Niccolò stared at the dense mountain forest on one side, the greenery that filled his eyes cleared his spirits, and the yawn that reached his mouth suddenly turned into a sneeze.

"-Ahh

The soldier on the side looked at Niccolò and grinned, "Did you touch a woman last night or last night?" I didn't sleep well! ”

"Do you have a woman, do you want a woman whose breasts hang like a cloth bag and whose skin is as loose as coarse linen?"

Niccolò was not angry, and scolded two sentences before saying, "You don't know if you don't have a shift, and the ladies who are full of food and support don't know what hysteria is, and what kind of dark shadow is called like the night before, I called six times in one night, I didn't say anything about my shift in the first half of the night, and as soon as I closed my eyes in the second half of the night, I was called up, and I ran three times in a row, and I squinted at dawn!" ”

His companion apparently knew about last night, and patted him comfortingly.

"Weren't we the same as you the night before? Those ladies and ladies who love to think cranky when they have nothing to do, and they don't know what they have in their heads, do they still fantasize about some kind of thief or something, who comes to comfort them in the middle of the night when they are empty and lonely? ”

Speaking of the topic between men, the two soldiers chuckled tacitly-

The Merlin nobles paid more attention to reputation and order, but in private, in the circle of lower-class knights, there was no shortage of affairs after so-and-so was favored by a widow or noble lady.

The two soldiers spoke in a low voice, and slowly left the patrol route, and the two of them walked out from behind the low stable.

Angelia, who was holding Lin An's elbow, looked at the backs of the two soldiers walking away, and said angrily: "These two soldiers are so ignorant of dignity and humility, in broad daylight, they dare to secretly talk about the nobles behind their backs!" ”

She was still an unmarried woman, and she was embarrassed to scold the two soldiers for their obscene conversation, so she could only reprimand them for talking about the nobles behind their backs.

"Did anyone see the shadow again last night?" Lin An looked at the direction in which the two soldier brothers disappeared.

"yes, it's unclear if they're hallucinating or actually seeing it."

Because it happened one after another. No matter how strong the believer is, everyone is a little suspicious, and Angelia can't be sure that it is the illusion that the fragile nerves of the ladies are stimulated.

“…… Some of them said they saw a black figure in the shape of a human, while others said they were animals, cats or dogs as big as leopards.

But so far, only women have said that they have seen the Black Shadow, neither the gentlemen nor the patrolling soldiers have seen it, and the divisions have not come forward to explain anything, which is the reason why most of the people are still skeptical of the Black Shadow's statement.

After all, when it comes to vigilance, young ladies and ladies who are powerless will never be more perceptive than their husbands and brothers. ”

Lin An nodded.

Then. There was a flapping of wings in the sky.

The two looked at each other, and a bald eagle with wings nearly a foot wide swooped down from the sky and landed on the arch of the roof of the stable. Pacing a few steps on it, turning his head sideways, a pair of sharp eagle eyes stared at Lin An and the two.

Angelia was obviously instantly conquered by this majestic and vigorous creature, staring intently at the bald eagle on the stable, not daring to say a word. For fear of scaring it away.

But the bald eagle was obviously not afraid of the living, and stared at the two for a while, as if to make sure that they were not threatening, and calmly turned his head to comb the feathers that should have become a little messy for the long flight.

Lin An smiled, plugged the bottle with an open cork on his body, and followed the method he had been taught. He took out a piece of fresh venison from the space, threw it on the ground, and pulled Angelia back four or five feet.

"So Mademoiselle told me to go to the venison. That's what it's all about! Angelia's eyes widened, staring at the bald eagle for a moment.

The bald eagle had been domesticated, and Lin An's bottle emitted a smell that could not be smelled by humans, but was very sensitive to animal smell, so it did not recognize it and swooped down directly from the ridge of the stable. The neck was pecked dozens of times, and at least the venison with a man's palm on the ground was wiped out.

After eating and drinking. The bald eagle glanced at Lin An, stretched out his left foot, pecked on it, and a metal cylinder with a silver chain tied to its foot fell off, and the silver chain was still intact.

After dropping the metal cylinder, the bald eagle snorted, spread its wings, and flew into the sky, the gray wings in the background of the clouds, almost invisible shadows, as it flew higher and higher, the bald eagle disappeared into the clouds, never to be seen again.

"Flying so high!" Angelia had only looked up for a moment, and there was no sign of the beautiful creature.

"Bald eagles are among the top 10 of all creatures in flight, they usually fly at higher altitudes than their divisions can reach, and they can be domesticated, so they are one of the most reliable and expensive messengers in the world."

Lin An said, she cast a spell as she spoke, and only after testing did she open the metal cylinder in her hand, which was a thin sheet of paper that had been folded.

"What do you mean, miss?"

