At noon on December 14, 1889, the Royal Tiger Legion, which had arrived from the Empire to replace the Knights of the Silver Silk, joined the royal guards of the four princesses of Ettiria, and began to march into the city of Haynes from the north gate under the leadership of Princess Ettiria. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

My father led the city's officials, wealthy merchants, and all the city's residents to kneel down on the wide avenue leading to the north gate to welcome the arrival of the Faradis' army, and shouted with all his might: "Long live the Empire!" But I don't know how many of these shouts are from the heart.

I followed behind my father and sandwiched into the crowd to look at this energetic and high-spirited army on horseback, wearing golden armor - this is the "Imperial Tiger" legion, known as the head of the four great legions of the Empire, and the "Silver Silk" Knights of Libinglan are called the "Tiger Wings of the Empire" and the "Tiger Teeth of the Empire" respectively, and are even praised as the "Pride of the Empire" by Emperor Nanzhan Buqi II? Looking at this golden light, I suddenly miss the bright silver light of the "Silver Silk" Knights! Binglan, you should be in a hurry on the road to the northwest now, right? Is everything alright?

Princess Ettiria's mount came to my father and me, and she said in a coquettish voice: "Limket Beshatu, Alexander, get up! ”

"Your Highness!" Father said.

"You and I are now serving the lord of the same country, and we are both important ministers of the empire, so there is no need to be polite!"

I rose up with my father, who had been held by Etiria's hand, and followed my father's energetic steps towards the residence of the lord of Haynes, which had been changed to the county of Ferratis.

The "Imperial Tiger" legion behind him continued to enter the city, and the long queue seemed endless. From a military point of view, whether it is the "Imperial Tiger" legion of the fifteenth army or the "Silver Silk" knights of the 100,000 army to capture a city of Haynes that has been actively abandoned, it is completely unnecessary, but the god of war seems to favor Libinglan in particular, and a simple task eventually turns into a fierce war.

However, it cannot be said that Henes has no strategic value at all, but it has not yet been fully highlighted in terms of the current pattern and situation of the southern continent, and for the empire, the economic value of Henes is much greater, and its accumulated huge wealth can become an endless source of rich wealth for the empire. Now the Faratis Empire is stationed in Haynes with great momentum, on the one hand, to declare the strength of the empire and the prestige of the emperor to the subjects of Haynes, and on the other hand, to bite tightly into this piece of fat that has already arrived, but it can also be seen that the royal family of the Faratis Empire is very happy and loves to decorate the façade with pomp and circumstance.

At noon, as the blue and white striped flag representing the free city of Haynes slowly fell, the "Two-winged Tiger" banner of the Farratis Empire fluttered high on the head of Haynes, dazzling under the scorching sun, thus announcing the official end of the history of Haynes as a free city-state.

In the afternoon, in the name of Princess Etiria, a large-scale banquet was held in the name of Princess Etiria, attended by the senior generals of the "Imperial Dragon" legion, officials of Hennes, major businessmen, and famous families, and my father and I were naturally among the invitees.

Sumptuous food and drink, crowds of people dressed in fragrant clothes, elaborate etiquette, elegant music, gorgeous and exquisite costumes, empty laughter, and insincere praise...... It has a unique atmosphere for royal banquets, but it bothers me. At the feast, my father and Princess Ettiria danced, and in the midst of the graceful dance music, they danced one after the other, and seemed to be constantly interested. In the harmony and tacit understanding between the two, anyone whose nerves are not too thick realize that some kind of happy event is coming.

As the son of the new county keeper and the hope of becoming a member of the royal family, I naturally attracted much attention from all sides, and the favored eyes of famous ladies glanced at me from time to time, and at this time I had lost the mood of hunting for beauty in the past, and these vulgar fans really made me lack interest. So I just stood in a dark corner of the room and watched it all coldly. I barely stayed until the evening, and I couldn't bear it any longer, so I excused myself that I was uncomfortable, said goodbye to my father, and came out of the hotel. As I walked down the street at nightfall, the night breeze blowing, I took a deep breath, and the discomfort in my chest caused by the cramped air of the banquet dissipated slightly.

I glanced back at the Palace Hotel, which was lit up in the night sky, and knew that this long banquet was going to be all night. Through the hands of Princess Etiria, the spoop and pompous atmosphere of the royal family of the Pharatis Empire has been brought into Haynes, and the commercial city that was once known for its affordability style has been strongly blown.

