When Damon returned home, the sky was already dark.
No wonder Upton came looking for him. He was originally going to the market this afternoon to sell dried eels and half-dead oysters for a fish named Tasi. Ta Si is a foreigner who specializes in transporting goods to the Ice Territory for sale. Of course, now thanks to Greenbrier City, his aquatic products can be a little fresher.
After filling my stomach with venison, the black bread and apple pie seemed very unappetizing. The mushroom soup was okay, but Damon hated the onions that went into it. B'Elanna noticed her son's discomfort and served him a plate of mashed potatoes.
Greenbrier City has brought many rare supplies, and the quality of life of the residents of Bonfire Town has improved by leaps and bounds recently. Mayor Morton was very worried about this. He believed that these were unknown foods and that people taking them for themselves was tantamount to stealing. The only legal way is to hand over at least one Black City gold coin to use as payment for the transaction.
It is natural to use money to buy food, but the object of their transaction is Greenbrier City, which is a bit difficult to deal with. There are many well-informed people in Bonfire Town, and they don't know how to pay the mysterious bills. The priest who lived in the chapel suggested that the coins should be thrown into the river, but Sir Conley strongly opposed it. Later, the adults compromised and stipulated that everyone should give the money to Mayor Morton, who would then throw it into the bottom of the river.
The carpenter didn't give anyone money, and he believed no one else would either. Damon heard him tell B'Elanna that if people's bills had to go through Morton's hands, he would rather throw the money into the river for nothing. The man who initiated this damn procedure was none other than the innkeeper, Sir Conrey, who was the worst nobleman the boy had ever seen, as was the name of his inn.
"Since the Radiant Council has not collected payment from us, there is no reason for Morton to cross the Paladin and our lord." Upton never left the lord.
Only now did Damon understand why he was so cheerful. If life fifteen years ago was a nightmare, then the fifteenth year is the dividing line. The daughter of the Duke of Cloverland and a descendant of the Silver Eagle family, Danlfion Lancost was born in that year. As soon as she was born, all nightmares ended.
Damon didn't know what the connection was, but people thought it was Berti's gift. The people of the Ice Territory believe in both good luck and virtue, and their lord does not care about this. Perhaps because the original Holy Knights came with the mission of the Goddess of Light, the suffering civilians could only pray for the blessing of their own gods.
But as far as he knew, there were many children born in the Year of the Burning Shadow, such as his sister Dorothy. Why is Dandelphine Berti’s angel? It was a question he felt he would never understand unless he became a real man, the kind who died for glory at the hands of his enemies rather than on the gallows. To be honest, he wasn't sure he had a chance of being the first.
It was not time to rest after the meal. Damon went out to find work at the market by the river. Thank God, he no longer has to collect pine nuts in the snow. People say that the departure of the Elf Gold Cup brought about the mystery, but now that the Holy Knights have returned to Bonfire Town, the situation has not changed. Regardless of whether he was lying to himself or not, Damon was grateful from the bottom of his heart to the hunter Wittek who sold the gold cup. He was simply more like the incarnation of Berti than the lord.
When we arrived at the arch bridge, the market had already disbanded.
The mark from the slap on Damon's face has not gone away, and he is not sad that he has no work to do. At least no one is laughing at him. The boy was sweating profusely under the setting sun. He climbed over the railing and plunged his head into the water. The townspeople called it the Green River, but Sir Conley said its name was the Black Moon. Damon doesn't care what a creek is called.
There was a clear world under the water, and the boy opened his eyes. There are not many swimming fish here, there are shrimps squirming among the pebbles on the river bottom, and the color of the aquatic plants is almost transparent. The shadows of sailing boats are reflected on the sand, the sunset is brilliant, and the red clouds are as thin as silk mist. The refreshing coolness urged him to jump into the river, but he couldn't do it - Mayor Morton would not allow anyone to enter the water. Everyone knew that he was worried that someone would snatch the coins he threw into the bottom.
But Damon didn't notice any gold coins thrown into the river. The entire creek was so clear that everything people threw down during the market was washed away by the water, leaving nothing behind. It seems that the noble master's calculations are about to come to nothing.
At this time, there were waves of horses neighing from behind. Screams rang out from the crowd, and civilians quickly hid. Damon could tell from the messy footsteps and the clanging sound of metal that this was probably a noble's carriage. Everyone knew that the Earl of Ice had arrived in Bonfire Town, and Daemon didn't know whether this was the lord's car.
Probably not. The coachman did not slow down, and the flag on the long pole was neither Lancaster's silver vulture nor Wiggins' flaming four-leaf clover. There are not many nobles in Bonfire Town, but Damon doesn't recognize the sign above. Maybe it's some declining nobleman.
When thinking about these things, Damon didn't think about hiding. By the time he realized he had to get out of the way, it was already too late. For a moment, his mind flashed back to the gallows in front of the market, the black ax and its shiny blade; the same despair in the eyes of the criminals, and the hot blood on the ground.
A pair of hands rested on his shoulders.
