The next day, November 25, 1132. At about three o'clock in the afternoon, a wagon laden with wool headed for College City.

The driver was a man who looked like an ordinary village uncle, and on the cargo compartment of the carriage was a young man leaning on a soft wool sack and leisurely crossing Erlang's legs.

He wears a white woollen robe, sheepskin boots, and a white bowler sheepskin hat.

The eyelids are half-closed, delicate as ice roses, and the complexion is stunning.

The old village uncle, Cratt Lawrence, was a sheep farmer, who bought wool into the city, and occasionally resold the skins of wild animals that hunters had hunted.

Uncle Lawrence's carriage departed at five o'clock in the morning, starting from a small town at the southern foot of the snow-capped mountains of St. Maurice, and had been traveling for ten hours in the direction of College Town to the south.

But there was one more person in the carriage, and the acquaintance, who was always familiar on the road, stopped to talk to Uncle Lawrence, and the content was basically as follows:

"Oh, Lawrence, is this your girl? Or your granddaughter? Tut-tut, what a beauty, why have I never heard you mention it? Anyway, that kid in my family is eighteen years old this year, bring him to my house for a meal, I roast sheep! ”

This is what the uncle who is about the same age as Lawrence said, Lawrence took the trouble to explain for a long time, and the uncle walked away with an incredulous face.

"Eh, eh! Uncle Lawrence! My foot is broken, it hurts to death, and I want to get in the car. Uncle, you take me. ”

This is shouted by a young man in his twenties. Lawrence was a little annoyed, and he scolded with a slap in his face: "Boy, you don't pretend to be garlic!" Lao Tzu is old, but his eyes are not blind! Death to the side. ”

This scolding scolded the young man in his twenties again.

"Okay! Lawrence, you old rich man in the countryside are secretly continuing the strings? It's still such a young and beautiful beauty. You can! ”

This is what one of Lawrence's old customers said, Lawrence pulled him aside and explained in a low voice, who knew that this fat man with two mustaches and looked very obscene listened to Lawrence's explanation, and walked away with a more ambiguous smile.

"Daddy Klatt, no need to explain! Too tired. The man in the carriage, who had not spoken a word all along, finally spoke with a frown.

"I know, don't explain! Harold Vasa, that's your name, right? ”

"That's right!"

"I don't think it's all to blame."

“.........”

"However, if they saw that you had a fierce face last night, and that you were wearing a bloody, purple-haired tiger skin, they would not mistake you for a woman. Let me ask more, what did you do with the tiger's corpse? ”

Harold replied lightly, "Eat." Then, I don't need the fur, it's sold to the uncle and you changed it for this dress and travel expenses. ”

Uncle Lawrence looked at Harold's understatement, he shook his head, and complained, "I think, the gods must have mistaken your body and soul." ”

Harold moved his upper body and sat a little straighter, and he smiled, "What is the wrong way?" ”

Uncle Lawrence thought for a moment, and he said, "But the character of this young man of yours reminds me of the Northern warrior who looks down on life and death, holds a sharp axe, and fights the monsters head-on. But what about this appearance...... Tsk, I always think of Alufumia when I see you. (God's name, note 1)"

Harold smiled wryly, shook his head, and didn't bring up the topic again, he knew it was useless to bring it up. Instead, he asked, "How long will it take to reach your destination?" ”

Uncle Lawrence looked at his surroundings and said, "It's going to be soon, it won't take an hour to get there." ”

"Hmm!"

Harold agreed, and returned to his laid-back state.

"Uncle Lawrence!" A young man's shout came from behind the carriage.

Uncle Lawrence turned around, and a young man dressed as a postman slipped over on horseback, side by side with Lawrence's carriage.

"Eh, hello! Little Derek, what letter did you send back? Uncle Lawrence greeted him warmly, and it was very important for a small wool merchant like him to have a good relationship with the postman who traveled from south to north and had a lot of information.

Little Derrick, who was riding side by side with the carriage, saw Harold lying on a wool sack at a glance, after all, this beautiful man in a white woolen robe was more eye-catching than when he was dressed in black.

"Uncle Lawrence, who is this?" Little Derrick's eyes were fixed on the man lying in the carriage, and he ignored Lawrence's question for a moment.

"Oops! It is the guest who dropped in by the road. Lawrence didn't explain much, and he asked again, "What kind of letter did you send back?" ”

Little Derek saw that the beautiful man in the carriage did not even lift his eyelids, and did not pretend to be a color to him in the slightest. Coupled with Lawrence's insistence, little Derek reluctantly looked away, and he replied: "The civil war in the Salga Empire has begun, and their eldest prince Freddie Bart and second prince Dulin Bart both claim to be the legitimate heirs to the throne and deny the legitimacy of the other party, and now they are preparing their respective armies for war. ”

"Because the place where Freddy Bart, the Grand Prince of the Salga Empire, has his roots in the southwestern corner of the Salga Empire, close to the papal territory. Therefore, a notice was sent to the villages and towns in the north to pay attention to the rout and bandits coming from the north. I've just been to your town to inform you. ”

The civil war in the northern Salga Empire did not affect here, so Uncle Lawrence only heard an ordinary business news, and he analyzed: "It is expected! Well, the outbreak of the civil war in the Salga Empire should definitely increase the demand for wool. It's just that I don't know how long they can fight for the throne, and if they fight for a long time, I'll hoard some more wool. ”

"Alas, it should be a long time to fight, and excluding the neutral provinces, there are more provinces that support the Grand Prince Freddie Barth than those that support Durin Barth. The little prince, Dureen Bart, only had the advantage of controlling the capital, and the strength was almost the same. ”

After little Derek finished speaking, he subconsciously looked at the person lying in the carriage, who knew that the latter had already sat up straight and stared at him, but he only looked at it for a few seconds before turning his gaze elsewhere.

