Kingdom of Valentino, Alchemy Year 123.
This year was the most prosperous and prosperous year before the kingdom's demise;
At the same time, Valentino was also in a period of great confusion in the country.
About half a month after Alphonse woke up, the real severe cold of the year began to invade the earth like a beast.
In Victrell's hotel, due to his weak body and the serious injuries he suffered during the monster attack, the exhausted boy remained in a semi-drowsy state.
To be honest, Pricia has never seen an adventurer with such a weak physical condition.
Even if he is a beginner who has just embarked on the journey, he will not end up in such a miserable end if he is attacked, right?
However, as the old saying goes, women generally have delicate minds and are born with the factor of caring for others - under Pricia's careful care for more than half a month.
Alphonse's physical condition has improved a lot so far, and he has returned to his usual state for a while.
On this day, the boy spent a short time packing his luggage - in fact, it was just a bag of daily necessities and some medicines.
"Thank you so much for taking care of me these days."
After thanking the girl sincerely and saying goodbye, Alphonse picked up his backpack and prepared to continue his journey.
Just as he was about to take the first step out of the hotel with full confidence, his sleeves were suddenly pulled tightly by the person behind him.
Pricia stared at Alphonse with a serious face that could not be laughed at.
Alphonse also looked at her with a puzzled look.
"Before you go out, you should check the situation outside! Idiot! Come back first."
Pricia, who sensed the danger lurking outside the noisy door, forcefully dragged Alphonse back to his original room without explaining the reason.
"What's wrong?" Alphonse asked as Pricia released her hand from tugging on her sleeve and carefully closed the door.
She did not answer directly, but pointed to the window, indicating to Alphonse to see the situation outside with his own eyes.
There is a unique scenery outside the window - the clear and clean winter sky...
"I didn't tell you to just stare at the sky! You idiot."
Alphonse, who was scolded by Pricia angrily, turned his eyes to the street in embarrassment.
The light-colored houses look like still lifes, their outlines eroded by the snow;
On the clean road where the snowdrifts had long been cleared away, leather-clad foreign adventurers and local civilians mixed together...
There are also several unidentified people who are half-hiding themselves in corners such as street corners and grocery storage areas where they are not easily noticed by others.
"Have you seen that group of people? Those mysterious people hiding in every corner and monitoring the hotel are the "Thieves of the North" who have been active in Valentino recently. "
It turned out that just when Alphonse stepped out of the door, Pricia happened to find the minions of the thieves group lurking around the hotel.
And her intuition told her that this strong lingering aura of assassination was directed at this young man who was just recovering from his illness.
Pricia once learned the details of the thieves group from her elders.
They are not citizens of the Kingdom of Valentino, and just a few years ago, they either coveted the coins in the pockets of the wealthy Valentino people, or because of the kingdom's lax governance system, or because of Various reasons made them based here and began to do evil and disrupt people's livelihood.
They are probably a group of thieves from other small countries south of the kingdom.
Because their attire is different from the daily attire of the Kingdom’s citizens, their pitch-black one-piece attire gives people a strange feeling of coming from a foreign land.
"Look at the costumes of those mysterious people. They are obviously different from ours. And looking at their glaring eyes, it is not difficult to see that they are definitely not good people."
Alphonse suddenly woke up, "Yes! They are indeed a band of thieves! They are really dangerous." At the same time, he also secretly marveled at the girl's eagle-like eyesight.
"Hey, you also know about the thieves group?"
"I only know his name."
Pricia showed that look again - her green eyes were as clear as lake water, as if they could reflect everything in Alphonse's heart.
A woman's unique sensitive intuition told her that there was some ulterior secret hidden behind Alphonse's seemingly innocent face.
"The first thing to do now is to tell the knights stationed there that the band of thieves showed up in Victrell Town and are eyeing you. I'm going to go out first, and don't step out of the hotel until I come back!"
"No, it's useless. The Knights won't believe it." Alphonse said calmly, as if he had experienced being regarded as a lie by others before.
