There's a reason why the city is called Dragon's Land. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Dragons once lived here, but that's just a legend.

The correct name should be Dragonscale City. The totem of the Lucas Kingdom is the black Holy Dragon, and it is rumored that an alliance was made between the first king and this dragon, so the Lucas Kingdom is also known as the Holy Dragon Kingdom. It was this dragon's back scale that guarded the westernmost trade route of the kingdom, but later generations were misled by the poetry of the bard, and the name slowly evolved into the city of Dragon's Land.

Due to historical reasons and the peculiarity of its status, the lord of this place, the Duke of Longlin, has always been held by members of the royal family. However, due to the prosperity of the kingdom's maritime transportation industry and the deterioration of relations with neighboring countries in the past decade, the status of the territory has long since fallen short of its former prosperity.

Eris Vidain hadn't closed his eyes for days.

As the Archon of the Dragon Lord, he didn't have any time to rest at all, and he wasn't allowed to rest. He didn't know how many days and nights he had been buried in the pile of papers since the day that vampire had been defeated, and he had finally lost his notion of time.

After all, a lot of elites were lost in this battle, and most of them were adventurers who were deeply connected with the common people. Even one of the only three S-class adventurer squads in the country was almost wiped out, and such news could not be concealed at all, and the chaos quickly fermented in the city, once making the situation almost out of control.

The first is that a large number of adventurers are ready to move their strongholds and evacuate here - this is not a big problem, as long as it is handled properly, it will not have much impact at all.

The second is the merchant guilds. Merchants have been very sensitive to the wind since ancient times, and their evacuation began as soon as the news got out - but this was not a problem, and when merchants left, new merchants came in to fill the gap in the market. The only trouble is the people, and if the loss of population is accelerated if it is not handled properly, the decline here will be even more inevitable.

Raising the transaction tax rate on real estate, increasing tariffs, using various means to reassure the people, and negotiating with the Chamber of Commerce are too much for Eris to do and too little time.

The archon put down the document in his hand, grabbed a handful of pills, and roughly stuffed them into his mouth and chewed them vigorously, the bitten pills instantly filled his mouth with bitterness, but Eris swallowed it directly without any care. The refreshing pill had its effect almost immediately, and Eris looked at the guests brought by the maid with some soberness.

Named Dot, he serves as a consultant magician in the territory of Dragon's Landing.

The two looked at each other.

"I've kept you waiting for a long time, Mage Dort, can you let me hear the results of your investigation over the past few days?"

The man called Master Dott was a man with a dead face, his face hidden under a dark cloak, and he nodded and began to report.

“…… The first is about that vampire named Javiana. There are two things that have been confirmed by many parties. The first is that her identity is unknown, and the second is that she may be a princely vampire. ”

"Princely ...... Vampires, the same kind of vampire called the thief in the legend. ”

The archon looked incredulous, and continued to ask in a somewhat abandoned tone, "Why can you identify this vampire's level?" ”

"Derived from the type of magic, its characteristics, its powers, and the group of vampires who guard it."

That is...... No, it can't be. ”

"And we have more conclusive evidence."

Eris held his breath as he breathed a sullen breath out of his mouth a moment later.

“…… Go on. ”

"Name. The vampire named Javiana is probably not known even to the Church, which has a long history of hunting monsters. They don't have the name on their list, it's a vampire from afar, or they're too young to be on the list, and that's the only two possibilities. ”

"Coming from afar, do you mean the Central Continent?"

The Central Continent, the Mu Continent, the Blood Continent, the Land of Reincarnation, the Land of the Struggle of the Gods, there are various names for this place. Legend has it that humanity originated in that land, where it built high walls and prosperous cities for eternity, and established a vast empire that ruled the entire continent.

But that's just a legend of the past. In fact, even the most powerful nation in the human race is now forced to survive on the coastline. The purpose of the monsters coming to this land from a place full of cannibals, alien races and monsters is enough to make people feel chilled just by imagining.

