Halfway through this cold winter, life has become increasingly difficult for people living in border areas.
Gersong Town is a wealthy and prosperous place, at least until this winter, it has been like this - it is located near Winterhold and is a transportation hub from Typhon to several trading markets on the border. First, even before the rise of so-called "transnational trade", this place was an important place for businessmen to gather.
Businessmen traveling from north to south have brought considerable income to this place. The merchants have made this town prosperous. After the opening of trade, those smart people with a keen sense of smell have even made a fortune in one or two days. Within a year, this place was turned into a land of gold, and it even had the potential to become a big city. However... the good times did not last long.
The war broke out.
Although we haven't reached here for a while, the prosperous scene has gone forever. Cross-border trade has stopped, and the merchants have stayed away from this place of right and wrong. Important transportation hubs have been requisitioned by the empire. Now the carriages and horses loaded with money and goods have been replaced by chariots and troops working around the clock. The locals who originally relied on business travelers traveling from south to north for food now have to "take their time" Come down.
Simpson, who runs the hotel, was sitting next to the window, wiping a brass pipe in his hand with some sadness. There was no tobacco in the pipe, and the shiny pipe was like a toy. Turning it in his hand, a layer of water vapor condensed on the crystal glass window on the side, making the scene on the street look hazy. The cold wind whistling through the streets and alleys was stirring outside the window, and some cold air penetrated through the seal that was not tight enough. The wind blew in through the window crack, making the middle-aged man who had begun to lose his hair couldn't help but shrink his neck again.
He raised his head and saw that there were only a few people sitting around in the lobby of the hotel. The hotels in the town all had similar layouts. In addition to receiving guests, the lobby on the first floor also provided some services. Drinks and snacks, but since this damn war broke out, the only things he can sell here are watered down spirits and rough cakes.
A middle-aged man with an unshaven beard sat at the table nearest to him. He looked just one step away from being drunk. There were several empty wine bottles in front of him. They were of poor quality. The pungent smell of ale seeped out of his dirty coat, along with many other suspicious smells.
Simpson frowned and shouted over there: "Saville! You've drunk enough today!"
The unshaven middle-aged man had almost reached the table After hearing the shouting, he just waved his hands randomly without even raising his head.
Simpson shook his head, feeling that he had fulfilled his duty as a "good citizen", and continued to lower his head and polish his brass pipe, but a rhythmic footsteps suddenly came from the side. Come, let the hotel owner raise his head again.
His sleepy and impatient expression quickly faded.He went there, and instead showed a smile. He saw a beautiful lady wearing a dark cloak and a winter hunting coat just walking through the aisle next to her. Her brilliant blond hair seemed to make this bad winter a little warmer. She stood up, and a pair of pointed ears peeking out from under her blond hair reminded others of her origins.
"Ms. Soldering, are you going out?" Simpson asked with a smile, "It's not a good weather outside now..."
"I'm leaving in the afternoon "," the elf huntress known as Ms. Solderin said, with a hint of neutral magnetism in her voice, "I want to take advantage of the weather not being too bad to see if I can hire a carriage to the mountain pass... "
"You're leaving?" Simpson couldn't hide his disappointment. However, his disappointment was mostly due to financial losses. Since the outbreak of this damn war, few travelers have stayed here, and a huntress who does not get involved in this war is an extremely valuable "quality guest" during this period - staying in a better room, He needs exquisite food, is not as rough and tough as the soldiers passing by, and most importantly, will never default on the rent... From a financial point of view, this elf hunter living here is far better than twelve drunken men. Savile.
"After all, I was just passing by, and my people are still waiting for me." Solder "Lin" said casually with a smile, and glanced in the direction of the door - the identity of the elf is very important here. A good cover, because the elf stronghold responsible for maintaining the Great Wall is located near the northwest border of Typhon. It is only natural for a traveling elf to appear in this area. As long as you are careful and do not provoke the mage sentries in the big city. and managers, "she" can easily sneak into loosely managed border settlements like Gesong Town.
