"Ahh

A gust of cold wind whistled through the dead leaves, and Sky Blue shrank her neck and couldn't help but sneeze.

A hand reached from behind and tightened the thick scarf around her neck. The little girl turned her head and looked at Attila embarrassedly, and Miss Elf looked at her mildly and reminded, "Be careful not to catch a cold." ”

After the passage of November, the northern part of Kaulin-Ihurian began to cool down sharply, and the inside of the inn was still somewhat warm thanks to the stove and heating, while the outside was already a cold and windy scene after the onset of winter.

The canals in the city of Golande seem to have been frosted overnight, and the snow may have only happened in a few days.

The others had changed into thick clothes, Fang Yu had a winter coat issued by an alchemist, and Kita also wore a padded robe, wearing gloves, half of her little face buried in a scarf, and her glasses were covered with a layer of white mist from time to time.

Miss Tata also curled up in a thick scarf, revealing only a pair of peaceful green eyes to look out, while discussing with Kita about the discrete nature of aether magic in winter.

Three days passed in a flash, and this day was the appointed meeting time with Sir Duke, and Fang Yu took the others to the Binno district. There were a total of five people in the group, of course, Fang Yu only planned to go with Attila and Sylvid, after all, sending the letter was just a trivial matter, as long as he handed over the Golden Flame Ring that Mazak gave him.

But I didn't think that Tianlan also shouted to go together, and with Tianlan, Kita naturally had to go with her, plus Miss Tata who accompanied her, so the team inevitably became huge.

Like all the old noble gentlemen who lived in Golland, Sir Duke had a decent dwelling in a vintage apartment at 334 Binnot, and a fortune from his early years or a large inheritance was enough to make him live comfortably.

The old apartment is located on the canal street in the Binno district, with a four-storey building and brown roof, which looks old from the outside. There were not many pedestrians on the street, only a few hurried people, and a few down-and-out adventurers, begging for something to ignite along the street to keep warm.

Fang Yu and Tian Lan had actually never seen a real homeless man, this ancient profession had become history in the developed regions of the earth half a century ago, so when passing by these people, the little girl couldn't bear it and gave each other a few silver coins.

The latter silently put away the coins, and uncharacteristically did not thank them, but only nodded to them. Tianlan followed the others into the hall on the first floor of the apartment, and blinked and sighed to the others: "Those people are so pitiful. ”

"There are many poor people in this world," replied Sylvid, "not like you. ”

"Eddard's world is not perfect," Attila said keenly, "and these people are lucky, they finally have a skill, survive this winter, and always find something to do in the coming year." ”

"Sister Attila?" Tianlan didn't expect the always gentle Miss Elf to say this, and she looked a little surprised.

Attila touched her soft blonde hair, but did not answer, in different worlds, at different ages, some things could not be said clearly for a while.

Fang Yu didn't speak, he was more mature than Tianlan, he knew that there was no such thing as perfect in this world, the earth was certainly more developed, but there were differences and conflicts, poverty and backwardness between regions.

There are things, it's just that they haven't seen it, but it's not non-existent.

His purpose in coming to this world is actually very simple, just to realize his dream of adventure, although he has also experienced a series of events in Dorifin and Fenris.

But he thinks that is the choice that a man of conscience must make in such a situation, and he just happened to be there, working with so many people to achieve such a result.

The existence of the so-called 'heroes' is often just the sustenance in the hearts of people under the coincidence of chance.

And this title should belong to every one of the electors of the time, who are the truly noble ones—

Although the apartment looks old from the outside, the interior furnishings are generous and carefully maintained. As soon as you enter the hall, a thick carpet is spread, and there are two antique armors on one side, polished to a shiny finish, and the pine wainscoting behind it is spotless, as if someone has just cleaned it.

Directly opposite are two staircases, the bright handrails reflect the light of the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, the hall is very heated, and everyone walks in from the outside as if from winter has walked into spring, and their frozen faces have melted.

After Fang Yu identified himself to the porter, since he had made an appointment, the porter looked through the records and let them go upstairs.

The old man lived on the fourth floor of the apartment, and in the last room, Fang Yu stood outside the door, carefully checked the number on the copper nameplate on the door, and after confirming that it was correct, he knocked lightly on the door.

There was a dog barking from behind the door.

