Sword of Dawn

Page 138

So this Patty is really not a normal Eternal Sleeper cultist...

Then Gao Wen asked the little girl some questions, such as how did she enter the network in the first place, who introduced or guided her, but Patty seemed very confused about these—she seemed to have no memory of how she first entered the network. passed.

Either her memory in this regard was tampered with, or she was unknowingly guided into the Internet by someone or some people.

In any case, Gawain felt that it was best not to continue asking about this: if Patty's memory was really tampered with by the Eternal Sleeper, the more he asked, the greater the possibility of arousing suspicion.

After saying goodbye to Patty, Gawain left the Eternal Sleeper's mind network.

When he opened his eyes, he... well, this time he didn't see Amber's face in front of him.

What he saw were the faces of Rebecca and Amber.

The old ancestor suddenly opened his eyes and startled Rebecca. The roe deer spirit jumped two meters away on the spot, and exclaimed: "Wow! Ancestor woke up!"

When Gao Wen saw Rebecca's startled state, his first reaction on the spot was to quickly take his hands back from the table—because he still remembered the girl's reaction after he suddenly woke up and startled Rebecca. What is it, the feeling of the "ancestor resting in peace" stick technique at that time is still fresh in my memory...

Then he realized that something was wrong. He looked up at Rebecca, and then at Amber, who was hunching his neck and trying to pretend that he had entered the shadow stealth state: "What are you two doing?"

Amber just wanted to quickly make up a reason to cover up the matter, but Rebecca, who was stubborn and straightforward, spoke first: "Amber said to draw a few circles on your face to see if you will wake up—I think No, because you seem to be in a deep sleep."

"amber!"

Just as Gawain called out his name, the half-elf girl turned into a black light and rushed towards the nearest window, but she failed to escape this time: Gawain had already mastered several emergency escape habits of this guy, and he didn't wait. When she touched the window sill, Gawain stretched out his hand to grab it with ease, and grabbed the guy's ankle and brought her back: "I asked you to watch it for me, and you just watched it? Say, have you ever looked at it before?" ..."

"No, no, absolutely nothing!" Amber abruptly grasped her balance in mid-air in a posture that was so thrilling that it was almost acrobatic, and then hopped on one leg trying to pull her ankle out of Gawain's hand, "I'm definitely This is the first time I have such a bold idea..."

As a result, before she could finish her sentence, Rebecca broke the stage again: "She said she thought about it every time, but she didn't dare to practice it..."

"If you can't speak, don't say it!" Amber stared at Rebecca, "I shouldn't have communicated with you so much! Haven't you ever been beaten because of this broken mouth since you were a child?!"

This time, without waiting for Rebecca's answer, Gawain had already given the answer instead: "You said this to belittle her——I heard Hetty say that the beatings she received since she was a child are worse than the wallet you stole many……"

After saying this, Gawain finally let go of Amber's ankle, causing the half-elf to escape to the side, then he turned his head and looked at Rebecca: "Did you come here just to learn from Amber?" How do you kill yourself?"

Rebecca seemed to realize that there was still business to be done, so she quickly slapped her head: "Ah, that's right! A letter was sent to the territory, and it was a griffin messenger...err, it was a messenger riding a griffin. Sent by courier, he bears the king's seal..."

"A messenger from Saint-Sunil City?" Gawain raised his brows, "And he came on a griffin?"

The Griffin Messenger is not a common "messenger". In this era of severe limitations in communication technology and poor road transportation, the Griffin Messenger that can cross borders within a few days can be said to be the most convenient information that countries can grasp The means of delivery, usually only the king, prince, duke, and a small number of extremely wealthy or special-status nobles and organizations can afford this kind of costly "messenger", and only when delivering urgent or special messages, That's the kind of messenger they use.

So it didn't take long for Gawain to guess what the message from the messenger was.

He nodded: "The messenger should have gone back by now, right?"

