Chapter 307: The Flame Witch, the King of Trolls, and the Duke’s Plan
The snowflakes are falling, and the candlelight flowing from Sword Winter Castle adds a touch of warmth to the snowy night.
It is already December, and the cold wind in Chenshuang Ridge is biting, but today is different from the past. The source of the cold wave in the Jueling Mountains has been eliminated, and both commoners and nobles can enjoy the tranquility of the snowy night.
The lord made the Duke a Duke. The news was sent back to the territory by messengers as early as two months ago. For a time, the population that moved into the territory surged.
In this era of rampant monsters, it is always safer to move into a territory under the protection of a duke than to be in the countryside and mountains.
The steward, Drake, under the instruction of Lord Yeats, conducted a census in the territory. From the situation where there were less than 1,000 people a year ago, the population has grown explosively.
Population statistics are expensive.
However, the huge profits brought by the monopoly of whiskey and glass manufacturing, as well as the prosperity of animal husbandry and wool textile industry, have made Chenshuangling's finances very comfortable.
Currently, the Chancellor of Finance is the Oriole of the Witches. This witch with photographic memory and speed reading ability was one of the witches Yeats rescued at Sternberg. She showed outstanding management skills that even Drake was ashamed of.
The other two members of the Witch Club, Delphinium, are responsible for the internal affairs of Sword Winter Castle, and Ziying, who has the ability to control plants, serves as the agricultural officer of Morning Frost Ridge together with Little Red Riding Hood Reggie Leif.
It is worth mentioning that a month ago, another witch came to seek refuge with Circe's letter. Like the three members of the witch guild, she also had great abilities.
The witch's name is Red Furnace. She is a red-haired and freckled girl who is extremely fragile, but possesses the power of blood to control flames. She once followed her father, a blacksmith, and mastered excellent forging skills.
Later, she was arrested by the Tribunal because of her bloodline awakening. It was the witch high priest Circe who rescued her and allowed her to return to her father and live in seclusion in the mountains.
After Hongluo’s father passed away, he was once again lonely and helpless. He contacted Circe through a communication method, and Circe asked Hongluo to come to Morning Frost Ridge.
Hong Lu is obviously familiar with Zi Ying, Delphinium and others.
When they arrived, Hongluo and the young Ziying hugged each other and cried bitterly, while the older Oriole watching from the side also had red eyes.
The capabilities of the Red Furnace fit perfectly with the territory’s [steel-making] industry, so Yeats handed over the steelmaking to the Red Furnace.
Originally, the steelmaking area was located in a mine near the main city. However, the new seaport has recently been completed, and Yeats plans to move the steelmaking industry to the new seaport.
Firstly, it will drive the development of the new seaport and population growth; secondly, it will also lay a solid foundation for the territory's shipbuilding industry.
The new harbor, named [Gray Whale Harbor], is located on the coastline west of the snow forest. Standing on the shore, you can see right whales and other small whales.
[Gray Whale Port] faces the North Sea and has direct access to the northern capital Oslo. It will become an important trading port in Morning Frost Ridge.
Yeats had high hopes for the commerce and shipbuilding industry in Gray Whale Port.
Yeats remembered that after Princess Theresa ascended the throne, she would vigorously promote the navy and commerce, and the shipbuilding industry and firearms would flourish, which was equivalent to the transition from the Age of Chivalry to the Age of Navigation.
With the advent of the Age of Navigation, many maritime ruins and ancient cities of prehistoric civilization were gradually discovered. Yeats remembered that in the [Lost City] Atlantis, there were sacred objects related to the authority of Poseidon. In the original work, it triggered a fierce battle between the Royal Navy and the Ice Sea Pirates. In the end, this sacred weapon was returned to the royal family, greatly improving Queen Theresa's prestige and personal strength.
The reason why Yeats developed the shipbuilding industry in the territory was, on the one hand, to prepare for the arrival of the great era. On the other hand, the spices, gold, treasures, and historical materials discovered by the sailing explorers, even for the Extraordinary people also have a lot of help.
The night is already dark.
The dinner party in Jiandong Castle is still going on.
