Sword of Dawn

Page 135

"Nothing is inherently noble. Nobility is only whitewashed by later generations," Gao Wen continued. "I don't know the origins of those people at the beginning of the founding of the country? A group of descendants of apprentices, blacksmiths, and carpenters, why 700 years old?" After a few years, they will become naturally noble? To put it bluntly, no one beats them, and all of them are swollen out of shape..."

No one can refute what the ancestors said 700 years ago, so the people in the room can only listen carefully, but there is still someone who can interject at the scene, that is Soldering, the elf ranger who also has a long history Looking at Gao Wen with a smile, he waited for the other party to finish speaking before opening his mouth unhurriedly: "Then, my old friend, if one day you beat them all up, what kind of new order do you want to establish after that?" You know, even the ancient sage king in the legend of Gondor, the dynasty he established will decay and collapse one day. Human beings are a short-lived, forgetful and changeable race. You can guarantee that the new order you establish will always be the same Do you wish?"

Speaking of this step, some things have almost been clarified, and the room suddenly fell silent.

"Of course not." Facing Soldering's question, Gawain's answer was simple and straightforward. His first two words startled people, but then he laughed, "So what I established is not The order of one city and one country is not the order of one dynasty. What I have established is the order of civilization as a whole. It is an order in which all nobles are no longer born noble and all rulers cannot be unscrupulous. Whether the emperor sits on the throne, or a king, or whatever, he must always be trembling, must always be cautious, because there is always a force that can pull him off the throne after he has made a mistake."

It is enough to say that here, there are many things that do not need to be explained too clearly.

A needle could be heard in the room for a while, and Amber couldn't help touching her neck, and looked at Gao Wen seriously: "To be honest, you won't kill me after this, will you?"

Gao Wen didn't answer, he just placed his hands on the top of Amber's head and smiled.

"You can always surprise people 700 years ago, and you will not be bad after 700 years," Soldering stood up from the chair. The elf ranger came to Gawain, and suddenly knelt down on one knee, solemnly The human knight performed the salute when facing the lord, "As I promised before I set off—Solderin Frostleaf, I would like to return to your command."

Gao Wen also solemnly returned the gift, and helped this old friend (at least the old friend of his body, the old friend in the inherited memory): "You are welcome. But now you still need to rest first , let’s talk about recovering from the injury.”

Pittman laughed from the side: "Lord, don't worry, with my ointment and healing spells, he can fully recover in a few days."

Gawain took a deep look at the old druid. He was sure that this was the first time the other party said the word "Lord" in such a formal tone.

He nodded: "Then the wounded will be handed over to you."

People left one by one, and soon, only Gao Wen and Amber were left in the study.

"Didn't you just mutter that I'm going to kill you to silence you? Why are you staying so shameless at this time?" Gawain looked at the half-elf lady who stayed in the study with a smile, deliberately teasing her.

Amber didn't respond to Gao Wen's teasing for the first time, she just looked at him seriously, and it took a long time to break the silence: "I was thinking, how serious are you when you talk big."

"It's all serious," Gawain said calmly, but then nodded, "But at this moment, calm down and think about it carefully, there's nothing wrong with you calling me a lie—after all, Cecil is leading the It’s just that we’ve just gained a firm foothold, and it’s really too early to dare to plan the situation of the kingdom at this moment.”

Amber gave Gao Wen a white look: "It's not in your nature to be so modest—and if others don't know, how can I not know? Cecil collar is indeed just gaining a foothold, but those hidden clues and pawns you laid out... It's not just in Cecil's collar."

Speaking of which, she paused, and looked at Gao Wen with her arms folded: "Until today, I finally know the reasons for your many strange behaviors, you... Sure enough, you didn't intend to be safe from the beginning. To be a pioneering noble."

"Actually, I really plan to build in peace and stability," Gao Wen spread his hands, "If possible, I don't intend to mix with the contemporary Ansu aristocratic system, but then again...they are stupid and rich , why should I not do it?"

"I believe you are a ghost!"

Gao Wen: "..."

At the same time, it was located in the hidden underground palace near the border of Ansu and Typhon.

In a side hall covered by vines and roots, a mutated plant suddenly bulged, and the bud-like structure at the top of the plant rapidly swelled, matured, and cracked. A woman wearing a priest's robe and long dark green hair emerged from the crack came out of the pods that opened.

