Feilengcui is the most central city in the continent, located in the middle of the Osilia Plain. It has always been the cultural and economic center of the entire continent. Unlike other prosperous commercial cities that have undergone large-scale development, the city still retains the buildings and layouts from thousands of years ago. Walking on the paths paved with bluestone bricks feels like traveling through historical time and space in an instant.
Legend has it that Florence was first built during the First Republic of Ronisia, and was later given to Pope Stephen III by Emperor Valerius during the Second Empire of Ronisia. Since then, the beautiful city of Feilengcui has been under the rule of the church, and political power is controlled by the three largest families in the church.
A church stands in the very center of the city. In the center of the church is a dome with a diameter of 50 meters. The entire church is nearly 200 meters high. It is the largest church on the mainland and can accommodate more than 60,000 people for ceremonies at the same time. A small building behind the church is only one-third of the height of the main building, but it is the center of power of the entire Papal State.
"Your Excellency, each of us here has our own troubles. If everyone is like you, then I don't think we will be able to finish the meeting until the evening." A cardinal sat behind the high reading desk. , while flipping through the scriptures in front of him in idle boredom, he nonchalantly answered the questions from the audience.
"Bishops, what I say here is not to prove our merits, nor to seek any reward, but to state a fact, a bloody fact, which was obtained by us at the cost of countless sacrifices. The fact." The count became more and more excited as he spoke, and his already sick body seemed to be unable to bear such excitement, and he began to cough violently.
"Tonight's topic is not about military merit, but whether we need to invest more effort in the defense of the Tower of Babel." The cardinal sitting at the top knocked the hammer in his hand, and the people around the tower On the walls, the reading desks, one above the other, seemed like stairs leading to power.
"If you still don't take this matter seriously, I have no way to guarantee the consequences that will follow." The Earl looked up at the cardinals, but what was revealed in his eyes was not awe, but a hint of viciousness. "Bold, are you threatening us?" After hearing the earl's words, some cardinals stood up angrily and asked sternly.
"You could interpret that as a threat, even though I was just telling the truth."
The Earl looked at everyone in front of him, looked around from left to right, and sighed. "I should have known it would end like this. Your greed will kill you sooner or later."
"Then I don't need to worry about it, Earl." The Cardinal sitting at the top made the final decision, "Then this matter is settled and the status quo remains."
As the black ceremonial cars left the church through the back door one after another, the heavy iron door of the church closed again. In addition to the count, there was one other adult on the tower who did not leave. "What? Does the Pope have any other instructions?" The count's tone was slightly sarcastic.
"Recently, the Varkings have gone south again, a heavily-armed mixed cavalry army. This time they seem to be serious." The Pope closed the book in front of him and said calmly. "So, is this the reason why they stood idly by?" The count's tone did not change at all because of the Pope's explanation.
"I'm just telling you that when all this is over, things will eventually be resolved one day." "You can wait, but we don't have time anymore." The Earl sighed, "In this case, I will start to use my means Come to solve this matter, Roderick, our cooperation is over." After saying this, the Earl left the hall without looking back, leaning on his cane. The empty hall echoed with the Earl's footsteps and the tapping of his cane. The sound of hitting the ground.
"Your Majesty the Pope..." Just as the maid was about to step forward and say something, the Pope made a silent gesture to her, then slowly took off his white gloves and handed the cane and white gloves to the maid. "Winnie, go get ready. It's time for us to pick him up."
Winnie couldn't help but shudder when she heard these words, "Have you really decided? But he still..." Before Winnie could finish her sentence, the Pope interrupted her, "This is his existence. The only function is, if he can't even do this, then there is no need to live."
In the old town of Carlius, two teenagers were running desperately.
"Sandino! Follow me!" Cesare shouted to Sandino behind him. The wet and muddy road here can leave a footprint with one foot. The narrow aisles can't even accommodate a carriage, and they are complicated and intertwined. The layout of the houses makes the entire old town look like a huge maze in the city. An old woman was carrying a few apples with the hem of her skirt as she just passed the corner. Cesare and Sandino, who were running like two sudden ghosts, flashed in front of her and almost collided with her. The fruits were also scattered on the ground in shock.