"How did you know, Master Ancestor? The messenger left as soon as he delivered the letter—I wanted to ask a few more people to watch the fun, Griffin, I've only seen it a few times..."

Gawain looked helplessly at his N-tier great-granddaughter who had failed all courses on noble conduct, shook his head and said, "Of course he has to leave quickly, because Francis II's griffin messenger is a I'm very busy, in fact, if it wasn't for my great reputation, he might not be willing to let his Griffin messenger fly to this place—where is the letter?"

"I'm holding it," Rebecca immediately took out a sleeve with the pale gold Moen royal mark on it, and one end of the sleeve was still sealed with wax, "I wanted to see it, but Philip Knight said this kind of You can't peek at the letter, so I have to hand it to you..."

Seeing the resentful look on Rebecca's face, Gawain could guess how hard the girl had put in not to peek. He smiled and took the sleeve, and then in front of Amber and Rui Becca's face tore it apart.

Inside the sleeve is a scroll made of delicate parchment, and a ribbon made of light gold and lavender silk thread is wrapped around the scroll—obviously, this thing is not just a simple letter.

It is an official document from the royal family.

Gao Wen unfolded the scroll, glanced at it casually, and threw it to Rebecca: "After reading it, put it in the collection room, don't lose it."

Rebecca couldn't wait to read the content on the scroll immediately, and after reading it, she raised her head in a daze: "My lord ancestor, in this way, you are the legal lord of Kant's territory? And the king also took Kant to a large area in the east. The royal family land is also given to you?!"

The content of the scroll was just as Gao Wen guessed, it was a canonization document from the royal family—or in other words, it was a document of "compromise" and "acknowledgment" by the royal family to the fact that Gao Wen had now ruled Kant.

When Amber heard that it was something like this, she couldn't help leaning towards it immediately: "Let me see, let me see, this is the first time I've seen a real canonized document... Wow! The buckle of this strap is actually It's gold!?"

"Do you need to be so surprised?" Gawain looked at the two girls in front of him with some amusement, "As long as Francis II is not demented, this document will be sent to me sooner or later-Kant is just a Viscounty. As far as my duke title is concerned, this is just a small gift, and there is no need for the king to be stingy. As for the royal land... it is just a small gift."

As he said that, he shook his head slightly: "I just didn't expect it to be sent ahead of time—and it was sent urgently by the Griffin courier. I originally thought that the relevant canonization documents would be sent to Cecil after the beginning of spring, But now it seems... the changes in the situation have given that His Majesty the king a sense of urgency."

"Changes in the situation?" Rebecca blinked in confusion, "You mean the situation between Typhon and Ansu? Does it have anything to do with the canonization document?"

"Of course." Gawain smiled, "The war between Typhon and Ansu is likely to be postponed, then the rulers of the two countries will have to consider restarting diplomatic activities. It is very likely that the king will end the negotiation in person, but the first The Second Dynasty’s control over Ansu was inferior to that of the First Dynasty. Therefore, in order to ensure the stability of the domestic situation in the next negotiation period, Francis II must appease or please the nobles in the country in advance. Whether it is the main war faction or the main peace Pai, he has to contact and ventilate, and I am neither a war faction nor a peace faction, so he must take care of it—because I am an ancestor faction, and His Majesty the King is always worried about me. Will the old ancestor suddenly jump out and criticize him?"

Chapter 0332 The Gulen Family

Whenever Gao Wen starts to talk about these things involving power struggles and noble games, Rebecca and Amber will rarely reach a consensus and form a group of cute circles. In the eyes of these two girls, the intrigue between the king and the nobles The rules of the game are really complicated and esoteric and useless at all. Instead of studying this aspect, it is more interesting to fight with wolves at home, play fireballs/paddle water, fish for fish, steal wine and drink...

