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On the last short stretch of Corey Conrad's long climb toward the coast, small villages and hotels begin to pop up more and more along the way.
Somewhat unbelievably, the terrain here does not simply go down, but has a ridge with a not particularly steep slope, and then slopes all the way to the east. This kind of terrain is not as rare as people think. In fact, the fundamental reason why this winding road in Cory Conrad has become the only main road leading to the dock in Thoradin is still local. Because of the complex mountain terrain.
The entire Thoradin Highlands are essentially composed of a part of the protruding mountains of the Tambur Mountains. The rolling hills and complex mountainous terrain are similar to those in the south of Avenella. The long and winding road that the Coriconrads spent many years clearing was chosen to develop in areas with relatively gentle terrain. Coming out, if a vertical road is opened directly, there will be many obstacles on the way.
But despite the efforts of those who originally built the trail to avoid overly rough parts, some areas are unavoidable. As a rare area with a name among the many nameless places on this nameless road-Ellen Slope, a small hillside only tens of kilometers away from the coastline, is the most famous place on the entire main road, and the reason why it is Famous, but still associated with a bloody history no different from any other area on the West Coast.
Allen Poe, from the place where we first came into contact with our story, the name of Allen's Fort on the Avenella side has exactly the same pronunciation. We can see that this is actually the place where refugees came from in ancient times. Here, the immigrants of Avenella built a small settlement village locally.
The name Allen originally came from the Steen pirates from the four northern islands. In the language of the northerners, it refers to a tall and handsome person, but after many centuries of evolution, in the dialect of Avenella, Allen became a higher-lying area, and inspired by God. The name of the place - this coincides with the philosophy of the White Church. The higher the place, the closer to the gods. Naturally, this common feature does not bring a good future to the local immigrants.
The Avenella people are all mountain people. To a certain extent, their national character has more in common with the nomads on the other side of the grassland than with other west coast people.
This is also the real reason why the beliefs of the White Church have not become popular in this small country. They can accept the traditional polytheistic beliefs of the Acasta Plain area, but they require restrictions everywhere and even have to pray three or four times a day. The white Holy See, this kind of "elegance" from the prosperous Laman Empire, is really not suitable for the taste of these simple and sturdy Avenella civilians.
From the perspective of a traditional Avenella people who have not been overly educated, they can understand fighting and plundering for land and resources; but for the sake of ignorance, the so-called is just a symbolic meaning, just because of this slope. If it is relatively high, it must be occupied to build a church. This is simply unreasonable.
They have been operating here for several decades and have developed a village of dozens of households that is almost enough to become a town. But the people from the White Church rushed over with great force. The superior regional bishop took out a piece of paper that no one could understand and told them that they must demolish their houses to make room for the church and provide people to help. Help build—of course, for the glory of God, this all must be free.
The simple and upright mountain people naturally refused to accept the inexplicable and plundering, and the bloody conflict that followed ended without any suspense with the well-equipped and numerous White Church gaining the upper hand. The battle was bloody and brutal, and the result was a long stretch of slope across the Corikonrad region, and no village of this size has ever been built since.
The defeated Ellenpo Aboriginal people suffered heavy casualties, and all the strong men among dozens of families died in the battle. The church sent a large number of troops to ensure that they would never dare to resist again, and then ordered the surviving villagers, men, women, and children, to help mine limestone to build the great church.
Excessive labor and abuse have repeatedly reduced the number of villagers who were already exhausted.
But this "victory" was blown up to the sky within the White Church of that year. The big figures in the Ellenpo area church stood tall and proud, straightening their backs as if they had restored the glory they had before losing to the Yetina Sect—— It wasn't until they and the large army of nuns, monks, and priests stationed in the interior could not meet even the most basic needs, and their stomachs were growling with hunger but they couldn't find any food, that they belatedly began to reflect.
Without population, there is no trade; without trade, there are no supplies.
In the eyes of the church's high-ranking clergy, businessmen are a low-level, shameful profession, and naturally they disdain to communicate with these people. Businessmen passed by time and time again and were severely rejected by them, and all kinds of things that were eaten daily within the church were purchased or recruited from farmers' homes. After the church's advance troops in the Ellenpore area drove away every farmer through massacre and torture, they suddenly realized that no one would grow food, raise livestock, or do a series of other chores for them.
The noble knights could not farm, so they had to go hungry and continue their daily training. The church had no choice but to send monks and nuns into the mountains to pick fruits. However, how could these things compare to the satiety that meat brought - the stomach could not be filled, and discipline began to loosen.