"Van, Sanwen, and Szloe, why are you all leaving Haynes as if you had a pre-selection appointment?" I sat on the wall of the courtyard and said to my friends in dismay.

"I don't want to leave!" Sang Wen sighed and said, "Alex, I didn't tell you before, my family used to be the nobles of the Falatis Empire, but in the palace coup of my grandfather's generation, our family was exiled for participating in the faction that supported the fourth prince and Nanzhan Buqi I, who was still the second prince at the time, for the imperial throne, and our descendants were never allowed to set foot in the imperial realm. Now that Haynes has become part of the empire, we have to leave. ”

"And what are your plans?" The rumored background was confirmed from Sang Wen's mouth, and I knew that his departure was inevitable, and I couldn't say any polite words to stay.

"I will go south with my parents to the Duchy of Godilos in the eastern part of the Becca Shelurista Alliance, where there are distant relatives of my mother, and there is the famous Shelureista Swordsman Academy on the mainland, which has produced three swordsmen, dozens of great swordsmen, nearly a thousand swordsmen, and countless other famous swordsmen, and the dean of the academy is Aspen, who has the title of 'Sword Master'. If I could, I would like to enter the academy to learn swords seriously, hoping to become a Juggernaut like Aspen one day. Sang Wen said.

I nodded and said, "Arwen, you are very ambitious!" I'm sure you'll make it! ”

I suddenly had a thought in my heart: Aspen, the legendary sword master, compared with Li Binglan, I don't know who has better swordsmanship? But put that thought aside at once, because it's a conjecture that can't be verified. A person of the level of the Sword Master, whose identity is transcendent and respectful, like most of the Great Magisters, are some monsters, eccentric, elusive and unconventional, and generally do not intervene in secular disputes, unless they encounter special events, such as natural and man-made disasters or their own country is on the verge of extinction, they will give a helping hand, and most of them usually live in seclusion. The more active ones, such as Aspen, will teach and teach in the academy. On the contrary, people with the status of Heavenly Knights are more likely to serve in the military, for example, four of the five Heavenly Knights in the Holy Continent today serve in the armies of different countries. Therefore, my previous assumption is meaningless, but if I have the opportunity to verify it, I will not want to verify it, because the strength of the legendary Sword Master is very terrifying, almost synonymous with invincibility, and I don't want my beloved Li Binglan to encounter such a terrible enemy.

I turned my gaze to Van and Shloe and said, "What about you?" Could it be the son of some disadvantaged nobleman of the empire again? ”

Shi Luo jumped down from the wall, patted his buttocks, spit out the grass stalk in his mouth, and said: "My father thinks that Haynes will not be peaceful, and after the empire becomes the master, the business environment has become less free than before, so my father contacted my uncle who was doing business in Dada City on the western continent, and planned to gradually transfer the family business here to Dada City, and I was the first person in the family to evacuate Haynes." But I think I'll settle down in Dada for a while, and then I'll go to Zeus to get a priesthood. ”

Dada City is the first shopping mall in the western continent, known as the "prosperous capital", with an area of hundreds of miles, three times the size of Henes, and a population of nearly three million, four times that of Henes; The holy city of Zeus is the seat of the largest religion in the Southern Continent, the Holy See of the Gods, and is actually a religious city.

Nearly three-quarters of the people on the southern continent of S. Lun believe in the religion of the gods, so it is only natural that the city of Zeus is worshipped as a holy city. It is said that the bishops of Zeus all use powerful light magic, and although the number of his Holy See legions is only 50,000, each soldier has the strength of a great swordsman or above. Thus, the city of Zeus was essentially a theocratic state. With such a powerful Cult of the Gods, there is still room for other religions to survive, because successive popes have pursued a policy of "coexistence of multiple religions". These are what I learned when I read "Geography of the Continent".

"Shiloe, you're ambitious, too, but ...... I heard that all the female cultists in Zeus City are very beautiful! That's what you're really for, right? I said.

"Whoever knows me, Alex!" Shi Luo was not at all enlightened, but said happily, "That's why Zeus can be called the Holy City, and the place near the beauty is the place near the gods!" ”

Shi Luo and I couldn't help but clapping each other's arms and laughing.

And Sanwen and Van looked at us with the eyes of two monsters. Because of this common hobby, Shi Luo and I were both named "lustful" in later generations, except that I was called a decent pervert, while Shi Luo was called a completely tasteless, hungry pervert.

"As for me, I want to go to Proust, the imperial capital of the Ferratis Empire, to continue my three-year study at the Austro Academy of Magic, hoping to learn advanced magic, unlike the two of them, I will still come back in three years." Van concluded.