Bertila's face was gloomy and pale, she looked down at her hands and arms, and confirmed that all injuries had healed, and then she took a step forward, dragging those daunting roots and vines towards the place that seemed to be waiting for her. The black-robed figure at the entrance of the hall.

"Master Heaton," Bertila looked at the man in black in front of him, his tone was quite cold, "I didn't expect that you just came out of the abyss of flesh and blood, and the first thing you did was to greet me, which is really surprising .”

"It's even more surprising that Dean Bertila, who almost never makes mistakes, has such a embarrassed side," said Dean Heaton with a calm and resolute face and a thin figure, "But I'm not here to greet you Yes, I just came to tell you that during the days you were away, the Grand Priest woke up, and he told you to go see him as soon as you came back."

"The Grand Priest is awake?" Bertila frowned slightly, then nodded coldly, "Okay, I see."

Chapter 0325

The underground palace, the road leading to the deepest layer.

The endless steps seem to lead to the abyss of hell. The ancient and deep black stone walls seem to seal the original malice of this world. Row after row of magic spar lamps are inlaid on both sides of this sloping staircase, but the bright The light from the magic crystal seems to be powerless against the darkness entrenched in this passage. The light from the magic crystal can only illuminate a small area on the walls and steps. Where the light cannot reach, there will always be daunting darkness.

A sound of vines and roots rubbing against each other resounded between the stairs and the corridor, and Bertila walked unhurriedly in this passage leading to the abyss of flesh and blood, and faintly mad ravings echoed in her mind, Her figure moved forward in the powerless brilliance of the magic spar, while the darkness kept closing behind her.

The stairs leading to the deepest part of the palace are divided into several layers. Basically, every time you pass a long slope, there will be a relatively gentle corridor. These relatively gentle corridors seem to provide some kind of buffer for the continuously descending stairs. , can allow people walking on the ramp to rest for a while, and reduce the psychological pressure that is enough to make people crazy-but in fact, Bertila knows very well that the best way to pass this ladder safely is not to stay anywhere.

There are two stone doors in each gentle corridor, and every time you pass through such a "pair" of stone doors, the walker will be affected by a deeper layer, and the crazy ravings and the fear of being swallowed by darkness will become more and more serious. Strong, every minute you stay on this road means that you are one step closer to madness and death.

An extraordinarily heavy and ancient stone door appeared in front of Beltera. The surface of this stone door depicted twisted flesh, plants, and a mysterious starry sky that did not exist in this era: this was the last barrier leading to the "secret chamber".

In front of the stone gate, two tall figures bent slightly, silently saluting Bertila.

Those were two fearsome creatures—although human characteristics still remained on them, they couldn't really be described as "human".They have overgrown, swollen and deformed heads, eyes and ears that have been severely degenerated and turned into sinuous tentacles, and their limbs are thicker than humans, and they are wrapped in layers of bandages to prevent those out of control The flesh and blood are separated from the body - they are the "keepers" of the underground palace.

These guardians cannot speak, see, or hear, and even the way of thinking and perception has mutated into an inhuman state.

Before becoming watchmen, they were the most fanatical and loyal members of the Doom Society. They paid an unimaginable price, and even mutated into this chilling state, in order to be able to guard the deepest part of this underground palace for a long time. The secret of the place - because ordinary human guards can't last long in this passage.

Thinking of the Grand Priest who has been in the "chamber" since 700 years ago, even Bertila couldn't help but feel a slight tremor. She nodded to the guards, and then walked forward with a serious face go.

The heavy and ancient stone gate built by someone was automatically opened in front of Bertila, and a small hall with three forks appeared in front of her.

The fork in the middle leads to the real "Abyss of Flesh and Flesh", the left leads to the "Sacrifice Field", and the right is the secret room where the Grand Master lives.

Bertila walked forward, and the moment she stepped through the gate, countless crazy babbles suddenly intensified, echoing in her mind as if trying to devour people, the female teacher couldn't help but frowned, and then In the entanglement of crazy ravings, he walked to the secret room of the Grand Priest.

The "keeper" standing in front of the secret room still saluted Bertila silently, and helped open the door of the secret room.

