether this bath was serious. Although he had heard before that if Alustriel was interested in someone or wanted to be friends with him, he would invite the other person to take a bath with him.

Because only when people take off their clothes and speak honestly will they subconsciously let down their guard and show the truest side of their heart.

If it was a year ago, Zuo Si would have agreed without hesitation.

Because at that time his body had not yet begun to develop and he was able to remain 100% calm.

But if we really were to be honest with each other in the bathroom now, who knows if the little brother would suddenly stand up and salute.

"Haha, relax, it's just a bath, don't be so nervous."

Alastor thought Zuo Si was shy, and immediately covered his mouth and laughed.

Because since they met, she discovered for the first time that this young man who had always shown maturity, calmness and rationality could also appear to be at a loss in some aspects.

"Well, it's just a bath anyway."

Zuo Si sighed helplessly and followed the other party into the magnificent bathroom in the palace.

After a while, the sound of running water and Alustriel's hearty laughter could be heard from inside.

(End of this chapter)