The Austro School of Magic has a long history, founded 700 years before the founding of the Falatisian Empire, and is a magical academy named after the greatest magician of mankind in the Hundred Spirits War a thousand years ago, Ostur Histolil, with many excellent magic teachers, training countless famous and outstanding magicians, and four out of ten of the most powerful archmages in the world have been educated there.

"I didn't think that my best friends were going to leave me one by one and be separated from each other," I said with a sigh, "this is life, and separation is inevitable." Well, tell me when I'm leaving, and I'll see you off when the time comes. ”

"I'm leaving tomorrow!"

"I'll leave in three days!"

"I'll be leaving in a week!"

Sanwen, Van Dijk, and Shiloh said in turn.

Within a week, I had sent off three of my best friends who had grown up together, and before my beloved had to leave me in a hurry—the month of December 1889 seemed to be written in the calendar of my sixteenth year, as if it were separation.

Shloe told me a piece of news before leaving: my fiancée, Kalisa, has returned from Faratis.

The son of a great salt merchant, and Kalisa, the daughter of the wealthy tea merchant Pethumont Vandotia, the two were both business tycoons and had regular dealings, so it was easy for Shloe to find out about her. According to Shloe, it is rumored that Kalisa met James Faratis, the sixth prince of the empire, when she was a student at the Royal Academy of Buchanan, and the two quickly became hot, and now they are "in love with adultery", so Kalisa will not tell me when she returns.

I'm not a jealous person, I don't get hung up on a rumor, I don't make subjective assumptions about unconfirmed things, and I don't give random qualifications, so I decided to take the initiative to find out from Kalisa.

The next morning, I went to the house of Calissa, and under the guidance of the housekeeper of the Vandotia house, I walked through the long courtyard and entered the rich and luxurious hall, and saw a beautiful girl with long honey hair and a pink dress leaning on the leather sofa in the hall, looking sullen.

When she saw me come in, she showed neither surprise nor dissatisfaction on her face, she still looked listless, and said weakly: "Alex, you are here...... Have a seat. ”

I sat down across from her and said softly, "Kalisa, why don't you come back to me these days?" If it hadn't been for Shloe telling me, I wouldn't have known you were coming back until now. What's the matter, Kalisa? Lethargy! ”

"I had a cold, I wasn't feeling well, I wasn't in a good mood, so I didn't want to see people and I didn't want to go out. Moreover, this college vacation is only a few days, and I only plan to recuperate at home for a few days, so no one has informed you. Kalisa said.

"What makes you so sullen? You can talk to me! I said.

"There are things about yourself, things at home, things around you, and things about the college...... I know you've been busy lately, and your father is the new county warden, and you're bound to have a lot to do as a son of man...... So don't want to add to your own troubles at this time. ”

"If you can say it, let me share your worries, this is also my responsibility as a fiancé! Is there a problem that can't be solved in the academy? I asked casually.

"My affairs are actually not a big deal......", hearing me mention the academy, a complicated look flashed on Kalisa's face, and there was a certain hesitation and trilling in her voice, "The academy is full of small things, just a little annoying." It's useless to say this, you won't understand, and you can't help...... I'll figure it out myself. "Or you say it and let me help you think of a way," I continued, "One person is short, two people are long, even if I can't help, it will be more comfortable to say it, and if there is something to be done alone, you will get sick." Look, aren't you sick now? ”

When Kalisa heard my words, her face turned slightly pale, and she whispered for a while, "I really don't need it." My illness was not caused by these things, but I occasionally felt a chill on the way back...... Alex, thank you. ”

"Okay...... I don't force you either...... Willing to go for a walk? A breath of fresh air will also make people feel more comfortable. ”

Seeing that Kalisa nodded, I took her hand and took her to the garden for a walk.

The garden of the Kalisa family is quite large, overgrown with evergreens of the four seasons, and the out-of-season flowers bloom in clusters, surrounding the intricately designed verandahs and fountains, and the wind blows softly under the magical barrier, without a hint of autumn, making you forget the change of seasons, like being in the countryside in early spring.

But I couldn't melt into the beautiful scenery at this time, and when I saw the silent Yiren in front of me, his eyes wandering, and his expression a little confused, the rumors that Shi Luo said seemed to be partially confirmed.

