Wizard From Afar

The howling wind swept over the endless mountains, holding up the eagle spreading its wings and flying into the sky, under an endless dome, following the cold wind at the end of the winter from west to east, from the Sackland Empire The most northwestern Wuyue Court, flies to the southernmost Byrne.

It flies over the ancient wood forest that is gradually resurrecting its vitality; it traverses Lotaire, which has gradually regained its vitality after years of recuperation; the reflection of the ground passing by, let Zheng lead The leader of the caravan heading to the Great Chamber of Commerce in Eboden subconsciously raised his eyes and looked at the Jewel River where Qianfan sailed.

Under the sun, with the reopened Jewel River route and commercial routes from the south, busy trade, aristocratic flowers and wine, a lot of urban reconstruction work, let the former bleak Queen of Ten Thousand Cities bloom again Glorious.

The broken ruins left by the battle of the Great Vortex no longer exist, replaced by a brand new Imperial Capital; almost all the old nobles of the former empire were annihilated when the Great Vortex descended and rose with His Majesty Brandon The upstarts who appeared together became the new owners at the top of the pyramid.

wizard, priest, Knight, civil servants, nobles, merchants... The rising upstarts have brought new vitality to the empire, and are full of enthusiasm for Brandon’s "exploration plan". An expedition team full of supplies, scholars, warriors and merchants set off towards the Arctic Icefield, the Centaur Gobi and even the old kingdom of Azores.

Especially the old kingdom of Azores...As the first fleet returned four years ago, it was announced that the first colony was established, rich in resources, fertile land, and various surprise discoveries. The land facing the sea attracted the attention of everyone in the empire and became a country full of treasures in everyone's heart.

And the giant dragon hovering on the top of the sky palace, shining with the golden radiance of the Holy Cross Cathedral, so that the eagle soaring in the wind has to choose to avoid; bypassing the Imperial Capital, flying to the fertile East Sa Crane.

The cold wind receded, and the sweaty East Sackland people in the fields did not have the thought of looking up at the sky; under the fortress of Broken Boundary Mountain, the soldiers of the Icefield Frontier Army looked at the flying shadows above their heads. Advance north amidst the sound of the command.

The long wind and sweeping green sea of ​​Poi, the people of Poi horseback who are driving horses, cattle and sheep, are bargaining with the livestock merchants who came by Byrne; Eller in the mountains In the mang jungle, the Elman hunter hiding under the tree shot an arrow that hit the male deer at the moment the eagle's shadow passed by.

When the howling wind becomes warm and pleasant, the air is exuding the scent of wine and flowers, and the sky is echoing with the joy of banquets and music...Even the eagle flying in the sky knows that it has come Arrived at his destination.

Byrne, the home of Knight and wine under Torino.

Ten years have passed since the beginning of the Great Elf invasion. Byrne, who had fallen and shined in the battle of the elves, took ten years to rebuild her glory.

A large number of brave and combative Knight lords withered on the battlefield, which weakened the strength of Byrne Duchy, but also greatly reduced the obstacles of the restraining forces; the Byrne people, who were closely united around the Torino family, A vigorous reform movement was launched under the leadership of Charlotte Torino.

Internally, Charlotte has completed the mess left by Loren-a wide and vertical road, which closely connects the thirteen leaders of Byrne; the Chamber of Commerce, which controls the Duchy treasury, allows all Trade activities permitted by the duke are unimpeded in the territory of Byrn.

Imitated the Sackland military system, gradually abolished the inconvenient enlistment law in the past, and formed the standing Knight Legion directly under Byrne Duchy; Weber, who had been squeezed out by Holy Cross Church and Imperial Capital, also joined the sky. Gong reached a reconciliation and formed the Byrne Church, which was semi-independent and belonged only to the Byrne people.

The increase in wealth, the change of lifestyle, and the sacrifices made during the war of the elves have allowed the wizards to rise in Byrne; the wizard's guild, which was originally limited to the Duchy of Byrne, began to cooperate with the tower of wizards. , To establish branches throughout the empire to assist wizard apprentices who have completed their studies to find a suitable job in the local area.

Externally, Charlotte maintains its relationship with the Vault of Heaven and even all influence by means of trade—Boy’s livestock trade, dwarves’ ore trade, Arles’ leather and food trade... huge demand makes Byrne has become their most important buyer, and even for the sake of vitality, they must maintain a good relationship with Byrne.