Pricia was surprised by this answer.
"Why are you so sure? The knights stationed there are the "Royal Knights"! "
"Imagine that a group of thieves would actually target and track an adventurer. It sounds too unbelievable. Besides, the Royal Knights will not have time to care about the life or death of an adventurer."
"Don't be so pessimistic! Wait, you said "tracking"? Could it be that the same group of people attacked you on the Bliza Snowfield? "
When the truth was revealed, Alphonse responded affirmatively with a brief silence, and continued: "So, there is no need to trouble the knights. I can escape by myself before dark."
Alphonse added, "They won't believe it."
"But it's a fact that the thieves are targeting you, isn't it?"
Pricia ignored Alphonse, whose mind was filled with pessimistic thoughts. She had made up her mind, "Wait until I come back! Hide in the hotel and don't leave until now!"
Alphonse looked out the window and witnessed the moment when the girl's figure disappeared into the street corner.
For the sake of his own safety, her instructions were always kept in his mind.
In the empty dark alley, Pricia blew a clear whistle into the air, and then heard the slight sound of someone landing behind her.
"Master, what are your orders?"
A man in black with a body like a raptor knelt on the ground and respectfully called Pricia "Master".
"You should have noticed that the minions of the Northern Thieves actually extended to such a small town. Lei, report this matter to the Royal Knights and ask them to send people to exterminate it."
Pricia suddenly remembered Alphonse's words. He seemed to have great distrust of the work of the Royal Knights.
So she emphasized: "In the name of your master, and also their master - Pricia."
"As you command, Master."
After receiving the order, the followers leaped over the high wall behind them and then disappeared without a trace. Pricia also turned around to leave.
Alphonse, who was anxiously waiting for the girl's return in the hotel, felt restless.
In fact, he was worried about the girl's safety. Speaking of which, she is really brave. She still dares to go out alone even though she knows there is danger outside.
After holding this thought for a moment, Alphonse looked out the window in surprise. What he was waiting for was not a girl, but a team from the Royal Knights.
They did not enter the hotel, but conducted a rigorous search in every corner nearby, as carefully as if they were searching for a nationally wanted criminal.
The thieves who were still watching Alphonse a moment ago escaped quickly. Until now, the knights' search has been fruitless, but as a precaution, a small group of knights is still patrolling the streets with swords.
Judging from the stern expressions on their faces, it was as if their superiors had given orders that could not be disobeyed and must be completed carefully.
"In a short while, that group of people will disappear from the town, whether they were captured or escaped. Take advantage of that time and continue your journey."
When Alphonse saw Pricia enter the room, she spoke calmly, as if the matter had been resolved easily.
"You are so awesome... I went to the Royal Cavalry last time... but no one paid attention to me at that time!"
"Well... maybe they had something important to do at that time."
"How is it possible? They are both sitting in the hall drinking tea and chatting."
"Oh, how is that possible?"
"Believe it or not, it's up to you, I'm getting ready to leave."
At this time, in front of the hotel door, Pricia was paying special attention to her surroundings. This time she could no longer feel the dangerous atmosphere of assassination.
Completely relieved, she happily saw Alphonse off.
The girl had to leave Victrell for a few days because of important matters.
"By the way, we've known each other for so long, and I still don't know where your journey is going." The girl asked before Alphonse left.
"King's Capital Grancis." Alphonse picked up his bag and looked back.
"You want to go to the Royal Capital? Why?" The girl looked a little surprised when she heard the destination of the Royal Capital Grancis.
"Because of something." Alphonse said vaguely.
"What a coincidence, my destination is also the royal capital."
Priscilla saw that the boy was not a villain, and after a month of living in harmony, she learned that Alphonse was still a kind-hearted person, so she now told him her identity.
"Let me tell you, I am actually a noble of the kingdom. I sneaked out here to explore a month ago. Now I have to return to the royal capital after being away from home for so long, otherwise... my father will be unhappy."
