What went wrong? Jarlaxle had actually been thinking about this issue.

He began to think about this problem long before his face was stepped on by a leather boot and when Ladislaus deliberately poured down the bowl of unpleasant bean soup.

The monarch in front of him wanted to tempt him to bend down and let Entreri subdue him from behind.

Although he had enough similar experience to see through this plan and fight back, it was meaningless.

The surrounding Austrian high-level officials were too aggressive, and under their combined attacks, Jarlaxle's resistance was in vain.

"How bad." Ladislaus heard Jarlaxle lament as Margarita's leather boots moved away.

He forced a smile: "You humans are indeed more cunning than us."

"It won't be that bad, my drow friend, you still have a chance to survive." Ladislaus did not intend to threaten Jarlaxle with death, although there was more than half a chance that Ladislaus would.

Kill him, but he doesn't intend to threaten him with it.

"Oh, I'm not saying that it's bad that I will die. Your noble Highness, Habsburg, no one can escape death. Death in your hands is not too bad." Jarlaxle's words seemed to be speaking to himself.

Cheer up. "The bad thing I'm talking about is that Drizzt Duden just destroyed your trap and escaped unscathed, and you caught me in less than twenty-four hours. This is really terrible."

.”

"It's true, it's true. You two must be the most amazing duo in the drow world today. The question of who is the best must have troubled you for a long time. This time it is inevitable that he will have the upper hand. Especially you

If you don't get out of this room alive, in many cases the person who lives longer is generally considered to be better." Ladislaus sounded really regretful.

"There is nothing we can do about it. His luck has always been better." Jarlaxle did not respond to the true meaning of Ladislaus's words.

"You two are so powerful and are the most valuable assets of the drow. Wouldn't it be a great loss for your race to die like this?" Ladislaus stopped Ma who wanted to step on her again with a look.

Greta.

"Is this why you saw through me? The two of us are too strong?" Jarlaxle suddenly realized that Ladislaus discovered his problem from this clue. For the first time, there was a real sense of authenticity in his voice.

Surprised.

"Yes, there are too few drow already. How many people do you still have?" Jarlaxle obviously did not intend to answer this question.

Jarlaxle did not respond, and Ladislaus continued talking to himself: "A city-state that claims to have a population of tens of thousands is actually only two to three thousand drow at most. Maybe a little less? The rest are all

Goblins and other slaves with limited intelligence, such a weak race suddenly had two powerful towns appear together in Austria, or as enemies

Humans? This is incredible. Your strength is too weak. Maybe those idiots will continue to attack each other. Those who are truly wise and far-sighted will definitely know that by uniting together, your race will have a chance of survival. Jones told me

, you and Drizzt Duden can be regarded as the most far-sighted figures among all the drow."

Ladislaus paused and continued: "Another flaw is that Spain's main fleet has not been fully assembled. The Mediterranean coastline used to blockade the Kingdom of France has reached the limit of their power. The Republic of Venice has fallen into chaos again.

The Ottoman Empire and the Barbary pirates now completely control the Eastern Mediterranean, and only the Adriatic Sea. After all,

Just short-distance trade is enough. Nowadays, the merchants who can transport Austrian goods out of the Adriatic Sea are more or less related to Ottoman or Barbary pirates, or even believers of the Star and Moon Demon. Even so, they will inevitably lose a lot of money occasionally.

Goods, but you drow seem to have never complained about the difficulty of the sea route, but this is only a secondary reason compared to the previous problem."

"The actions of rational people are predictable." Jarlaxle said softly the words he once used to judge Ladislaus's actions. It turned out that the other party also used this action to make inferences about himself.

'Since when have I, Jarlaxle, become a rational and predictable drow?'

Jarlaxle did not realize that when he began to worry about the survival of the drow race, he actually became rational and predictable.

"It's amazing. With just such a specious reason, you saw through me. It's not enough, but it's enough. So you guessed that we wouldn't still kill each other in such a desperate situation. Compared with the little convenience of the fleet, this is indeed

It is much more important. Tracking interests can find the path of action for rational people. I really lost. The starting point of your prediction is the largest and most important interest."

"Indeed, you lost, but I hope you don't blame yourself for this. This is a victory for mankind and not for me personally."

Ladislaus tried to comfort the lost drow warrior, but he actually felt that there were still doubts from the battle.

Jarlaxle's existence seems to be restraining Jones. His existence makes Ladislaus's own safety unable to be guaranteed. Jones must always be on guard against him and cannot participate in the siege of the drow ranger.