Resources, wealth, and the "little deterrence" of military power allowed Charlotte to establish a very strong "Southern League", allowing Byrne to gain actual control over the southern part of the empire and the dwarven city-state right.

The short-lived brilliance that the Black Duke once created has become solid in the hands of Charlotte Torino.

As for the Sky Vault, the imperative need to rebuild the Imperial Capital's Parliament did not want to provoke the powerful duchy in the south. The colonization of the West of the Sea of ​​Mist and the territory of the former Azores gave the Sky Vault a new one. Financial resources; this route established under the leadership of His Majesty Brandon also restrained most of the empire's attention to a certain extent.

Under some tacit understanding, Byrne, who had nothing to do with this kind of thing, also mobilized a huge amount of material and financial resources to support the colonization of the kingdom of the old Azores. With the development of routes, the sight from Imperial Capital is minimized.

But such "obscure methods" are destined to be temporary; Brandon of the Skydome and Charlotte of the Scarlet Blood Castle are very clear that the rise of the Torino family is inevitable, and Desalion cannot Tolerate the rise of the strong duchy; a two-footed duel will come sooner or later, and it is not the will of the two of them that can be reversed.

The only thing that can be done is to restore the vitality of the empire as much as possible before the inevitable day comes, open up more land, accumulate more wealth, and fill up more people. The land within sight, and the "New World" that may be able to escape the flames of war beyond the sea.

"This is the summary of this quarter's financial report, count." The still-thin Duchy Finance Director Jr. Yod looks more and more like his father, and has no interest in anything other than the ledger:

"The support for the Imperial Family in the Imperial Family to open up a new colony...Uh, how do you put it...Although it drove the business of medicines and leather products in the territory, it allowed the two thousand prisoners in prison to complete reemployment, But... the expenses are huge and Duchy is already in debt."

"Then levy new taxes to fill the shortfall. As far as I know, Boye has made a lot of money in the livestock trade, so he should increase taxes appropriately." Charlotte A little irritable, he threw the parchment full of bills aside: "Your Excellency Jade, I shouldn't need to remind you of the importance of the development of the new colony to the relationship between the Celestial Vault and the Scarlet Blood Castle, right?"

"This is natural. Only in this way can the rare peace be maintained." Little Jod dealt with the matter, nodded: "In addition...My father, old Jod has passed away, now you can call me Jod. "

"No problem, little Yod." The proud Crimson Castle female count, her mouth curled up elegantly: "Anything else?"

" Wizard Guild, Lord Isaac Grantham."

Little Yod reluctantly rolled the eyes: "Recently, his research has made new discoveries, and he needs to spend a lot of money to prepare research equipment."

Charlotte nodded: "So..."

"We already owe a lot of money, count, if we owe it, we won't be able to pay." Little Yod said expressionlessly

Lifting her forehead lightly, Charlotte let out a tired sigh, quite helpless.

"You don't need to ask any more about this matter, I will be directly responsible-if Isaac has something, let him come to me directly."

"Yes, count."

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The expressionless little Yod skillfully tidied up the ledger on the table: "Please allow to retire first."

The brisk footsteps gradually faded, and the round table hall became solemn again. silence.

from start to finish Grenwell, the Duchy director who didn't say a word, silently placed a stone slab engraved with a nine-pointed star in front of Charlotte.

"This is..."

"Several wizard apprentices in the Rock Fort were found in the ruins of the old castle, and they were sent to the Scarlet Blood Fort overnight." Glenwell calmly said:

"They claimed that there was absolutely no such thing there before. Based on the remains of the void reaction on the stone slab, the wizard guild calculated that it appeared at least hundreds of years ago. Most likely..."

"At the beginning of Byrne's birth, the Byrnes rebelled against the era of dwarf rule!" Charlotte blurted out.

Grenwell was slightly paused and took two steps back silently.

"So..." Gazing at the old slate on the table, Charlotte muttered to herself:

"I was only discovered last night, that is to say, Loren still has Ayin and the others... are assisting Torino and Byrne's ancestors in resisting attacks from the dwarves in the Rock Fort hundreds of years ago... Is that true?"

"If that's the case..." Glenwell Slightly lowered his head: "Lord Loren...may be too late to return as scheduled and spend this summer with you."

Charlotte leaned weakly on the back of the chair, her crystal-like eyes losing her brilliance.

But the silence only lasted for a moment, and soon after she recovered her sobriety, Charlotte looked behind her: "Where is Roland?"

