Sword of Dawn

Page 237

Halfway through the road repair, the Royal Army and the Crusaders fought back together, driving the people from the east out of the giant wooden crossing. Earl Lin collected another wave of grain.

Last year was a bumper harvest, an unprecedented bumper harvest, and every family harvested [-]-[-]% more.

Ten people in the village starved to death, and eight died from road construction.

So it is no wonder that his son would say such bold words in front of the gods.

"Go home, don't encounter water ghosts and evil spirits later." Sam shook his head, grabbed his tattered hat and put it on his head, "too many people have died recently, and the wilderness is getting worse at night." Peaceful."

The sons and daughters followed in the footsteps of their father and walked towards the village along the relatively flat rocky beach on the river bank. The youngest daughter followed behind the two elder brothers and suddenly asked curiously: "I heard that John next door was selected. Going to be a soldier, Master Knight rewarded their family with two sacks of wheat, and they don’t have to pay taxes this year..."

"Don't even think about it!" Sam heard the voice behind him, and immediately turned his head and glared, "It's a real war now, and a soldier has to fight desperately with the people of the East, and one accidentally died outside—— And as far as you two unsatisfactory brothers, do you think they have slender arms and legs, the knight master will like them?"

The little girl was taken aback, she quickly shrank her neck and didn't dare to make a sound.

Smoke rose from the front, and the wooden fence at the entrance of the village came into Sam's sight.

A cavalryman riding a tall horse, wearing a strangely shaped armor with runes on his body, and a black one-handed long sword on his waist was stopping at the entrance of the village. After seeing Sam and others, the cavalryman immediately raised his hand The whip: "You guys, come here!"

Sam's heart tightened suddenly.

Want to collect food again?This winter has just passed...how can there be food at home? !

But he still didn't dare to be negligent, and hurriedly brought his sons and daughters to the front of the cavalry, stopped at a distance where they would not be kicked by the horse or hit by the whip, and bowed deeply: "Mr. Knight."

This is just a soldier on a horse. Judging by his fully armed appearance, he is at most a small captain among the soldiers. He is definitely different from the real nobleman "Master Knight", but even if Sam knows this Also respectfully address the other party as "Master Knight"-this is very flattering to the soldiers on horseback, and even if someone pursues it, he can use his stupidity and ignorance of the rules to cover up the past.

The cavalry was really useful. The heavily armed man raised his mouth and nodded in satisfaction. Then he pointed at the two sons behind Sam with a whip: "You have two sons?"

"Yes... yes..." Sam nodded repeatedly, "They are all honest young people..."

"It's good to be honest, what you want is honesty," the cavalryman raised his chin, "choose one, your son has been drafted."

"Ah...ah?" Sam raised his head in astonishment, and after a brief moment of astonishment, he finally panicked, "Master, they...they can't fight! Look at their arms and legs, and their standing here. You can't stand up straight, it's a trivial matter if you die on the battlefield, I'm afraid you can't even pick up your weapon, and you'll embarrass the lord!"

"Go to the battlefield? Are they worthy?" The cavalryman waved the whip in his hand and said impatiently, "They are going to work!"

Sam was startled by the sound of the whip, but he dared to ask, "Work . . . what work?"

"Build the road," cried the cavalryman, "repair the Highway of the Kingdom by order co-signed by the Grand Duke Victoria Weld, Burdwin Franklin, and the Prince of Wales - the loyal Viscount Hancall has listed your home Included in the list, do not disobey!"

The cavalry rode away.

This is the 15th of the month of recovery, the Ansu traditional festival of recovery. On this day, the Kingdom Avenue, which has been abandoned for a century, finally began to be rebuilt.

Also on the same day, after intense preparations, the "White Sands Mining Company" led by Minister of Commerce Patrick Padrik finally selected the first mining site in the Eastern White Sand Hills.

The young knight Belk Rollen stood on the high watchtower, watching those Cecilians bustling among the distant mountains: as the messenger between the east and the south, as Prince Edmund Appointed "representative", this young man performed his duties meticulously, keeping a close eye on the activities of the Cecilians on this land, and watching the excavation site of the first mining site of the Cecilians is naturally his job .

