Under this situation, Ariel was very convinced that the city lord at the foot of the Poor God Mountain was absolutely no longer a threat to her. It was even time for peace talks with the other party.

On April 10, 1308, the mermaid army dispatched a diplomatic team of about ten people. Among these teams, the more experienced, calm, and quick-thinking soldiers of the mermaid army were selected. Under Ariel's instruction, they went to the other side's city to negotiate.

Business cooperation matters.

Although this kind of thing seemed unbelievable to many people at the time, after almost three days of negotiations, Ariel still got a piece of good news.

When the city lord saw that the Blue Bay Empire was no longer able to resist the Demon King's army, and that other generals, city lords, and nobles began to hire their own troops and fight on their own, he immediately gave up the idea of ​​"wiping out all the resistance for the sake of the empire."

Thoughts, he gladly accepted the mermaid army's envoy, and was willing to reach a tacit non-aggression agreement with the mermaid army and conduct commercial exchanges.

This result was certainly the best in Ariel's opinion. After the envoys came back, the first batch of magic crystals was immediately driven out from the Poor God Mountain and transported into the opponent's city. And the city lord was receiving this batch of supplies.

Naturally, he was overjoyed afterwards, and immediately sold these magic crystals to other lords who were manufacturing old-fashioned weapons, earning a large sum of money.

This state of "cooperation" made both parties very satisfied. After seeing the city lord happily making the money, Ariel was convinced that she could still gain a few months, and then in the next three months

Inside, envoys were dispatched almost every ten days and a half to send small gifts to the lord to establish "friendship" between the two parties.

With such "friendship" support, the city lord's attitude towards the mermaid army gradually changed from being cautious at the beginning to being completely undefended in the later period, and even allowed the envoys to enter directly without going through inspection when they arrived.

Degree.

When the time arrived in July, when Ariel once again asked someone to send some carefully crafted ice element magic crystals to the city lord, the opportunity Ariel had been waiting for... finally came.

————

One day in late July, the air in the evening was still full of hot air. Even though we were deep in the mountains, there were not many trees near the base area. There were many rocks and cliffs, which made the ground beneath our feet look...

Hotter.

Ariel wiped her forehead with a towel while inspecting the barracks of the soldiers. Soon, she came near the barracks where the female soldiers and women's children lived, but from a distance, she heard something coming from it.

There were bursts of cheers.

"Good! Good fight! Nice fight!"

Listening to the bursts of noise, Ariel was a little curious, and then walked over. From a distance, she could see a group of children forming a circle in the center of the camp, and from time to time, cheers would come out of it.

.

And when she got closer, she could see the source of these cheers.

bump!

The sound of fists colliding with each other was heard, and the two children in the center of the circle quickly separated. After a little relaxation, the child on the left took a fighting stance again the moment he landed. The child on the right kept touching his fists, obviously

It was hurt from the punch just now. But after seeing the opponent immediately take a posture, he gritted his teeth and assumed a similar fighting posture again.

Those were none other than little Arthur and little Claude.

When the two children were posing, Ariel turned her head and saw Suta holding a towel next to her, her eyes smiling like crescent moons. She was like a gentle mother, looking at her children happily.

...No, it should be said that she is a mother, and she is looking at these two children with the same eyes as her children.

"I still don't believe it! As usual, I should win today!"

Arthur dodged and rushed forward again, shouting and pumping his fist.

Claude calmly waved his hand to ward off his attack. At the same time, he jumped into the air and kicked him in the chest, saying: "My record with you is now ten draws, twelve wins, and ten losses. I am lucky enough to win more than you."

Two games doesn't mean that I will lose to you in the next game."

Arthur, who was kicked in the chest, rubbed his chest and cursed: "You were just pretending on the island, but I don't believe you can still pretend like that now! I don't believe it today, I will definitely beat you down."

!”

Immediately, the child rushed forward again.

Watching the two children's confrontation with each other, coupled with the cheers and cheers of the children around them, Ariel felt that this hot and irritable afternoon seemed to have become a little easier. She slowly walked to the side of Suta and said

: "These two children are really full of energy."

Suta nodded slightly and said: "Yes, at first I was worried that there would be something strange about their bodies. But since they woke up, they have been so energetic. I can only thank God for his blessing. I think back then

The blow from the key was so terrifying, but these two children must have avoided the most deadly attack at the critical moment, so they are able to be so healthy now... If anything happens to any of them

If something happens...I...I'm really afraid that I will feel sorry for their parents. Even though their parents are no longer alive."

Ariel put her hands on her hips and said, "What? Now you are no longer determined to find your son, Little Cream?"

In the past, when Ariel talked about Little Cream, Suta's eyes would dim.

