My name is Akatosh,
I'm not responsible for this, well, not at all.
——4e, 201, Hearth Moon, 2nd, 11:37——
Esgael Snowhoof hates parties.
Although it is literally a party where you can eat and drink as you like, in fact the "big shots" always have all kinds of strange topics to discuss, and they will talk about this glass of wine for half an hour while holding the mead that you can drink in one gulp. How is it brewed and what does it mean?
And if you completely ignore the atmosphere of their conversation and deal with the tender venison steak, fried beef, grilled salmon, large goat cheese, grilled green onions, and croissants on the long table,
"Don't stop! My stupid brother!" "Crack!"
will be beaten.
Esgael ate the bread in his mouth in several bites, touched his beaten head and turned to his brother beside him.
Anmid Snowhoof, the eldest son of the Snowhoof family, although he is not as tall or as strong as him, and he always wears ugly old steel armor, he is very good at two-handed hammers, and even five or six people can't get close during defense. The destructive power when launching an attack is astonishing, but he is able to kill the opponent with ease, and it is precisely because of this that he was selected as the guard captain by the lord of Rift Valley City, "Laila the Spellbreader".
"Can't you be more restrained at the lord's banquet?" Anmid gritted his teeth and whispered to him: "Is the family short of food for you or something?"
"Can't eat it?" Esgail curled his lips. This banquet was indeed the kind of banquet he hated.
"No! Yes! Eat!" Anmid said one word at a time, then raised his hand and knocked Esgail on the forehead again.
"Xiao An, that's enough." A gentle but firm female voice sounded, and at the same time, a hand grabbed the arm that An Meide wanted to knock a few more times.
Although from the appearance, the small hand should not be able to stop Anmid's strong arm, his brother was completely frozen, and Esgail chuckled.
"Sister Lily, he ate randomly at the city lord's banquet again." Anmeide said with a bitter face, "Father asked me to stop him."
"Then you can't hit him on the head. Xiao Ai is not smart in the first place. If you hit him again, he will be really stupid." A gentle woman wearing a yellow priest robe and short blond hair pulled Anmid's hand away and rubbed it. The area where Esgaier was hit on his head.
Lilith Snowhoof, the eldest daughter of the Snowhoof family, once served as Ulfric's army healing priest, and saved countless seriously injured and dying people - whether they were Imperial soldiers or Stormcloaks, both sides finally switched from large-scale attack and defense. After fighting over the border, she returned home to Rift City.
"That's right, that's right." Esgail bent down to let his sister touch her head more conveniently, while showing a proud face to his brother.
"Hmph, just spoil him!" Anmid snorted and turned around to leave.
However, did his father see him? Esgail turned his head and found that the father of the three siblings, Ulf Snowhoof, was discussing something with the lord and lady at the other end of the banquet table, without looking at this side at all.
"Xiao Ai." Lilith stopped touching her head and tapped it lightly.
"Sister?" Esgail looked away and blinked in confusion.
"Normally, it doesn't matter how you eat, but this is not the lord's 'Mist Veil Tower', and this is no ordinary banquet." Lilith pointed to the crowd on the other side of the banquet table: "Today the lord is going to ask an adventurer Granting the title of baron, you'd better not attract too much attention."
"Baron?" Esgail followed his sister's finger and looked. Although most of the people present could not be named or familiar, the guy who was sandwiched between the lord's two sons looked embarrassed. He should be the adventurer who is about to be knighted.
Harald and Serlund are the two sons of the lord lady, but they are very "ignorant", yes, that's the word. They both like to wear flashy armor and hold things that can only be used as decorations. Fighting with the guards with long swords, the other is keen to hire adventurers to execute wanted and bounty orders issued by some lords and take the credit for himself.
Perhaps it was precisely because they were unable to help them that the old lord did not hand over the position of Lord of Rift Valley City to any of them before his death. Instead, he handed over the position of Lord of Rift Valley City to his wife and let her decide who the successor would be. Presumably the lord The lady has her own standards for the qualifications to become a city lord, but it is impossible for the two parties to know that winning over the new baron is only part of their efforts. However, in Esgail's view, as long as they do not really fight with their own abilities, There's no point in taking down a guard or completing a bounty.
"If you must eat, take them to the corner so that your father doesn't see you." Lilith patted Esgail on the back, handed him a large dinner plate, and turned away. And the court mage Velanria, who has a weak brain, is waiting for her there.
How did the priest and the magician become friends? Asgael thought about it and decided to listen to his sister and put what he wanted to eat on the plate and take it away.
"Mr. Snowhoof," Lord Anuriel, a dark elf, stopped Esgael: "If I were you, I would pay attention to the capacity and height of the plate."