Angelia knew some of the words slightly, but it was obviously different from the strange font on the paper, and Lin An brought her to pick up the letter, which she could obviously know.

Lin An clicked on the paper, and the font on it instantly became a pot of porridge, automatically arranged like a living thing, and then Lin An squinted for a moment, and said with a relaxed smile:

"Oh, it says that a beautiful bird in a cage as bait has finally attracted a fish, and the fish is now caught and is being domesticated."

Angelia didn't seem to understand, "Is it a letter from Hannibal's butler?" ”

"No, it was written by the people of Ranster, and the bald eagle was also domesticated by his men,"

Lin An thought of the young man named Bishop, and he was also very envious that Lancet could meet such a useful talent, and he was even more pleased, "We all left the imperial capital this time, and only Hannibal stayed there, so we had to continue to trouble Lancet's subordinates to help." ”

"Oh, that big creature already has an owner, no wonder it won't come near us at all." Angelia is sorry.

"Isn't there also a veteran of domesticating letter birds in the group of guards we bought in our house, I remember that he seems to have domesticated a harrier eagle."

"It's just a gray harrier, and it's comparable to a bald eagle." Angelia Feet.

Lin An had never found out that Angelia was so fond of birds, but when she thought of her hometown of Dilin, which was full of lakes and rivers, there seemed to be a bird paradise, and Angelia's affinity attribute was the wind system, so she didn't feel strange when she thought about it. Sidewalk:

"Then you can learn from that guard in the palace first, and if he says you have talent, I'll ask someone from Lancet to teach you." Lin An promised.

Angelia was overjoyed, and immediately firmly promised that she would be able to learn, and almost wished that time would pass immediately, and she would set off for her own time after the winter was over.

But Angelia thought of their current situation and was depressed again:

"When will the road blocked by the valley mouth in front be cleared, why did that mountain slide down for no reason and block the road!"

"We should be glad that because of His Highness Byron's prudence, our previous trip was delayed a little. Otherwise, this landslide, I'm afraid it will happen just when we cross that valley pass, and it will be really difficult. Lin An said, "It's okay to delay the trip a little now." ”

"If everybody thought like you, I would have a lot less trouble." A mellow male voice came.

Lin An looked sideways, and Byron slowly walked down a path on the side of the stables with his guards. He was wearing thin leather armor and looked a little tired.

Lin An had already noticed that someone was approaching nearby, and the other party only approached when Angelia mentioned the road blockage, so Lin An nodded in greeting:

"You seem to be in trouble?"

"You can see it."

Byron rubbed his eyebrows and smiled bitterly, "Master Alberta and Master Ulysses, who went to explore the site, are back. They all confirmed that there were no traces of man-made on the hill ahead. ”

Lin An suddenly said: "I see, you have worked hard." ”

Since it is a natural disaster and not man-made, the responsibility naturally lies with the striker who is exploring the way ahead. Byron, who was responsible for the safety of the trip and the deployment of soldiers, had an unshirkable responsibility.

And after being so frightened, almost in danger of being buried in the mudslide, even if Byron was the prince, he couldn't bear those reproaches, and this was still when he cautiously delayed the trip to avoid a catastrophe.

Otherwise, if there are casualties. I'm afraid that he, the prince, is not halfway there, and he will pack up and return to the imperial capital.

Byron smiled wryly twice and changed the subject. "What are you doing here?"

"Come out for a walk, but there are too many people outside, so it's better to walk around the castle."

Because the road was blocked, they were to stay in a castle outside a small city for the time being, and thousands of nobles and multiples of servants filled the castle.

Lin An explained, and also asked, "You are also here to relax?" ”

"Some people say that when they see a big eagle coming down here, I'll come over and take a look, and by the way, take a breath." Byron explained, looking quite stressed.

"I've been here for a long time, and I haven't seen any eagles, maybe you can go over to the other side and have a look," Lin An's face did not change, and he looked up at the sky, "It's not too early, forgive me for missing me." ”

"Please take care of yourself."

Lin An and Angelia said goodbye and left, and after walking out for a while, it is estimated that Byron and they could no longer see their figures, and there was no one in sight on the remote road for a while, so Angelia asked Lin An quietly:

"Miss, what an accident was the landslide?"

Lin An glanced at her with a smile, "What do you think?" ”

"I think if we had followed the itinerary, we would have passed through that section of the valley at that time, and this ...... That's a coincidence! ”

"You're right, I'm afraid few people really believe in this coincidence."

"Why did the two masters say that it was not artificial?" Angelia is more superstitious about authority, so she hesitates, and now that Lin An affirmed her thoughts, she was shocked again, "Could it be that the two masters have ......?"

"When it comes to their status, there are very few interests that can convince them to take such a big risk, and even if they are, the damage of this landslide is not as strong as that of their own hands."

