"It's my honor to be able to visit a God's Chosen who has always been favored by the Goddess of Luck after arriving in the Northern Kingdoms."
Caesar thought for a while and decided not to act rashly. Instead, he sat down quietly and spoke in a human noble's tone: "I wonder if the Goddess of Luck will give you another Duke's Scepter in the future?"
"If I can gain the support of someone like you."
Count Stein Brendel smiled and nodded: "I think so."
Before this, Naina had always emphasized that Kaki was the one who was forced to defend. But now, even a fool could see that there was a problem, and there was no need for them to hide it anymore.
At the end of the day, justice and evil were just names. Brendel believed that if Tangerine was really a knowledgeable noble who had traveled far and wide, he would not dwell on such vague concepts.
"Then, you just need to tell me what kind of help the Brendel family needs."
Caesar's face was hidden in the shadows, but his tone was gentle and kind: "Please don't be so courteous, I'm never stingy with my friends."
What followed was a round of haggling. Even the highest-ranking members of the royal family were no different from peddlers pushing wheelbarrows as long as one ignored their purposeful expressions.
But it was worth mentioning that the Caesar family purposely proposed many harsh and forceful terms and nitpicked many details, but they did not guard against them strictly. As long as Caesar raised an objection, they would give in.
They were testing him.
They were trying to find out the true intentions of the "Count Tangerine". If he really came to negotiate for cooperation, he would definitely haggle over every detail and try to get the most benefits. But if Tangerine had other motives, he would probably agree to everything without hesitation.
Now that he thought about it, Caesar finally understood why Naina made such a request.
It turned out that the Brendel family's probing did not come from the level of strength, but from throwing out questions and letting him choose. If he was careless and did not correct his attitude, he would immediately fall into the trap and reveal his true identity.
Seven years ago, when they first crossed swords, Caesar had already noticed that Roy was especially ruthless and had a deep background. The family behind him couldn't be too bad, and now it seemed that it was indeed so.
However, since he had already noticed this, Caesar was naturally vigilant and did not step into such a trap. His performance was flawless as usual.
After a long time, they finally finished discussing the details of the cooperation. Caesar did his best to keep up the act. He didn't show any impatience and kept smiling (fixed by the transformation necklace).
When everything was ready, the old Count Stein took a pen and paper from the attendant beside him and read through the notes word by word. After confirming that there were no mistakes, he began to draft the contract.
"This is our first time working together."
The old Count signed 'Stein Brendel' on the thick paper and then walked to Caesar's side and handed the contract to him. "It was a pleasure, and I hope that our friendship will continue."
This distance was already enough for Caesar to reach out and crush it.
But he still did not move because he already knew where the problem was. The other party was probably not a real person, so he nodded to the old Count and lowered his head to look at the contract.
He noticed that in the beginning of the contract, the Brendel family prayed to the God of Freedom. It seemed that they were believers of that god.
But how could a Lesser Divine Power, a God of the Neutral Camp, make Brendel sign so many contracts of allegiance?
What's wrong with their army?
He pondered in his heart, but his expression did not change. He smiled at the old Count who was close at hand and watching his every move. Then he held a straight feather pen and signed the name 'Garen Tangerine'.
The Black Dragon was actually not afraid of revealing his name, because True Dragons were not hollow spirits like devils. Once their real names were called out, they would appear and be clearly seen by people, which was a huge hidden danger.
The True Dragons themselves were existences with flesh, so they did not need to worry about this problem. The only thing to worry about was that the dragon's blood would be absorbed and used for the Blood Curse.
However, in an occasion like signing a contract and swearing an oath, Caesar had to be cautious and vigilant. Airadia's divine power was too bright, and it could easily cause problems.
So he directly used the name of the Black Dragon's younger brother. Of course, to avoid inadvertently tricking Garen, this was not even the stupid dragon's full name, and the word 'Nefadiseus' was missing.
The name did not match, so the contract naturally could not take effect.
Caesar had expected this. He raised his head and pretended to be surprised, looking at the Count and Roy, waiting for the Brendel's reaction.
Naina looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if she thought the problem was with Tangerine. But on the other side, Brendel and Roy showed an expression as if it was only natural.
"Please forgive us, the situation is a little complicated."
Then, Roy smiled and bowed, "You know, we are now in a time of war, and we have to be careful at every step, and be careful of hidden arrows from all angles."
As they spoke, the two of them quickly changed their appearances, removing their disguises and turning into two military knights, "My apologies, sir."
"This is?" Caesar pretended to be puzzled and asked.
"You may not know, but our enemy is sinister and cunning, powerful and vicious."
The knight showed him the magic ring with the ability to transform, bowed and said, "In order to ensure absolute safety, we have no choice but to use this method to test your true identity."
"You are humiliating me!"
Tangerine stood up and slammed his knuckles on the long table three times, with obvious anger.
This guy is getting into character.
"Please quell your anger, my lord.
I'm sure you don't want your allies to be brainless and reckless. "
The knights knelt down on one knee and put their hands on their chests, saying, "We assure you that the terms of the previous agreement are all valid, and it was Count Brendel and Lord Roy who discussed it with you personally.
We can use the link built by the mages to transmit information within a short distance. "
It was just like how Caesar spoke to Roy through the old wizard.
"Now, please follow us, we will bring you to the real residence of the lords."
Seeing that Tangerine's anger was gradually calming down, the knights praised him again, and took the lead to lift the curtain and stood outside, gesturing for him to enter.
And so, under the knights' guidance, he once again boarded the carriage and went to the real camp of Commander Kaki.