But thinking so, the two dare not speak out in front of Gao Wen. Amber must always be worried that Gao Wen will really slap her on the wall with an eggplant, and Rebecca will never forget being hung from the beam by the elders. Horror, after listening to Gao Wen's words at this time, the two of them also thought about it decently, and Rebecca showed a thoughtful look: "So, the king is worried about restarting the diplomatic process in Ansu and Typhon. Are there nobles making trouble?"

"That's about it."

"But why did the nobles make trouble?" Rebecca looked confused, "The war between Ansu and Typhon can be postponed, isn't that a good thing?"

"It's good for the king, it's good for the common people, but what good is it for the nobles who are separated from each other?" Gawain chuckled, "The king's war is just a routine duty for most of the divided nobles. As long as some knights and entourages with their own dry food are sent out to participate in the battle during the war, they have fulfilled their obligations. As for the outcome of the war, does it have anything to do with them? If they win, the knights sent out will plunder a large amount of wealth and meritorious service. If they lose, even if the country is subjugated, they just need to swear allegiance to Emperor Typhon, and their titles and fiefs will not change at all—at least, for many Ansu nobles, this is the rule of the game , They don’t even know that there are other rules of the game in the world.”

For Gao Wen in the previous life, this was an incomprehensible "rule", but Gao Wen in this life had to face up to the fact that the wars of nobles in this era are generally a carnival of grasshoppers and robbers. They may be greedy or barbaric, but they will invariably abide by the rules of the noble game. The wars between them are seldom really fight to the death. In most cases, the wars of the nobles are just to plunder wealth and land. If this goal is achieved, then everyone will immediately stop in a tacit understanding and carry out a set of customary "finishing" procedures——

In war, only a few nobles will die, and the worst end for most people is to be captured. No one is willing to kill noble prisoners, because these prisoners can be exchanged for a large amount of ransom, and these ransoms are completely reasonable and legal—— The most famous example is the battle that broke out between two field earls in the western region in 576 in Ansu. In that war with the acquiescence of the royal family, the earl of Tocquebell was defeated, and even the earl himself was captured. In order to redeem himself The lord of Tocquebell, the leader of Tocquebell, paid twice the weight of the earl himself in gold and nearly [-]% of the land ownership. After the war, the two earls and their descendants and blood relatives all survived safely, and the captured knights (lower nobles) He and the baron viscounts all returned safely after their respective families paid enough ransom.

Except for a few unlucky nobles who died on the battlefield, "only" [-] civilians died.

Do not kill noble captives, do not completely end any "glorious surname", and settle the war with ransom, these are the three principles of noble warfare.

No one will break this rule, because this rule is observed and implemented by all the nobles. It maintains the "glory" of the nobles, and it has also ensured the stability of the country's separation system for the past 700 years.

The nobles called this kind of war "the war of civilized people" and called it "as elegant and dignified as a duel witnessed before the gods." Serious internal divisions and struggles caused him to fall into the quagmire, but now, it has become a means for the nobles to show their nobility and restraint. Even if they are defeated, they can still use this set of rules to maintain their dignity - as long as they swear allegiance to Emperor Typhon in time.

So they don't care about the outcome of the negotiations between the king and Emperor Typhon at all. A portion of the "benefits" are prepaid...

Those nobles would never have thought of the purpose of the Typhon people attacking this country——Typhon, who is in the transition period, is like a gluttonous beast. This hungry beast will care about the safety of its food. No allegiance to yourself?

Gawain glanced at the scroll in Rebecca's hand, and sneered softly: "Francis II recognized my actual rule over the Kant Land, and it was just a favor to give a favor, and he ruled a piece of the royal family on the east side of Kant Land. As a gift, I hope that the Cecil family can keep "quiet" during the negotiation period. After all, although the Cecil family has left the kingdom's power center, I have returned. Under certain circumstances, my call Force might bring him unimaginable trouble..."