Little Red Riding Hood Reggie Leif, Reindeer Rider Lotta, Elf Couple Selin and Irene...most of the extraordinary people in the territory attended this dinner.
In just half a year, the lord was promoted from baron to duke. The courtiers felt quite incredible when they heard about these legendary deeds.
Wearing a fox-white cloak and ice-blue skin, the Frostwind Witch was surprised by Yeats's promotion speed.
Before leaving the territory, Yeats was only at the level of the fourth ring, but now his strength is comparable to that of the High Priest of Winter!
While being astonished, the Frostwind Witch expressed to Yeats that she decided to stay in Chenshuang Ridge for a while longer and wanted to see what was so magical about Yeats's cultivation method.
Yeats thought about it, and it seemed that he had never practiced the Eight Classics seriously.
The reason why I am promoted so quickly... there is no talent, it is all hard work and sweat!
The news of the collapse of the Scarlet Society has already reached the territory.
Lisa completed a task on her mind, and even her pale cheeks seemed to have blood, expressing her sincere gratitude to Yeats.
Not long ago, the Duke of Lannister launched an attack on Yeats for taking in the Necromancer. After learning about this, Rishi was ready to say goodbye to Yeats.
But Yeats suppressed the matter and showed full trust in Lixi, which moved Lixi greatly.
Currently, Rich is in charge of the construction of the Medis Lighthouse in Whitefish Harbor and has no time to attend the dinner. He wrote a letter to Yeats to express his apologies and greetings.
On the night when Snow Owl returned to Morning Frost Ridge, he went to Blueberry to ask for magic.
As for Blueberry complaining to Yeats with a black eye, that happened later.
The dinner was over and I was tipsy.
Yeats slept on the soft four-poster bed until noon the next day, and his fatigue was gone.
The cold wind was blowing outside the window, and the ground was covered with a layer of snow. Yeats stood on the terrace, took a deep breath, and felt particularly awake in the cold wind. Then he came to the study room of Jiandong Castle and began to deal with government affairs. .
Yeats's current fiefdom, officially called the "Duke of Northland", covers the entire territory from White Night City to the foot of the Jueling Mountains.
Therefore, Yeats had an orthodox claim to the duchy, including White Night City.
In short, it is "a teacher has a reputation" and occupies the moral high ground.
Of course, having a title does not mean having a fief.
If you want to get White Night City, you have to go and get it in person.
The Thomas family has been operating in White Night City for many years. The city is impregnable, and Duke Thomas is by no means the only heroic extraordinary person under his command.
Although he had a relationship with Yeats, he would never give up White Night City to him easily.
Yeats had a premonition that the day when he would fight Duke Thomas on the battlefield would soon come...
December, 1459 of the Holy Calendar.
Jiandong Castle stands on a high slope outside the city wall, and the falling snow coats the morning frost ridge with a layer of silver.
In the lord's hall, the fireplace is beating with warm firelight.
Yeats was wearing a silver-white snow fox cloak, sipping hot tea and examining the parchment scrolls on the table.
This trip lasted more than three months.
Yeats' personal strength and status have been greatly improved, and he has also harvested many treasures including the lyre.
The number of extraordinary people in the territory has not increased significantly. Except for the witch Red Furnace who came to seek refuge, Yeats has only recruited Akers so far. As a Vulcan believer, Ax has now reached the fifth-ring bottleneck and is one of the important extraordinary combat forces in Chenshuang Ridge.
As the cutting-edge combat power of the territory, extraordinary people compete mainly in the form of "duel" and will not attack the army easily.
As for the specific implementation of controlling territory and resisting foreign enemies, we still have to rely on the army.
Therefore, the military construction in the territory cannot be relaxed.
The infantry regiment and the Frostwolf Cavalry regiment, with the frost people as their main sources of troops, are brave and good at fighting. Under the leadership of the leader of the frost people, they have repeatedly repelled the monsters that invaded the territory from the Jueling Mountains. important military force.
The professional soldiers trained by Phokas, including crossbowmen, spearmen, sword and shieldmen and other types of soldiers, are the backbone of Morning Frost Ridge.