Pricia's voice gradually became softer. She didn't want her family to worry about her, and she was also afraid of her strict father.
In addition, she has another purpose of traveling, which is to find detailed clues about a mysterious mark.
The cause of the incident was that in the recent years when magic was restored to the world, scholars in Valentino accidentally discovered some mysterious records written in Elvish language in ancient scriptures.
The ancient scriptures predict the existence of a new kind of magic-like power, and they will come to the world in the form of marks in the future.
Scholars respectfully call this illusory mark "emblem".
The purpose of the mark is still unclear, but what is certain is that the energy equivalent to the power of magic is sealed in the emblem, and it is very likely that its energy explosiveness is even superior to traditional magic.
Once this kind of power is put into war, there is no doubt that the balance of victory will tilt towards the side with the power of the emblem.
As a result, the military strength of the Kingdom of Valentino has become even more powerful, and it no longer fears any foreign enemies.
Pricia became very interested in this kind of power, not least because she was born with the prototype of such a mark on her chest.
It was a dark green emblem shaped like a clover, which Kingdom scholars said was a symbol of divine wind.
People with this "divine wind" sign will be blessed by the goddess of wind all the time.
It’s just that Pricia is not yet an adult and cannot play the role that the emblem should have.
Pricia wants to obtain this mysterious power as soon as possible.
The royal bloodline that has been passed down for thousands of years has an indelible desire for power, and they always have the pride of following the strong as an honor.
Although she appears slender and frail, her heart is stronger than any other male warrior.
So she ventured out of the royal capital and traveled to various parts of the kingdom to look for clues and all emblem holders, so that they could gather together, serve the kingdom, and swear to follow the footsteps of the king of Valentino.
It can be said that in order to meet a strong man and expand the kingdom, she is willing to give up everything outside her body.
However, a month of exploration ultimately yielded no results, and this time it was considered a failure.
"I see. No wonder you can convince people from the Royal Knights to come and search for the whereabouts of the thieves. Since we both have the same destination, how about... going together?"
"That's no problem. Anyway, I've been worried about you. You were captured by that group of people after just a few steps."
Pricia readily agreed.
"Then, please give me your advice for the future journey!"
In this way, Alphonse also stayed on Victrell for a few days in order to accompany her to the royal capital.
Fortunately, there has been no trace of the Northern Thieves Group in the past few days, and they have disappeared from Pricia's keen sight.
And the team of knights who received the patrol order have been wandering in the street.
As for the civilians who didn't know what happened, they thought that monsters had started to appear again recently. It's a good thing to be more vigilant, but it makes the unsuspecting people in the town feel panicked.
If Victrell didn't have such clear sunshine today, it would probably give people a colder feeling than any other city.
However, just as Alphonse was thinking about this when he was about to go out, snowflakes actually started flying on the road.
Pricia lamented the difference between the town and the royal capital. She had never been out and finally understood the difference between the town and the capital.
Not only is the difference in the number of residents, but also the size of the houses and even the width of the streets.
The same goes for people. Most of the young men of Alphonse's age in the royal capital will stay in the academy to study magic, martial arts, and literature and history until they graduate and become a sufficiently qualified adventurer.
Therefore, parents will not allow their children who are too young to travel to distant places.
In this regard, Pricia's family is even more so.
In order to save time on the road, she stopped a carriage and planned to ride it to her next destination.
The car is filled with a calming fragrance.
If you ignore the kicking sound from the leading horse in front, the car can be considered a very comfortable environment. She thought this until the boy sitting opposite spoke.
"Thank you so much for being willing to accompany a dangerous person who is targeted by the band of thieves."
Alphonse felt embarrassed and a little guilty about his unwelcome invitation to travel with him a few days ago. His traveling companions would undoubtedly be affected.
"You can rest assured that I will try my best to protect you before arriving at the royal capital. Because I am at odds with those evil gangsters. However, if possible, can you tell me the reason why you were targeted by that group of people?"