"Kalisa, do you remember that wall?" I pointed to a wall on the west side of the courtyard and said, "When I was a child, Van Dijk, Sangwen, and Shi Luo and I often climbed over this wall to pick you up and go out to play, at that time your father disciplined you very strictly, and asked you to learn what kind of lady etiquette etiquette from a young age. It's funny to talk about that old man, I don't know if it's because he's old, and he falls asleep in the middle of every lesson, which gives us the opportunity to have a good time with you. Later, your father found out, and he was furious, and really scolded us, calling us 'little villains, if we don't study well, we will kidnap girls at a young age', and told our parents that Shi Luo and I were grounded for a week, and finally even the hole was blocked by your father, and asked the magician to magically protect the wall, so that we could no longer dig into the wall. Those carefree days are really nostalgic! "We were all naïve and ignorant at the time, and it's ridiculous to think about it now." Kalisa said softly, but in a tone that was completely different from what I was thinking.

"Oh, Kalisa, do you think so......" Seeing Kalisa's weak expression, I was speechless for a while. I sensed that although Kalisa was by her side, her heart was not here, and it seemed that she had been lost somewhere in the imperial capital of Proust.

"Alex, why are you still the same as before, as if you will never grow up, people always have to do something, take some responsibility, you can't go on fooling around forever...... I thought that this change of banner in Henness would make you more enlightened, right? There was a certain disdain in Kalisa's tone.

In fact, this Haynes incident has a great impact on me, and many thoughts and concepts in life have also changed because of it, but seeing Kalisa who is close to me but far away in the sky, many things I want to say can't be said, I feel that Kalisa's world seems to be getting farther and farther away from me, and the days of no guessing in the past seem to be gone, and the invisible gap between the two is getting bigger and bigger.

Is it because the world is changing too fast, or is it just I don't understand? Thinking of this, I can't help but feel a little lost.

"Calissa, do you really have nothing to say to me?"

Kalisa, this is my last chance for you to confess to me, as long as you are willing to tell me the truth about your relationship with James Ferratis, if you are just confused for a moment, I will not care, as long as your heart belongs only to me from now on, I will still treat you as before, after all, we have accumulated feelings for more than ten years! Or you don't like me anymore, as long as you are willing to make it clear to me at this time, I will gladly break off your engagement and wish you well! -- In that case, we'll still be friends.

But if you still want to hide from me, or if your heart wavers, and you compare me with another person with a snobbish eye, and choose to leave me when I have lost all the position and power to rely on, then I will not forgive you! By then, Kalisa, I'll see you as an enemy!

"Really...... It's nothing...... Thank you, Alex......" Kalisa said with a slurrel.

"Well, you can get some rest...... I'll come back to see you. Faced with Lisa's inability to calm down, I was disappointed and had no choice but to leave. James Ferratis, what kind of people are the six princes? What kind of extraordinary appearance and demeanor do you have? How easily did it crush the emotional castle that Calissa and I had accumulated for more than ten years?

"Alex......

"Kalisa, what's the matter?" I stopped, turned to face Kalisa, and the look of expectation could no longer be concealed.

"Nothing ......"

Facing Kalisa, who wanted to say nothing, I knew that something was going to be lost forever, and I couldn't help but feel a pain in my heart, let out a long sigh, waved my hand, and turned to disappear.

I began to eagerly follow the situation in the Shenglun Continent, especially the Southern Continent, with unprecedented enthusiasm, and also closely followed the information of Li Binglan, when I heard the news of Li Binglan's seven battles and seven victories, I was both relieved and worried - I knew that I had a deep love for Li Binglan, and many times every day, I always fell into painful thoughts.

Whenever this happens, I will pick up Li Binglan's swordsmanship notes and carefully caress and study carefully, even to the point of forgetting to sleep and eat, Li Binglan's views on swordsmanship are very incisive and unique, which makes me breathtaking, and my interest in learning swordsmanship is getting stronger and stronger, and I will have a feeling of spiritual communication with her while comprehending Li Binglan's swordsmanship thoughts, so learning swords has become the only way for me to dispel lovesickness.

December 31, 1889 - The time to come is coming! In my ascetic life of learning swords, news finally came of my father's marriage to Princess Ettiria in January of the following year. It was the last day of 1889, only half a month before the change of banner in Haynes.

My father, Lynkey Beshatu, the former lord of the free city, is now the warden of the imperial county of Haynes, the quasi-concubine of the Faradis Empire, and the nouveau riche of the royal family. It is too early to say whether his father, who was a businessman, could use it to make his political career prosperous, but there is no doubt that his father played a pivotal role in the civil wars of the Haynes, Dotier, and League civil wars, and that it was a very well-informed move.

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