'Reindeer Knight' Lotta is still a second-ring knight, but in this year's military operations, she has developed her own leadership ability. The reindeer regiment she leads is mainly responsible for reconnaissance work.
The Manticore Regiment led by the lioness Helga is an elite force that is good at fighting in harsh environments. It is currently stationed in a watchtower under the Jueling Mountains, guarding against the monsters coming from the mountains.
Every winter, Chenshuang Ridge will face severe tests.
Although there is no cold wave this year, there are other hidden dangers.
Yeats put down the parchment and sorted out the complicated information in his mind, his eyes twinkling slightly.
“Compared with previous years, this winter, without the obstruction of the cold wave, it is more convenient for the orcs to cross the Jueling Mountains.”
"Thomas is very likely to hire the orc tribe in the north to cooperate with the troops of White Night City to attack from both sides.
"However, it is not a big problem. "
Yeats rubbed his chin.
"Gray and I are already five-ring heroes, and we are also the top forces in the Golden Lion Kingdom. We can even face enemies from two directions at the same time. Take it easy. "
"When Hilud returns from his travels, he will surely have the power of the peak of the fifth ring, or even the master of the sixth ring... Thomas can't fight at all, so he can just vote! ”
In general, Thomas' power is far inferior to his own.
The real enemy is the Holy See and the remaining four apostles whose movements are unknown.
When you get White Night City, you can promote the belief in the goddess of art in the territory, thereby weakening the ideological rule of the Holy See, similar to the light of humanity illuminated by the Renaissance in the dark century.
"I started a Renaissance in a different world." Yeats murmured.
Standing up, Yeats came to the terrace covered with snow-covered railings, looking at the vast snowy scenery, his eyes slightly focused.
Set a small goal first: before the New Year, enter White Night City!
*
White Night City.
The howling wind blows past the Xiongcheng City, which is located at the pass of the Great Wall. The light reflected from the snow is projected on the cold and hard city wall, like daylight.
In the lord's castle, Thomas was bending over his desk and flipping through parchments. Under the candlelight, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, his cheeks were shriveled, and he was already so thin that he was no longer human.
Thomas Calvin stood silently beside him, watching his father's stern look, and sighed softly. Whenever he felt stressed, his strong appetite would wane, so before each expedition, his body shape would undergo surprising changes.
And Duke Yeats and Brondie undoubtedly put great pressure on his father. He even lost weight even more obviously than when he conquered Duke Hudson... In Calvin's eyes , a trace of distress flashed through his eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
Hearing Calvin’s sigh, Thomas said calmly without raising his head:
"What's on your mind?"
Calvin hesitated for a while, and the image of Yeats rescuing him in the face of the snake-man wizard flashed through his mind, and he gritted his teeth and said:
"Father, we...really Are you going to go to war with Duke Yeats?”
The draft blew through the tapestry on the wall, the candlelight flickered, and the room was eerily quiet. Thomas raised his head, stared deeply at the young knight, and said. :
“Say what you think.”
The look that seemed to look at a stranger made Calvin feel flustered, but he still bit the bullet and said word for word:
"We... and Duke Yeats were once allies... His character , there is no doubt about it..."
"And now, he does have a claim to Baiye City... We might as well move away the people in the city. Common people and industry, leave an empty city to Yeats. In this way, we can retain most of our strength, Yeats will not get too much, and we will avoid direct conflict with him..."
Actual In the book, Calvin had selfish motives. He witnessed Yeats's performance in the athletic competition. A knight will always respect another powerful knight.
Yeats once saved his life, and Calvin was unwilling to become his opponent. If possible, Calvin would even want to compete with Yeats like the "Sword of Brondie" Phokas he admired. Fighting on the battlefield together...
Ultimately, Calvin was a knight on the battlefield, not a lord of war.
After finishing his remarks, Calvin carefully looked at his father's expression and saw him smiling calmly.
"Burning the White Night City, well, it is indeed a good strategy, Calvin."
Calvin was stunned and thought to himself, I only said that I would move the civilians away, when did I say that I would set the city on fire? Already?
Or are these remarks actually the father’s inner thoughts?