Damon fell completely into the water without any splash. His screams turned into bubbles, and the world in front of him suddenly spun.
The water became thicker.
The carriage whizzed past and the axle wood creaked. Damon's mind went blank, and his hands and feet were scratching in the ripples, but the fragile resistance could not support his body. A stream of water came closer to him, holding the boy's armpits. Daemon floated up in panic.
In the process, his breathing became easier. After realizing he wasn't sinking, Damon found some composure from his panic. Unknown fear surrounded him, and the boy tried his best to use his strength to float up. He could no longer control what had dragged him down, and now began to drive him away. Being completely submerged in liquid is one of the sources of fear for humans after leaving the mother's body. And just when he was about to get out of the water, the sound of horse hooves sounded again from the river bank.
The situation now gives Daimon two possibilities: one is to get out of the water and be dragged to the execution place by the noble lord's guards; the other is to hide under the water and coexist with a mysterious creature who doesn't know what it is. He didn't know which was worse.
Most of the buoyancy disappeared at once, and the mysterious creature in the water made the choice for him.
Damon spat out a string of blisters and finally realized he was breathing air. It seems that the lungs in the body have turned into two fish gills. In short, it is much more adaptable to being underwater than his master. Daemon couldn't swim, and he couldn't help but wonder if all humans were like that. Maybe we already know how to swim. Can we survive in the lake?
"Sir, we don't have much time." When his mind was filled with water and swimming, he heard such a sentence coming from above his head.
This voice was very unfamiliar to Damon, but the one immediately following it was extremely familiar: "No one denies that they have too much time. Master Knight, I have tried my best to cooperate with you. But sometimes things cannot be done with my best efforts." Hunter. His tone was not respectful.
Damon raised his head and saw the hunter's tense cheeks through the glassy water. He was riding on a horse, with knights in mighty armor on his left and right. The armor was a dazzling silver-white color. The boy stared through the water curtain and couldn't help but feel his eyes sting, as if he was looking directly at the sun. Powerful, vibrant light, Daemon had seen them just a few days ago.
At that time, he climbed to the roof and looked down at the Holy Knights of the Council of Light walking through the silent crowd. When the Earl of Ice Land arrived, the townspeople shouted like waves. The people's hatred was clear, but Damon couldn't understand it at that time.
But he understands hunters very well. Regardless of whether Witek deceived him or not, Daemon firmly believed that he had indeed been harmed by the actions of the Radiant Council. Now that these Paladins were walking with the Hunters, the boy would not have thought it was a simple friendly walk.
"Mr. Xia Zuo, you are a mysterious person. You should know that the seriousness of the golden cup is extraordinary. It will not just throw itself into the snow and hand it to someone who may break it."
"I don't know the purpose of the gold cup, nor do I know that it is a mysterious item." Witek replied, "You have found the wrong person."
"No, sir, you misunderstood..."
The sound of hooves and conversation faded away. Stay away from the stone bridge, then stay away from the river bank, until the cooing of pigeons replaces the lingering sound.
Damon finally emerged from the water. After he climbed ashore, he immediately reached out and reached back into the river, but he didn't catch anything. The flowing water followed gravity and left his fingers. The boy hesitated for a moment, then climbed over the railing and followed the direction of the knights' team.
…
There was a clear river flowing in the snow, and Arabella galloped across the stone bridge.
On the way, she turned her head and glanced at the gurgling river, and she couldn't forget the end. This is the Black Moon River, which flows from Bonfire Town.
Mystery is spreading.
"When I return to Venevoise, I will convince the Countess to rebuild Lucia's church." She stared at a black fish passing by in the river.
The listeners are not only the little animals in the mysterious river, but also her knight Jose. He was wearing the armor of the Council, his head wrapped under a cloak and helmet, and he was walking alongside the Priestess.
"The countess will accept it gladly." Jose said muffledly in the wind.
Arabella knew the meaning of his words. Jose is a devout believer in the light. The only reason why he did not become an adjutant was because of his hatred of evil. Many people don't understand that if you can't convince a person from the heart, then physical submission is actually an insult to the gods. The priest knows the truth, but the paladin may not.
What reason did Danlfion have to offer aid? It was we who traded her homeland for the aerial domain of the Morris Mountains. The only thing they didn't expect was that the dwarves of the Oath Keepers Alliance actually allocated the land of the entire mountain range to this small country. The teacher thought about it repeatedly and did not understand the significance of a so-called train.
At the cost of a small piece of useless high altitude, the Sky Tower gained its first land territory and the mysterious land beneath the territory. Arabella believed that even astrologers could not see this far.
"I heard that there was a long dark night in the Frost Moon of the Ice Territory, and Lucia abandoned this place." The white-robed priest looked at the towering black stone city wall in the distance, and his mount began to walk slowly. "It's too unfortunate. Everyone has the right to enjoy the sun and daylight." As soon as she slowed down, Jose raised his rapier, and the paladins slowed down together. The sound of horse hooves first became a little faster than before, and then suddenly dropped.
"We have to clear up the misunderstanding - starting from clearing the name of the Holy Knights."
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