"Anyway, whoever gives it for free will not want it," Amber summed up the meaning of the document in the most concise way, then frowned, "But it's too imprecise for the king to send a messenger in a hurry Well...Although I don't understand the rules of your nobles who troublesome people, but after all, this is a deal between the king and the duke, at least there must be no canonization ceremony or something?"

"Sending a document in a low-key manner is the only choice Francis II can make," Gao Wen laughed. "Otherwise, what do you ask him to do? He is an illegitimate son of the royal family 700 years later, to canonize an ancestor 700 years ago First-class founding grand duke? Not to mention, when the two of you face each other at the canonization ceremony, should he bow first or should I bow first? Or should we bow together? Back then I didn’t have to salute when I met Charlie, and Francis II wasn’t afraid of losing his life!”

Amber contemplated the embarrassment of that scene, and suddenly took a breath: "... Hey, it's so troublesome."

"All in all, put this thing away for now," Gawain waved his hand, "I have another more important matter. Rebecca, you know... well, you probably don't know, you go and find Heidi."

"What?" Rebecca listened in a daze, and when she heard that Hetty was going to be called, she was a little nervous, "Can't you tell me, Mr. Ancestor?"

Gao Wen squinted at the girl: "Tell me what? Do you know the aristocratic genealogy in the southern border?"

"...Oh, then I'll go find my aunt!"

Rebecca ran out in a hurry, and not long after, Hetty came to Gawain's study.

This elegant lady not only has outstanding beauty and internal affairs ability, but also is quite intelligent in terms of the rules of the nobles and the king. As soon as she came in, she was the first to speak: "Ancestor, the messenger sent should be the king's Canonize the document?"

"That's right, Kantland and the hills to the east of Kant are now owned by the Cecil family, but that's not important," Gao Wen waved his hand, "I called you here to ask you, is there a person with the surname 'Glenn in the southern border? 'Aristocratic family?"

"Glenn?" Hetty frowned slightly, and nodded after a short thought, "Yes, the Viscount Glenn in the northeast—ah, now the Viscount Glenn is ruling that land."

"Viscountess?" Gawain raised his eyebrows, and couldn't help but think of Rebecca - Rebecca was also a Viscountess, "Did the former Viscount Grant pass the title to his daughter?"

He has already learned from Patty in the spiritual network that the current Glenn family is headed by a mistress, so there is no surprise at the moment, but he just asked a casual question out of curiosity.

"No, the former Viscount Glenn is the husband of the current Viscount," Hetty shook her head, "The former Viscount died suddenly and unexpectedly a few years ago, and according to the will he made before his death, the title was passed on to his widow , Roperney Grant."

Ansu's inheritance law is relatively loose, and it is not very rare for a husband and wife to inherit or transition titles. In fact, many nobles rely on shrewd marriage calculations to continuously expand their family's power--if you don't want to easily In the case of provoking noble wars, marriage is also one of the important means for the nobles to seek benefits and land.

"Ancestor, why did you suddenly inquire about the Glenn family?" Hetty couldn't help asking because she was curious about Gao Wen's sudden mention of an aristocratic surname that he didn't have much communication with.

Gao Wen pondered for a while, and said bluntly: "I suspect that this family is related to the Eternal Sleeper."

"The Eternal Sleeper?!" Hetty was taken aback. She didn't question the reliability of the news, and she didn't even ask how Gawain got the news. With great trust in her ancestors, she directly asked about the threat. degree, "Is it the same situation as Kant collar?"

"I'm not sure yet, but at least one of their family members is deeply involved with the Eternal Sleeper," Gao Wen said with a serious expression. "This Gulen family... has there been any abnormal changes in recent years? For example, as suddenly as Kant's land." There’s extra output, or a sudden boom in something.”

"...Not at all, in fact the situation is even completely opposite," Hetty shook her head after thinking for a while, "The Glenn family was originally prosperous, and the young former Viscount Glenn was a very accomplished person, but after a magical In the experimental accident, Viscount Glenn died unexpectedly, and the Glenn family and the territory they ruled quickly declined... Although Viscount Luo Penny has controlled the situation in the past two years, put the territory on the right track and gradually developed, but everything There is no trace of cultists participating in the secret..."