The next moment, Thomas's thin face showed a thoughtful look, and he whispered:
"When the end of the rope comes, I will give in to him...for you, Calvin."
"For me?" Calvin was puzzled.
Thomas was silent and looked at Calvin with tenderness. There was doting, regret, and even a hint of happiness in his eyes.
From a certain perspective, Calvin and Thomas are completely opposite existences. Thomas is cunning and cunning, while Calvin is upright and kind, like a loyal knight, loyal to the king and loyal to the common people.
Thomas remembered that when he was young, he was as passionate as Calvin... As time passed, Thomas became an ambitious and forbearing hero, but he still retained the ideals of his youth when it came to the education of his children.
Thomas narrowed his eyes slightly, and a cold light flashed in his dark eyes.
“We are far from reaching the end of our rope—if we want White Night City, huh, let Yeats come and get it himself!”
Zheng!
Thomas unsheathed his sword and struck the military map hanging on the wall, splitting the sheepskin map into two.
"Calvin, you retreat to Wakeport. You are not allowed to return to White Night City without my order."
Thomas' eyes were as sharp as a falcon and said: "Before the Holy Calendar New Year... I will give Ye Zhi, what a surprise!”
Calvin was startled, and his eyes fell on the parchment letter rolled up on Thomas’ desk. The paint seal on the letter was unique, in the shape of a wolf’s tooth. Only the chiefs of the orc tribes north of the Jueling Mountains are qualified to use this coat of arms.
Calvin is just kind, not stupid. He saw the origin of this coat of arms, a flash of surprise flashed in his eyes, and murmured:
"Father...do you mean... ”
"In the southwest of the Beijun Kingdom, there are four major orc tribes that make a living as nomads. They belong to the four races of trolls, centaurs, orcs, and tauren."
Thomas said: "Every winter, these The tribes will all suffer from snowstorms and famine... In the past, they were blocked by cold waves, which prevented them from crossing the cliffs. However, this year's cold wave did not come for some reason, which gave the tribes an opportunity to invade southward. "
Calvin hissed. With a cold breath, he said: "Father, do you want to cooperate with those barbarians? This is absolutely unacceptable, it is a stain on the glory of the knights!"
"It is not cooperation, just waiting for the opportunity."
Thomas said calmly: "The Orc tribe has been in trouble recently. The spies came to report that the Troll tribe had crowned a new king and no longer allowed the trolls of their own tribe to eat people. There were fierce conflicts with other tribes..."
"The newly crowned troll king?"
Calvin was stunned for a moment, and said in amazement: "It's really weird that he is a troll that doesn't eat people!"
"I heard that it is a troll that doesn't eat humans. The trolls who were raised by humans absorbed some traditions of human society and killed the previous troll king in a duel in which the trolls sacrificed themselves to the mad god, thus being crowned.”
Thomas paused. , continued:
"The current leader of the orc tribe, 'Grim Stormhammer', is also a monarch who is committed to unifying the four major races. In order to divert the conflicts within the tribe, he will definitely launch a war outside. .”
"Even King Harragg 'Ironbone' will not only not suppress this group of orcs, but will also acquiesce in their invasion of the Golden Lion across the mountains."
"Yeats and his territory will bear the brunt and will meet sooner or later. Against the iron hooves from the north. "
Thomas said coldly: "When then, I will lead the army of Baiye City to march north and attack from both sides. Even if Yeats is a five-ring hero, he will not be able to look after him! ”
Thomas’s strategic vision is quite long-term, and it seems to be a strategy of making friends at a distance and attacking at close range.
Calvin was silent for a long time, took a deep breath, and said decisively:
"But father, the barbarians are barbarians after all... Even if Duke Yeats loses in this war, we should still fulfill our responsibility to fight against the barbarians!"
The candlelight flickered, and the father and son faced each other in a deserted room. Thomas's eyes were cold, and Calvin's expression was stubborn.
After a long time, Thomas finally gave in, gently put his hand on Calvin's bright blond hair, and sighed:
"You are like your mother...gentle, kind, upright... ...It's a pity..."
"Isn't this right?"
"There is no right or wrong, only appropriateness or inappropriateness."
