Chapter 264 117. Arrival
Desolate, dark, and hopeless.
The devastated land extending to the horizon is a dilapidated scene after the ratmen ravaged the land.
They eat almost anything, animals, insects, trees, weeds, feces, humans... Their feces and shed hair are natural breeding grounds for plague.
There have been frequent coughs on the ship in the past few days, and crew members have been infected with the disease from time to time. Fortunately, there are druids to help eliminate the disease.
After sailing for about ten days, the New Initial returned to the vicinity of the Obiris Strait. The promontory that once resisted the rat-men disappeared, leaving only a deep pit filled with sea water.
Unexpectedly, some rat men were wandering on the beach and have not left yet.
"Fighters! Revenge with me!"
Urmit raised his battle ax and roared, jumped from the ship after the New Initial approached the shore, and lay down with the less brave The men who fell into the shallows on the rope rushed towards the rat man.
They are just a group of rat men lost here. There are many such rat men, scattered wherever the clan passes.
The bear-like count's return to his homeland will not go smoothly...
Looking at a group of humans chasing the scurrying rat-men like savages, Francois asked the crew to load heavy weapons. The horse put down the small wooden boat.
The portal opened, and the busy crew began to transport supplies.
Some druids turned into birds and scattered to fly to the land.
The food and tools are enough for them to use until autumn and next year, and the cement is enough for them to rebuild a castle or build a short city wall the size of a town.
Then in the fall, the New Initial or other sailing ships will arrive again carrying food - making the rat people realize that "these green wheat fields will bear heavy wheat is more difficult than letting the rat people learn Common Language", plus the land is They polluted, and for the next few years, no more food could be harvested wherever the Skaven passed.
The way Farias thought of was to find a druid to purify the land, but I am afraid that not even a single person can be found in the wasteland of the Violet Kingdom. So Urmit went to Annan with a box of gold coins, and Annan took the box of gold coins to the druids and asked them to send half of the druids to help.
Ten minutes later, Urmit and his men, covered in rat-man blood, returned to the beach. Only Farias' mage's robe was as clean as new.
"Uh...I won't go over there!"
He and his men soaked themselves and their weapons in sea water to wash away the blood, and shouted this way. After a while, the tree druid approached the shallows. There was no emotion in the furrowed bark face, and only the deep voice could feel the sullenness and sadness: "The dead souls of the forest are mourning..."
"Druid, uh... Your Excellency, I don't understand this, just tell us what we should do!"
"We will purify your camp first, but the pollution is too far away. We can't purify this place..."
"Do you need money? It doesn't matter, I have plenty!"
Ulmit is rich, and the tree man druid declined: "Annan gives it. Our 500 gold coins have not been used yet..."
This sentence caused Ulmit to exclaim: "He gave all 500 gold coins to you?"
Francois looked here from a distance and crossed his arms. What made him willing to work for Annan was precisely because of this ideal that no one else had.
It’s just that this good character was obtained with Ingrid’s eyes.
The last box of food was carried to the beach. "I wish you good luck." Francois said.
Without heavy-duty horses to distribute to them, these people who lost their country could only rely on themselves. Hopefully, when the new Init comes back in a few months, we'll see a thriving town instead of a ruin.
The new initial number turned around and returned. They will not go back yet, but will catch up with the Macken Rat Man and observe the progress of the rat tide on the sea.
...
Dade and the druids who stayed in Xingyue Bay eliminated the plague for the porters and continued to return to the north of the Glacier River to plant forests.
Back at the Lord's Mansion, in the evening, Annan learned the news about the royal capital from Olmedo: "...It is said that the nobles are still arguing about who will fight." "Old rules?"
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“Yeah.”
Old rules means old news.
In view of the distance between the Royal Capital and Breeze City, the "new news" they got was actually news from more than 20 days ago. The nobles were "incredibly quarrelsome" that day - if they wanted to get real-time news, they would have to Waiting for the returning New Initial to catch up with the Rat Man.
“But the rat men arrived in Louis City twenty days ago, right at the border of the kingdom, and they still want to escape?”
“It’s actually different from what you think. They They are fighting over who will fight.”
Annan subconsciously sensed that something was wrong. The people in the North were fierce, but he did not think that the nobles in the royal capital who were good at fighting within themselves and outsiders fighting against each other would have this kind of prejudice. The wanted order came from a few days ago.
"Don't they know that the incoming rat clan is a clan of rat men?"
Olmedo muttered: "I'm afraid they know, but they arrogantly think that those rat men are easy to deal with."
>"...I hope they won't be so stupid."
The next day, Annan and Olmedo learned the news "in advance" half a month ago: the Holy Grail Knights led a team to the southern border of the kingdom to resist the rats. disaster.
Annan and the others can finally relax a little. The Kingdom of Rekaner is not a small Middle-earth country like the Violet Kingdom, which is neither south nor north, nor attacked by demons nor invaded by ratmen. The Demon of the North consumes the strength of all the northern countries, but makes their soldiers brave and good at fighting.
As long as the Ruikaner Kingdom normally resists the rat plague, other countries will provide support from other directions, and maybe the thirteen rat clans can be kept in the North.
Just after closing the portal, Ingrid knocked on the study door and said that a girl who came with the caravan claimed to be from the royal capital.
"She is still a mage apprentice."
Then she is not here to arrest Annan.
Just in case, Annan first called Dela and then asked Ingrid to bring the girl. She was a girl with exquisite appearance. As soon as she saw Annan, she shouted in surprise: "Jack! You Really the King of the North!”
"The Fall of the Mage Tower" has become popular in the royal capital?
"Hello, my assistant said you were looking for me?"
Annan motioned the girl to sit in the wooden chair. As soon as the girl sitting down holding the bundle, her head hung down and she remained motionless. .
"What's wrong with her?"
"...She fell asleep." Feeling that her breathing had become weak, Dara said, "There is something strange about this girl..."
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"Is she an enemy?"
"Probably not."
Annan asked Dela to carry the girl to the guest room to rest, but Dela refused and said: "She has many protective spells on her body. It may trigger a spell.”
It seems that her origin is not simple.
Annan had no choice but to cover her with a blanket and let the maid Abby watch her. When she woke up, she would call him and walk out of the study with Della.
Annan, who had nothing to do, remembered the broken magic mirror and dug out the magic mirror from the drawer. I couldn't think of what to ask for the moment, so I said casually:
"Magic Mirror, Magic Mirror, where is Liliana Lore now?"
(End of this chapter)