But we cannot relax our vigilance because of this: as the battlefield gets closer and closer to the Winterhold headquarters, tensions in this area are escalating. The big air battle three days ago had a great impact on the entire battle. It has had a profound impact, and now the entire Winterhold area is turning into a front line. Agents affiliated with the Typhon Intelligence Department and the security forces under the name of the Earl of Winterhold seem to have smelled something, and are frequently investigating people coming and going, and he... is already in This place has been stuck long enough.
The necessary intelligence has been sent away. The Rangers operating inside and outside the city and the Military Intelligence Bureau officers who need cover have been evacuated in batches. We can no longer stay in this place.
"Okay, that's right," Simpson shrugged helplessly, "You should go back to your people. This rough and bloody war is not suitable for an elegant elf lady like you... "
Solde "Lin" just smiled after hearing the hotel owner's words, and did not correct the mistake in the other person's perception - many humans seem to have this misunderstanding, thinking that the elf is a An elegant and war-weary race, when various "ugly" wars break out in the human world, the beautiful elves will hide in the paradise-like jungle and sing the praises of peace and nature... This misunderstanding is especially true in the northern region.serious.
However, in fact, the elves’ ranger troops are one of the most powerful units in the world. The Silver Empire also relied on war to conquer a vast territory. There were countless rough and bloody warriors in the ancestral jungle. Tribes, the Silver Elves did not rely on art and music to make those voodoo tribes good at singing and dancing... But there is no need to explain too much to a human who runs a hotel near the border about such trivial matters.
"She" just nodded to Simpson and was about to leave, but before taking a step, there was a sour smell wafting over from the side, which made "she" couldn't help but stop. He glanced at the direction from which the peculiar smell came - the drunken Savile had fallen asleep on the table, mumbling indistinct curses in his sleep.
"He seems to have been here these days," Solder "Lin" asked casually, "seems to be an acquaintance of yours?"
"Alas...unlucky Savile , I have some friendship with him," Simpson glanced at the table across from him, sighed and shook his head, "He also used to run a hotel, on the other side of town, but unfortunately he was confused by the wealthy businessmen coming from north to south. He gave up and let unrealistic fantasies hurt him. He borrowed a large amount of money and even mortgaged his hotel to exchange for the use rights of three carriages and a franchise license... just this winter. "
Solder "Lin" listened to Simpson's sympathetic story and couldn't help but look at the drunk man again.
The destructive power of this war outside the battlefield is becoming more and more obvious day by day, and Savile lying among the bottles is just a small microcosm of it.
"She" shook her head and said casually as if talking to herself: "I hope this war will end soon."
"If this is really possible, then I will Thank God," Simpson couldn't help but say. He pointed at his chest a few times with the fingers he had just wiped the brass pipe in, making a prayer gesture. "I really don't know when these bad days will end..."
Solde "Lin" did not respond to the hotel owner's words. "She" pulled up the hood of her cloak, tightened the ties, and turned towards the exit of the lobby.
The door of the tavern opened and closed, and a cold wind blowing from the outside swept through the indoor space. Simpson felt the cold wind blowing in his neck, and couldn't help but shrink his neck again, and at the same time subconsciously looked out the window. At a glance - he wiped the window glass and tried to look for the figure of the elf huntress on the street, but he only saw the empty streets and the foggy sky and distant mountains outside the town. Between the light and the shadow of the mountains, An iron-gray giant that seemed to be covered in armor was wandering in the void.
Simpson felt as if his heart was suddenly hit hard by something. The hazy shadow made all the blood in his body stagnant for a moment. After a few seconds, He took a deep breath and regained his ability to think like he was resurrected. In panic, he quickly looked towardsOutside the window, I tried to look for the figure of the giant, but in the background of the mountains, there was no iron-gray armored giant wandering at all...
It seemed like it was just an illusion.