But now, Suta just sighed, his eyes still focused on the two children who were still fighting each other in the middle of the field, watching them fighting each other with each move, but there was a hint of helplessness on the corner of his mouth.

, but with a slightly compensating smile——

"Think about it, how could you not want to?"

After Suta paused for a moment, he continued -

"However, the only children on Help Island who can agree with their age are little Arthur and little Claude. The other boys of the same age were either unable to withstand the test and were let go, or

They died in the last battle with Warcraft... To be honest, I am very relieved that the two of them can survive."

Ariel clasped her hands behind her back and continued to look at Suta's expression. Now, the corner of the mother's mouth was filled with a sense of happiness similar to that of the rest of her life, but that sense of happiness was still vaguely mixed with a touch of helplessness and sadness.

"I also want to continue to find my little cream... But, before I know it, it has been nine years... I finally got a little bit of information, and finally found Help Island, but the clues are still there after all.

It broke again. I really... really really want to tell whether my little baby has any birthmarks, or as the widely circulated stories say, there must be some kind of birthmark between mother and child.

A strange feeling..."

"It's a pity that Xiao Naishuan was too young when he left me. Although I still remember the birthmarks on his body clearly, nine years have passed and I don't know what has become of these birthmarks.

.As a person grows, the birthmark will also deform, the color will become lighter or lighter, the birthmark is more likely to disappear, or new traces may grow on top of the birthmark... everything is so unrecognizable,

So...sigh..."

Hearing the regret in Suta's tone, Ariel asked gently: "Will you... continue to search?"

"Yes." Suta's tone did not hesitate at all, as if he had unlimited power, "I will never give up looking for my little cream. But before that, I also hope to take care of these same people in front of me.

Children who have lost their parents.”

Her eyes continued to fall on little Arthur and little Claude. At this time, the two children's fists crossed each other and hit each other's cheeks. Little Arthur seemed to be relying on his strong will to hold on to his swollen face.

Even more powerful, he had to take a step forward and waved his fist to throw Claude away. Seeing the child panting heavily, the disappointment on the corner of Suta's mouth finally turned into a smile again, loudly

Said——

"Okay! It's over here! You two, take a rest first. No matter how much you want to train, you must pay attention to moderation."

With that said, Suta walked into the center of the field holding a towel. After Arthur saw Suta walking in, he immediately ran to her as if asking for credit, laughed with his mouth open, and at the same time gestured to Suta.

A victory gesture.

Suta also smiled, shook out the towel in his arms, and wiped the sweat from the child's face and forehead. At the same time, he reached out and gently touched the bump on his face.

"Ouch!"

Seeing little Arthur wince in pain, Suta shook his head angrily and amusedly, put his shoulder on his shoulder, turned around, and said to Claude who was obviously less injured over there: "Claude

, you come here too. Arthur, after the fight, what should you two do?"

After seeing Suta's greeting, Claude's originally handsome and dashing little face turned slightly red. He lowered his head and walked over slowly. When Suta also put a towel on his shoulders

After that, the two children faced each other, opened their left palms to the outside, formed the shape of a sword with their right hands, lightly patted the palms of their left hands, and then shook them off.

Arthur/Claude: "Thank you for your guidance."

Ariel saw that this should be the etiquette of the Paladin. The left hand is a shield, the right hand is a sword, and the sword body strikes the shield to show respect to the other party. But now these children are not given shields and swords, so this ritual is used

Come instead.

After the two children greeted each other, Suta once again stretched out his hand to press the two children's heads, and kept wiping their hair that was soaked with sweat with a towel.

At this moment, Ariel could see that the mother's face was already full of smiles and contentment.

Arthur, who was noisy and didn't want his head rubbed, and Claude, who was standing still and looking a little shy. In Suta's eyes, these two children with different personalities were no longer two people who were just temporarily fostering each other.

Is he a child in the mermaid army?

To be honest, Ariel doesn't know where the mother's biological child is now. Maybe it's really dead long ago? Or maybe its memory was erased and sent to an unknown place not long after arriving on Help Island.

farm?

But no matter which possibility it is, Suta's heart should have been filled to a certain extent by these two children now...

Of course, if possible, Ariel really hopes that one of these two boys of the right age is actually Suta's child, the little one she has been looking for for nine years...

But, how could there be such a coincidence in this world?

"Madam Marquis!"

Just when Ariel was sighing at the scene in front of her, a voice came from behind.

Ariel turned her head and saw a female soldier running over in a hurry, her face looking very hasty.

"Ms. Marquis, that city lord! That city lord of Ballard is heading towards us! He only brought a few dozen followers, and it doesn't look like he is here to attack. I heard from the brothers in the diplomatic group who came back early,

This city lord wants to talk to us about something about the union!"

Hearing these words, Ariel knew that the opportunity she had been waiting for had finally arrived.
To be continued...