Then a brisk footstep came, and the door was opened with a creak, revealing the timid face of a little boy behind the door, looking at them vigilantly: "Is there something wrong?" ”

Sylvide smiled at the little boy, "May I ask if Sir Duke is at home, we have made an appointment with Mr. Sir to meet today." ”

The little boy was a little scared, but shook his head: "You made an appointment with grandpa, why didn't he—he tell me?" Anyway, I—I'm not going to tell you grandpa he's at home. ”

He replied a little interestingly, and the others couldn't help but laugh, Tian Lanxin was straightforward, and he had already burst out laughing: "Hehe, haven't you already told us?" ”

The little boy blushed and couldn't say a word for a long time.

At this time, an old voice came from inside the door: "All right, my guests, please let him go." Merry, let them in, they are our guests this afternoon. ”

Merry opened the door and let them in, although Tianlan was straightforward, but there was no malice, he reached out to touch the other party's head, but the little boy was very vigilant and stepped back.

He glanced at Tianlan, his face flushed, and he didn't say much, and led everyone into the house.

Soon a hound came out of the house, running around the crowd and wagging its tail, and Sky Blue was at first a little frightened, but soon became acquainted with the little fellow.

The hound seemed to like her very much, and affectionately stuck out his tongue and licked the back of her hand, making her giggle.

Sir Duke's dwelling was larger than they had imagined, and the old man seemed to have bought the half-story apartment, and opened the walls between them, and they passed through a large hall of various game and swords, guns, and halberds, and came to a smaller reception room.

Silvid whispered to him privately by the Owl's ear that his father would love the place if he wanted to be here, that he had a similar hall in Badsong's castle, and that Baggins had learned his habit of displaying weapons from her father.

Her thin breath tickled Fang Yuan's ears, and the latter's face turned red.

Fortunately, the others did not notice this, and they followed the little boy into the reception room, and among the couches that surrounded the fireplace, they saw the rumored Sir Duke.

The latter sat on a chair, dressed in an overcoat and a shawl of gray cloth, the fire in the fireplace was bright, the light of the fire reflected on his side, and a brown blanket with a book on his knees.

Kita looked at the title of the book, which read "The Folk Tale of Kaurin-Ihurian".

The old man had gray hair, but he was in good spirits, and when he saw everyone, he smiled at them and said, "It seems that Lin Xiusi's friends have arrived, I actually heard about you from him a long time ago, but he has not been in touch with me for more than ten years, and he doesn't know that I have moved." ”

"And I just can't contact you for a while, it's really troublesome for you, it must have taken a lot of work to find this place, right?"

"Isn't it?" Fang Yu thought to himself, but fortunately, they had been idle for more than a month, but as soon as the old man opened his mouth, he mentioned Lincius instead of Mazak, which made him a little surprised.

However, everyone already knew that the president of the Black Goat Chamber of Commerce had a good relationship with the master of the Traveler's Rest, so it was not too strange in their hearts.

The old man motioned for them to take a seat, and everyone found a place to sit down, Sky Blue had to be with Kita, Attila could only sit in the middle, and Sylvid was next to Fang Plover without saying a word.

Fang Yu had no choice but to sit in the position closest to the old man, and Miss Tata flew to his shoulder.

The hound then left Sky Blue and returned to his master, and the old man touched its head and let it sit aside. And the little boy named Merry looked at the book on the old man's lap, and then said crisply: "Grandpa, you said that the guests came, so you continued to tell me this story......

The old man smiled: "Merry, you go and pour a cup of tea for the guests first." ”

The little boy pouted reluctantly, but reluctantly left.

Only then did the old man say to everyone in an emotional tone: "Speaking of which, it has been almost thirty years, and if it weren't for Lin Xiusi's letter, I would have almost forgotten that the time was almost near." ”

"Are you talking about Dorifin?" Azure asked.

Attila glared at her.

But the old man didn't mind: "It's okay, I like to be honest, and people like nostalgia when they're old, and although it's been so long, it's just right for me to remember." ”

He stroked the cover of the book with his hand: "Thirty years ago, before Merry was born, I rescued his mother from the rubble of Dorifin, and of course she was a little girl who was not in the world at that time, and one of the few survivors of that event—"

"She married my son and gave birth to Merry, but after thirty years death finally caught up with her. My unsuccessful son had exhausted his starlight on the battlefield, and the poor girl followed him, leaving Merry alone. ”

"Fortunately, I have a few years to live, and I can take care of him until he grows up," the old man seemed to reminisce, and stroked the copperplate on the cover of the book one by one: "This book is the story of the battle between Joshud and the dragon, and it is the little one's favorite." ”

He raised his head, and a pair of gray eyes seemed to shine with wisdom: "This book was published by you, and it was very popular as soon as it was published, and you people there are always smart and good at spotting business opportunities. ”

Fang Yu paused for a moment before he realized that the 'you' in his mouth meant the earthlings.