After several incidents in succession, the knight captain of the regional church took a group of people to hunt wild deer and wild boar barbecue with spears and horses to satisfy their hunger. The scandal could not be covered up no matter what, and the regional bishop was informed by the higher-ups. , was dismissed as a matter of course.
The new bishop who took office later enacted many measures to restore relations. He reduced the local garrison and no longer refused the presence of merchants. He even welcomed farmers to live here. These measures, together with opening up fields behind the church and raising chickens, have barely saved the church. Although it has not grown to a particularly large level, it is still considered the largest on this slope. A place where the Holy See has influence——
The horses' hooves kicked up a lot of dust. A group of five people, all mounted on war horses and neatly armored guardian knights, slowly approached the village of Ellenpo.
This was naturally our sage group. After successfully persuading the young knight captain Mikhail, they disguised themselves, removed the equipment from the fallen guardian knights and replaced them, covering their hair with helmets. His appearance and face did not arouse any suspicion at all, just walking on the road in plain sight.
The armors issued by the church were not completely close to the body. Although their height of nearly 1.7 meters barely qualified, the two smaller girls were obviously incompatible with these armors designed for men. Fortunately, it has cotton armor as an inner lining, so it doesn't look empty and fluttering around. Henry was a little more troublesome. His excessive height meant that these armors did not fit completely, but after burying the ten dead knights, he pieced together and finally found a suit that he could wear.
Of course, Mikhail did not completely trust this group of people, but he could not beat Henry and Joshua again and again, was restrained by the other party, and there was indeed doubt in his mind.
After putting on disguise and wrapping up tightly, even if you meet ordinary farmers on the road again or openly go to supply stations and hotels to buy supplies, you will no longer arouse any suspicion.
Although it was heavier and muggier than the plate armor, in this state, for more than a week, several people were finally able to get a good night's sleep.
After eating and drinking, taking a good rest and taking a bath in the mountain stream, they were completely reborn. This time they went to the church in Allen Slope. Of course, what they wanted to do was to expose this. Everything, so that the mastermind behind the scenes can be removed from office, creating a real ending.
Henry's understanding of the White Church was beyond the imagination of everyone, including Mira, who was his disciple. After he analyzed the cause of all this for Mikhail in detail, the young man was convinced as expected. Lost in thought.
The commander whom Mikhail had never met was indeed very capable. Combining the facts before and after, they could easily deduce that he was definitely not the regional bishop himself as the instigator - because he was a person who could make such a decision. He would certainly not be so stupid and stubborn that he would try his best to keep the lid closed - no one knew who this person was, the only thing they knew was that he should not be underestimated.
A large number of cheap farmers were sent out to pursue and intercept them. As long as they showed their faces and ran to buy food and other supplies, they would be seen. If they were passed around, their traces would be nowhere to be hidden. After that, the knights who were dispatched as their trump card had been damaged twice before. The regional bishop could only use this last dispatch. In order to make up for the lack of combat power, they chose to secretly He gathered these new knights to form another team.
The formation of the team was probably done by that idiot bishop, because only a person with his status has enough power to mobilize. When Henry analyzed this, Mikhail nodded. Indeed, he and those The first meeting of the dead team members was arranged by the bishop - but the transfer was like this, and the subsequent analysis and arrangements should be the handiwork of the commander.
One light, one dark. The mantis stalks the cicada, followed by the oriole.
The novice team led by the inexperienced novice knight stumbled and did not know how to hide themselves - this team was the scapegoat who threw Henry and the others as bait and deliberately lured them to the bait. The other knight detachment, which is the real killer, the real elite force, is likely to be hiding in the villages along the way based on the witness information of civilians, waiting for the group to come into contact with Mikhail's knight team, The moment when the physical and mental exhaustion reached the extreme and I thought I had defeated the pursuers - with lightning speed, I caught them all in one fell swoop.
This strategy was interconnected without any carelessness, and after the sage saw through it, he made the decision to use the strategy to his advantage. When Mikhail heard Henry talk about this, he couldn't help but feel something in his heart. A trace of doubt: "Then if I decide to fight to death with my companions instead of trying to discover the truth behind all this, what will you choose?"
"Then I will just kill you and pretend to be the knight captain." The sage just shrugged and didn't care about this question, which was considered a loophole in the eyes of the young man. Mikhail was stunned for a while, and then remembered After seeing this man's understanding of the church and his breadth of knowledge, he sighed secretly.