For the Cecilians from the southwest, Belk Rollen always maintains three points of trust and seven points of vigilance. He knows what the founding duke did in the southern border: a man who used violence to destroy the entire southern border within a year The aristocratic system, the person who stormed and occupied the Rock Fortress within three days is absolutely impossible to be a kind person. He sent a "White Sand Mining Company" here. Although it is only mining in name, who knows whether these Cecilians will Will it infiltrate everywhere, will it turn the land near the White Sand Hills into the Cecils' own by gradually devouring and nibbling?

After all, there is only a river and a small piece of woods separating this place from Gelenland on the border of the Principality of Cecil.

Below the watchtower is a temporary mining camp. Those Cecilians transported a lot of strange equipment through the Glen area. They laid magic nets in the mine, built board houses, and paid off They opened a simple road—although the tools they used and the planning of the building were very strange, at least until now, what these people from the southern border had done was only the necessary preparations for "mining".

"Marquis of Belk, I hope this mine can satisfy your curiosity," a voice came from the side, "After all, there is really nothing to see in such a barren place."

The person who spoke was a thin, dark man named Home. Belk Lauren knew that this young man who didn't even have a last name was the person in charge of the "White Sands Mining Company" and was a "mining expert" sent by Cecil. ", he didn't know why it was a commoner who managed such a huge industry and commanded hundreds of workers, but he still nodded politely to Home: "I didn't come here to see the scenery, I just came to see Look at your mine—please don’t mind me speaking directly, but I must emphasize: Although the mining rights have been given to you, it is still land in the east after all, and I am responsible for every inch of land outside the mine.”

Home nodded: "Of course, Mr. Marquis, we only mine. We are not interested in any land other than mines and roads."

In the distance, those Cecilians who were busy between the rocks finally completed some preparations. Accompanied by loud whistles and a few loud flute sounds, the miners in coarse overalls quickly ran to the mountain The rock is far away, hiding behind a boulder.

Belk looked at this scene in astonishment. He couldn't see anything similar in any mining process he knew: "What are they doing?"

Home laughed. This man who was born as a slave laborer had never had such a bright smile in his life: "Mining."

In the distant mine, someone waved a striking flag a few times, and then all the miners who were close to the rock covered their ears.

Belk Lauren looked curious: "Mining?"

A loud noise came from afar.

Then there were more loud noises, one after another, like rolling thunder.

The entire observatory trembled slightly amidst the continuous loud noises. Under the impact of this shock that was more terrifying than the Pyroblast technique or the Earthquake technique, the rock in the distance that required hundreds of people to dig for a whole month collapsed.

Belk had almost drawn his sword in his hand. Amidst the buzzing of his ears, he heard the voice of the person in charge of the White Sands Mining Company next to him:

"Yes, mining, we only mine, Monsieur Marquis."

Chapter 0553 Special Envoy

The long and cold winter is finally over.

The fog that lasted throughout the winter finally began to recede from all parts of the Aldernan Great Plains, and the whole world seemed to become clearer with the arrival of spring. The daily wind was still cold, but it was not as it was in previous days It was bitingly cold, the snow began to melt, the solid ice turned into flowing water, and the thin streams of melted snow and ice flowed down from the black roofs and spires of Aldernan, soaking the whole city in a cloud of water vapor— —Thanks to the new drainage system built more than ten years ago, these melted snow water can enter the underground waterway smoothly, and people don't have to worry about these extra "streams" that will damage the foundations of buildings, so the urban snow melts It is no longer an annoying thing, but has become an alternative scenery.

The black carriage with the emblem of the Wendell family passing the Imperial Capital Avenue, the wheels creaked on the wet stone pavement. Grand Duke Ferdinand Wendell was sitting in the carriage, looking at the road through the opening in the window cover on the scene.

It was early in the morning, and the sun had just illuminated the street. In the past, there were hardly any pedestrians on the street at this hour, but there were many small groups of civilians in Duke Ferdinand's sight—they were dressed in gray Wearing thick clothes and felt hats or woolen hats, they walked forward in one direction. In the cold wind of early spring, these people shivered slightly, but they still hurried on their feet without stopping.

"The workers in the textile factory..." Duke Ferdinand muttered in a low voice, "Going out so early."