If Jarlaxle really wants to deal with Drizzt, he should do his best to attack so that Ladislaus's men don't have to worry about the safety of his monarch.

However, Ladislaus did not express this reason in order to preserve Jarlaxle's self-esteem. The wise man would eventually think of this himself and understand Ladislaus's leniency.

Although there is no real evidence, this is not a court after all. On top of human written laws, there are laws of nature and the world. Although not everyone knows these laws, and sometimes they are even unspeakable, they are more authoritative and unshakable.

These reasons together were enough for Ladislaus to attack a drow emissary from the Black Continent.

"This is not my personal failure but the failure of Zall? This is really bad. When I was young, I always thought that my destiny was only related to me, but after my country broke down and my family fled into the desert, my mind changed." Jia

There was a look of genuine sadness and worry on Russo's booted face.

This was the worst thing that worried him in the first place.

Not for his own danger, but for the danger of the drow race.

"So you can't die. You, Drizzt Duden, and the few Baenre family envoys you control are the last remaining core elites of the drow." Of course Jarlaxle knew Ladislaus.

Why mention the survival of the drow? "If they all die here, your race will be one step closer to complete extinction."

Margarita, Boss Sirica and Count Slam all smiled. In their opinion, Ladislaus was giving the drow an excellent reason to be a coward.

Although it was a good reason, they still despised the act of changing their stance while surrounded by swords, calling it cowardice and betrayal.

This is not an unfair idea, but it is not profound enough.

Perhaps Sazastan grasped a little bit of Ladislaus's context, but he decided to remain silent and let his monarch play his role.

Jones was also nervously observing the development of the situation at this time. When Ladislaus arranged the attack, he did not explain why he attacked Jarlaxle, nor did he reveal what he would do with Jarlaxle.

Although each has his own master, Jones still hopes that Jarlaxle can survive if there is a chance.

In the memory of his painful and wandering early years, not many old friends are still alive.

"Jones, help your friend up." Ladislaus was sure that he could get a powerful subordinate today. "Jarlaxle, Your Highness Jarlaxle, tell me, are you serving His Majesty Suleiman?"

?”

"Yes." Jarlaxle replied bluntly. Since he refused to die, there was no need to be coy.

It's shameful enough to be captured and surrender, but Jarlaxle is not a rigid person, but if he wants to play with it any more, it will really disgust others and himself.

"Is it your mercenary group, the Banre family, or some other force that is cooperating with the Ottoman Empire?"

"My mercenary group has long been destroyed by the Portuguese battleships. I don't think Ibrahim Pasha thinks that the Banre family is qualified to cooperate with His Majesty Suleiman. I would like to apologize for saying this. Just now

I ranked the Baenre family after the Habsburgs. They are not qualified to be compared with the great warlock royal family." Jarlaxle apologized for his provocation. "I don't really want you to compensate for those two barrels.

liquor."

Ladislaus waved his hand to indicate that it was not important. He had completely forgotten the offense just now: "Why did you choose the Ottoman Empire instead of the Kingdom of Portugal to cooperate? Because you at least have the same beliefs?"

"For many reasons, the most important thing is that the Portuguese did more damage to our lives. They seized our trade routes." Ladislaus' question showed that he had grasped the essence of the problem. Jarlaxle was unable to resist and could only say

Produce the knowledge that Ladislaus wants. "As you just said, the Ottomans gave us a channel for trade, and Ibrahim Pasha followed the Nile River into the desert to provide us with food produced on the Nile River.

, we need food so much, and we are lucky to be able to live in a city-state. In fact, most of the drow have given up on civilized organizations and degenerated into nomads. In the past, we laughed at the ignorance of nomadic humans and goblins, but now I

I know that once you are forced to accept that kind of lifestyle, it will inevitably end up like that. There are tens of thousands of drow in the city-state, tens of thousands more in the desert, and 80,000 to at most 100,000, which is our entire clan."

Desert nomads are bound to be ignorant and rude, which is a necessity of life.

In fact, Jarlaxle had unconsciously slightly exaggerated the strength of his race. The population of the drow city-state was already less than 20,000.

Jarlaxle did not mention the factor of Demo Gauguin at all, which satisfied Ladislaus: "Well, my friend, it seems that the Ottoman Empire is competing for influence in the Black Continent and the Portuguese. I think you have already

Your people have fulfilled their obligations, and the Ottomans do not have much ability to punish your betrayal.

Rebellion. So do yourself a favor now, and do me a favor, find a way to prove your worth to me and the Habsburgs. Although the service of a protector is valuable in itself, integrating into the new organization plus
Chapter completed!