In the eastern fortress of Sorimburg, which is made of huge rocks, Edmund Morn, wearing a black coat, sat in his high-backed chair with a heavy face and an opened letter. On the table in front of him, the light of the magic crystal lamp illuminated the emblem in the corner of the letter - it was the crossed sword and plow, the emblem of the Cecil family.
The Cult of Death invaded and destroyed the important functions of the Sentinel Tower...The earliest erosion may have occurred hundreds of years ago...
If it were not for Gawain Cecil The team led by the Duke discovered clues in the Shadow Realm by chance. The actions of those believers may never be discovered - until the grand wall collapses and until the destruction of human civilization.
There was a layer of deep and substantive pressure in the long hall of the castle. The bad mood of the high-level transcendent made the waiters and guards in the hall remain silent until a steady and powerful sound of footsteps came from the entrance of the hall. Come, Silas Loren, the Duke of Eastland, who is fully armored, walks into the hall, and the atmosphere that envelopes this space gradually loosens and returns to normal.
Silas Laurent walked straight to the main seat in the hall, came to Edmund Morn, bowed and saluted: "Your Highness - what happened?"
"From "Letter from the South," Edmund said without saying anything, pushing the letter forward, "Take a look, Duke Laurent."
Silas Laurent took the seal curiously. After a quick glance at the letter with the emblem of the Cecil family, he frowned: "Your Highness, when was this sent?"
Edmund's tone was low: "I arrived in Sol this morning. Limburg's."
After winter, Wang** and Dongjing, who were already in a state of confrontation, further reduced their respective forces due to the severe cold. Edmund also temporarily returned from the front line of Jumu Crossing as a temporary In Thorinburg, the base camp, therefore, letters from the south were delivered to him later than usual.
Silas Laurent quickly calculated the journey of this letter on the road, recalled a series of news from the south, and said thoughtfully: "It seems that Duke Cecil I discovered these situations as soon as I arrived at the border of the wasteland..."
Edmund took a breath and looked at Silas: "Mr. Luo Lun, that's not the point."
"The focus is on those dark cultists," Silas Laurent said with a calm expression, his eyes falling steadily on Edmund, "Your Highness, we have known this from the beginning."
" Yes, I know, they are not trustworthy to begin with..." Edmund closed his eyes slightly, and when he opened them again, there was already a chill in his eyes, "Qing Luo Lun, we should pay attention to Duke Cecil. It’s a warning, isn’t it?”
“Of course,” Silas Loren nodded expressionlessly, “to eliminate evil and maintain peace, this is what nobles should do.”
"Very good... Belk should return to Solinburg in the near future. When he comes back, leave this matter to him - I believe that the upright young manPeople will take care of this. ”
Silas Loren lowered his head slightly: “Of course, as you wish.” ”
With steady and powerful footsteps, the Duke of Eastland left the long hall.
Edmund Morn sat quietly on the high-backed chair, his eyes scanning again. He passed the warning letter from the south.
His eyes stayed there for a moment, and then looked at the many documents and maps on the other side.
Wang ** was in the middle of winter. Afterwards, the deployment was adjusted, and a mountain regiment was stationed in the north of the giant wood crossing. The cold winter atmosphere permeating from that area was even worse than that on the plains. Victoria Wilder, the Grand Duke of the North, had obviously come to the front line in person, and the mountain troops under the Grand Duke of the North were close to The guard regiment is said to be unafraid of the severe cold...
The security of some towns in the eastern part of Solinburg has not improved, and the influence of the old lords has not completely dissipated.
The political decrees in the Eastern Territory. The reform encountered an unexpected backlash, and a large number of farmers were resisting the land replacement bill - this was obviously not a spontaneous act on their part, and the conservative lords must be instigating it, but he could not find any evidence.
The plan to promote education is progressing slowly, the people have no active enthusiasm for literacy, and few of the lower-level scribes and minor nobles who carry out the orders are serious about their work - even in many areas, they regard this task as a A kind of "punishment" and "degradation", because "teaching untouchables to read is a dishonorable job"...
Wang ** is gaining a foothold, conservatives are resurrecting, and reformers are emerging The people who implemented the decree were horribly slow, and the people... whom he was trying to help, who wanted to improve their situation, simply didn't understand his bill.
In the beginning, everything was. It went very smoothly. The Legion's successive victories and trophies made everyone's morale high, and there were no difficulties in implementing the decree. However, since the war has reached a stalemate, and since the New Deal began to involve "land" and "population", countless people Obstacles and difficulties appeared.
Irritability inevitably came to mind - Edmund Moen suddenly felt upset. He reached out and picked up the water glass on the table. He wanted to drink water to suppress the irritability in his heart.
In order to keep his head calm, he had not drank alcohol for a long time.
At this time, he Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw a particularly bright flame rising from the fireplace on one side of the hall. There seemed to be some illusory shadow in the flames trying to condense out of the furnace, even the candles on the decorative light stands on the nearby walls. , and the flames suddenly increased as if pulled by an inexplicable force.
This is not a dark room or the top of a watchtower without outsiders. There are attendants and guards standing everywhere in the hall, which makes Edmund... Moen's already bad mood became even worse. He frowned and waved in the direction of the fireplace: "How audacious! ”
The flames in the fireplace returned to normal in an instant, and whoever was about to be projected was obviously interrupted.
