The huge sun disk gradually sank near the distant mountains. The rugged mountain fronts extended in the distance, rising like an irregular spine on the earth. The brilliance of the setting sun plated this spine. There is a hazy bright edge, and as the huge sun slowly sinks, the color of this bright edge becomes darker and more dreamy.
This is really a wonderful view - only from the highest tower of the Rock Fortress can you fully see this magnificent scenery.
However, at this moment, Sir Maryland was not in much mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery in front of him.
On the tower of the fortress, Sir Maryland was retracting his sight from the mountains on the west side. In the corner of his eye, he saw a beast with strong wings, majestic white feathers, and a blue-black coat. The lace-up beast is flying in from afar.
I hope there is good news - the general guarding the fortress couldn't help but said silently in his heart.
After a while, when the sun sank another third of the way down, a soldier finally hurried up to the tower and handed a sealed document to Lord Maryland. : "General! A reply from the royal capital!"
Sir Maryland immediately took the document and quickly opened it, looking at the exquisite and gorgeous words on it line by line, and his His brows wrinkled little by little in the process.
The soldier who delivered the document had followed Sir Maryland for many years and understood his every expression. At this moment, he couldn't help but ask: "General... what does this say?"
"King The gentlemen of the capital are finally willing to send a knight brigade over..." Sir Maryland said uncontrollably, "There is only one knight brigade."
"A knight brigade?" The soldier was surprised, "One. "A hundred knights and their retinues?"
"Eighty knights and their retinues," Sir Maryland threw the document aside, gritting his teeth. Will the knight brigade sent by Neil City be full?"
"What use can that be?" The soldier exclaimed in disbelief, "The first round of sky fire on Gravel Ridge. There are more than this number of knights killed in the explosion..."
"Of course I know, but it's useless for us to say anything," Sir Maryland interrupted the soldier. He looked at this man who was deeply trusted by him. A close confidant shook his head and sighed, "In fact, there were no reinforcements at all. This knight brigade was supported by the Prince of Wales in a private name, just to maintain face."
Dear. Bing subconsciously asked: "Why..."
However, Sir Maryland did not respond to him. This high-ranking knight who had directly served the royal family for many years and had a decent reputation, but now frowns all day long, just He waved his hand vigorously, then turned around and left the tall tower.
After walking down the spiral staircase of the tower and walking through the narrow "Sword Gallery", Sir arrived at the south wall of the fortress. He walked forward along the wall and reached the middle section of the wall., he saw a familiar figure.
Viscount Carroll was standing on the edge of the city wall, looking into the distance in trance.
This once high-spirited young nobleman with a reputation for being chic and suave throughout the Southern Territory has long lost his heroic appearance, although he has put on a clean and tidy satin coat again, and his complexion has also recovered. He was healthy, but an indescribable deep pressure plagued him, making him stand there like a statue beaten by the wind and rain.
Viscount Carroll seemed to have aged twenty years overnight. He stood there wearing a thin coat in the middle of summer, looking motionless towards the south, until Lord Maryland stood Behind him, he didn't react at all.
Sir Maryland had to speak out to break the silence: "My friend, you are looking south again."
Viscount Carroll shook and saw that it was Sir Maryland , he shook his head with a wry smile, and raised his hand to point to the rolling hills to the south: "From there, there is a road in the woods. You can reach my lovely Midsummer Manor by riding on horseback for three days... and walk for three more days, and it will be me." The castle..."
Sir Maryland looked into Viscount Carroll's eyes seriously: "My friend, this is a dangerous idea, the south is very dangerous now!"
" I know, I know, the Cecil family is taking over the entire southern land, one manor after another, and driving all the knights and retainers we left behind from the castle... I'm afraid there are already many knights and retainers They are all loyal to their new master," Viscount Carroll sighed, looking slowly away from the distance. "The South is both my hometown and a nightmare for me. I have been dreaming these days, dreaming of returning to the castle and then being captured. Burned to death in the castle..."
Sir Maryland shook his head: "Perhaps you should learn to take some pressure off yourself like Viscount Consego and Viscount Mary Oran."
"Use alcohol and potions to relieve yourself? Or go to the city to find a few high-end prostitutes? I don't want to die in a wine vat or on a woman's belly," Viscount Carroll shook his head in pain, and then As if he suddenly remembered something, a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes, and he grabbed Sir Maryland's hand, "By the way! Sir, I just saw the griffon messenger flying into the nest tower. Is there news from the royal capital?"
Sir Maryland looked at the southern nobleman in front of him, who had some friendship with him, and wondered whether he should tell him the truth, but in the end he said: "The capital has no extra reinforcements... Only Prince Morn of Wales and others A group of knights sent in his own name.”
Viscount Carroll stared blankly for half a minute before he exclaimed a little awkwardly: “That’s all the nobles of the royal capital!” Are they all dead?"