"It's not very likely, and based on the reports of the soldiers on the scene, it's probably the former. The name of the vampire is quite special, the name Javiana comes from an ancient language, a variant of the original language, meaning a flower bud that is about to bloom, but also has other meanings such as valuable, new life, and replacement. In the name of the flower, even among the vampires, only the vampires with the purest blood are eligible to be used by the royal family. ”

“…… The name that holds the vampire's hope is ironic enough. Eris smiled wryly and moved on to the next question. Since it is a royal family of vampires, it is a vampire brother with a powerful rank...... Well, I guess that's understandable. The question is still the identity and motives of those vampires, and the purpose is mysterious. After all, vampires are monsters that don't act in groups, and of course there are vampires from the Central Continent who have different habits. Either way, it's no wonder that the big guys above are moving quickly. ”

"Rude, can you tell me how the big guys above act?"

Eris took out a few letters from a drawer and threw them on the table in front of the magician. Placed on the top was a letter with a black dragon motif as a wax, and the magician Dott hesitated, but finally failed to pick up the letter on the table.

The black dragon is used as the sealing wax, which means that it is a letter written by the king himself. In the kingdom, it is a capital offense for a non-recipient to open the king's letters.

"It's okay not to be so afraid, after all, no one has been sentenced for this in the more than 600 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. By the way—" Eris pointed to the bottom of the letterstack.

The letters pressed below are from the Holy Chamber, to the same effect as those of the King. And it's not a big secret that the letter is written, and I think you've noticed in the past few days that many people have taken action because they heard the news. ”

“…… Is it the Kingdom and the Church preparing to send troops? ”

"That's right. The letter said that the church attaches great importance to this vampire incident, and in order to save the common people and everything, it will send its most elite troops to garrison it. To be honest, I don't really like the church's disregard for sovereignty and brutal dispatch of troops, but combined with the voice of the people and the need for troops, it is impossible for the ruler to refuse such a thing. It is estimated that in a few days, the news will spread all over the streets. ”

"Who are the elite troops sent by the Church?"

"The Knights of Philias, and of course the notorious Demon Hunter is among them."

Hearing the name, Dott raised his head in dismay. The Knights of Judgment and the Knights of Divine Judgment of Philia are also two of the most powerful armies in the Church, the latter being the garrison of the holy city of Philias, while the Knights of Judgment are known for hunting monsters and cleaning up heretics.

“…… Is the church going to attack other nations? Even if this combat power is to subvert the surrounding countries, I am afraid it will be more than enough. ”

"That's right, the original army held by the church is too strong for a country, in fact, the kingdom's top brass has always had a headache about it, and this time I probably think that the church's move is to win the hearts of the people." Eris leaned his head back in the leather chair and looked at the ceiling and sighed.

"Now the difference between the two is about to widen again, obviously this is just a simple trading city, and it has been wider than this level, I really hope it doesn't have anything to do with such troublesome things as politics."

"So what level of troops is Your Majesty prepared to send to deal with it?"

"That's why I'm asking you to read His Majesty's letters. The letter was basically about reassuring the people and burying the dead, and then making an official announcement of the dispatch of troops. The kingdom will draw troops from the second, fifth, and sixth knights to form an army, which is about one-eighth the size of the church. ”

"Please ...... this matter Forgive me for being foolish, if the Kingdom is dissatisfied with the way the church has won the hearts and minds of its people, why would it be so self-defeating at this time? What's more, this is a territory directly under the jurisdiction of the royal family, and in any case, this is something that the whole country is watching. ”

"That's what politics is all about. There are three reasons for this, the first is that you can't trust the words of those vampires. Although the vampire named Javiana has stated that he wants to turn the city into purgatory, there is no guarantee that they will keep their promise and attack it honestly, but they are bluffing, and the actual goal is also possible elsewhere. Moreover, the operation of a country requires a large number of troops, not only to keep an eye on the princes to prevent rebellions, but also to keep an eye on the neighbors, the alien races of the forest, the threat from the sea, and the guards of the royal capital—men are not so easily freed up. The church, on the other hand, had no such worries at all, and they didn't need to be distracted to defend any place except for St. Philias, so they could naturally send the main force on an expedition. For the vast majority of people who do not know the truth, the Kingdom's practices are absolutely evil. ”

Eris's words caused Dott to fall silent for a moment.

