The quietest place in the whole of Kingsbridge is probably this little tent where Giarold lives. It was under the piers of the King's Bridge, and all it could receive was the sound of the beautiful Blue Mist River.

"I heard that when the Blue Mist River was first discovered by the first wave of colonists who came here, there was a blue mist evaporating on the surface of the river, hence the name. Rolf crossed his hands and looked at the river.

James sat in the corner of the tent and didn't say anything, just looked down at the yellow cotton cloth on the ground.

Rolf glanced at him, and his mustache twitched. "Little brother James, stop being angry about what you just did. I explained to everyone that you threatened me with a sword for a reason, but they didn't listen......"

"Not this thing. James turned his head.

"What's that? Is there anything about the girl named Constance?" Rolf touched the back of his head. "The robbers took her to the lair, and even did some terrible things to her, so that it would be half stupid not to go crazy. Constance must have been insane, and regarded the person who saved her as the one who ravaged her, so he made such a play. ”

"Why ......" James picked up a pebble from the cotton. "Why would anyone else believe that mayor of Nebros rather than me?"

"Uh...... If I were a spectator, I would also like to trust someone with more authority, rather than an unknown or unfamiliar adventurer. Rolf also sat on the ground, looking at James face to face. "You think, one is the most powerful high-ranking official in Kingsbridge, the other is just an ordinary adventurer, and the person accusing you is an ordinary resident who has been in Kingsbridge since birth, and the level of trust is immediately clear. ”

James turned his head and glanced at him.

"Ahem......" Rolf felt as if he had said something wrong, and quickly coughed a few times in embarrassment and closed his mouth.

James looked up at the piers of King's Bridge, his eyes twinkling slightly. The wind that drifted from the river bank was still a little chilly, and the snow fell violently and left quickly, but even then Kingsbridge was covered with a layer of hoarfrost.

"I just...... Helped others a little more. He sighed faintly. "I don't think I'm fit to punish evil and promote good here, or to be a naïve adventurer, and it's better to obediently inherit my million-dollar inheritance. Even if the worst thing happens, and Adain gets the money, I beg him a little harder, and maybe get some hush money or something. ”

"James," a hoarse voice sounded beside him. "Look up at me. ”

"Huh?"

"James, look up at me. Janold held the staff in his hand. Although he said that, his gaze kept falling on the river not far away.

James reluctantly looked up. There was a slight gray stain on Jarnold's blue robe, but that didn't interfere with the awe he felt as he listened to him.

"Why did you come to Kingsbridge?"

James was stunned for a moment. He thought that Giarold had come to reprimand or comfort him.

"I'm here to inherit the inheritance, I'm here to investigate the thief named Adane. ”

"So you want to be like Nebros?"

"It's not bad. He said. "At least people believe in him, not me, a newcomer with little experience. James picked up another pebble from the ground and threw it into the river. The small stones created a wonderful ripple on the surface of the river, which spread out in all directions until it hit the wall.

"But a nobleman like him would not jump out and risk his life to save a girl he didn't know or even met. Janold shifted his staff a little to the right, and his white beard even shimmered with the light of the river. "James, but you did, didn't you?"

"Even if I do, what's the use?" James slammed another stone into the water. "I'm so stupid, I'm so stupid, I shouldn't have helped those people, I should have left Kingsbridge for New Garand as soon as I knew Adamne's clues. Maybe it's not too late then, and maybe I'll be able to catch up with him and get the letter back, and then live my life as I originally planned. ”

"What is your life? James, has your life been living in a castle to eat, drink, and be merry?"

"Yes, yes, that's how I should live, I just should eat, drink and be merry every day!" James jerked to his feet. "Look at those people outside, look at the inhabitants of Kingsbridge now! If it weren't for your strength, they would have dragged me out into the streets and beheaded me, absolutely! But those nobles, those nobles who fornicated with robbers, made black money, enjoyed all the glory and wealth, and yet could sit in their own yards and do nothing, and then watch the blood of the people who really paid for it! This is what they are going to do, this is the life I could have had soon!"