The moment she walked into the secret room, all the crazy babblings disappeared instantly, and the mental pressure of confusion that was always pressing on her body was gone. Bertila heaved a sigh of relief. She knew that this was the power of the great teacher .

The secret room is not big, except for some stone tables, chairs and furniture, there is no redundant decoration. The awe-inspiring Grand Priest is located in the center of the secret room. He is sitting behind the stone desk, flipping through the Looking at a thick and ancient book.

Bertila couldn't help but glanced at the book, a powerful spiritual attraction immediately captured her tightly, but before she was completely controlled by the "Ultimate Book" that could never be read, she forcibly shifted away. He opened his eyes and bowed to the Grand Priest wearing a black robe behind the desk with a blurry face: "The Grand Priest."

The Grand Priest's voice came from under the hood, mixed with a hoarse voice: "I heard that your actions were exposed and you were injured?"

"...Yes," Bertila hesitated for less than a second, but still nodded and confessed, "I was careless."

"It's okay, it's just a trivial matter," the Grand Priest said lightly, as if he really didn't care about this failure, "We won't have to cover up soon, those elves won't cause much trouble. Compared with this, I order you How is the investigation going?"

"The Eternal Sleepers refer to Gawain as an 'extraterrestrial wanderer'. They seem to have obtained some information, and based on this, they judge that Gawain Cecil's resurrection is actually an illusion. They believe that there is a foreign 'evil spirit' or 'The Nameless' took up that shell."

"Wanderers outside the Territory..." the Grand Priest muttered to himself, and then seemingly casually brushed his hand over the "Ultimate Book", and the latter immediately made a buzzing sound, and the pages of the book automatically and quickly Flip up and stay on a page.

The Grand Priest glanced at the page and shook his head slightly: "There is no information about wanderers outside the territory in the Ultimate Book."

Bertila said cautiously: "So... this information is false?"

"It may also be beyond the comprehension of mortals and involve the secrets of the gods," the Grand Priest closed the Ultimate Book and said indifferently, "It is impossible for Gawain Cecil to be resurrected, you know that."

"Yes," Bertila lowered his head slightly, "Then what action will we take against Gawain Cecil?"

The Grand Priest opened the Ultimate Book again, and flicked his hand over the pages. This time, the pages of the Ultimate Book flipped at a crazier speed and range, and stopped on a certain page after a few seconds. .

"The answer to the Ultimate Book has not changed," the Grand Master said indifferently, "No contact, no interference, keep your distance."

"Yes."

The Grand Priest nodded slightly, and his deep voice came from under the hood: "Have our arrangements in Ansu and Typhon been activated?"

"At your command, war will come in a false peace."

The Grand Priest was silent for a long time, before letting out a slight sigh: "...This is the price that mortals must pay to break free from their fate."

"There is one thing that is very concerning, Grand Master," Bertila said suddenly, "The recent activities of the Church of the Holy Light are becoming more and more extreme. In the name of fighting heresy, they have begun to suppress other sects in various places and spread Absorb shallow believers and new believers on a large scale, and their size has doubled in a short period of time..."

"Shallow believers... do you want to rely on numbers..." the Grand Priest said to himself, and finally shook his head, "Going to die... If they continue to develop, they will be swallowed by the holy light of their belief sooner or later , all their efforts at this moment are nothing but weaving nooses for themselves."

"But if they really succeed, the God of Holy Light may become an existence that cannot be contended with..."

"Other sects will not sit still. The stronger the power of the Holy Light, the stronger the resistance it will have to face," the Grand Priest shook his head slightly. "Anyway, now is not the time for us to intervene."

"Yes."

A few ten minutes later, Bertila left the bottom floor of the underground palace, walked through the dark and terrifying deep corridors filled with crazy ravings, and left all the auditory and hallucinations behind, the female teacher exhaled slightly.

Looking at the brightly lit corridors of the underground palace in front of her, she whispered to herself: "The 'Wanderer outside the Territory' who can't even give the answer to the Ultimate Book..."

In Saint-Sunil City, in front of Cecil's mansion at No. [-] Crown Street, there was an endless stream of visitors.

Since the Cecil family fell to the bottom overnight, this is the second time this mansion has become so lively in a whole century.

The last time was when Duke Gawain Cecil returned to the capital.