The distance was getting closer, and Ellenpore, as the seat of the church, was naturally ordered to pay attention to it. Several infantrymen of the religious order armed with square shields and spears were patrolling nearby, and the guardian knights were seen from a distance. They waved friendly hands as they rode up.
"Good job patrolling!" Mikhail shouted, a smile appeared on the other person's face, and the five of them continued to move forward.
The Guardian Knights of the White Church are cavalry on horseback. Mira and Henry are okay, but Joshua and Emmanica are completely incapable of fighting on horseback. After all, they could not even ride a horse until a few days ago. No, for now they can only barely ensure that they don't fall down when they sit on the horse and run. Horseback balancing and various equestrian skills are a fantasy for them.
Fortunately, the existence of armor and cloaks played a more or less covering role. Although they were sweating heavily due to the weight and sweltering heat, and their bodies were very stiff due to tension, they finally managed to get through and arrived at the door of the church.
The sky was a little gray, probably the rainy season was coming again, and the two braziers used for lighting at the door of the church were burning brightly. This is indeed a place that has experienced war. The surrounding walls are all made of solid limestone, and only the top is decorated with colored glass.
The moment their feet landed again, the three of them, including Mira, all breathed a sigh of relief. Mikhail took a step forward and lifted up his visor and started talking to the infantry in front. Then because of his anxiety, he The war horse was placed directly at the door and headed inside.
Before entering the church, Henry glanced back. The line of infantry he encountered before seemed to have completed their patrol and was walking towards this direction - he frowned.
"Please take me to the letter room. I have important things to report to Benedict's church headquarters!" A priest came out to receive the group. Mikhail took off his helmet and said to him. After nodding solemnly, the group walked through the slightly dim corridor and began to walk inside.
"..." Henry's eyes hidden under the helmet visor looked around attentively, and his movements did not escape the attention of Mikhail in front. "Keep the formation tight." He whispered, and the other four people turned their heads to look this way curiously.
"We are about to engage the enemy." Henry said, and the next moment the priest in front suddenly speeded up and ran directly into the aisle. "What's going on?!" Mikhail shouted out in confusion, and then the sound of neat footsteps suddenly came from the aisle in front of him. "Ah!" Emmanica shouted in panic. Joshua supported her and approached Henry and Mira. The door at the back was opened again and light was cast in. The infantry team just now held murderous hands. Square shields and spears rushed in all at once.
"Papa pa pa"
"Good one, bring it to the door yourself." Mikhail, who was holding his helmet, was stunned on the spot, while Henry narrowed his eyes slightly and carefully looked at this man who was surrounded by a group of soldiers and knights and walked into the light cast by the roof glass. people. He was wearing the armor of a real knight captain, with a kind smile on his face, but what caught the sage's attention was the distinctive red cloak and the special number above the extra armpit of the left armor.
His eyes were gleaming, and he had obviously figured it all out. There was a hint of surprise in the expression under the mask, but more of it was relief.
"His Excellency Knight Commander Angelo?!" Mikhail seemed to recognize this man. While Henry was thinking about all this, he took a step forward and said: "No, please listen to me explain first. This Everything is your Excellency the regional bishop" - the young man had discussed this issue with the sage before, so now he wanted to explain everything to him immediately - Henry sighed secretly, Mikhail was still too young after all. Tender.
"Heh, do you really think that pedantic old guy can impress me?" The knight commander drew his sword without any hesitation.
"Clang——cha——"
A strand of platinum hair fell to the ground.
A little bit of blood flowed from the shallow wound on the opened cheek. In a flash of lightning, the sage pulled the young knight captain back.
"Tch—" Angelo, with a smile on his face, clicked his tongue. Mikhail was stunned. He wanted to speak, but the other party raised his hand nonchalantly: "These people are all trying to murder the Knights. The impostors of the members, they are all criminals, I hereby order that all of them will be punished on the spot!”
"Click - swish -" A whole row of spears were placed above the shields, and a "click" sounded after the bowstring was tightened at the rear. It was obvious that someone was stringing the crossbow.
"Put on the helmet and protect yourself." Henry said softly to Mikhail. The young man turned back to look at the sage blankly, but except for the pair of blue eyes with no fluctuations in the gap between the cold face armor, Nothing can be seen outside the eyes.
"From now on, our only mission is to survive."
"Get ready to fight!" Angelo put on his helmet, pulled out his sword and raised it high, shouting.
A gust of wind blew in through the door, causing the candles to sway. (To be continued.) Mobile phone users please visit m.read for a better reading experience.
