Old Haru had never seen spring in his life, just as a fragile butterfly had never seen winter.

He guarded the gates of the Sea Castle, just like his fathers. As warriors of the Northern Sea Court, these guards come from several former large tribes and now several dukedoms, and are responsible for guarding the capital of the Northern Sea Kingdom, a region that symbolizes the culture of the Great Purus people of the Northland.

They had sworn to guard the royal court forever until the end of their lives, day and night.

Haru was also a fearsome warrior in his youth, wielding two sharpened swords left to him by his father and grandfather, he defeated all his competitors and eventually reached his current position. Captain of the royal guard, the "Sakhalin" (noble warrior) of the Northlands.

But his current situation is not too good, living in an area covered in ice and snow all year round makes his joints age especially fast, not to mention that he is always wearing armor as cold as ice. During the blizzard season, Haru would be sore, and he would not wear armor to kill the enemy, and even walking would be a great burden.

According to tradition, he has long reached the age where he can retire, but the current situation in Beihai can't help but stick to his post. The king had a kind of indifference to this elite army, which was not directly loyal to him, and the convoy had not been replenished with fresh blood for many years, and all new sources were replenished to Orlov's private army. The Beihai Royal Court Guards are like old Haru, and they can barely hold on to their daily mission, but no one knows how long this persistence will last.

After another blizzard, Haru walked to the city gate as usual, and only after two turns, his bones felt as if they were falling apart. Just as he was about to find a random place to rest for a while, a soldier on duty on the lookout came running in a hurry.

"Your Excellency the Guard, I saw a very large convoy at the lookout, and they seemed to be approaching the city gates. ”

Haru frowned a little puzzled, there will not be many convoys coming and going from Sea Castle throughout the year, especially at this time, when the merchants in autumn have just left, and the caravans in winter have not yet arrived, it is not a strange thing to have visitors at this time.

Thinking of this, he held on to the pine wood on the edge of the city wall, and stood up again despite the discomfort on his body. He said in a hoarse but powerful voice.

"Sea Castle is not a city that does not welcome guests, but it is also a fortress and dangerous city, so I will go and meet them for a while, so I will prepare the soldiers of the guards. ”

The soldiers immediately took great strides away, and most of the sentries standing on the city wall also observed the convoy, and the soldiers on the city wall were equipped with their weapons and planted on the top of the city like stakes.

Haru put on his helmet and walked slowly down the tall city wall to the city gate, and now the convoy was still a little bit away from the entrance and exit of the city, because it was still snowing outside the city, and it was not possible to see their flags or the composition of the personnel, but they could vaguely see two men on horseback and a few peasant workers pulling the carts.

This couldn't help but make him feel reassured, this would be at least a big Pruss troop, maybe they were just merchants who didn't know the rules very well.

"Open the door, but don't let your guard down. ”

The soldiers slowly pushed open the wooden gate, although the castle has some signs of disrepair, but the city gate that enters and exits frequently is still well maintained, with some tooth sore sound, the rope that tightly holds the gate is untied, and the fire burning in the city gate hole is swaying, but this seems to be more vigorous outside the city.

Haru lay his body across the gates of the city, ready to interrogate the travelers, but he didn't want to hear the grumbling voices outside the city.

"Alan, I think...... Yesterday's air wasn't so cold, was it?

"Master, you may not know that the Northland is the colder it gets the further north you go...... Ahh

"Thankfully, you had the foresight to put on a few thicker clothes for your soldiers, otherwise it would have been ......."

The grumbling stopped, and Haru faintly heard the sound of something falling to the ground, followed by several sharp swords

"He's sick, and I've thought there's something wrong with Wright. ”

"We can't let him just lie in the car, master. ”

"Then I really thank you, guide, just do your own thing, and don't come here to point fingers. ”

The cold wind was still blowing endlessly, just standing under the city gate for a while, there were several soldiers who were already a little red from the half of their noses exposed from the armor, Haru glanced at his men, and couldn't help but secretly wonder that these soldiers would stay in this ghost place for a while, I don't know if they will freeze their bodies, and they have to let the group of fools outside the city come in quickly

From the familiar and unfamiliar Great Prussian just now, almost all the soldiers identified them as merchants. It was all too common for a merchant from the south, who brought with him some goods that he thought was very good, and a few of his fellow villagers who had come with him to the big places, and spent a little money to hire a guide in the north, and they could see dozens of them a year.

Haru secretly laughed at these merchants in his heart, the goods brought by the merchants in the autumn had already filled the warehouse, and now the Sea Castle had neither the special products they needed as commodities, nor the gadgets they had brought from the south, and the loss was almost completely predictable.

Thinking of this, Haru took a step or two towards the city gate and shouted in a voice full of majesty.

"Stop your quarrels, Merchants, I order you as the captain of the Northland King's City Guard, now, get me in from the outside at once!"

The noise outside the door seemed to have become a little louder, and Haru was still very satisfied with his loud roar, and there was no doubt that the merchants were frightened by themselves again, and they were like a pack of poor rats, cowering and hiding not far from the door.

After about three or four seconds, the blizzard finally came to hear again, and it sounded like one of those peasant soldiers from the south.

"Kind sir, please give us a moment, one of our companions has fainted, and we don't have the spare manpower to replace him......"

Old Haru knew a little in his mind that this redneck from the south was going to instruct him to work for a group of merchants, which made him feel a little angry, but at the same time he was amused by his truth, after all, he had not heard such a funny joke for a long time.