"That',...... What about the other two reasons? ”

"The second is that it's not as important to defend as much as this place. As for prestige among the population...... After all, the will of the people is a very easy thing to manipulate, and if you consider the gains and losses, you will naturally pay more attention to the actual benefits in hand, and it is a lot of money to mobilize the army. ”

"This last point is my personal speculation, and I hope you don't give it away to anyone - I suspect the above are hoping for this to fall."

Eris lowered his voice and whispered in Dot's ear, and the shocked Dott stammered even in reply.

"W-How is this possible?! You, what basis do you have to think so, if you spread the word, you will be sentenced to death! ”

"Well, it's just from the perspective of vested interests. Speaking of which, do you know the person of the Fifth Princess, Herrette Koral, Ekonette Encladus? You've been a court mage before, so you should have at least met her a few times, right? ”

Eris abruptly changed the subject, leaving Dott confused. He thought about it for a moment, and only nodded slightly after making sure that the honest answer was okay.

"Yes, she has a rumored appearance inherited from her mother, and is a very beautiful person."

"Well, I thought that most magicians were research maniacs, bent on finding the truth, and not only indifferent to politics and the like, but also blind to women and the like."

"Magicians are human beings, Your Excellency. We're just a little bit more curious than we normally are. ”

Dott responded to Ellis in a cold voice.

"Also, please forgive me for my gaffes. Returning to the topic, His Majesty said in his letter that he had given the title of Duke of Longlin to the princess, and then asked her to fulfill his duty as a lord, that is, to return to the territory with the army to guard the people. ”

"What's wrong with that?"

"As far as I know, the princess is not a person who keeps to herself. Although he has just come of age, he declares that he wants to compete for the throne, and his popularity among the people is not low. So the guys from the various factions above directly regarded her as a thorn in their side. Although she is only eighth in the line of succession to the throne, she has little chance of being weak in the first place. But I heard that His Majesty's health may be a little bad now, and the battle for the throne is already highly intense, and no one wants to let such a number one person intervene to divide the interests at this time. So this princess came here to be banished, and if the city happened to fall again, it would be a good thing for the big man above. ”

The unsightly contenders for the throne will disappear, and the overly powerful Church will be greatly weakened in one fell swoop. Once this happens, the biggest vested interest is indeed the kingdom, and that's what Eris wants to say.

Dott gasped, as long as he was sure of this level of interest, what he was going to say next was obvious.

"You—Are you trying to say that the upper echelons of the kingdom are secretly connected to vampires!?"

"Calm down, Master Dot, I've never meant that, and I'll be bothered if you imagine it yourself."

"When, of course. I'll take notice. However, if this place falls, it will also be a very serious blow to the kingdom. As you said earlier, the kingdom is now very short of manpower, and if something like this happens, it will be irreparable in terms of morale, right? ”

"Well, I didn't expect you to know anything about this military aspect, mage. But I don't think you need to worry, don't forget what is the foundation of our country. ”

“…… The Black Dragon King, is it real? ”

"Well, I can only tell you that some folk legends are true. Anyway, instead of waiting until that time, it would be better to think about how to escape early. ”

Just as Dott didn't know anything about politics, Eris didn't have any say when it came to magic. Eris tapped his fingers on the table as he continued to seek information from Dot.

"Speaking of which, since you've met that Princess Hellet, can you tell me what kind of person she is? After all, she is about to go here to serve as a lord, and as an archon, she should be prepared in advance, and if it is rude, it will be my personal dereliction of duty. ”

“…… Of course. Dott shook his head like dead wood and closed his eyes.

"When I met her before, she was about eight years old, right? Although she has an innocent smile on her young face, if you have to describe it in words, she gives people the feeling of ......"

- Enchantress.

Mage Dott said in a somber voice.