Edmund Morn snorted coldly, picked up the water glass and drank it in one gulp.
......
In the west of the giant wood crossing, in Baisong Town, a town controlled by the king, Viscount Horn, wearing a dark red coat, was sitting in a carriage with a very unhappy expression on his face. He listened to the soldiers outside reporting the situation to him.
Hell, it’s a cold winter! A viscount actually wants to go to the streets where untouchables live in such horrible weather to supervise the "elimination of evil" and listen to the nagging of those stupid soldiers - is there any royal law in this? !
Viscount Horn cursed secretly in his heart, but he did not dare to say what he was thinking, because these things were ordered by the Duke Regent Victoria, and the Grand Duke of the North who controlled the power of winter was Stationed not far to the north, he felt that every rude word he said here would immediately reach the ears of the Grand Duchess - that was not a good thing.
The cold wind seemed to blow in through the cracks in the carriage carriage. Viscount Horn couldn't help but tighten his thick and warm coat - he was originally a low-level spellcaster, but he had been The wine and sex had long since drained his body. Even with the protection of the breeze shield, he felt that the cold weather was unbearable. At the same time, he heard the soldiers outside still chanting:
" ...Three people were found in the cellar, all dead. They were obviously committing blasphemy. A blood-stained altar and a container containing suspicious liquid were found at the scene...
"The whereabouts of the original owner of the house are unknown. , people on the street said that they had disappeared since the beginning of winter, which is consistent with the reporter’s description...
"...the three cultists may have committed suicide, or it may have been internal strife. I need your judgment..."
A trace of impatience flashed in Viscount Horn's eyes, but he still used an unhurried tone when he spoke - this kind of maintaining a specific rhythm and every word The way of speaking that is strictly restricted in tone is a recuperation that a qualified noble must have: "I already understand - in short, someone reported to the knight that traces of cultists were found, and then you really found out here The desecrated altar and the three dead cultists are clear, right?"
The soldier's voice came from outside: "Yes, sir - there is another missing resident..." "
"I know, I know," Viscount Horn interrupted the soldier, "I already know about the matter, so let's deal with it as it should be. Burn the corpses of the cultists and use holy water. Purify the altar and take back the house to the lord, that's it."
After that, he was about to give the order to leave this place, but the soldier who didn't know how to adapt was still talking: "But...but sir, you... Do you want to take a look... This is the rule after all..."
What a stupid person. I don't know who put such a fool into the inner city guard.
Viscount Horn cursed secretly, quickly pushed open the cover of the carriage window, and glanced outside.
He saw that it was in tatters outsideOn the streets, the half-melted snow soaked the walls of houses and garbage piles beside the road. Several soldiers guarded the door of a residence. Three corpses that had begun to emit a peculiar smell were thrown on a straw mat. "Evidence of heresy" such as ritual daggers, clay pots, stone flakes, etc., while some timid poor people were looking at this not far away - some standing by the roadside, and some hiding behind windows or doors.
Those fearful and stupid sights are very uncomfortable.
Viscount Horn just glanced at it and quickly lowered the window cover: "Okay, I have witnessed it with my own eyes, do as I say - Mr. Pierre, here Money for their work."
Outside the carriage, the viscount's butler took out three silver coins - which were used to dispose of the cultists' corpses and purify the evil altar - and handed them to the waiting soldier captain.
Then the viscount and his attendants and housekeepers left the street.
The few soldiers who remained at the scene looked at me and I looked at you, shook their heads or muttered a few words, then waved their swords to drive away the onlookers who got too close. A soldier called to him and handed him a silver coin: "Okay, do as the lord said, find two people to take care of this place."
The soldier holding the silver coin looked at his The captain turned away and shrugged.
Then he noticed that there were still many poor people standing around - those people in ragged clothes and with yellow faces and skinny muscles. Some of them had been driven away by swords just now, but most of them did not run far. They were just standing on the roadside blankly, looking at this side with strange, numb, and empty eyes, looking at the three corpses on the ground, and looking at the building that had lost its owner and was about to be taken back. Lord's house.
The soldier who was left behind was stunned, and suddenly shivered inexplicably.
In this damn cold weather, the brains of these poor people may have been frozen and they are unconscious.
In the inexplicable uneasiness, the soldier gave up his plan to search the ownerless house - anyway, the people living on this street probably didn't have anything valuable.
He raised his head, looked past the numb and dull expressions of the poor, and saw the two corpse draggers who had been waiting outside the crowd - the dirty gray-black blouses and the grim reaper hanging around their necks. The talisman is the most distinctive feature of the corpse draggers. These guys who deal with corpses always have a sensitive sense of smell. I am afraid that within half an hour after the news of the corpse was spread here, the two corpse draggers were already waiting nearby.
"It's really unlucky today..."
The soldier muttered, called the body draggers to him, handed them a few coins, and ordered: "Drag the body to the town. Burn it outside - remember, it must be burned, this is an order from above." After saying this, he didn't care what the person dragging the body said, and left the place.
The main reason why he walked so fast was that he knew that the person who dragged the body would definitely bargain for the price - burning the body would require extra firewood andFor grease money, those few copper coins are not enough.
But after he left, this matter had nothing to do with him.
The lord left, the steward left, and the soldiers left.
There were only dozens of poor people left standing in the cold wind on the street, three corpses of cultists lying on straw mats, messy footprints on the ground, and two corpse draggers. .