"Saville, Savile!" Simpson knocked on the table with his brass pipe, trying to call the person closest to him, "You just saw...forget it, I asked you what to do."< /p>
......
Solderin walked around a few streets and got into the alley. His breath was completely restrained, and even the patrolling mages passing by did not notice his breath. There was a "Hunter" figure in his sight.
After confirming that the surroundings were completely safe, he stopped and glanced thoughtfully in the direction of the mountains outside the town.
He thought of the "hallucination" that people occasionally mentioned in the town recently, and his face became slightly serious, but he soon calmed down the change in his expression and returned to his indifferent state.
After observing the surrounding environment again, he quickly found a hiding place and began to change his clothes: the clothes of the elves are complicated and difficult to distinguish in the eyes of humans, and the special clothes can change their shape with slight changes. , he turned over his original cloak again, with the dusty side facing out, completely changing his slightly neutral appearance. Finally, he stretched his hands to the top of his head - at this step, the senior The Ranger finally couldn't help but hesitated for a moment, but the words of his friend many years ago came to mind: A truly strong man will face the bleakness of life...
He pulled off the wig and quickly put it away. ——The winter wind is so cold.
At the small intersection on the other side of the street, a carriage was already waiting here. Solderlin walked out of the alley and confirmed the surroundings of the carriage in less than a second. situation, he came to the coachman with an expression of Furui Mubo on his face.
"Master Delin," the coachman immediately jumped out of the car when he saw his employer, with a respectful and flattering smile on his face: The elf monk is a profession full of mystery. The erudite traveler said that there were no more than a thousand people on the entire continent, not to mention that the other party paid twice the fare. This was worthy of all the etiquette he had accumulated since his mother's womb, "We are here." Let's go?"
"Wait a minute," Solderin nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "Let's go directly out of the city from the west."
...
The order from Cecil City made Solinburg’s technical staff and Bertila himself completely busy. Along with them, there were also people who came from Cecil City in an aircraft and were specially responsible for it. Technician for the Psionic Singer Project.
In the central area of the Solin Giant Tree, in a square on the west side of the trunk, Wendy and several other technical experts who hurriedly came from Cecil City were standing with the technical staff of Solin Castle, and In front of these people, Selina Gerfen, holding a lantern in her hand, gradually appeared like a spirit coming from a dream world into reality.
This "Ti"The Lamp Saint raised her head and looked at the strange thing floating in the middle of the open space in front of her. Finally she couldn't help but look sideways at Wendy: "Do you think this thing will not attack us first when put on the battlefield?" Did his own soldiers have a huge psychological impact? "
Wendy opened her mouth and was about to speak when a hoarse voice with a slightly wooden friction texture came from the bushes nearby: "This sentence comes from being good at mental attacks and professionally creating nightmares. It’s really weird to say it from the mouth of the Eternal Sleeper Priest. ”
Selena looked towards the direction of the sound and saw Bertila’s figure rising from the bushes. The twisted and wriggling flower vines condensed in an incredible way into a figure that was almost the same as a real person. "Incarnation", and this incarnation is coming here relying on the constantly moving roots and vines of the lower body
"We are just creating some illusions from the spiritual level - but you can be in the real world. Scary thing," Selina shook her head helplessly and pointed at something floating in the sky above the square - it was a huge artificial brain, with a diameter of more than two meters, and the gray-white and slightly pink flesh and blood tissue. It floats several meters high in an anti-gravity manner. Its uneven surface covered with ravines is even slightly squirming, expanding and contracting, and a large number of tentacle-like nerve cords extend from its bottom, unconsciously accompanying the floating body. The ground squirmed and curled, "When it comes to the abilities of disgusting people, you guys who do biochemistry are more powerful. "
"...Is it really that serious? " Bertila thought for a while and said helplessly, "But I think it's a bit cute..."
The technicians behind Selena suddenly showed an almost horrifying look, Wendy I couldn't help but press my forehead -
The aesthetics of this vegetative person... seemed to be completely rotten.