Heading south from the snowy stables, if you take care of the horses, you will be able to see large expanses of farmland in about ten minutes, with crops in squares of two to three hundred feet, scattered at both ends of the gravel paved road. They are mostly made up of hardy crops such as wheat, corn, soybeans, etc., and occasionally one or two farmers can be seen working in the fields, but their numbers seem to be slightly insufficient, and even in the most fertile land in the sky, there are still a few fields that are slightly barren.

The faint aroma of ripening crops fills the breeze and the horseshoes make a crisp sound as they crash against the gravel road. From time to time, birds and finches flutter through the fields, chirping.

"This is Pedagia Farm, one of the big farms with snow. It was jointly formed by more than a dozen large and small farmers, and basically half of the grain sold by Xueman was provided by them. The other share is provided by the two families of War Mania and Greymane in the Snow Man's Territory. Anche pointed to the endless golden yellow in front of her and explained to Alice.

After a delay of half a day, Alice's learning talent finally came into play. Although the movement is still a little stiff, the rope on the leg can be untied. Fortunately, the lord's order did not seem to be urgent, and even when Alice was gradually able to pick up the speed, Anche did not express dissatisfaction.

"It's a huge farm. Alice nodded slightly, her gaze casually wandering the fields. Occasionally, he would make eye contact with a farmer, and immediately bow respectfully as a sign of respect.

"But there's always a feeling of being stretched thin. Is it because of the robbers?"

"Not robbers. Anche shook his head, his short black hair shaking with the horse's jolting. "If the Snow Man Guard was so incompetent, it would be impossible for the Lord to sit in the palace so peacefully now. It's because of the vampires. ”

"Vampires?"

"Blood, bloodthirsty undead, family of the night. Call them whatever you want to call them. They are the Grim Reaper in the night, silently sucking the blood of the sleeping man. Then before the alarm went off, they had disappeared without a trace. ”

Alice frowned, "So rampant?"

"And that's not all. Anche quickly added: "They can be disguised among ordinary people, and ordinary people can't distinguish them at all." And even if one or two accidentally show the horse's feet, they can easily escape. After all, at night, even a newborn vampire has the strength to defeat a three-man guard squad. ”

"Then they must be in pretty bad condition during the day. ”

"That's nature. During the day, even a brave farmer can take out an ordinary vampire. Anche bowed slightly, "But there are not many brave peasants, and even if the lord sends more patrols, there are still quite a few peasants who would rather hide in the slums of the snowy city and starve and freeze than come out and risk death to work." ”

"Your Excellency, I think there will be a countermeasure. ”

"Maybe this ash swamp fortress...... What do we little characters worry about when it comes to the big guys?" Anche smiled and tightened the reins. "Let's go, we should hurry up. It's a two-day journey from Snowman to Grey Swamp Fortress, and we have to reach the western watchtower before nightfall, which isn't very safe at night. ”

The steed beneath him quickened his pace, and soon opened up a considerable distance from Alice.

"Vampires. Alice's little head shook slightly, and fragments of broken memories began to emerge from the depths of her mind, and unincomprehensible phrases such as "Lord of the Night", "Mistwalker", "Wachihara" flashed before her eyes - but she didn't get any meaningful information.

Knowledge is supposed to depend on the memory of events, but she only has pure fragments of knowledge.

The girl exhaled softly and sped up the ride.

The scenery on both sides of the road was blurred by the high-speed movement, but fortunately, the road was in good condition and there were no potholes. I don't have to worry about being thrown out of the horse while riding.

The oncoming strong wind blew away the girl's short golden hair, and the distant scenery was quickly pulled in front of her eyes and then left behind, except for the occasional slowdown to avoid hitting the patrolling Town Watch, the speed of the journey was obviously more than doubled before.

One, two, three...... Passing through the Pedaghia Farm, Alice saw a total of six patrols, all dressed in heavy scale armor made of heavy leather mixed with emery, and armed with military crossbows. Everyone is strictly and carefully patrolling any suspicious person or object, especially some corners that are easily obscured by shadows.

It seems that the chaos caused by vampires is really big, and it is said that this has only gradually worsened in recent years.

Hadava once gave Alice an overview of the Snow Manling. In addition to the main city, the two most important towns in Snowman were Creek, which supplied timber and iron ore, and Loristed, which produced high-quality grain and horses. All that remains are a dozen villages of various sizes. Before the civil war broke out, the main threats to Snow Man were the bandit gangs entrenched in the Grey Swamp fortress and the White River, as well as the natives of Skyrim, the Wild Giants, and then the vampires who came out of nowhere, attacking people and animals.

Robbers and giants are easy to handle, the former cannot resist the encirclement and suppression of the regular army, while the latter has a docile personality, as long as they do not take the initiative to provoke, they are basically not interested in anything other than the mammoth they have raised, plus these giants mainly live in the depths of the cold mountains, or some treacherous corners close to the border of the territory, but do not need to pay too much attention.

