The winter of this year was particularly cold, and the holy city of Roma was covered with a thick winter coat early.

Even in times of war, the Desserts welcomed merchants from all over the world to trade. They weren't afraid of spies from the Tamborance Empire sneaking in, as the archmages of Dessert possessed a magical mind-reading ability that could discern someone's true thoughts and intentions.

Of course, in order to prevent the abuse of this ability, these archmages themselves are supervised by another group of mages who are immune to psychic reading.

The organizational structure of the Desserts is a wonderful triangular form of armies plus merchants and black-robed mages. Due to the emergence of Marshal Cripp the Eagle of the North, the original stable structure of the three powers was broken all at once, and the army became the main leader, and the Chamber of Commerce and the black-robed mage became his vassals.

The largest tavern in Rohm is called Hiccup Dragon, and it is said that this tavern has been standing here for a long, long time. At that time, the elves were still the main race on the continent, and the human race had just been born for a short time, and the common enemy of the elves and humans was the legendary dragons who opened the world, although they were few in number, but they had terrifying and powerful abilities.

The first owner of the tavern was an elven and human half-breed who was often ridiculed for his special status, and had to make a living in what was then a wilderness location. Most of the people who visit this tavern are strange people who go to the north for hunting, treasure hunting, and mining. These people themselves don't have much money, and after a long time, after getting acquainted with the boss, they even began to eat and drink for free. The boss is an honest man, and he is not very good at calculating, so he acquiesces.

In this way, this tavern has a reputation, and it spreads ten, ten, hundreds, and often some poor cripples and blind people come to eat. The boss didn't know where the money came from, so he not only provided for it but also had no complaints.

Rumors began to circulate among customers that this boss was actually a big thief, and he must have made a lot of money before, but now he lives in seclusion here just to hide people's eyes. After a long time of rumors, there are people with bad intentions who want to extort a sum of money.

As soon as they entered the tavern, they rushed towards the half-elf, half-human boss with a fierce voice, shouting, "Elven bastard, hand over the money, if you don't know it, you can't do it unless you don't know it!"

The boss was calm but a little puzzled: "What do you mean? What did I do?"

"Where did you get so much money to open a tavern in a place where birds don't, not only to open a tavern, but also to give free to the poor, this is clearly a fraud!"

The tavern keeper smiled and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have wine and meat here, if you are hungry, take it and enjoy it." ”

"We want money!" the gang refused.

The boss shook his head faintly.

The robber led by him was furious, pulled out a bright kitchen knife and wiped it on the boss's neck.

Then something strange happened, the whole tavern suddenly shook the sky, and there seemed to be something belching on the roof, and the sound was deafening, like thunder, and there was goose feather snow outside!

The robbers were all unsteady on their feet, staggering and falling to the ground, and most of the people in the tavern were seated, so they were not greatly affected.

The tavernkeeper stood, but he did not move as if he had taken root in the ground.

The robbers scolded: "Elven mongrel, what kind of demon magic is used." If you don't hand over the money today, we're going to take your life!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was another thunderclap overhead, and a dragon with its wings spread suddenly descended from outside the tavern, burping vigorously and with heat in its nose.

Everyone in the tavern suddenly became a pot of porridge, and everyone rushed around, panicking. The tavern owner said at this time: "Don't be afraid, this dragon doesn't eat people, and the dragon with hiccups doesn't eat people." He pointed to the robbers and said, "These are snacks!"

Several robbers all fell to their knees, knocked their heads to the ground, and shouted for grandpa to spare their lives, and the customers in the tavern all applauded at this time, and the boss smiled and said: "What do you want to eat and drink, just take it, just don't think about this robbery again." ”

The robbers were so grateful that they did not dare or were in the mood to eat the free food and drink, and they withdrew from the hotel in disarray, and ran south in a puff of smoke, the dragon behind them still staring at them while hiccuping.

Since then, the tavern has been known as the Hiccup Dragon, and it has been used ever since.

Thomas the Fat Merchant, since saying goodbye to Benedict at the House of Luther, traveled all the way north to the city of Rûm. After being examined by the mind-reading mages, he and his companions all entered the city without incident.

The Hiccup Dragon Tavern was a meeting place for many merchants, and Thomas was a frequent visitor to it for many years.

As soon as he pushed the door in that day, he was caught by an old acquaintance, whose face was full of spring breeze, and he showed the gold teeth in his mouth and greeted: "Hey, Thomas, this way, this way!"

The fat merchant paused, for it took some time for the dim lights in the tavern to get used to, and when he could see normally, he immediately responded enthusiastically: "Ha, Adventure! Adventure! How could your brother have thought of coming to this northern wilderness!"

Although the holy city of Rûm has flourished for hundreds of years, those who are familiar with its history often jokingly refer to it as a wilderness.

Thomas strode forward, gave him a warm hug, and asked, "Philip, aren't you in the lumber business in the South?