The multiple recruitment messages sent by Santis have indeed had an effect. Even if people still have doubts about the Dark Mountains, many people will take a look at the situation to find out-but most of the people who responded to the recruitment only Those who can meet and report with the contacts left by Santis in the Artisans Association and Scholars Association are eligible to come to No. [-] Crown Street, at least they must be members of the Mage Association with the official extraordinary level, or have big names Letters of recommendation will do.

But even with such a "filter", No. [-] Crown Street received dozens of visiting guests during the day.

It makes sense that there are so many responders - when Gao Wen released the recruitment information for the first time in the capital half a year ago, the development of the southern border was just a piece of paper. Apart from a development plan, people could not see any guarantees and prospects , naturally there are no responders, but now it has been more than half a year, and the pioneering team in the southern border has at least firmly established its foothold. This is equivalent to breaking most of the bad rumors about the dark mountains. Santis At this time, the member of the Mage Association took the Duke's order and led the glamorous team to conduct a formal public recruitment in the capital. The situation will naturally be different.

At least, this time, the scholars, mages, and craftsmen in the capital can see some practical guarantees.

Those who have achieved something and are not worried about survival may not be shaken, but among those who are already down and just trying to survive, there will inevitably be those who are tempted.

Among all the people who responded to the recruitment, the largest number were the rune craftsmen and mechanism masters registered in the Craftsman Association, followed by the down-and-out scholars and clerks registered in the Scholars Association. The number of mages was the least, and a considerable part of them just kept Wait and see mentality.

"The Witch" Jibri stood in the living room on the first floor of the mansion, receiving the visitors wearing mage robes or short robes with a smile on her face, and quietly observing the subtle changes in everyone's expressions.

Chapter 0326 Secret Gathering

Standing in the mansion belonging to the duke, the young mage Cohen listened to the surrounding spellcasters discussing in low voices about the mysterious pioneering territory in the southern border.

Half the people here didn't take that offer seriously, and Cohen knew that.

Behind them are small families that are gradually declining. They are new nobles who are preparing to hit a higher status. They are wealthy businessmen who are trying to build a good relationship with the nobles. The real purpose of these people is not to go to the southern border to open up the territory As a builder, I hope to take this opportunity to establish a certain relationship with the Cecil family—it is true that the Cecil family has fallen, but the resurrected founding duke has brought a glimmer of hope to this declining family. News about the southern frontier came from time to time. The Cecil family did not perish in that barren land, but was gradually gaining a foothold. This made some people with ulterior motives active.

Almost everyone agrees with the fact that even if the founding duke really went to the border to start a pioneer, it would be a matter of time before the Cecil family returned to the kingdom's political stage, whether it was for the orthodox symbol of the royal family itself or for the stability of the aristocratic system. The king must allow the Cecil family to become a pillar of the royal family again - the king can be afraid of Gawain Cecil himself, but he must face up to the surname "Cecil" that has regained the protection of his ancestors.

That being the case, the Cecil family, which is still far away at the border, naturally has investment value.

But in any case, the surname "Cecile" is still sensitive, and their investment value is still not clear enough, so many big families are still waiting and thinking carefully, so some small ones, as vassals of big families His small family was pushed out, and took advantage of this opportunity of the duke's recruitment of extraordinary people to come and establish a link so as to lay the foundation for future investment.

Besides these people with special purposes, the minds of other people at the scene were not pure. The only thing that was certain was that few people at the scene really came here to respond to the Duke's call.

If there is no family mission, there is no need for a professional who has acquired extraordinary power to go to the barren land on the border to do any development and construction. Even if the duke pays him a lot, what can he gain in that piece of land with nothing?Extraordinary people value the promotion prospects in the extraordinary field the most, followed by the development prospects in the upper class, and money is the third thing for them.

And as for whether you can take this opportunity to make friends with the Cecil family... Spellcasters without family background will not count on this. This is a world that pays attention to bloodlines and family inheritance. What value could it be to the duke?

Cohen knew that he was the same. Although he had some personal friendship with Santis, this time he decided to check the situation after receiving Santis's personal letter, but in fact he did not plan to really respond to the Duke's recruitment , his purpose of coming here is the same as other young and downcast spellcasters, he just took a fancy to the "connection" opportunities brought by this place - those who want to invest in the Cecil family, they themselves are just the end of the noble system , but it is still a rare contact for a low-level mage like Cohen with a family of ordinary talent and ordinary talent. Now two-fifths of the people in the hall come here to make friends with these people.

