Gone, all gone. Standing on the ruins of a vast castle, Rafael Kaslut sighed full of regret and loss. The memories of his boyhood and youth, as well as the accompanying love and hatred, have all become a thing of the past along with this ruins.
Whether it is the city gate tower decorated with various sculptures and reliefs and lined with family flags; or the once bustling suburban towns and residential areas, they have been submerged in a field of wild and overgrown grass and the ruins of repeated fires. space; not even the street can be seen.
At this moment, Rafael, as the commander of the cavalry regiment, could only order the engineering brigade and temporary auxiliary company accompanying the army to clear a temporary passage to the interior of the castle; next, the castle with several remaining walls The ruins of the castle were their first choice for camping for the night.
When the camping arrangements began to be made, the smoke from cooking stoves rose up from the temporarily cleared city gate; more and more skeletons were excavated from under the weeds and broken bricks, and then were picked up by the armed monks accompanying the army. After a requiem mass was held, the body was buried in a newly dug pit.
This is also one of the lessons accumulated during the march, mainly to reduce the probability of abnormal changes occurring at night; although this kind of abnormality that accidentally revives in the wild may be easily dealt with by even a trained soldier, but for ordinary soldiers accompanying the army, The civilian husband was quite frightened.
However, just after most of the cleaning in this large castle was completed. Rafael, who had just inspected the incomplete city wall and set up defense lines and sentries, received another report from the patrols and investigators on the outside: "Did you find any traces of someone's activity?"
Then, he rode his horse to the hills to the west of the castle; and in the forest glade shaded by the trees, there was a large area of vegetable patches and thorn hedges reclaimed by humans; some were planted here and there, Pork root, kale and squash vines that don't look to be doing very well.
Between the field ridges, there were some abandoned wooden farm tools and water containers, as well as messy footprints; obviously, the previous arrival and approach of the ranger sentries had alarmed some people who were working. However, Rafael couldn't help but feel a little happy in his heart.
Compared with the miserable conditions and tragedies he had seen along the way, it was obvious that a group of people who were willing to work to support themselves were so valuable! Therefore, on the one hand, he ordered his subordinates to stop their troops and drums to avoid scaring the other party; on the other hand, he followed the traces that led deep into the forest.
Led by the hunter scout who was the best at searching for traces in the army, Raffel easily eliminated the signs and crude traps that were obviously used to mislead and confuse the eyes and ears; he walked through the forest and came to the edge of a river; And a corner of the building is exposed in the dense forest on the other side.
On the sandy land on the shore, some wet footprints have not yet dried. Therefore, following Raphael's order, the members of the scout team took off most of their burdens, leaving only a light hardwood shield, and began to wade towards the other side, slowly pushing forward.
However, just as they boarded the other side one after another and formed a warning formation, many cold arrows were suddenly shot out from the forest, and they were nailed to the wooden shields raised by the soldiers and stuck diagonally in the sand at their feet. inside. However, this strengthened their determination to advance.
Because the experienced scout captain has seen that these arrows are all fired by light hand crossbows or simple hunting bows; and judging from the arc and angle of the launch, as well as the penetration strength, they are all obviously powerful. Not enough to fill it up. Therefore, the pace of sprinting was accelerated.
Therefore, after a while, they found several low-quality wooden bows that had been hastily discarded; there were also faint screams and screams coming from the building not far away, and the sound of heavy objects being hurriedly moved to block the door. Immediately afterwards, this small monastery-like building was surrounded.
However, when he saw this small monastery with his own eyes, which had an extremely simple appearance and was severely dilapidated in many places, Raphael couldn't help but feel nostalgic and familiar. Because he suddenly remembered himself as a boy, as if he was brought here one night by his adoptive father, the old knight.
Then, under the only intact mosaic mural of "The Virgin Embracing Christ"; I met my biological father for the first time. He is also the most prominent local figure, the revered and revered master of Liege Castle, a marquis dressed in black and with a carved face and eyes like an eagle.
The Marquis of Liege, as its name suggests, is a lowland city originating from the Southern Netherlands and once belonged to the Count of Zeeland. Because the ancestor of the Marquis of Liège was once one of the generals of the Flanders Army. He made great contributions in the Northern War and was rewarded with this city as a fief;
Although the descendants of later generations gradually changed from the nobility with swords (military honors) to the nobility with ribbons (civilian officials) because they were closer to the royal family, and became the famous judge family in the kingdom, they still used the lowland fief title. Even the title of the family castle passed down through the ages.
The contemporary Marquis of Liege is also a border circuit judge; he is mainly responsible for the adjudication of all civil and criminal proceedings in the Flanders Army defense zone, and even the responsibility of military trials. Therefore, being able to become a servant and vassal of his family is simply the dream of most people in this county.
His destiny took a completely different path. Therefore, at this moment, Rafael stepped forward like a ghost, and slowly touched an inconspicuous engraving on the outer wall; it was a mark that he thought his adoptive father, the old knight, would meet again in the future.
However, the next moment, amid the howling wind above his head and the exclamations of the soldiers around him, Rafael only had time to lift up his sword with its scabbard, and then he was thrown heavily to the ground. Amidst the roars and scoldings, Rafael, who was knocked to pieces, could see the other party clearly.
It was an attacker wearing a pot-shaped helmet with a honeycomb face, and his whole body was covered in light plate and chain armor; almost half of his body was pressed against Rafael, and a short, short five-finger sword was pressed against him. But Rafael yelled in a vicious tone from his unprotected chest and neck;
"Damn bandit leader, you are my prisoner, why don't you let them all retreat quickly?"
However, when Rafael heard this voice, his whole body froze as if struck by lightning. Then he glanced at the five-fingered sword pressed against his chest and spat out a few words with difficulty from his mouth in disbelief: " Is that you, Countess Farnese?"
This time, it was the other person's turn to freeze. Then he opened the iron mask with one hand, and immediately revealed a short-haired female face who was also surprised. She asked in a tone as if she had seen a ghost: "A squinty-eyed boy from the country?" "A black-tailed fox... Lafayette" you?"
However, after hearing these words, the tense atmosphere of the confrontation, as if facing a formidable enemy, suddenly relaxed a lot; one person even burst out laughing on the spot. Because even the most stupid person can see the relationship between Rafael and the attacker.
That's all for now
(End of chapter)