The butler who had followed him for many years was sitting on the seat opposite the carriage. This loyal old friend explained: "In order to encourage new factories, His Majesty issued a decree of favor. Vehicles transporting cotton can enter the city in the early morning without tax, so Textile mills start working very early.”

"Just to start work an hour earlier..."

The old prince muttered, and couldn't help but glanced out of the window again.

He saw more textile factory workers coming out of their homes and walking towards the factory, and saw vehicles with the emblem of the Empire and the emblem of the Manufacturing Association rushing past. It was a cart transporting magic net parts... …

On Platinum Avenue, he saw that an old warehouse had been razed to the ground. , he saw a tall chimney emitting billowing smoke. It was a newly built rock-burning acid chemical plant that was processing rich dust that could be used as fertilizer...

The scorched smoke from the chimney of the burning rock acid chemical plant can almost be smelled here—of course, Duke Ferdinand knew that this was just his own illusion.

That chimney is a hundred meters high, and the smoke from it will only dissipate in the sky, but it will not affect the ground.

But the old prince still couldn't help frowning.

Factories, magic nets, boilers, tall chimneys, the bustling "investment age"... It seems to have popped up overnight, and suddenly it is everywhere, everyone seems to be involved, everyone seems to be involved All elated.

The old duke, who has spent most of his life in the inner circle of the empire, has never seen anything develop in such a hurry. He thinks he is not a conservative, but these new things that come out in a hurry... always give him a little surprise. A very uncomfortable feeling.

"Recently, the whole day's discussion in the aristocratic council has turned into the construction of factories and the cotton bill," said Grand Duke Ferdinand, shaking his head, "The textile factory run by Viscount Hermiel attracted a lot of people to invest. "

"After all, the fabrics woven by the new textile factory are plentiful and good," said the butler. "I heard that Mrs. Mira also wants to open a textile factory, but she can't buy machines—the machines are simply not enough."

"I've seen the fabric they wove," said Duke Ferdinand with some disdain. "It's pretty solid, but unfortunately it's very rough and doesn't have any taste at all."

The butler spread his hands: "...But for ordinary people, it is a very good fabric, sir."

Duke Ferdinand frowned, and after a brief silence, he could only sigh slightly: "I'm probably getting old."

"You are still an important pillar of this country," said the steward, "His Majesty the Emperor needs you."

Ferdinand didn't respond to the steward's words, he just looked forward, and the majestic walls of Obsidian Palace were already in front of him.

It is said that several special envoys came to the imperial capital. These envoys brought news from the south of the mainland, and they were of high status. His Majesty the Emperor suddenly called him into the palace, probably for this reason.

The empire is prospering day by day, and everything seems to be moving by leaps and bounds.

However, for some reason, Ferdinand Wendell always felt a faint uneasiness.

Obsidian Palace.

This majestic palace stands there as always, in the center of the empire. Although it is only a "new palace" built 200 years ago, the deep tone and solemn and calm style of this palace still carry a kind of It seemed as if he could stand for a thousand years. After entering the palace, Pei Dinan's gloomy and restless mood gradually settled down.

He walked towards the living room where the emperor was, there was a crisp knock between his boots and the marble slab, and when he passed the "Nightingale Hall", his footsteps stopped.

An old mage wearing a black robe with a gloomy expression came from the opposite side, an unpleasant rustling or wriggling sound accompanied the old mage's footsteps, and a young man who seemed to be in his early twenties The female mage followed behind the old mage.

"My lord, good morning."

The old mage stopped not far away, bowed his head slightly to this side, his voice was hoarse, as if even his vocal cords had begun to corrode.

Duke Ferdinand nodded slightly with the restraint and pride that the top nobles should have, and said politely according to the courtesy that the great magician in front of him should receive: "Master Daniel, good morning."

The two were about to pass by, but Ferdinand suddenly spoke again: "Master Daniel, I am very glad to see that you are willing to return to this place—Ms. Windsor Mapel must be the same."

"I'm glad too."

The old magician and his students walked away. Duke Ferdinand watched their backs disappearing into the corridor, and couldn't help shaking his head slightly.

