Conan stood with his sword in one hand and his other at his waist as he stood there and sighed.

With the advance of the North Sea War and the arrival of the second winter, even the city of Waruno, known as the "State of Peace", could no longer guarantee its transcendent status, and after a hurried round of summer rations, the immigrants who had moved out of the city in the early years moved back.

And those who returned with one of them, of course, there were three barons who came to enclosure together with last year.

It's just that at this time, they no longer lived together as they did when they first came, but they had various circles, and although a short spring and summer time had not yet made them completely abandon their past friendships, they had also added a few more lives.

Mitchelson and Montgomery were married to several nobles in the North Sea early, and although the process was a little hard, they couldn't find a good match for them when they first arrived, but in the end they still climbed into the second daughter of an earl and the eldest daughter of a knight.

They were sitting on a rich fief and a great prospect, and the local nobility had connections and savings, and this marriage was beneficial for both parties.

For a lord, there is nothing more important than developing and strengthening his family. Especially young people like them, who have just come out with shallow roots, if something happens to them and they don't have a reasonable heir, then their family's previous investment in them and all the hard work they have put into them will be meaningless, and they can only be used as a dowry for others.

After busy with their own marriage, the two did not forget to find one for their little brother at first, and after the initial experience, the two of them even teamed up to find the eldest daughter of an earl's family for Conan, and it is also an old earl with many children and a powerful family, and it is very likely that he will not know when he will have the opportunity to ascend to the throne of the duke (Count Chea).

They thought they had done a great thing, but they didn't think that Conan rejected him because he was too young, and he didn't even give the two enthusiastic big brothers room to maneuver.

The subsequent steppe cavalry invasion deepened the contradictions between them.

Conan didn't come to inform Montgomery of a possible defense, and he didn't ask Mitchelson for help.

Although there were factors of urgency at that time, an irreparable rift was really erected between the three of them.

So much so that when winter came again, except for the occasional meeting at a few meetings, they had a lot less personal friendship.

Because Vidia was only a half-old kid after all, Jose decided to temporarily train Montgo as his deputy, while Mitchelson got along with the mayor because of his long sleeves and good dancing.

Amy, on the other hand, had wittingly or unintentionally brokered the four of them who had first come to the Northlands, but they no longer had any common language.

Möngke spends his days wandering between taverns and mercenary clubs, where he seems to have discovered his new life, while Mitchelson, with William's help, has his own small building in the city center for twenty years.

Of course, even so, Conan doesn't care about all this, he also has his own things to do.

For example, attending the funeral of the old mayor.

The old man, who gave everything for the town, finally ended his rough life on a snowy night.

To the many new faces of the city, they did not feel very familiar with this old man, as if he were just a famous squire, who always had to show his face in some inconspicuous place whenever there was an important event in the town.

But for some of the old residents who were born in Valuno, he is more like a kind of memory and symbol for the town of Valuno.

Everyone knows that the town was defended by reinforcements brought in by the knights of José, but few remember that the mistress of the Duke of Connaught was the youngest daughter of Mayor Joyce.

Everyone saw the current mayor Hams build and lead the city to prosperity, but they didn't know that it was Mayor Joyce who originally used the lives of his three sons to establish the status of the commercial dock here.

In short, the city ended up with less of a living legend and more of a tombstone with a story.

The mayor of the town was buried by Vidia himself, and even his father, José, did not intervene too much in this matter.

The thirteen-year-old boy used his not broad shoulders to shovel away a piece of frozen soil that was enough to put down the coffin.

To him, Joyce was as important a relative as his grandfather.

The scale of the funeral is not large, and everything is simple. It was only a few hundred steps from the mayor's hut to the cemetery in the open space west of the city. A few young men from the town were hired and carried over.

The town's gray-haired stonemason pushed away his already skilled son and his two apprentices, and carved a stone tablet for Joyce with only one sentence written on it.

When he first arrived, it was just a farmstead, and by the time he died, Valuno had become a rising commercial town in the Northlands. ”

If the old man still has knowledge under the nine springs, he must be happy.

Because this in itself is a portrayal of his life's work for him, as for his generosity, impatience and righteousness, there is no need to write about it at all.

Oh yes, he's still a lord of the Empire.

But it doesn't matter. Importantly, he was the first supreme administrator of the city of Valuno.

This was not canonized by the king or emperor, but a career that he had done steadily.

No one paid him a word, but he did it better than anyone else.

Conan's only impression of this old man is probably still stuck in the early morning chat when he first arrived.

That's because he just thinks that although this old man is kind, he is somewhat pedantic.

In retrospect, he was indeed childish and ridiculous.

There is nothing good in the winter in Valuno, but the people of Valuno, who love beauty, sometimes collect some flowers in spring and summer, dry them, and put them on their balconies to decorate the windows in winter.

When the old man was just buried, his tombstone was bare, and only Vidia carefully placed a flower on it.

But when he passed by again three days later, he could not believe that it was still the grave of the old man, for it had become a sea of flowers, blooming in a withering manner in the midst of this winter.

Conan only felt ashamed that he had carried Vidia to the old man's tombstone that morning, just to check if the flower was still there.

He had gone to great lengths to get one of the same, fearing that his friend would feel uncomfortable if the flower of Vidia was taken by some bear child.

It was after returning to his lodgings that early that morning that he made up his mind to learn swordsmanship from Vidia.