"That's all," Sir Maryland said quietly, looking into the Viscount's eyes to calm him down, "My friend, pay attention to you. Your demeanor - you are like a gambler who is about to lose everything."
"I have already lost everything!"Viscount Carroll grabbed his hair, "The entire southern territory has completely fallen into the hands of the Cecil family. Do the people in the royal capital really don't know what this means? Have they forgotten the original purpose of establishing this rock fortress? ? Are they really not worried about the Cecil family rushing to the Holy Spirit Plains to settle old scores with them? "
"The mission of Rock Fortress is to guard the Holy Spirit Plains and defend the Cecil family, Mr. Viscount , I swear in the name of my family that even without reinforcements, my knights and I will complete this mission," Sir Maryland said seriously, "Calm down, don't forget the strength of the Rock Fortress itself and the thousands of elite knights. With the strength of the warriors, we also have sufficient reserves of supplies and water from the Dorgon River. From the beginning, this fortress was designed to withstand huge offensive pressure."
Carol. The expression on the Viscount's face seemed to have softened slightly, but he was still quite worried: "...You have never faced skyfire explosions. You don't know how terrifying those things are. Once they advance to the plain under the city wall, they will be hit by the trebuchet." It can kill everyone in the city beyond the range... I have calculated the possible range of those weapons, and also observed the flight trajectories of those magic devices. The trebuchets and walls of the Rock Fortress cannot be defended. "
"Rock Fortress has special defense methods," Sir Maryland comforted Carroll, "Don't worry, even if those 'skyfire explosions' fall from the sky as you said, we still have ways to deal with them. "
"I hope so..." Viscount Carroll sighed. This period was probably the most sighing time in his life. After calming down a little, the initial excitement subsided. , he noticed a detail that Sir Maryland did not explain clearly just now, "Sir, is it true that the Royal Capital cannot even send out a real reinforcement force? Even if the Royal Capital's army cannot be mobilized due to the turbulent situation, the nobles of the Holy Spirit Plains Where are the soldiers and the regiments in the west?"
Viscount Carroll can understand that the royal family pays more attention to the actions in the east when facing the dual crisis of rebels in the east and chaos in the south, because both in a political sense and In terms of actual threats, the eastern rebels, commanded by Prince Edmund and Duke Silas Laurent, who have rebelled across the country, are much more serious than the crisis in the south. No matter how the situation in the south worsens, the news will reach the ears of the royal family. I am afraid that it is just a "noble war" between the nobles in the south to separate their territories. If it were not for the rise of the Cecil family in this war, I am afraid that the royal family, which is currently in deep crisis, would not even pay attention to it. This kind of "small problem", but even so, as the news that more than 40 nobles in the south were wiped out by the Cecil family spread to the royal capital, the royal family should have some kind of expression, right?
A rising Cecil who can wipe out all the noble coalition forces in the entire southern territory in a short period of time. Once they break through the blockade of the Rock Fortress, enter the Holy Spirit Plains, and set foot on the King's Road, who will suffer such consequences? Dare to take it?
Faced with Viscount Carroll’s question, Sir Maryland could only sigh: "Thorinburg, an important town in the eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain, has been lost - Prince Edmund's army has entered the hinterland of the kingdom. "
Viscount Carroll's eyes widened.
Sir Maryland did not continue to speak. He just turned around and looked at the rolling mountains to the west of the city wall in a daze.< /p>
The sun goes down.
......
Whenever the sun goes down, the magic crystal street lamps and other large and small urban lighting facilities in Cecil City turn on. It will activate on its own under the control of photosensitive runes. The bright magical light will stretch from the banks of the White Water River to the foot of the Dark Mountains, from the Mine Road to Frostwood Village, illuminating the entire city like stars shining on the earth. Whenever these bright lights When the street lights turn on, Gawain will always come to the window on the second floor of the Lord's Mansion and look out.
Those neat and bright magic crystal lamps always make him unable to bear it. The street lights in the city from his previous life reminded him of the torches and braziers that were lit between the tents and the fence when he first came to this pioneering land.
The lights were on. Place is where civilization reaches. Even if the world is changed, even if the light carrier changes from electric lamp to crystal, at least this point is still the same.
But even if the light is bright, there will always be shadows. Something is moving.
For example, Amber is sneaking out from the shadows in the corner.
“Where to go? "
Gawain had long sensed the aura of amber appearing in the room. Before the shame of the elf touched the silver seal on the desk, he suddenly broke the silence.
Amber jumped out of the shadow stealth state a little embarrassed, and rolled her eyes at Gawain with dissatisfaction - today's sneak plan failed again, which would obviously ruin her good mood.
Although she has never succeeded.
"I don't understand how you can be so happy with such boring things," Gawain gave the half-elf a helpless look. What's going on? "
"Secret report, Rock Fortress. ”