There were only two kinds of people here: the first kind who wanted to flirt with the Cecils, and the second kind, like Cohn, who wanted to flirt with the first.

A young man with curly brown hair, a hooked nose, and fine silk clothes walked over. Cohen recognized that he was a collateral member of the Straun family, so he immediately stood up with a smile, and raised his glass Greeted him and tried to have a few words.

The two sides had little friendship, and the conversation did not last long, but Cohen believed that he had left a little impression on the other party. After the young master of the Straun family left, the young mage put away the stiff smile on his face and gently Exhaling, put down the wine glass and left the seat.

The attendants in red vests immediately stepped forward to ask him if he needed help—these attendants were all hired and dispatched by the royal family. After the resurrection of Duke Gawain Cecil, the royal family continued to pay for the duke's trip to the south as a show of favor. There was no one to help take care of the property — Cohen waved his hand, indicating that he was just feeling tight in his chest and wanted to go out for a walk.

He left the brightly lit living room and came outside where the cold wind was blowing. The huge sun had gradually sunk, and the sky was dimming little by little.

Cohen sneezed, rubbed his nose, turned to drink another glass of his precious Carnaux, and headed home.

But at this moment, he saw the dark-skinned young woman named Jibri in a long skirt walking towards him.

Santis was very lucky to have such a beautiful young lady by his side.

Cohen thought a little enviously, then nodded slightly to the female mage apprentice in front of him: "Miss Jibri."

He wanted to pay tribute to the Duke's envoy, but he also had to maintain the reserve of being an official transcendent, after all, the other party was just a sorcerer's apprentice.

Jibri lightly tapped her forehead with her fingers, returned a standard mage salute, and asked with a smile, "Mr. Cohen Burnett, is that so?"

"That's right, it's me, what's the matter?"

"You qualify, Mr. Santis asked me to deliver this to you."

The young female mage apprentice handed a folded letter and an ordinary-looking brooch to Cohen, who couldn't help frowning slightly after receiving the letter, and said hesitantly, "But... I didn't Get ready to..."

"This is not a registration letter for going to the southern border, but just an invitation to the next party," Jibril said with a smile, "Please don't miss this opportunity—wearing the brooch is proof of your participation in the party."

Cohen wanted to ask something else, but Jibri just shook her head with a mysterious smile, turned and walked away. Cohen had no choice but to lower his head and open the folded letter, looking curiously.

There is only one sentence written on it: After the first bell rings tonight, I am still here.

But behind this sentence, there is another small symbol, a symbol with lightning and eyes.

"Magician secret meeting? What is Santis doing... Is he planning to use this opportunity to work for the Duke to hold his own private party? He also plans to return to the circle of mages in the capital?"

Cohen frowned and muttered curiously, but still put the letter away seriously.

No matter what Santis wants to do, it is still necessary to attend a similar secret meeting of magicians. The communication between spellcasters is a good opportunity to improve their strength and gain knowledge, but it is not cheap to organize a decent gathering. Since this This is the first time someone has come forward to organize, and they can continue to taste delicious food and wine in the Duke's mansion. Cohen believes that most people will not miss this opportunity.

He glanced at the sky outside and saw that the sun had almost completely sunk below the horizon: the first bell was not far away.

When he returned to the living room, he saw that many people had got up and left, but there were still some people sitting where they were. Cohen glanced around and saw that someone in the corner had a brooch pinned to his clothes.

Sure enough, it's not just me...

Reassured, Cohen put the brooch on, too.

After another ten minutes, a high-ranking attendant appeared, saying that the party was over and all the guests had been registered, and the visitors were invited to leave at will.

So a few more people got up and left here, but Cohen saw that there were still people sitting still—they all had brooches on their bodies.

A waiter in a red vest and a maid in a black and white maid skirt entered the hall and began to clear up the plates and wine glasses left by the guests. Cohen sat back on his seat a little nervously, and a waiter walked past him. His eyes obviously stayed on the brooch of his jacket, and then the waiter nodded in salute, and instead of letting him leave, he brought a glass of sour herbal water to soothe his mind.

Cohen was completely relieved.