At night, the annoying sultry heat and humidity unique to the tropical region in the hinterland of the Krant Kingdom still maintains its original appearance, and it seems that it does not intend to lose its powerful power as the sun goes down.
The red clay bricks have become mottled in color due to years of wind and rain, and damp moss clings to its surface because the dewdrops that have not yet disappeared from this afternoon's heavy rain reflect the light of the torches beside the street.
An unknown little insect made a squeaking sound and stopped in the moss, and it immediately paid the price for its behavior - "Bah-bah!" The large gecko unique to the swamp area grabbed it at an agile speed. He caught it, and then a fast-moving shadow flashed across its dark eyes in the next second——
"Slip-" The gecko quickly hid in the shadows, and the sound of footsteps sounded repeatedly. The torches beside the street swayed due to the sudden movement, water splashed on the stone floor, and the man wearing a black cloak This late night uninvited guest stopped.
"Hahu...hahu..." She gasped for a long time, and then slowly turned around.
Something she was holding tightly in her hand reflected the light of the torch, and in the next moment she quickly raised it in a blocking posture - "Clang woo woo -"
-- Nothing.
She breathed a sigh of relief, then patted her chest to calm her racing heart, but in the next moment there was a flash of red light in front of her.
"No, don't, don't—" The right hand holding the scimitar tightly began to attack his neck uncontrollably.
"No-no-cough-uh-uh-"
Blood surged wildly, and only the crisp sound of footsteps remained on the silent street, echoing lonely like the skinny knuckles of death knocking on the door again and again.
Another life passed away quietly in the dark night.
…
Monroe. The largest commercial city in the Krant Kingdom.
It is only separated by a hill from Xilin, the capital of the kingdom. Seventy years ago, Duke Aubrey von Monroe, who was in power, ordered to start repairing the road. It occupied an important geographical location and soon became the most beautiful place in Crant. Rich city. The locals even cited the good name for Ashenil from Avenella, calling Monroe the "Land of Everlasting Summer" and "Crant's Ecasta".
Maybe there really is a mischievous god playing tricks on the world. Since last year, the Ekaste area on the Avenella side has been plagued by disasters, and the door that quoted its name As soon as Luo, Henry and his party approached, they deeply felt the ominous atmosphere.
It lasted eight days. Together with the caravan that set off from Aibut, although there were many twists and turns on the road, fortunately, we did not encounter any real danger. After the nineteenth heavy rain, the group stepped out of the forest path onto the flat road and soon came to a building made of dark red brick walls. The tall, majestic and complex structure is like a red maze-like Monroe territory.
Like any city-state in the Krant Kingdom, Monroe has experienced many wars in history.
The traces of fire and stone collisions on the thick city wall are clearly visible, and years of wind and rain have only made its color darker. The north gate where the caravan arrived is the main gate of Monroe, and the city bricks on the entire section of the city wall high on the right side are slightly lighter orange, and the dividing line with the deep red city bricks below is quite clear. It was obviously the result of being replaced and repaired after it collapsed after being hit by siege equipment such as a trebuchet.
Compared with his colleague Ashenil, whose name was quoted, Monroe, who occupies the heart of Crant, is a little less prosperous, but a little more vicissitudes like a veteran of many battles.
It’s hard to imagine that this is a “young” city-state that was only established less than a hundred years ago. The traces of its war-torn existence are like medals engraved on the heart of this veritable kingdom—but it’s just like before us. As mentioned before, the air in this famous city-state within the Five Kingdoms has been a bit cold recently.
The soldiers who were checking at the north gate entrance were wearing plate armor chest protectors with chainmail hems and large integrated shoulder armor. This armor, which should be classified as half body armor, was carefully polished and oiled, and was paired with a steel half helmet. , spears, one-handed swords and daggers. Although there are only two soldiers guarding the gate, it is enough to make most people with evil intentions retreat.
As an important town in the kingdom, it was natural for Henry and Mira to have such defenses in Monro. But the whispers of the merchants traveling together caught their attention.