"Huh?" Esgail turned around as he was told and found that the food on his plate had been piled high and seemed to be crumbling. Many nobles attending the banquet were avoiding him.
"Although it's not full yet, thank you for reminding me." Esgail nodded, turned around with a dinner plate with a "tall tower" on it, and once again caused a small exclamation.
He originally planned to return to the previous corner, but that place was occupied by someone. It was Marwen Blackthorn and a traveling businessman Louis Turas, who seemed to be discussing something, and both of them were brothers and sisters and were strictly prohibited by their father. He's close.
It goes without saying that the Blackthorn family, even the lords must refer to their opinions when issuing orders, and that businessman seems to be doing a truly illegal business, and Skuma and others are nothing compared to it.
Esgail hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked to the balcony on the side of the banquet hall, receiving many exclamations and gasps along the way.
——12:01——
"Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you all to come here today to celebrate the birth of a new baron in the Rift Valley -" Lord Leila's voice came from the banquet hall.
The "villa" was not soundproofed at all. Asgael gnawed on bread and meatloaf while looking at the many fishing boats on the lake.
This used to be a warehouse for the ingredients of Black Thorn Mead. Since most of the ingredients were honey transported by water, due to the permeable water vapor, you could smell the sweet smell coming from just passing by the door. Therefore, it was used by residents. It's called "Sweet Bay", and Esgail once tried to sneak in to get some honey to eat, but failed.
After the warehouse became useless, it was converted into a villa facing the lake. However, the lord did not know whether it was to create a gimmick or was too lazy to name it, so he named it "Sweet Bay Villa" and sold it for 20,000 gold coins. Well, it has not been sold yet. .
"Due to the merits of destroying Skuma's manufacturing den, as the city lord, I declare Mr. Larry to be the new baron of Rift Valley City and win the qualification to purchase this gorgeous villa-" Ms. Leila's voice continued.
It is completely impossible to build a stronghold in the valley near the city without the cooperation of the nobles in the city. However, after the lord lady caught a few shrimps, she seemed to have no intention of going into the details and closed the case. The big nobles behind her are now I'm afraid I have to gnash my teeth and say congratulations at the same time.
Huh? Could this be the political wisdom that my father always talked about?
Asgair turned around and planned to walk into the hall to listen carefully, but he seemed to bump into something. He shook his hand and threw the remaining food out together with the plate.
Swish swish swish——
The dinner plate moved quickly, catching all the food that should have fallen to the ground and floating it in the air.
"This dinner plate is really amazing." Esgail exclaimed.
"Has anyone ever told you that you are stupid?" A girl's voice sounded unremarkable. At the same time, a petite girl wearing a white dress and a black scarf that almost covered half of her face appeared. In front of him, he was holding the dinner plate with one hand.
"My father and brothers and sisters often say this, but there are very few outsiders." Esgael nodded and reached out to take the plate.
"I guess so." The girl looked at him with dark eyes and handed back the plate and food, but took a donut from the food pile and bit it in her mouth.
"Well" Esgail saw himself in the girl's eyes. He was more than two meters tall, with tanned skin, messy long black hair, a very ferocious appearance and a huge machete behind his back. If he wasn't an acquaintance, he would usually be really... No one dared to speak rudely to such a scary big man.
The little girl looked at him with only curiosity but no fear. No, now is not the time to be in a daze, she has to say something.
"Sweet Bay Villa is a symbol of baron status, and the price is only fifteen thousand Septim gold coins -" the lord lady in the house was still selling.
"You've been eating from the plate since just now, right?" Esgail's mind suddenly became more flexible. He stared at the girl and asked, and then saw her movements visibly stiffen.
"You brought it for me?" The girl tilted her head: "Thank you."
No, if it weren't for her help, this batch of food would have fallen to the ground and couldn't be eaten. It was normal for her to take a few, but she couldn't end the conversation in any case. Esgail was thinking at an unprecedented speed.
"Since I invited you to eat, then we can be considered friends, right? And friends should exchange names, right?" Esgail said: "My name is Esgail Snowhoof, the second son of the Snowhoof family in Rift Valley City. son."
"My name is Emil," the girl blinked: "I am a member of the Thieves Guild under the Rat Road."
"Uh." Esgail was stuck. The relationships between the nobles that his sister forced him to remember were meaningless at the moment. Even if he could connect the Snowhoof family and the Blackthorn family after three or four contacts, But how to relate to a "rat" in the sewers?
After the girl took away a few more desserts and disappeared, there was only one sentence left in Esgail's head.
——How could there be such a cute mouse?