Naturally, the proud Northland warriors didn't go back to their lowly porters, and they let out a few laughs, as if something funny had happened, and Haru turned back to keep the soldiers in order a little, and shouted at the peasant soldier half-jokingly and half-seriously

"Just throw him in the snow, and if he is still saved, he should crawl towards the fire. ”

There was no movement on the side of the caravan again, and in the midst of the snowstorm, the two men on horseback climbed down from their horses, as if they were rearranging their work, and were going to find a way to transport the people in themselves.

They seemed to be efficient, and before Haru's patience was completely exhausted, the leader of the "caravan" had already gone under the city gates.

The man was dressed in a rather thick and decent animal skin coat, with an obvious layer of iron armor inside, and he was more like a nobleman from somewhere than a merchant.

This caused Haru to change his attitude a little, and his eyes began to change from ridicule and ridicule to solemnity. A nobleman who doesn't know where he came from, and who also carries weapons.

"Wait, since you're not a businessman, you have to tell us who you are before I can let you in. ”

The man wrinkled his nose slightly, so that his face could regain his ability to move a little, so that his face could turn purple from the cold.

"Honorable Captain of the Guard, you guessed right, I am not a merchant, but a messenger of the Duke of Darao, and you may call me a knight of Parud. As he spoke, Parud pulled out from his bosom a rather intricately decorated noble seal, on which was engraved a beast that resembled a wolf and a fox, which was the emblem of the Duke of Malta's family.

Haru and his soldiers took a breath. In fact, Haru did not recognize these strange medals, and he did not understand why those southerners, who were so fond of such flashy things, naturally had never seen the medal, but he also had no reason to stop a large Prussian nobleman from entering the city, so he only made a symbolic inspection, and let these people into the city wall

"Ride...... Spa ...... Ludo. You and your men can find a place to rest here for a while, and I can't stop you from entering the Sea Castle, but I'm not sure if the king wants to see you. ”

For Harulai, the somewhat inexplicable words of Parud and knight were somewhat tongue-twisting, although they were all pronunciations that he could often hear, but now the words that were cobbled together made him feel that he could not understand them.

Fortunately, the knight in front of him did not pursue these things, but showed a slight smile very restrainedly. He looked back at an attendant who had completely wrapped himself in animal skins for warmth, and said rather leisurely, "It's okay, I can wait." ”

As the soldiers rushed to the stall, Haru invited Parud to wait for him to warm up in a room with a stove, but for some reason, the attendant, who had not said a word, followed closely.

Haru looked at Parud with some confusion, as if he was urging him to teach his servant a lesson, but Parud didn't seem to understand Haru's hint at all, just patted the snowflakes on his body, and said with a smile: "This is really a damn ghost, if it weren't for your fire to entertain us, I don't know what to do." ”

Fortunately, when the unruly servant came into the house, he only found a corner in the room to keep warm, and if he didn't have anything else to do, he did anything superfluous, as if he were really hiding here to make a fire.

Haru took off his helmet and placed it on the wooden floor in the corner of the room, making a "clang" sound. Knight Parud glanced at the helmet and couldn't help but admire.

"You've really given me a glimpse of what the Northlands are, and it would be a great honor to have the opportunity to fight alongside you. ”

The head of the guard smiled, and split a weed-like beard in half, and he took a glass of ale that had been warmed on the table, took a sip of water, and replied

"Your god in the south, and you like warriors?"

Parud was stunned for a moment, his face was full of doubts and puzzles, just as the conversation between the two Rao fell into an embarrassing season, the attendant who was hiding by the fire suddenly spoke, I don't know if it was the snowstorm outside that blocked his nose, the waiter's voice always sounded a kind of humming nasal.

"My lord, the warriors of the North Sea Kingdom have their own set of independent beliefs, a creature they call the 'Spirit of the North'. There are also people who call them the Old Gods. ”

Although the squire interjected somewhat inappropriately, at least the obstacle to conversation between the two was resolved, and the knight of Parud picked up the liquid in front of him, and said as he prepared to drink it like Haru

"Sardin also admires brave people, no matter what region people hate warriors......?

In the middle of speaking, Parud had to stop. The liquid in front of him made him feel a little uncomfortable, and it tasted like some wine, but it was different from the sweetness of grapes, the freshness of barley, and a kind of blazing thorn monkey that did not come up, and he desperately wanted to spit out what was in his mouth, but he felt that it was really rude to do so, so he was forced to interrupt his words, and slowly took this sip of the spirit in his mouth, and swallowed it slowly.

Haru wanted to take Paroud's words and continue, but a warrior arrived outside the house where they were talking, and he rushed in with a kind of arrogance that was empty-eyed.

The armor he carries is similar to that of the guards of the Guard, but unlike the swords they carry, the warrior carries a short axe at his waist.

The warrior snorted at Haru with disdain, then took out the axe from his waist, threw it on the table where Parud was drinking, and said rudely, "You are a knight from the south, I have a question for you." I heard your head give himself a new name, Emperor of Xinjiang, or the king of the whole Great Prussia, who taught him that? Did he ask everyone in the land? No! Unfortunately, I heard that he was only a twelve or thirteen-year-old child when he inherited the throne, well, at the age of two or three, I liked to dream, but didn't he have his mother to wake him up?"

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