"These are the elite soldiers of the Duke's family. Why are they sent to guard the door? Could it be that the magician has appeared again..." "Shhhh! Don't mention that name, otherwise your heart will be stolen."
The discussion between the two businessmen was in Crant's dialect. Not to mention that the only thing Henry Mira could understand was the key word "magician", and their conversation immediately aroused a fierce reaction from the other person.
"What the hell! Hasn't it been half a year? Forget about other things, even that murderer has come out now! What on earth is the security post for?" He shouted hysterically in Common Language, a little nervous. This man was the short, fat, brown-skinned businessman they had met once before. What made Henry and Mira even more suspicious was that his conversation with the other two people immediately caused quite a commotion in the caravan. .
"Quiet! Nothing happened! Nothing!" the soldier checking at the gate of the North City shouted loudly. He seemed to have noticed the presence of Henry and Mira, and he changed to common language and shouted again. once.
The need to deliberately emphasize something often means that something is actually happening. After a detailed inspection, it took the caravan and other merchants who came later a considerable period of time to fully enter the city-state. The teams that didn't have much contact with each other dispersed as soon as they entered. The commotion at the city gate seemed to have a big impact on them. Many people speeded up and seemed to plan to complete the transaction quickly and then leave. .
"It seems worth finding out." Henry said this, and Mira nodded in agreement.
Curiosity is human nature. And even if there is any danger, the sage can solve it.
The brick-paved roads in Monroe City caused relatively large damage to the horses' hooves. In addition to the consumption along the way, the two took a while to find a blacksmith shop and paid the other party to replace the shoes of the war horses. I started walking around the nearby streets.
Although I have been to Aibut before. But based on their experiences, the Monro they came to this time was actually a city-state in the true sense.
The road is solid. Unlike Avenella, the ground here has wide and large drainage openings that can be seen everywhere. The residential houses on both sides are mostly built with masonry structures. The roof tiles made of clay of the same color are also connected to the drainage pipes. The various designs are ingenious and make people admire human creativity.
Rats of large sizes were scurrying around in the dark corners of the streets. Beicheng was a residential area for civilians. It was almost noon, and the aroma of food could be heard in many houses.
The two fully armed mercenaries, one large and one small, stood out in a city filled with civilians and businessmen who had just entered the city. Just like Abot, the distinctive-looking Henry and Mira also received a lot of attention in Monroe. eyes, but compared to the hurried residents of Aibut. These civilians here who should have a more prosperous life are all listless and even have a hint of hostility towards the two armed men.
"interesting."
The two people who read the special atmosphere in the air had different reactions. Henry raised his eyebrows and half-closed his eyes and began to observe the surroundings carefully, while Mira swallowed nervously.
It was already February 1st, and the girl from Luoan, who had always ensured adequate nutrition and exercise since they met, was no longer the same height as before.
The petite loli in the maid outfit is now about 1.5 meters tall, close to 1.6 meters tall. In addition to her relatively slim figure, she looks like a real lady wearing a one-handed sword and leather armor and light boots. Professional mercenary.
Both her appearance and the knowledge she possesses are far behind her in the past, but the more she moves forward and travels, the more Mira realizes her own insignificance.
This was also the source of her nervousness. The outside world is too vast compared to the small girl herself. She has been studying hard, but she always feels that she has not learned enough.
Just struggling to survive already requires all your strength - but precisely because of this, you must never back down.
The bustling noise reached their ears. The Klant language, which was similar to Avenela's dialect but had different shapes, kept repeating several same syllables in different tones. The sage and Mira looked at each other. After taking a look, the girl nodded slightly.
He has always had this habit. Although it is actually unnecessary, Henry always asks the girl's opinion first when doing something.
Perhaps among the many things that Mira had not known about in the past, she was most curious about them. It should be regarded as the character of the sage himself.
He has strength, but is not arrogant because of it. The white-haired Luoan girl is very aware of the fact that she is just a follower. As we have been saying, weak people are always very sensitive on such issues - but even so. Henry had never been impatient with her.