Although they had lived together for a long time, they had nothing to do with each other.

"Enough is enough! Vidia, will I not be able to surrender to you?"

"Okay, when you get to the battlefield, just tell the Wiegand people, tell the steppe people, anyway, you are proficient in the four Chinese, and communication is not difficult for you." ”

Vidia's words undoubtedly gave Conan a dose of fierce medicine, although he has always regarded himself as a person who is not easily provoked, but as a nobleman of the empire, he definitely cannot bear such humiliation.

He still made an expression on his face that he would fall at any time, his hand hung down softly, and the sword hung on the ground as if it was quite weak, but there was a faint flash of essence in his eyes.

Vedia looked at Conan's listlessness, and he seemed a little uninterested. His left hand hung down weakly, but his right hand barely grasped the wooden hilt of the sword, and he walked in the direction of Conan as he normally walked.

When he approached Conan's distance of about three meters, he suddenly changed and protruded, Conan tightly grasped the hilt of the wooden sword with both hands, rushed over, and smashed against Vidia's figure, not so much to win the game, but to find an opportunity to vent.

Vedia looked at Conan, who was imposing but actually disorganized, and frowned slightly.

Whatever the reason for the companion in front of him, in his eyes, it was an act of dishonor, and if he could find a good opportunity, he always had to correct the matter.

It is difficult for a knight to make a name for himself, but if he wants to lose face, it only takes a small gesture.

But now, he doesn't have time to put those big truths on his lips.

Even though he was stronger than Conan, the one-handed sword was no better than the two-handed sword in any case, so the moment Conan decided to pounce, he took a half-step back and took a long breath.

That's the difference between a veteran and a newbie.

Conan's whole body was focused on the blade in his hand, and Vidia, in addition to focusing on Conan's upper body, focused on his scattered steps.

No matter how big the difference between the two sides is, a good swordsman will always pick the most effortless and effective way to defeat his enemy.

The so-called lion fighting rabbit is exactly such a truth.

In order to learn this, José Knight lost half of his calf, and it is still a slope, although no one dares to look down on him for this, but he himself is deeply affected by it.

Eventually, before Conan's fifth swing fell, Vidia suddenly heard his heavy breathing.

No matter what the circumstances, a person is the weakest time in his body.

Vidiadam immediately turned defense into offense, and with a straight stab, he forced Conan to a dead end.

Although the tip of the wooden sword stopped firmly on Conan's chest, Conan himself was unstable and fell directly to the ground.

"That's all for today. Vidia said.

Conan sat on the ground in a dazed state and nodded.

"Good. ”

The place where two people practice fencing is a small bunker, and it is the tradition of the Great Prus to practice fencing in such a special training ground.

Vidia casually threw the wooden sword on the side of the bunker, but instead of coming out of the exit, the man stepped over the railing in twos and threes.

Conan looked at Vedia's departing figure, suddenly grabbed a handful of sand from the sand and threw it at his back.

"Wait for me, I'll be able to fight you sooner or later! ”

And Vidia's reply was much simpler, he didn't even look back, just shook his hand behind him and said

"Then, Lord Conan, who doesn't know where the future is, I'll wait for you here. ”

His mind is by no means as simple and clear as it seems.

As news of the Empire's victories poured in from the front, his mood grew heavier.

He turned over and mounted a group of horses he had tied to the side of the street, and galloped around the city of Valuno.

I don't know when he felt that only horseback was his proper home, including for himself, riding a horse was more than all pleasure.

After all, the Knight of Jose was a man who had served in the Imperial Knights, and with a son's knowledge of his father, he would certainly not bear to stay in Valuno and watch the Imperial Legion fight the Wiggans.

Even if he knows what kind of opponent he will face.

Even if he knew that the outcome of this war was a certain defeat.

Vedia's horse galloped under his crotch, and in a short time he came to the only tavern in town.

This place has recently received a lot of businessmen, the owner of the store makes a lot of money, is preparing to expand the scale of the hotel to a circle, but has been suffering from the hotel before and after the residents are permanent residence, the expansion of things is afraid that it is not easy to do, so I have to change a new signboard, in which a few new tables and chairs from the south have been added, and the right is to do the hardware upgrade inside.

In addition to the merchants, the mercenaries who opened next door to the hotel were the tavern's biggest customers.

The economic benefits brought by the prosperity of caravans, they can also enjoy a lot, the merchant makes money, and is naturally willing to hire a few more mercenaries to ensure the safety of his goods and himself, after all, unless it is forced by life, who wants to tie his head around his neck every day to make money?

In this way, after coming and going, the merchants who came to the mercenaries learned to recruit people in the tavern, but the mercenary association was a bit of a crowd.

Even Vidia recruits people directly at the door of the tavern.

Walking through the newly made spruce signboard, the only guy and owner in the store greeted Vidia. The knight of José is also a more or less important figure in the city of Valuno, and his youngest son must of course be taken care of.

"Master Vidia! What do you want today, pale beer? I've opened a new barrel today, and if you want to save face, I'll give you a cup to try. ”

Vedia had come to find his father's whereabouts so that he could talk to him about the Imperial Army, but when he smelled the pale beer, his eyes straightened.

He also learned this winter for the first time, and at the moment he was a little fascinated by this alcoholic drink, why couldn't he come to two glasses to slow down??

So he took the glass full of wine, took a sip, and asked casually

"Uncle Greene, have you ever seen my father today?"

Everyone