"count, you......"

"I'm talking about the heir of the bloodline of the Torino family, the lord of the thirteen lords of Byrne, the son of Loren Torino, my son...Roland Torino." As the voice grew heavier, Charlotte Te's eyes are getting colder and colder:

"Where is he now?"

Grunwell, whose eyes are flickering, immediately has a black hair in his mind. Miao, a clever and clever little silhouette who always likes to cause trouble to people.

Of course, "troubleshooting" is a very polite way of saying. It should be said that this young Master has evolved into a major scourge of the Scarlet Blood Castle in the past year.

Grenwell fully understands the idea of ​​female count who wants to train a child into a qualified ruler, but Roland doesn’t think so—at least he is more keen on magic spells than official documents, government affairs and etiquette. Hunting and messing up people.

Faced with the straight-faced female count, Glenwell, who was suffering from headaches, could only tell the truth:

"Roland Young Master, he is in...Broken Sword Hall."

Charlotte's expression changed slightly.

……………………

The Palace of the Scarlet Blood Castle, Broken Sword Hall.

Gently pushing the door open, Charlotte, in a complex mood, stepped into the hall of neither too big nor too small.

The room itself is nothing special. The simple decoration pales in comparison to other rooms in the court; the only special thing is that it is placed in the deepest part of the room, under the wall facing the door, and the handle is broken. Two pieces of Mithril Great Sword.

Dawn.

Looking at the Broken Sword, Charlotte's eyes were a bit misty.

She still remembers that when Loren returned and gave Broken Sword to herself, she looked like she had done something wrong, regretful and afraid of getting angry, her hands behind her back, cold sweat wet the collar NS.

He didn't know that he was so excited just to see him come back alive, he stood there like a puppet, letting him perform with remorse.

So when he offered to restore the sword, Charlotte refused.

Although it is said that this symbolizes a glory, let the world, especially the descendants of the Torino family, remember that the Torino family of the Scarlet Castle, the Duke of Byrne once saved the world;

but Charlotte knew very well that what she wanted was that Loren could remember it forever-even if it wasn't for Byrne, the Torino family or even herself, even if it was just for this little self-blame, guilt, to be able to come back.

"If you can come back..."

Looking at Broken Sword, Charlotte muttered to herself: "You big liar, full of lies, always like to make people fearful The wicked...If you really know how much pressure I have been under..."

"I know."

The voices that flutter and flutter like auditory hallucinations, but let the female count trembled all over.

That's...that voice...from behind...

"Impossible." With widened eyes, Charlotte desperately suppressed the urge to look back: "You...Loren …You are now, now you should be still..."

"Rock Fort." The voice said with a smile:

"Yes, I saw first Torino there, Or the father of the future King Knight; I was a little surprised...I thought he was a very decisive guy, absolutely didn't expect him to be a very gentle man."

"That's natural...Torino The ancestor of the family must be ten thousand times stronger than someone who is always fearful!"

Charlotte of gnashing teeth pressed her hands in front of her, her shoulders trembling slightly:

"Where's Ayin?"

"With Roland, they can get along well. Or, Ayin can get along with anyone, uh... I'm different."

"You still know!"

"Of course I know that Roland is a very smart child."

"He is a little bastard!"

"How Can you say that? He is just too young. Every child has to have a carefree time."

"Don't use your shameless and offline to measure the future Duke of Byrne With King Knight!"

"So I said, Charlotte, you are too restrained. Don't let yourself carry too much burden."

"It's not because of some The bastard is irresponsible?!"

"Then you think this irresponsible bastard, forget the promise that you will come back to see you?"

"What do you bastard do Can't come out?!"

Charlotte, with her hands clenched tightly, looked towards the ground.

In the quiet hall, you can even hear her heartbeat.

"Why don't you look back?" The voice asked with a smile.

"I..."

"Isn't it worried that I will disappear, all this is just your own illusion, right?"

"How is it possible "!" Charlotte denied it.

"Why is that?"

"Because of..." Charlotte flushed and stomped her feet with no desire to improve: "Well, you Won! You are right. I am worried that all this is just an illusion, and I am worried that you are just..."

The speech stopped abruptly.

The flustered Charlotte felt the temperature coming from the back of her neck, and her trembling hands were held tightly.

The black hair wizard standing behind her, with a smile in the corner of her eyes:

"Is it an illusion, can you confirm it yourself?"

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