At this moment, the young man turned his eyes away from the window, as if it was some kind of hidden secret and he was hesitating whether to reveal it to outsiders.
"If it's inconvenient, then don't say it."
Seeing Alphonse's hesitant look, Pricia immediately gave up her plan to ask further.
Unexpectedly, this time Alphonse was finally willing to reveal it. He whispered: "You are so kind...Actually, the target of the thieves group is not me, but something like this -"
As he spoke, he took out the protective short sword with a leather-wrapped blade from his waist.
"This?" Pricia was confused.
Alphonse carefully unbuttoned the leather, revealing a hint of golden light.
The complete picture of a golden dagger was displayed before the two of them.
The hilt is like a common hilt, and the blade is about the same length, which is really strange.
What's even more amazing is that under the sunlight, it can actually shine with such dazzling brilliance and compete with the sunlight.
Pricia held it in her hand and was surprised to find that the dagger was extremely light, so she concluded that its material was not heavy gold.
This short sword, which resembles a dagger, seems to be not only used for protection, nor is it made of precious gold.
So she really couldn't figure out why the thieves wanted to plunder this thing.
But no matter what, it is a valuable item.
"Is this the treasure they are targeting?"
Alphonse nodded in affirmation.
"This is not an ordinary dagger, but the prototype of a legendary holy sword. That's what the people who raised me told me."
-
After an hour's drive, the two's next destination - Warming Belle, the capital of time, was right in front of them.
The Capital of Time is filled with pedestrians.
On the Central Street, where a variety of goods are dazzling, businessmen who have made deals are laughing, misers are still haggling over the price difference of one copper coin, and there are also evil people like thieves who are secretly worshiping, and they are watching closely to enter the city at this moment. of two people.
At all times, there is a mysterious murderous intention that is no different from that time.
Every move of the stalker cannot escape Pricia's eagle eye. Before entering the city, she told Alphonse not to leave her side and to be alert to the surrounding situation.
Because in the Capital of Time, not only were the thieves following these two people closely, but this time there were also some professional assassins.
Priscilla did not clearly discover the hiding place of the assassins. They might have disguised themselves as any passerby in front of or behind them and followed them, or they might be monitoring their every move through binoculars, or they might have already made a plan. , lurking on the rooftop ready to carry out an assassination.
The only thing that can be noticed is the murderous aura permeating their bodies.
She thought to herself, what was the dagger in Alphonse's hand that actually caused his death?
Seeing that he still looks innocent and clueless, I feel really anxious for him.
"Speaking of which, is today a holiday?"
Alphonse was completely unaware of the danger lurking around him, but was fascinated by the lively atmosphere at all times.
"Huh? It seems so. Today seems to be "Harvest Day", a festival unique to the Capital of Time. "
Coinciding with the harvest season, Womingbeile is a scene of joyful beauty.
As far as Pricia knows, the City of Time mainly grows crops that can thrive in the snow and water environment.
This year in Ruixue, we all have a huge and gratifying harvest.
The farmers believed that this was the return of Snow, the goddess of snow, to their capital and brought blessings from heaven.
So in the past few days, taking advantage of the arrival of the annual "Harvest Festival", a celebration called "Auspicious Snow and Harvest Year" was held.
Travelers from other places seemed to be infected with the festive atmosphere. They put away their swords and shields, put on their usual casual clothes, and devoted themselves to the annual celebration.
"Should we go see the most famous building in the Capital of Time - the Tower of Time?"
"Huh? But... wait..." Before Pricia could answer, Alphonse reached out and held her arm without any explanation, and pulled her towards the tall building in front of her.
"Hey, it's dangerous if you wander around!" Pricia warned.
"It's okay. There are a lot of people over there at the Time-Reverse Tower. I guess they don't dare to mess around. Let's go."
Is this Alphonse missing his brain or something? Pricia did not refute, saying that she had indeed never been to the famous places in Shidu, so it would be a good idea to take advantage of this only opportunity to visit.