Ms. Windsor Mapel's mentor, a former member of the Royal Society of Mages, great magician Daniel Fred, he was once a talented high-level mage, but his temperament changed drastically due to research frustration and promotion failure, and he exiled himself , no one could have imagined that such a person who left the highest magic institution in the empire could come back one day. Recently, this great magician has become a man of the hour in the imperial capital. He even became the guests of many nobles—those people seemed to have forgotten the bleak and embarrassing appearance of Daniel Fred when he left the imperial capital many years ago. Just because they saw the amazing profits of the textile factory, they all swarmed around .

Duke Ferdinand lamented the ugliness of those little nobles in the face of interests, and then walked through the corridor to the emperor's reception room.

After the announcement, the door of the reception room opened, and Ferdinand Wendell walked into the room. He first saw Rosetta Augustus sitting on the main seat, and then his eyes fell on those slender and tall On aliens.

Blonde hair, pointy ears, and facial features that are more slender and softer than humans.

It's an elf, an elf from the Southern Silver Empire.

Sure enough, just like what I heard before, the empire has welcomed a group of special "messengers", but why did these elves come?

It's not easy for them to come to Typhon - it's half a continent away!

Although some doubts arose in his heart, Duke Ferdinand still did not show the slightest surprise—he kept all his thoughts in his heart, nodded politely to the elves, and then came to Emperor Rosetta: " Your Majesty, I have come to answer your summons."

"Sit down, Sir Ferdinand," Rosetta Augustus nodded slightly, "As you can see, we have some guests—these spirits have brought very important news."

Ferdinand looked at those elves - every elf was very handsome. To be honest, when a face-blind human being saw an elf, it was difficult to even distinguish their gender. Ferdinand could only judge the elves by their clothes. The elf on the opposite side is a lady: "Ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you——I'm Ferdinand Wendel, the emperor's advisor."

"Shiva Farstrider, messenger of the Silver Queen Belsetia," said the beautiful elf—thankfully, a lady, "we have an important mission: the Silver Empire to convey the most urgent As a warning, the Great Wall is not doing well."

Ferdinand Wendell's eyes froze for an instant.

After a brief conversation, Ferdinand knew the purpose of these elves and the current situation.

These elves came to warn the kingdoms of men, and they kept the covenant 700 years ago-although it was a thing of ancient times for humans-bringing the latest news about the magnificent wall, according to their It is said that the deterioration of the Great Wall has reached an extremely serious situation, even exceeding the level that the Silver Empire can handle, and the disturbing change in winter... is just the beginning of a series of catastrophic events in the future.

As the top nobleman of Typhon, Ferdinand certainly knew about the change of the barrier in winter - any country whose national border is connected to the magnificent wall can observe that change, and the flashes and sounds that lasted for three days made the border line The people on the ground were very nervous, and the western part of the empire even entered a state of martial law for a time. The Winter Wolf Army also sent a force to the western border to guard the movement in the wasteland, but fortunately all this was a false alarm. thing didn't happen.

Now the messengers of the elves have arrived, and with them the most disturbing truth: that was no false alarm.

"We paid a huge price—the elves sacrificed twelve magisters and nearly a hundred ranger warriors, and Gaoling Kingdom sacrificed one-third of the full-scale mountain corps before successfully restarting the Sentinel Tower," said the elf Xi Wa said in a calm tone, "But if it is damaged again, I'm afraid it won't be enough to fill in the number of lives."

That was not a false alarm, it was a real disaster.

Bad things had happened - it just didn't happen to the Typhons.

Ferdinand Wendell suddenly felt tremendous pressure, but he knew that the elf lady in front of him did not have the slightest idea of ​​alarmism or exerting pressure. According to his understanding of elves, the other party should be just stating the facts: this fact does not need any information at all. Exaggeration is disturbing enough.

He thought for a while, then glanced at Emperor Rosetta, and then looked at the elf: "Then what can we...?"

"We don't have the ability to rebuild the Great Wall, so the best thing to do is to strengthen the barrier before it completely goes out, put in additional protection, and relieve the pressure on the core systems of the Sentinel Towers to prevent them from being completely destroyed," Shiva said. "And that requires the cooperation and help of every nation around the barrier."

Chapter 0554 Responsibility of the Holy Covenant

The situation at the Great Wall was more serious than Duke Ferdinand had initially expected.