"So you want to be like that?"

"Humph!" James lifted the tent and pointed to a large courtyard not far away. "See? A little mayor of Kingsbridge owns such a luxurious house, and I, a nobleman with a fortune of more than a million, probably owns much more than that. Why should I be the kind of fool who sheds blood and sacrifices but doesn't get anything?"

Suddenly, several people fell silent.

The wind blew softly and then quickly dissipated. James's cry of helplessness spread out as lightly as the wind, and there was not even a ripple of water on the surface of the river. What a small pebble can do, his voice full of anger and unwillingness can't do.

The weight of his words was not as heavy as the stones he picked up under the piers.

"James......" Giarold stepped forward, revealing his old back. "I have lived for almost 100 years, and I don't know any important, lofty philosophies of life, and I have never read those ancient books, but I know some things clearly. ”

He turned, and James kept his head down, not looking at him.

"Do you know what it is?"

James shook his head slightly.

"When you are dying, you will suddenly realize that the real memories of your life are all those things that were not understood, regarded as wrong and sinful. ”

A few white, unnamed birds flew over the river. Perched on top of the fanged stone griffons of the King's Bridge, they easily but unwittingly trampled the glory of Vasilia under their feet.

"James, how many faces do you remember when you think back to all the things that happened this morning, the people who randomly weaved through the crowd and threw their fists at you?"

James shook his head softly again.

"Then let me ask you, in the eyes of the entire Kingsbridge civilians, did they do it wrong?" Giarnold stroking his beard with his right hand and snorted coldly. "I'm afraid they don't even know what they're doing? Indeed, they don't make any mistakes in the eyes of others, but they also don't mean anything. These people live their whole lives, only repeating the thoughts of others, repeating the thoughts of those whom they believe to be superior to themselves. They believe everything they say without any choice, and they imitate everything they do without any choice. James, use your brain and think about it, these people only have independent bodies, but they share an ugly soul!"

James moved his slightly trembling gaze from the pitch-black earth to Janod's wrinkled face. Pressed by those wrinkles, but never able to hide their brilliance, are a pair of vicissitudes of life but wise and firm eyes.

"Did you do something wrong? James, did you not become a nobleman, so everything you did was in vain?Is your so-called mistake a violation of your own conscience, or is it a violation of the rules made by those whom you dislike and whom you dislike?" he took a few steps forward, getting closer and closer to James. "Tell me, did you save Constance? I don't think you are, you saved your adventurous and kind heart. In terms of intrigue and deceit, you will never be as good as those nobles, but I have never met a better fit to be a great magician. ”

He held out his hand.

"If you still consider me a master, please continue to learn a higher level of magic from me. I don't want you to have a lot of money or a lot of power, I just want you to look inside you and see if you live there as a nobleman with a fat brain or a vigorous and energetic adventurer. ”

James turned his head and wiped a handful of tears from the corner of his eye.

"It's so humiliating, I didn't cry like that in the first battle. He then turned around and placed his right hand on Jarnold's. "Master, you will always be my master! I don't want to be a nobleman anymore, I want to be the greatest magician in the entire exile kingdom...... No, the greatest hero!"

Time stopped for a moment. Janod coughed a few times, then laughed. Even Rolf, who was sitting on the sidelines, burst out laughing. The laughter alarmed the unknown birds who stepped on the stone statues, and one by one they flapped their wings and flew into the clear blue sky.

James has never felt so happy, and he has never felt so relieved. Since the inheritance can never be pursued, the dream of the nobility is far away from him. He remembered the high expectations of the villagers for him, and he was even more determined to become a hero. Good deeds are not for a reason, but only to obey one's conscience. James didn't want to be in the crowd, to be part of a large group of unsung residents. In order to realize his own meaning, in order to find something that can truly distinguish his own soul from other souls, James chooses: "I do my own thing".

—————————— Dividing Line——————————

If you want to see James's blackening plot, I will update it from time to time, so stay tuned. (This is where James' blackening plot and the main plot separate, and he didn't figure it out that time, and still just wanted to be a brutal aristocrat.) ）

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