The old man changed his words: "But since you have come here with that letter, you should understand the true nature of this story, right?" ”

The crowd nodded.

The old man stretched out his hand: "Do you have that thing with you?" ”

Fang Yu understood what he was talking about, took out the Golden Flame Ring from his bosom, and handed it to the old man. Although Mazak warned him not to open the letter until he met the recipient, by chance that the Golden Flame Ring himself had appeared, and he no longer had to bother to recreate an envelope.

And the old man didn't seem to mind this, and only took the heavy thick gold ring—strange to say, the ring, which had been dulled after the Fenris incident, was in his hand when the old man pointed the ring directly at the fireplace fire.

The ring was once again bright, flowing with a golden lava-like glow.

He turned the ring slowly and remained silent for a long time.

Others don't know what's going on, and they can only look at it like that.

It was a long time before the old man spoke again, "I saw this ring thirty years ago, and after that, Lincius and I went our separate ways, promising to investigate everything behind Dorifin—"

"But now this ring seems to be filled with an inexplicable power, completely different from thirty years ago," he raised his head, his snow-white eyebrows raised, and looked at Fang Yuan, "I heard that Dorifin's illusion has disappeared, you must have been to that place, right?" ”

Fang Yu didn't hide it either, and nodded.

"No wonder, it looks like the opportunity has arrived." The old man muttered to himself, and he looked at the others again, "Since they have chosen to let you come to this place, I think they must have made their own decisions, and the change in this ring seems to explain all this. ”

"What does that mean?" Sky Blue asked inexplicably.

The others didn't stop her this time, because it was also a question in their minds at the moment.

"It says a lot, but it's hard to explain for a while," replied the old man, "and since you've come to me with this ring, it means you want to know the ins and outs of the matter—"

Everyone was stunned.

Fang Yu couldn't help but look at Attila and Sylvid, their positioning was actually just messengers, but after a series of events on Dorifin and Fenris Island, he didn't want to know everything about the Dragon Witch and the Dark Dragon, but it wasn't true.

At this time, Atira seemed to think of something, and nodded lightly: "Old man, you just say." ”

Fang Yu glanced at Miss Elf with some surprise.

And it was at this time that he found that the Dragon Witch quest line in his system had changed, and a line of prompts appeared on the system, indicating that the lower level directory of the Dragon Witch event was being updated.

The old man on the side seemed to have expected them to answer like this, raised the ring in his hand, silently sighed for a long time: "Before telling all this, let me start by introducing myself." ”

The others were slightly stunned and looked at the old man with some curiosity.

Although Mazak told them to come to him and give the Ring of Golden Flame to the old gentleman, he never told them why, or who the old man was.

In fact, Fang Yu also had a lot of speculations, for example, he had always guessed that this old man was the person who had been supporting Mazak and Lincius Black Goat Chamber of Commerce behind his back for thirty years.

"My real name is Orsin-Duke, and Duke is my last name," the old man began, "and those who are familiar with the genealogy of the nobility should know that this surname and a series of families, large and small, are actually from the Nosnia region. ”

"In the earlier years, we swore allegiance to one main family, the Burville family. Although the power of the kingdom has gradually been concentrated over the past two centuries, and the subordination between the nobles has gradually faded, there are still private alliances between historically connected families—"

"When I was younger, I also used to follow a big man from the Burville family."

"Since you have been to Dorifin, you should know some kind of illusion there, it is a reappearance of the past thirty years ago, and although I have not been to that place since then, so as not to bring back the painful memories of that day, I have always remembered in my mind what happened thirty years ago."

The old man suddenly raised his head: "So, do you know the origin of that celebration?" ”

Silvid recalled the situation and replied, "It seems to be to welcome some important person." ”

"You're right, little girl," the old man looked at her and nodded approvingly, "the big man is called Sern-Burville, or Count Stoneheart, have you ever heard of that name?" ”

Sylvid thought for a moment: "Thirty years ago, it seemed that he was an important minister of the kingdom, and I had heard of the title of Earl of Stoneheart. ”

The old man looked a little surprised: "It seems that you know the nobles of the kingdom very well. ”

Sylvid glanced at Fang Yu and smiled, "I'm a native, Mr. Sir." ”

The old man then showed a look of surprise, nodded and continued to tell the story: "And this Count of Stoneheart is none other than my immediate superior, who was appointed by the king to succeed him as Consul of Dorifin. ”

It was suddenly clear to everyone that this was the reason for the celebration, a king's important minister, although his status was equal to that of the consul of Doriphon at that time, but his status was not high.