The elves are an ancient and proud race—proud rather than arrogance—the long history of cultural heritage and powerful innate power make this race as confident as the Gondor humans back then, and full of a certain sense of responsibility. Since the destruction of the Gondor Empire, The bipolar civilization of the entire continent collapsed in half, and the Silver Empire, driven by the sense of responsibility of a great power, became the defender of the magnificent wall and the monitor of the wasteland. For 700 years, they have meticulously fulfilled the duties of the sacred covenant, Duke Ferdinand It is clear that the proud elves would never have sent envoys to warn the nations—and ask for help—if there hadn’t been a catastrophic accident on the barrier.

The Grand Duke paid attention to the expression of Rosetta the Great. From His Majesty's expression, he knew that the other party had confirmed the authenticity of what the elf said, so he turned to look at Shiva: "Your plan is to strengthen the barrier—so specific How to strengthen it? What exactly do you want us to do?"

"We plan to set up booster devices near several main sentinel towers. We have the technology for booster devices, but we don't have enough manpower and resources—even if we have enough manpower and resources, we don't have time to allocate them to the entire grand "The wall," the elf envoy said, "the wasteland in the middle of the continent has blocked traffic, and it takes a long detour to get from the Silver Empire to the north of the mainland. We arrived here in half a month by riding a giant eagle— — but giant eagles are not designed to carry large quantities of cargo."

At this time, Rosetta Augustus finally spoke: "Typhon is happy to repair that barrier, after all, that barrier is also our lifeline—but what about other countries?"

"We have sent messengers to every human kingdom," Shiva said. "The messengers sent to the Ogure Tribal Country should have arrived a few days ago, and the messengers sent to Ansu started earlier than us, and they should also arrive now." arrive."

"The Ogure tribal country has been paying attention to the Great Wall for many years, and they should respond to your warning soon, but Ansu..." Emperor Rosetta said in a low voice, "That country is falling into a civil strife, we It is not known whether they will still be able to fulfill the duties of the sacred covenant."

"...we have received news about this," Shiva said with regret after being silent for a moment. Due to the existence of the Grand Wall communication network, the elves are still well informed about the news of the entire continent. It was introduced to the Silver Empire half a year ago, "We regret this, the descendants of our former allies should not be opposed to this... But anyway, the safety of the magnificent wall is related to the life and death of civilization, they should know... Now is not the time to continue the civil war when."

"As you said, the people of the four human kingdoms are all descendants of the Gondor Empire. The ancient glory of their ancestors should not be clouded by prejudice and short-sightedness. I believe that the blood of those glory is still flowing in the blood vessels of the Ansu people—as long as they are still alive They will know what to do if they have not completely forgotten all of this," Rosetta Augustus said solemnly, then stood up, "As for Typhon... we will fulfill our duties in the sacred covenant, Go fix that barrier."

The elf envoy stood up and bent down in front of Emperor Rosetta: "You are worthy of the name of Augustus."

Rosetta nodded: "All envoys, please go to rest first. I want to discuss with my consultant the specific material transfer and personnel arrangements."

Several elf envoys left under the guidance of the waiters, leaving only Emperor Typhon and Duke Ferdinand in the reception room for a while.

The emperor sat back on his chair, his upper body sunk in the shadow of the back of the chair: "Mr. Pei Dinan, do you think the situation of the Great Wall has deteriorated to this point?"

"The elves will not joke about this issue-and with their style of acting, if the barrier has not deteriorated to a certain extent, they will not come to the human kingdoms for help."

"I think so too," Rosetta nodded slightly. "Astrologers have reported abnormal changes in the sun, and the garrison on the border has also witnessed changes in the Great Wall. The evidence is there and cannot be ignored."

"Then we are really going to..."

"Fulfilling the sacred covenant, there is no doubt," Rosetta said, "I have seen the blueprints brought by the elves, and the restoration work undertaken by Typhon will be divided into two parts, one part is in the southwest, and I will appoint Duke Seven to go , and the other part is in the northwest, near Winterwolf Castle—I'll go there myself."

Pei Dinan froze for a moment, his face showed surprise: "Your Majesty, you want to go in person?"