The gold-toothed merchant smiled: "Although that business is authorized by the emperor, it is not easy to do." The elves in the woods are ghostly! they steal our logging equipment, and then they cast some strange magic on the wood we cut down, and they are too heavy to carry. These annoying hugging cubs!"

"Ha, His Majesty the Emperor claims to be in charge of the entire Bodi Continent, but in fact, it is still far away. Not to mention the dwarfs and elves, even the principalities are all in harmony. Thomas smacked his glass.

"This emperor can already be regarded as a wise and powerful man, but the situation is just like this, the history of the empire has been nearly a thousand years, and I am afraid that the number of qi will be exhausted. ”

Since the city of Rûm had been overrun by the Deseths, and since it was far from the Empire, the conversation between the two men was not scrupled with any scruples.

"And what are you going to do now?" asked Thomas.

"The work in the south is for my brother, although he can't make a lot of money, but he can't lose money, so I'm relieved to let him do it. I know you're in the fur business here, dude, so you want to get a piece of the action!" Philip habitually clasped his teeth up and down.

"This time the war between the north and the south, the business is not good, at this time in previous years, I could fill several warehouses with furs from the hunters in the north, but this time I have been here for so many days, and I haven't even seen a shadow. ”

Philip leaned into Thomas's ear and lowered his voice: "Although these heretics pursue freedom of trade, but now that the two armies are fighting, it is a cold winter, and furs are military necessities, and it is estimated that the hunters' goods have long been withheld by them!"

"Hey, this year's northwest wind is set!"

"It is said that this time the emperor sent Duke Borot as the vanguard to fight against the Deseths. The duke was very likely to be elected emperor that year. Philip changed the subject.

"Ha, Emperor, it's a matter of time! This time the old duke is going to take Deliot's way, and he will definitely lose the battle here, and it will be a dead word no matter what!" Thomas sneered.

"This is our way of making money!"

"What do you mean by that?"

Philip clicked his teeth, took another sip of wine, and said slowly: "Borot is certain to die, and it is said that his son, His Highness Albert, also disappeared while on a mission in the city of Greed. His Majesty the Emperor really has a good hand of chess, and in this way, the principality is in His Majesty's pocket. No country can be left without an owner, and the emperor will surely send a reliable man to take over......"

"Do you want to sit in this puppet's seat?" Thomas scoffed before Philip could finish.

"Heroes come out of troubled times, everything needs to be fought for, I have worked diligently for His Majesty the Emperor for so many years, not to mention credit, hard work is always indispensable. None of his salaries or military expenses have passed through my hands. For the duke's position this time, the emperor will inevitably choose a confidant who does not have a noble family background, so I am still very hopeful. ”

"If you have such great ambitions, what are you doing here to the north?" Thomas still felt that Philip's idea was fantastical.

"Old man, although most of the people in Rom City have an indifferent attitude towards who rules them, these people can still fight for it, if we can start a riot in Rom City when Deseth's army defeats Borot all the way south, that effect, tsk, I don't need to say it, you know it!"

When Thomas heard this, he almost poured all the wine into his nose, and he said loudly, "Brother, this is too much. Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to get out of it all?"

"Rest assured, the day when Borot and the Deseth engage will be the day I evacuate the city of Roma. Philip said triumphantly.

"Your Majesty the Emperor will definitely comprehend this intention?"

"Duke Loyle, you know no, hey, it's up to him to deal with this!"

Thomas was a real businessman, and he was not interested in this kind of big business, and he decided to leave immediately because he thought that if he continued to talk to Philip again, he would be dragged into the gang.

At this time, there was a sudden noise in the tavern, it turned out that there was a drunkard who had drunk too much, and moved his hands and feet at a female elf waiter, and the people on the side couldn't persuade him, and the boss came and said good things vigorously, but the drunkard still didn't give up, and kept shouting to let the female elf sleep with him.

The drunkard shouted loudly: "Look at which of you dares to touch me, there are people from the Black-robed Mage Association behind Lao Tzu!"

The black-robed mages of the Desetes are famous, forming a powerful iron triangle with the military and the Chamber of Commerce.

The city of Roma was under the eaves of the house, and he had to bow his head, and there was a sudden silence in the tavern.

Only one monk-like person in the audience jumped out and responded: "What will happen to the black-robed mage? As a member of the empire, you have to rely on the support of heretics, do you have any backbone!"

The drunkard was half awakened by this reprimand, and he yelled at the monk: "What kind of green onion are you! Now that this city has been occupied by the Desserts, you Bo Sectarians will only use your lips, and you will go to fight with the black-robed mage, and you will have a good use scolding me!"

The monk did not answer, for it was indeed a humiliating reality.

The tavern keeper whispered a few words to the elf waiter, who reluctantly apologized to the drunken man in person.

Thomas shook his head on the sidelines, and Philip was cup after cup, planning both the big plan and the bright future of himself.

Find out what happens next, and listen to the next breakdown.