As the girl's knowledge increases, she is now able to understand the essence of the warm feeling she once - and still has - experienced from Henry, but because of this, the name Henry The mystery of Mel's man himself became even more entangled.
Not pity.
Mira can now assert this.
The reason why the sage chose to help her was not out of sympathy. It's not out of pity - in fact, he has never placed himself in the position of a superior almsgiver. Even from the moment of the initial encounter, Henry looked at her, not at a person who needed help from others. of the weak.
But someone who is equal to him.
This is why Henry will ask every time there is something that needs to be decided, no matter whether Mira has enough ability to make a judgment on the matter.
The book that describes the virtues of the knights of Sivalier calls this behavior "respect", and the good character of respecting others is called humility.
Powerful but not pretentious, not thinking too highly of himself, this deep humility, along with so many other things about Henry, came from, Mira was very curious.
"Have you seen enough?" The sage's plain words brought the girl back to her senses. Only then did she notice that she had been staring at the other person's face unconsciously while thinking, and now she left He only reminded him when he was in front of the group that made the noise - the girl frowned and then rolled her eyes.
"Mr. Sage is the worst adult ever."
"Yes, yes, it was me who was wrong." Henry shrugged, and then the two of them walked over together.
"So I said it must be-"
Like a duck in a chokehold, the Monroe resident's words came to an abrupt end.
"What's the matter, keep talking?" Henry smiled slightly, and then said this in common language.
"I have nothing to say to you, you mercenaries who don't do business!" There was obvious disgust on the face of the resident. He yelled in Common Mandarin with a strong accent. Others around him also planned to turn around and leave. An elderly man The slightly older middle-aged man shouted: "Wait!"
He said this, then turned around, and deliberately started to speak in a common language that the two of them could understand: "These two are different, they are blue cards, and they are not like those scum that are no different from bandits."
The words that were obviously meant for the two people made Henry shrug his shoulders, while Mira next to him stood quietly waiting for the other person's next words.
"You two...well, it's something everyone knows anyway, so there's no problem in telling you." As if to strengthen his faith, he muttered for a while.
"You seem to be outsiders, so you probably don't know... In this city-state, people have been dying intermittently since a year ago." The uncle continued: "Just the death of people is not particularly strange, the most bizarre thing is The place is that for every person who dies, the heart will disappear inexplicably, but there are no wounds."
"There were both men and women among the dead. Everyone died in a different way. Some fell to death, some drowned, and some were hacked to death."
"They have nothing in common except that the murderer can't be found, and the dead shed a lot of blood. At first, the sheriff and the others didn't think much about it. It wasn't until the body buried outside the city was dug up by the dragon lizard that everyone realized All the corpses were found to have their hearts missing.”
"The Sheriff summoned mercenaries and vigilantes and began searching the city, and that's when the disaster happened."
"The number of people killed began to rise crazily, and we angered him -" The uncle seemed to recall something, and he emphasized his tone and continued: "Mercenaries, security team members, and civilians, a total of seventeen people died in two days. , and everyone’s heart disappeared.”
"No one has seen the killer."
"It was as if he were a magician who could perform tricks. More than four hundred people, including volunteer civilians, were searching for him, and he killed so many people in front of everyone's eyes."
"And this guy appeared again last night." The uncle raised his head and looked at Henry, and the resident next to him who initially spoke said again: "So I said, it must be black magic, Duke Son——"
"Shut up, Bandi." The uncle turned around and yelled at him.
"If you don't want to be arrested for libel, Bandy, you'd better stop talking about it - even if we all think so."
He said this, and then looked back at Henry again.
"If you want to know more about the magician, walk a little further. Monroe's Sheriff's Office is right there, and the Sheriff will explain it clearly to you."
As if he didn't intend to say anything more, the uncle waved his hand to disperse the people around him, then turned and walked into his house.
"What do you think?" Henry turned his head and looked at Mira again.
"Let's find out." The girl nodded. (To be continued.)