The old woman waved her arms angrily and shouted: "Hey! I've seen you black-haired boy! You're the one who repairs groceries!"
When Cesare heard the shouting, he stopped suddenly, and then expressed an embarrassed apology to the old woman behind him: "I'm sorry, madam, if you have time tomorrow night to go to Henry's Grocery Store, I will compensate... ." Before he finished speaking, Sandino grabbed Cesare's arm and anxiously led him to continue running. "It's too late! They're catching up!"
The woman seemed to want to yell something, but before she could react again, a thick arm pushed her to the side of the road. "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" Two guards from the Galen family chased after them aggressively, pointing at the backs of Cesare and Sandino and yelling: "Stop! You two brats, immediately Stop! Don't run away!"
"Only an idiot would stop! Phew... I'm still chasing after him out of school! How much money can he earn to risk his life!?" Sandino continued to run aimlessly with Cesare while still complaining. . Originally, the two of them wanted to use the complex terrain of the old city to get rid of Gallon's guards. Who would have thought that the other party would be so persistent and threatened to catch them both.
Suddenly, Sandino suddenly smelled an unusual and extremely familiar smell from the dirty and rancid air in the old city. It was the smell of malt and syrup. He looked up following the smell and saw an ordinary bakery squeezed between two shabby buildings. "I remember eating the bread here... I remembered where this was!" Sandino suddenly seemed to have thought of a way to get rid of the security guard, and excitedly said to Cesare who was running beside him. "I thought of it! Come on, come with me!"
"What? What did you think of?" Sandino did not explain too much, but Cesare still chose to believe his brother and followed him into the alley without too much hesitation. He turned left about three times and then Two right turns, one of which Sandino was wondering if he had chosen the wrong direction, made Cesare feel like a rat scurrying in a ditch. But fortunately, the guards who were chasing after him also felt dizzy after several turns, and the sounds of shouting and roaring gradually became farther and farther away.
Finally, Cesare was brought to a relatively spacious and clean area, and Sandino was brought to a house that looked like some kind of public building. Cesare's first reaction was that it looked like a small church, but the place above There is no sign with any religious meaning, not even a signboard. The few windows in the building are covered with cloth from the inside, as if they deliberately prevent people from knowing what is going on inside.
The door of the building was open as if to welcome people in, but from the outside it was very dark inside, and the sunlight could not penetrate too deeply, which made Cesare feel a little strange and uneasy. But Sandino looked saved. Sandino pulled Cesare and ran towards the door. A tall and mighty security guard walked out from the shadows behind the door. His body was like a giant, There was no hair or eyebrows on his head, and he grinned with a ferocious expression. However, when he saw that the intruders were two students of Saint Carlius, he began to try hard to put a kind expression on that terrifying face.
Suddenly, the voice of a guard suddenly sounded from behind the two of them. "Stop! Come here!" Sandino, who had already breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly rummaged for something in his pocket. Then he took out a ring inlaid with gems and waved it in front of the big man's eyes. He hurriedly put it on his finger and pulled Cesare closer to him. "I'm from the Quixote family. This, this is my friend! I brought him here!"
The big man raised his brows, glanced around Sandino and Cesare, and then bowed respectfully and let the two teenagers in. And when the two Galen family guards rushed over, the big man hugged his shoulders and turned them away mercilessly. Cesare stood inside the door and saw them outside the door seeming to be arguing about something, but soon when the big man raised his fist, the two guards immediately weakened and could only watch Cesare and Sandino leave. After entering the depths of the building, I was so angry that my teeth itched, and finally I left angrily.
After watching them leave, Cesare and Sandino, who had been hiding for a long time, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Sandino looked at the direction they left and complained dissatisfiedly: "It's obviously the bastard Boris who started this thing! As for chasing us so far! Cesare, are you sure Crocia is okay?"
"Don't worry, they won't make things difficult for Crocia. Gallen is the Duke's son anyway, so he still understands this rule." Cesare dusted off his school uniform. "Let's go, find a quiet place to avoid the wind."