Thomas said: "I promise you, Calvin...if Yeats loses this war, I will replace him and fight against the barbarian invasion."< br>
"On the other hand..." Thomas' eyes were deep, "If I lose, you don't have to plead with Yeats for me... The winner is the king or the loser, life or death is determined."
"Everything is the same. The answer can only be revealed on the battlefield”
*
Northern border, Frosthorn Peak.
On a sheer cliff stands an abandoned steel fortress. A goshawk spreads its wings in the snow and flies across the sky.
A red-haired woman wearing an eagle helmet, her blood-red cloak swaying in the cold wind, carrying a striking sword on her back, walked through the mountain path from the steep plank road, looking up at the towering buildings in front of her. .
“This is the Cold Blood Fortress, which used to be an outpost for humans to fight against the orc tribe.”
Sora followed behind Hilud, breathing out the white mist, looking up at the majestic building , sighing:
"Later, humans were defeated in the battle and evacuated from the Coldblood Fortress, and this place was occupied by the tribe... Those orcs didn't know how to maintain the fortress, so the place gradually fell into disuse."
Hilud He nodded gently and said:
"How far is it from the troll tribe?"
Sola unfolded a sheepskin map, raised his head and looked at the high cliff standing thousands of feet in front of him, pointing his finger Said:
"The peak shaped like a dagger is called 'Frost Horn Peak'. It is the gathering place of the Tauren tribe. Climbing over this Frost Horn Peak, you can see the desolate Gobi and the vast expanse of land." The sea of ice... The troll tribe we are going to is on the Gobi Desert next to the sea of ice.”
It has been a week since she left the Wolf Faction Demon Hunter Academy located in the Misty Peak Valley. Hilud practiced giant sword swordsmanship in the Wolf Faction Academy. Her soul power reached the peak of the fifth ring, and now she sets out again.
“The [Crazy God] we found out about at the Wolf School is most likely the one-eyed old man I saw in the Sword in the Trees trial.”
Hilud looked out. Shanfeng said: "The troll tribe has built a sanctuary to worship the mad god... There, you may be able to get clues about the mad god."
Sola He closed the map and asked curiously: "You said before that the newly crowned Troll King is an old acquaintance of you?"
"Maybe." Hilud pondered, "It's just from the rumors. , very much like an old friend of Yeats and I... If that troll really became the king of trolls, our investigation would be smoother."
"Lord Yeats really has a wide range of friends."
Sora said with emotion: "Didn't the dean say that? The current chief of the Tauren tribe is an elegant man who likes music and ringing bells most. The bard has great respect... If Yeats, the artistic god, goes to the Tauren tribe, he will be treated as a distinguished guest by the Tauren chief!"
Tauren are all born warriors, adult Tauren warriors! Relying on the combat skill "War Trample", he can crush human knights and even their plate armor and armored war horses.
But today's Niutou Chief has a special liking for music and is a good bell ringer.
The image is really incompatible with the common tauren.
"It is not convenient for us to report Yeats's identity."
Hilud said: "It is better to take a detour...through the Kodo Valley, and then along the ice sea coastline to reach the Troll tribe."< br>
The climate in the north is harsh and cruel, and the cold wind is like the god of death wandering over the snowfields, but it has given birth to a group of magical biological populations. As an important beast of burden in the north, kodos have evolved thick white fur, and their image is very different from the kodos in the deserts of the southern continent.
Humans and orcs in the snowy land would put up animal skin tents on the broad backs of the kodos in the north. When the migration season came, the kodos would carry the buildings across the vast snowfields.
On the way through the Kodo Valley, Hilud and Sora also saw a magical creature called the "Cold-Blooded Ice Phoenix". This giant white bird has a wingspan of ten meters. It is wide and blocks the sun when it passes through the sky. It is said that it has the blood of the ancient ice phoenix.
In the frozen Wolf Harbor, iron chains locked the dragon-bow warship, and a group of orc overseers scolded the hard workers as they loaded the baggage onto the huge Kodo beast.
Hilud and Sola restrained their breath and watched from a distance.
"War is coming." Hilud said solemnly.
……
(End of this chapter)