Speaking of this, Hetty added another sentence: "Of course, the Eternal Sleeper acts in a treacherous way, and everything is uncertain."

"Did you accidentally die in a magic experiment accident..." Gao Wen frowned slowly, "I'm going to go over and see the situation."

"You want to go there in person?" Hetty frowned slightly. "It seems inappropriate for a duke to visit lower nobles in person..."

"The rules were all set by us back then—and anyway, I visited Kant collar last time, and it's the same for any number of Gulen collars." Gao Wen waved his hand, "I'd better go and see for myself, otherwise I won't be at ease. "

"Okay, I'll make arrangements," Hetty lowered her head, "It just so happens that Gelenland is to the east of Kantland, and after we acquired the new fief east of Kantland, Cecil Land has already made contact with Glenland. ...as new neighbors, we're not short of a reason to visit."

Chapter 0333 In the last few days of this winter

A gust of cold wind blew the nearby flags and brought a rattling sound. Ropeni Grant raised her head and quietly watched the ancient castle in the distance.

The 200-year-old Cracked Rock Castle sits quietly on the top of the hill. The steep cliff on the side of the castle stands like a blade on the horizon. The gradually sinking sunset shines on the jagged rocks and the high walls of the castle. A layer of light golden brilliance plated on those lines.

It was a rocky mountain. The side of the mountain was steep and sinister. The Cracked Rock Fortress was located on the top of the cliff, as if crouching on the edge of a blade. The outer walls of the ancient castle had long been mottled, and signs of cracking could be seen in many places , when the setting sun shines on the castle from just the right angle, part of its outer wall will even reveal the opposite light, showing bright crack lines like leaf veins on the city wall.

People often worry that when the ancient castle will collapse in the setting sun, countless tons of heavy boulders will roll down from the top of the cliff, and in an earth-shattering disaster, the most glorious place on this land will be destroyed. His surname has since been buried.

But Luo Penny remembered what her husband said, and remembered the ancient agreement between this castle and the spirit of the earth element. It was reached by the ancestors of the family and the allies of the earth element when the Gulen family was only a marginal vassal of the Cecil family. A contract: as long as the surname "Glenn" still rules this land, then Rockbreaker Castle will never collapse naturally...

But the cracks in this fortress have really increased over the years...

"Mistress," the butler's voice interrupted Luo Peini's thoughts. The steady and reliable middle-aged man handed a wooden box to the Viscount, "This is the soil sample you want."

Luo Peini looked at the deep-colored soil in the wooden box, stretched out her fingers to grab a little bit and rubbed it lightly, and then a little magical brilliance appeared between her fingers, and the soil turned into blue smoke that drifted with the wind in the magical brilliance .

"The potion is working." Luo Penny's always gloomy expression seemed to relax a little, she nodded slightly to the housekeeper, "Half of the farms on the territory need this druid potion to restore the balance of the land, spring It must be completed before. You go to negotiate with those Cecil pharmacy merchants and see what price they will offer."

"Yes," the butler lowered his head, and then he couldn't help but add another sentence, "Mistress, you don't have to leave the castle, and you don't have to come to this dirty countryside. There are some rude and ignorant farmers here. likely to offend you."

"You have said enough similar things," Luo Peini glanced at the housekeeper lightly, "Just do your own thing."

The butler hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to express any further opinions.

"Duke Gawain Cecil will visit in five days," Luo Peini broke the silence after a few seconds, "Let's start preparing when we go back."

"The Duke is going to visit?" The butler was startled immediately, but after seeing the calm and indifferent expression on the hostess's face, he immediately swallowed all the questions and nonsense, "I see, I I will arrange the most appropriate reception. But I don't know why the Duke is here, do I need to arrange anything else?"