The bronze-colored tower body seems to condense the traces of time left over from history, and is covered with scars of war.
Despite this, the Tower of Time is still standing after thousands of years of wind and rain. War, wind, rain and scars have made this historical witness today.
It can be said that it is the oldest building in the Kingdom of Valentino. Like a giant, it has witnessed the rise and prosperity of the kingdom to this day.
It took them two full hours to reach the top of the tower.
While Pricia was happily breathing the fresh air that only exists in high altitudes, Alphonse was panting and looking like he was about to collapse from exhaustion.
From the lookout here, you can have a panoramic view of Valentino.
A distant view was reflected in Pricia's green eyes.
The border of Valentino extends to the end of the Great Desert of Philander in the east, to the mysterious Sea of the Undead in the west, to the frozen Snow Mountains in the north, and the southern border that cannot be seen from here, which is closer. The southern boundary of the small Nanman country.
This is my own country. It is not vast, but so small that you can actually see its complete territory from here.
It would be nice if I could conquer more territories with my father.
To do this, one must have the power of the "Emblem".
My own desire for power is a stubbornness that others cannot understand. It is your birthright to keep your kingdom alive.
"What are you thinking about? You look unhappy."
Alphonse suddenly put his face very close and asked.
"Huh?" Pricia turned her head to the other side with a blushing face, and her flowing hair brushed from his face.
"I was wondering, from the top of the tower, can I see Alphonse's hometown?"
"That's it..." He pointed to the Bliza Snowfield in front of a sea of trees, and said proudly: "The snowfield is my hometown."
"But, as far as I know, there is no one inhabiting the Bliza Snowfield, right?"
"Yes, it's true..." As he spoke, Alphonse's eyes kept staring at the snowfield where he once lived, and memories emerged in his mind.
"I was raised by a white dragon, her name is Desphire."
"Are you... kidding? The Pure White Holy Dragon Desphire? That is a fantasy beast recorded in ancient books! Even in this era of magic resurgence, we still have not discovered the existence of any legendary fantasy beast. "
Pricia was in disbelief at what the boy in front of her said, but he probably wouldn't lie. If there was something he didn't want to tell others, he would just remain silent and would not lie to others.
"Since monsters also exist in this world like humans, it is not surprising that there are phantom beasts, right? Except for the difference of one word, monsters and phantom beasts are actually twin species of phantom beasts with the same origin. In the past, That's what Desphire taught me."
"I want to see the Pure White Holy Dragon with my own eyes. Can you take me back to your previous residence?"
"Where do you live?" This word seemed to hit the most vulnerable part of Alfons' heart, and his face suddenly darkened, "I...can't go back."
"Otherwise I really can't believe it."
The young man was silent again. Later, he murmured to himself in a self-deprecating way: "It is true that no one will believe it."
Pricia felt that she had made a mistake, "I'm sorry, but..."
At this time, in order to prove to the girl that what he said was true, Alfons seemed to have made up his mind and slowly raised his left hand, "I have evidence. Let you see this mark. This is what Desfeel personally did for me. It's engraved. Although she said not to show it in front of outsiders at will, saying that it will lead to death. But... your words..."
After saying that, Alphonse took off the coarse cloth glove on his left hand and showed the "mark" on the back of his hand.
When this "emblem" appeared in Pricia's eyes, she felt that the surrounding air and even the magic particles turned into a breath of ice and gathered together, as if responding to the call of the emblem.
In this dragon totem, which symbolizes the cold brilliance of ice, abundant blue magic light is flowing.
Pricia took his left hand and looked at it carefully. Sure enough, this is the legendary emblem.
In the past, scholars generally believed that the bearer of the emblem had great power and could change the fate of the kingdom;
But the emblem holder who appeared in front of him now was a novice adventurer who had no power to restrain a chicken.
"The purpose of my going to the Royal Capital is to join the Royal Knights of the Kingdom. One day a few years ago, Desphire understood the prophecy implied by the seven stars in the North Pole in the night sky and expected that Valentino would destroy the country. Disaster. In order to avoid the destruction of the kingdom, she asked me to go to the royal capital to convince the royal family and join the knights."