Lin An said indifferently, "The two masters only said that there are no man-made traces on the mountain now, and they didn't say that this is a natural disaster, otherwise why did the forward scout obviously check the hillside that was fine, but he had an accident when he was about to pass?"

Taking 10,000 steps back, even if the landslide is indeed not man-made, it is the people who determine the route of the trip and the road ahead to detect and inspect, and there are too many places where there are too many holes. ”

"Ah, could it be that someone is treason and assassination?"

Angelia was shocked, she always thought it was a trap made by the two two empires, but Lin An's second statement meant that the problem was internal, which was a completely different meaning.

Especially for this travel arrangement, the emperor is responsible for all his cronies. Those who can intervene in it must only be people of extremely high status;

The emperor may not die if he is protected by someone in the landslide, but it is difficult to say that all the nobles in the chaos can be safely sheltered.

"Shhhh Lin An saw that there were people in front of him, so he signaled Angelia not to discuss this topic anymore.

At present, the situation in the upper echelons of Merlin is unknown, and the stability that the emperor has tried so hard to suppress has begun to fluctuate. From the beginning of the assassination on the Autumn Festival, it already meant that the prelude to the storm was coming, but many people were in the game. The person concerned is just confused.

Angelia was silent for a moment, but Lin An's words obviously caused a shock in her heart, and she glanced around, patrolling behind the corner pillar, as if the surroundings were suddenly unsafe.

"Huh! What is it! ”

The reflection on the ridge of the roof of the ground. A shadow flew by.

Angelia looked up alertly, her hand pressed on her waist, and the cyan whip swirled around her leg as if it were alive, Angelia's hand shook, and the whip made a short, clear sound in the air.

Lin An had discovered the thing before Angelia, but he didn't feel aggressive. She just looked up and met a pair of round vertical pupils.

"So, Bobcat? …… No. Leopard? ”

Angelia opened her mouth and stammered, and her body subconsciously blocked in front of Lin An.

A leopard-like animal appears above the ridge of the roof.

It seems to have changed its long fur because of the winter, and its snow-white long hair is dotted with gray-black markings, and its ears are pointed up, ending in two tufts of snow-white long hair. Fluffy white fuzz grows from the pinna, and small neck-like hairs hang down from the lower cheeks. Like a gentleman in a bow tie, dressed in a gorgeous gown, he stood elegantly on the ridge of the roof, looking sideways at Lin An and Angelia.

Seeing Angelia holding the long whip, it immediately leaned down and cracked its mouth, squinted its eyes and let out a silent roar, the long hair on its body exploded, soft and fluffy, and it looked bigger, no wonder Angelia suspected that it was a leopard.

"It's a warning. Angelia, don't get in the way, it has no intent to attack,"

Lin Andao, who was standing behind, said, "This should be a lynx......

Her voice paused, for the big cat, which she had mistaken for a lynx, raised a long, snow-white tail behind her, and swayed gracefully in the air, and the eyes of a big cat that looked like a lynx were round, and the corners of the mouth were suspiciously curved, as if to make fun of her.

That's clearly a leopard's tail!

Lin An was surprised, but the long hair of the short and pointed triangular ears of the suspected lynx cat suddenly trembled, and he glanced at Lin An again, and the long tail in the air threw out an arc, turned his head and went down to the other side, and disappeared.

Lin An felt that the big guy's last glance seemed to be meaningful.

She didn't ignore the vague magic fluctuations that flickered as it jumped, and then it merged with its surroundings in her perception, and could no longer be distinguished, as if it had just appeared, as if it had appeared on purpose, and suddenly appeared in her perception.

"Eh......"

As soon as Angelia let out a sound, a maid came out from behind the corner of a pillar, saw Lin An and the two, and saluted from a distance.

"Let's go."

Lin An said, and glanced above the ridge again, there was nothing there, as if what he had just seen was an illusion.

Angelia walked back with some confusion and hesitation, Lin An also sensed the surroundings with mental power all the way, but she didn't notice anything, and it was estimated that the "big cat" would not appear in front of her in a short time.

On the floor where they lived, Sidney and Johnham were in their rooms, and the Andre siblings were nowhere to go.

After entering the room and closing the door, Angelia couldn't wait to say, "Miss, that lynx is the black shadow that those ladies and ladies saw!" ”

"That's not a lynx......"

Speaking of the animal that I don't know if it was a leopard or a lynx, Lin An had a strange feeling, not only because the animal appeared strangely, because so far their master and slave may be the only person who has seen the real culprit of the "black shadow", and Lin An has an intuition that the animal seems to be very human.

The most important thing is that this is a magical beast, and it is likely that the level is not low, so that it will not be afraid of her powerful spiritual power.