But vampires are very difficult.

They do not have nests and are powerful. And vampires are never alone—they always operate as a family unit. It is said that Skyrim has a powerful family of vampires that unified the entire province, that is, because of their existence zài and control zhì, so that Skyrim did not have so many vampire attacks in previous years.

But the situation seems to be different now.

Alice shook her head, drawing her attention back to the gravel road in front of her.

The farmland has been replaced by long meadows of abundance, all the way to the west, a vast plain as far as the eye can see. The sky was clear, and there was not a single cloud under the blue. A few unknown birds flew in a long line from afar, gradually turning into small black dots.

"It's a really refreshing view. I had never seen a sky like this when I was in Sirodiel. Anche slowed down the horse's speed and exclaimed.

Even a trained military horse can be tiring to run for half a day quickly. Alice brushed the mane around the horse's neck, and felt a warm damp from above. So she simply slowed down.

I was hungry.

"It's a pity that Skyrim is too cold. ”

"Is it cold? I think it's okay. Alice took the dry food from her horse's back pocket and nibbled on it in small bites.

"Hmm. Anche nodded noncommittally. "It's still warmer over here. But when you go to the White Ground or Winterhold, you'll see a completely different skyline than it is now. ”

"If it's possible...... What's that?" Alice pointed to a crushed meadow on the side of the road. Something less coordinated came out there. It looks like a pair of boots.

The two men then jumped off their horses and walked in that direction.

"It's a guard. ”

What caught my eye was the corpse of a guard. It could be seen from the full set of snow guard scales on his body. His limbs twisted, and he lay quietly on the grass in a position impossible for ordinary people.

Alice lifted the armor from his head, revealing a hideous, dry face like dead wood. The yellowed eyeballs had liquefied and festered into a chaotic cloud of pus.

If it were an ordinary girl in the sky, she must have been scared by now. But Alice is clearly different from them. She just watched quietly, watching for possible changes.

"Vampires did it. Anche stepped forward, looked at him twice, and then frowned, "His guard armor seems to be different from what I've seen in my usual life. It's not like a normal patrol. ”

"It's true that the patrol doesn't look like they're going to run into a place like this. Not to mention going it alone. ”

Anche reached out and took an iron plaque from the corpse.

"This is the sentry's nameplate. It has a unique pattern and marking. He was supposed to be a soldier in the Western Watchtower. ”

Alice looked up to the west, and a black speck could be seen in the extreme distance. Then he must have run a little too far. ”

"A deserter, perhaps?"

"No matter how you think about it, a deserter in full-body guard armor is a bit of a counterviance. In addition, he took the main road, and this road could only lead to the main city of Snowman. ”

"Then maybe it's the Courier?"

Alice quickly searched the corpse's entire body. As a result, nothing was found except for a few gold cyptin coins.

"There are no letters, or perhaps they were taken by vampires. ”

"That's not a good thing. Anche looked worriedly to the west, the sun was already sinking, "It is a great crime to desert his post in the army, and it is impossible for him to be here for no reason." ”

Alice's fingers twitched slightly. She had a hunch that something was about to happen that she was familiar with.

The girl tugged at the hood from her cloak, and most of her face was obscured by the shadows cast.

"Anche, do you know the man 'Franst'?"

"A senior samurai of the Brothers-in-Arms, a strong and sane fellow......" Anche turned his head suspiciously: "You don't know? He is very famous in the snow, some time ago there was a snowstorm in the cold area, and several hungry giants attacked the farmland and lost a lot of guards. But he solved them alone. ”

"He is also said to have been involved in the raid of the Grey Swamp Fortress?"

"Yuehuasca and Longxiao Palace are almost one, and the elites of the Brother-in-Arms Regiment naturally often participate in the military activities of the Snow Manling Collar - I remember Alice, you seem to be a member of the Brother-in-Arms Regiment, you should know more about these things than I do. ”

"I'm new. Alice said as she looked at Anche earnestly.

"Even if it's a newcomer...... All right. Anche raised his hands in surrender, "I think we should be mentally prepared, if we are really unlucky, maybe there will be a group of vampires waiting for us in the guard tower over there." Unfortunately, the Dawn Guard seems to be in the branch of Snow Man. They're the experts at dealing with vampires. ”

'Dawn Guard. 'Unheard of words. The girl didn't find anything in her memory, so she asked, "What is that?"

"That's a ...... Well, an organization that specializes in hunting vampires. They have mastered a large number of techniques for hunting the undead. Similar in nature to the Stendhar Warden who specializes in hunting demons. But it's much better than the reputation of the silver hand who hunts werewolves but also acts as robbers. ”

"You know so much. Alice said enviously. Her knowledge of Skyrim was so poor.

"Ha~" Anche shook his wine bag, "If you're a fan of mead like mead, it's easy to hear in the tavern." ”

"Let's go, it's getting dark. ”