"The kingdom is destroyed? How is it possible!" Pricia was dubious. As long as this adventurer joins the Royal Cavalry, the so-called disaster can be avoided?
It's really ridiculous. He himself is still being hunted by a band of thieves. He can't protect himself. Why should he talk about protecting his family and the country?
Moreover, the Kingdom of Valentino is still prosperous, like an awakened dragon soaring in the sky, showing its glory and grace to the world.
Based on the festive harvest scene in the ancient capital of time, Womingbelle, Priscilla is convinced that the kingdom's prosperity will last forever.
Alphonse suddenly felt his body being held by a strong arm, and then he was thrown away and fell to the hard stone floor a few meters away.
Just as he staggered to his feet, his eyes suddenly caught sight of a tall man in black beside Pricia.
There is no doubt that the blow he received just now was caused by this person.
"Young man..." the man in black said sternly, "I want to arrest you for the crime of "spreading rumors detrimental to the kingdom" and "golden apples"
"Wait, hey, stop!" Priscilla, the owner behind him, shouted.
"Princess! This person..."
"He who doesn't know is not guilty, and besides, he is not a bad person."
In view of the master's stern orders, the attendants had to stop.
Then, Pricia turned to Alphonse and spoke sternly, with a hint of firmness in her words: "Valentino will never suffer destruction. The prosperity of the kingdom is not a veil of illusion, it is What actually exists is just like what you and I feel in Shidu today.
If a foreign enemy invades and the kingdom is destroyed, the Royal Knights, the elites of the royal family, will do their best to protect the country.
Each one of them is as powerful as the Black Knight beside me, Thunder. Even without the power of the emblem, they are enough to resist foreign enemies. "
At that time, Alphonse did not tell Pricia the real reason why the kingdom was about to collapse. At that time, he just remained silent and did not continue to argue.
"Princess, it's time to return to the capital and ask the villain to prepare a carriage and horses for you."
"No, that's not necessary. According to the original plan, I will return to the capital with Alphonse."
Pricia reached out her hand to Alphonse who was lying on the ground in a friendly manner, and had already restored her usual calm look.
"But...this boy...Princess, do you still remember the allusion that Saint Zelphis once explained to you? Aphrodite's "apple" will trigger the Trojan War! "
"That's enough, that's enough. You're so annoyed. There are no "disasters" that can cause war in a prosperous kingdom! That `s a deal! "Pricia seemed a little impatient, and the entourage was helpless to the princess's willfulness.
"Alphonse, don't let what happened just now ruin the mood of the journey. I know you didn't do it on purpose."
Alphonse said nothing.
"It's rare that today is a harvest festival, why don't we relax tonight, stay in Shidu for one night, enjoy the dinner together with the people, and then continue our journey back to the capital the next day!"
-
In the middle of the night, the moon and stars were sparse. Filsa woke up from his sleep, his consciousness still a little blurry, his body felt heavy for no reason, and his mind was confused.
Shirley curled up next to her, sleeping like a bunny, with her mouth slightly open, as if murmuring.
Looking back carefully, I felt like I had a very long dream in the first half of the night.
That dream was as real as the memory that existed in my mind, and as real as the adventure I had experienced;
It's like a story narrated by others, and I am just a character in the script.
He dreamed that he became the young man named Alphonse, traveling with Pricia, arriving at the Capital of Time, and climbing the Tower of Time Reversal... The dream ended abruptly here.
The venomous pain in his hand made Filsa suddenly wake up.
Because the pain this time was stronger than ever before.
He raised his numb left hand and looked for the source of the severe pain in the blurred vision of the dark night. Later, he discovered that there was a mysterious mark that radiated green light on the back of his hand.
The glow of full magic power lit up in front of Philsa's eyes, and he secretly said in surprise: "No way, this is...a emblem?"