"It's just an ordinary meeting," Luo Penny said lightly, "The Kant area has finally become the legal fiefdom of the Cecil family."

"Kant...I see."

a few days later.

A two-horse carriage with the emblem of the Cecil family was driving on the road east of Kantland. In front of the carriage was the place where the Gülen family had ruled for generations.

Except for the driver driving the carriage and the three soldiers in the back half of the carriage, there were only two people in the carriage, Gawain and Amber.

"It's really better than the last time I went to Kantland." Amber sat opposite Gao Wen and couldn't help muttering, "I said, you are more or less a duke, even if you want to visit someone who is lower than yourself." The nobleman, you should pay more attention to your pomp, at least two more cars and a few followers..."

Gawain looked at the half-elf girl on the opposite side amusedly. He knew what was going on in this guy's stomach. Amber didn't care whether he was good enough or not. I have never enjoyed the treatment of going out with a caravan, with [-] entourages before and after, walking with drums to clear the way, and blowing the horn when entering the city, so it is a bit unbalanced. This guy's yearning for a better life can be said to be as simple and straightforward as possible. ——There is no spiritual pursuit at all.

If I have to say it, her only spiritual pursuit is probably who can organize a cheating tournament in her lifetime, and then she will go up and come back with a championship...

"You're still laughing!" Seeing Gao Wen's half-smile expression, Amber immediately gave him a displeased look, "I saw an earl go out and return seven or eight carriages~"

"The carriage...will be eliminated sooner or later," Gao Wen shook his head with a smile, "I will let you ride in something more exciting than a carriage."

"Something more exciting than a carriage?" Amber suddenly became curious, "What new thing have you come up with?"

"Not yet, it's just an idea at the moment, but the timing and technical conditions are immature." Gao Wen waved his hand, "Compared to this, let's continue to talk about the Glenn family. Except when Viscount Glenn died unexpectedly a few years ago." In addition to the few suspicious points, what else have you investigated?"

"Then we have to start from an earlier time. Before the accidental death of the former Viscount Glenn, he had implemented a series of almost unimaginable 'new laws' in his territory. At that time, not only his territory, but even surrounding territories The nobles have all been affected to a certain extent..."

"New law?" Gao Wen frowned, "Tell me about this part carefully."

"Oh, then let's start with his liberation of serfs and slaves throughout the territory..."

……

When Duke Cecil's carriage drove towards Glenn, a messenger wearing a red and blue burqa and holding a passing flag was riding a fast horse on the avenue in the center of Saint-Sunil City.

The flag is the king's token, and no one dared to block the messenger holding the token, and all the passers-by on the road ran away from the galloping horse in panic and fear. The people of the capital, who had long been accustomed to a peaceful life, had their peace of life broken on this day. , but at this moment, they still don't know what will happen next—they just hid by the roadside, looking at the direction of the courier's journey with surprise and curiosity, guessing what kind of message this galloping man was carrying. news.

The messenger ran across the King's Avenue and the arc-shaped square in front of the Silver Fort, then got off his horse in front of the castle, raised the flag all the way and went straight to where the king was.

Just a few minutes later, a piece of information from the western part of the Holy Spirit Plain was sent to Francis II.

This urgent information made Francis II quite unhappy, because today is a rare day when Veronica left the cathedral and came to Silver Castle to reunite with him. For the father who is a king and the daughter of a saint For me, this is a very special and precious time, but this good time has been disturbed.

Veronica looked at the information that had just been sent, and she showed a reassuring gentle smile, and said softly, "Father, government affairs are important."

"I know," Francis II sighed and picked up the information on the table, "but I don't want to receive any news of 'unexpected situations' at this time... Those greedy nobles will never be fed enough, they don't even You don't think about the kingdom, you just make trouble for me."

Veronica smiled lightly: "Maybe this isn't news about nobles?"

Francis II forced a smile and opened the envelope of the information.

Over the next half minute, the smile on his face faded.