It's no wonder that Count Rogersel, the Consul of Doriffin at the time, was so cautious about the celebrations.

The old man looked at the faces of the crowd and understood that they understood the cause and effect: "That celebration was held for this purpose, and at that time, I was one of the entourage of the lord. ”

"You all know what happened next, I experienced the disaster firsthand. Count Stoneheart also disappeared at the time of the fall of Dorifin, and it was actually me, who also almost lost my life here, and it was two friends of Lincius who saved us all. ”

"Though I never saw the knight and the lady again, and only Lincius left the place with me, and Merry's mother. At that time, I was in the prime of life, and I knew that if I had lost the lord I had sworn allegance to protect me, I would never be able to rise again. ”

"So I made a promise with Lincius to find out who was behind the Doriphon incident, whether it was a cultist or a dragon witch. That's when I first saw the ring – something I've been working on for decades since. ”

Only then did the old man put down the ring: "The investigation in the past thirty years has naturally not been fruitless, and it has also made me discover some interesting things......

At the same time, he patted the cover of the book on his lap again: "Although the story of Joshud and the evil dragon is wonderful, there are some things in it that are not true, just like the golden pupil of the dragon in your hand. ”

"The dragon's golden pupils?"

The old man nodded: "The hero Joshud defeated the evil dragon with the dragon-slaying sword Galapeia, cut off one of its claws and horns, blinded one of its eyes, and made a ring out of its eye. ”

"This ring doesn't have a name in the legends, but you know, it's the Ring of Golden Flame."

"But that's not the case—"

The old man's narration was unhurried, but everyone had a feeling as if they were in a dream, because every next sentence subverted their common sense; The old man said, "I have some definite evidence that the Ring of Golden Flame was not made by the hero Joshide. ”

"Nicol Bolas was blind in one eye long before he fought him."

"And Joshoud did get the ring, but not from the dragon witch. And soon, for some well-known reasons, the ring was stolen. ”

"The next time it reappeared, it was in Dorifin—"

In the silent air, only the crackling of charcoal in the fireplace, and the old man's voice was equally quiet.

Everyone looked at each other, and after a long while, Fang Yu asked, "Then Jo Xiude, who did you get the Golden Flame Ring from?" Is this ring really made of Dragon's Gold? ”

The old man shook his head and stared at him with gray eyes.

"In the early years, in order to pursue this answer," he replied slowly, "Lin Xius and I both carried this Golden Flame Ring to those four places, but we all returned in vain. ”

"And now my physical condition does not allow me to travel far, although Lincius was younger than me back then, but now he is over half a hundred years old, I am afraid that there is not much time left for him, otherwise he would not have given this ring to you-"

Fang Yu frowned, and heard it half-clearly: "I'm sorry, I don't quite understand, Mr. Duke, what do those four places mean?" As for giving us this ring, isn't it because we happen to be there? ”

The old man shook his head: "No, it only means that he sees a trait in you." ”

"Traits?"

"I don't know what a trait associated with the Dark Dragon is. But I chose to believe Lincius, not to mention that the ring itself gave me this answer. ”

Fang Yuan couldn't help but think back to his experience at the Traveler's Rest, and he didn't seem to have any clue if he had any connection to the Dark Dragon before that. The only thing that could make him think of it was a series of visions he had when he saw Nicol Bolas's broken corner.

And at that time, Mazak's old butler happened to be by his side.

Maybe that's the time?

Maybe there's also the Radiance of the Sky?

He couldn't help but look at the back of his gloved right hand, and although Torragotos had explained to him what the Helin Crown was, the evil dragon didn't seem to be able to explain it clearly.

After a few moments, he came to his senses and asked, "This ring?" ”

"You're the only one who put an end to Dorifin's illusion," the old man asked, "aren't you?" ”

He continued: "One of the four places I spoke of was none other than Doriffin. ”

Fang Yu was stunned and asked with some surprise, "What about the other three?" ”

The old man fell silent, and his withered hand gently stroked the cover of the book, and after a long time he spoke:

"The land of dragons in the desert of Astanya, once the home of dragon slayers, is now nothing but rubble."

"And then the first city to be reduced to ruins in the flames of the Dragon Witch, Idus."

"Finally, the land where Joshud defeated the Witch of the Dragon, the Ash Mountains north of Dulun."

……