It is difficult to evade the detection of the division and infiltrate the palace moving team, and even be able to directly avoid her perception appeared near her, this "big cat" has a very strong ability to sneak away, looking at its size and sharp claws and fangs. Apparently not a vegetarian either.

Fortunately, it is not a murderer, and it does not seem to be aggressive from today, so although the legend of "Black Shadow" has appeared for two or three days, there has been no tragedy.

But Warcraft doesn't like popularity, and it's not normal to follow the crowd for two or three days in a row, and it doesn't look like it's chasing revenge because the territory is violated.

Especially in Lin An's memory, he had never heard of a feline monster that was both like a lynx and a leopard, and was good at sneaking and coming and going like the wind.

So when he returned to the room, Lin An flipped through his collection of books about Warcraft, and Angelia had nothing to do, and saw that the time was almost up. went to the kitchen to get Lin An's dinner.

With Angelia returning, she also brought back a message:

In the aftermath of the landslide, Byron was not robbed of his authority to lead the army. However, under the support of many nobles, the emperor added Charles to assist Byron in leading the escort army, checking and filling in the gaps, so as to prevent the same thing from happening again.

“…… The kitchen ladies and servants in the kitchen privately said that His Majesty really favored His Royal Highness Charles even more. Not only should you always take him with you to teach, but whenever something happens, the first person who comes to mind is His Royal Highness Charles! ”

Angelia relayed the words of the servants, and frowned, "But why do I think it's weird, since His Majesty trusts His Highness Charles. Why not just give him the task in the first place? But those servants said that this was the experience of His Majesty to the two highnesses. ”

Lin An smiled.

The royal family will not all leave the imperial capital, and as usual, one person must stay in the imperial capital. Charles was originally the most likely candidate to stay in the imperial capital, but when the time came, it was Yorkiadan who remained in the imperial capital.

The emperor's father and son are both masters of chess, and even York, who is still a little clumsy in Lin An's eyes, is not without gains.

What tricks the emperor and his sons and vassals are doing now? Lin An is already a little foggy, even if it is those in the authorities. It is not necessarily that there is no apprehension in the heart.

Among them, Byron looks like an outlier, quite calm, at least in the eyes just now, Lin An can't see that he is really frustrated and lonely, and he is still as low-key and calm as before, I am afraid that he has predicted the result so far.

To nourish qi to this extent, Lin An also had to admire Byron's mentality.

After dinner, Angelia poured black tea in the living room, and Lin An sat on the upholstered mahogany sofa and continued to flip through the books to find information.

John had already heard about their meeting of the "big cat", and he was also holding a copy of "Treasure Warcraft Information Encyclopedia" to help Lin An check it.

However, this kind of information is mostly textual, and the explanatory text is a mixture of several languages, and John's knowledge of the text is not as diverse as that of the mage, so he reads it slowly, and Angelia is in charge of looking through books with pictures.

As for Sidney, he was still stuffed in his room concocting his antidote, and it seemed that there had been progress in the research on the toxicity of the several flower fairies sent before.

"Found it!"

Lin An's hand turning the page suddenly stopped.

This is a miscellaneous book, Lin An based on his experience of leaving books from the guards, it is estimated that this should be one of the guards, Christian, in his early years before becoming a teacher's travel records and some magic experiences.

In the content of the travel section, it is mentioned that the author traveled in the mountains at the northern foot of the Rocky Mountains, and once stumbled upon the local animals under the influence of the strange magic source force field, cross-racial breeding and breeding of two strange animals with the appearance characteristics of lynx and leopard.

According to the book, the offspring of this new species crossed by lynx and leopard have a high mortality rate, but due to the influence of special beast bloodlines in the body, there is a high possibility of producing demonic beasts.

However, the usual whereabouts of that kind of magical beast are too hidden, and it is very strange that it has no domain concept and likes to wander around, so Christian, who was still very ordinary at that time, did not have the opportunity to study this special magical beast, and gave this new species a name, called the Shadow Lynx.

Finally, based on the images he had glimpsed several times, and his imagination, he drew a stick figure of a shadow lynx in the margins of the pages of the miscellaneous book.

But Christian's talent for drawing was obviously inversely proportional to his talent for magic, and Lin An almost thought it was a turtle with a fox's tail at first glance......

Just as Lin An had just finished reading the Shadow Lynx in the miscellaneous notes, the Andre brothers and sisters, who had been away for a day, came back, bringing the news that Master Kodiak and several court masters were preparing to cast a spell to open the valley and be on the road the next day.

(To be continued)

Thank you for your big tip! o(n_n)o~

ps：

Thank you for your big tip! o(n_n)o~

A certain one also brought a good friend he met on the road by the way, and he planned to replace his good friend to make up for An An's loss...... Is this a natural black~

Hehe, although he has always been very naïve, it is not unintentional to run away halfway and lead the master to chase him all the way~