Little Derek didn't know why, and his face was red.

Lawrence touched his head: "Oh, in that case, I'll stock up on a little more wool." ”

Harold blinked, and he smiled, "Uncle Lawrence, you're going to lose money by doing this." ”

"Huh?" Lawrence and Derek Jr. questioned at the same time.

"Soon. This civil war in the Sarga Empire will soon be over! ”

Although the frost beauty finally opened her mouth to make little Derek very happy, he couldn't stop his question: "Why?" ”

Harold gently pinched his woolen robe with his fingers, and he said: "The comparison of strength between the two sides cannot be judged by who has more supported provinces, and the central government of the Salga Empire has long lost control over the local provinces!" The provincial governors expressed their support for a certain prince as a speculative speculation, and whether that prince won or not, they were required to continue to maintain stability in the local province, and the most ruthless thing the victor did was the thorn in the side of the loser's camp. ”

"Those governors have not put their lives on the gambling table, how can they go to great lengths to use their old books to help a certain prince win the throne? Because even if they do their best, what good can the new emperor of the empire give to these earth emperors? ”

"The real balance of strength between the two sides should exclude speculators and look at the armies that are truly loyal to them."

Harold kept turning his head to look at the northern sky as he said this, thoughtfully. He analyzed the situation of the Salga Empire like peeling off layers of onion skin, and spoke very clearly, and the answer was already coming out.

Uncle Lawrence looked at little Derek staring blankly at Harold, who was talking, and he smiled in his heart. Then he thought that he would tell the truth to little Derek for a while, this kid would definitely doubt life, and in his heart, he suddenly felt a little unbearable.

So Uncle Lawrence played a round: "Oh, it seems that the second prince, Durin Bart, is much more victorious, after all, the Central Army, which is known as the strongest in the empire, obeys his orders." It seems that this civil war will soon come to an end, and I will not bother to hoard wool any more. ”

Looking far ahead, Lawrence could already see the town of Northport, which was located eight kilometers north of College City, next to the canal that ran north and south of the Church Territory, where guests and goods coming from the north but not entering College City would disembark, so the town was very lively, with a very high concentration of people and goods.

"It's the place! It's time to get off. ”

When Harold heard this, he jumped lightly, jumped out of the car, and walked briskly to the south.

"Wait ......," little Derek shouted, but the white-robed man in front of him who was walking quickly turned a deaf ear.

Little Derek grabbed the reins of his horse and tried to chase after him.

Uncle Lawrence next to him grabbed him.

"Derek, everybody's gone. Don't be like this, let me follow you without a face! ”

Little Derek didn't move, he turned his head and blushed: "Uncle Lawrence! Do you say she's the eldest lady of a merchant family? The kind of business that is closely related to the situation on the mainland! ”

"How do I know? They didn't say it. Uncle Lawrence shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

Little Derek then asked, "Do you know where her home is?" ”

"I don't know, but it seems to be a student of St. Pherland's College in Academy City." Uncle Lawrence replied honestly, hoping to dispel little Derrick's thoughts.

Then he thought, "You haven't seen him in a boy's school uniform full of beast scratches, holding a bloody tiger skin." After reading it, you won't mistake him for a girl. ”

"It's not a permanent resident of the Papal Territory." Little Derek seemed a little deflated after hearing this.

"Don't look at it! Let's go! Lawrence tugged the reins of little Derrick's horse, who turned his horse's head and followed him north.

Little Derrick, who was just following Lawrence slowly to the north, turned back frequently, and after a while, looking at the smaller and smaller figures, he seemed to cheer himself up again in his heart, and muttered: "You don't have to care if your class status is higher than me or something, aren't there still many stories of princesses marrying commoners!" Not the inhabitants of the ecclesiastical territory are even more trivial. ”

After thinking about "understanding", little Derek asked urgently: "Uncle Lawrence, it doesn't matter if you don't know where she lives, as long as you know the name, I'll go to the academy city and inquire." Tell me her name. ”

Uncle Lawrence gave little Derek a very serious look, and he said slowly but clearly, "That man's name is Harold Vasa!" Would you like to hear about how I got to know him? ”

"Ahh Ah.......h

Without waiting for little Derek to answer, Lawrence said directly: "Last night, this person was wearing a tattered boy's uniform, and carrying a purple alpine tiger fur that was still dripping with blood not long ago. I used that tiger skin to change my new clothes and fare. ”

Little Derek stared at Uncle Lawrence with a frown, as if listening to the Arabian Nights, he couldn't imagine what it would be like for such a beautiful woman to be ragged and carrying bloody fur. Can a beautiful woman do this? Wait, boys' uniforms.......

Lawrence gave him a blank look and said, "He's a man!" Character, a man with more means than you want to be a man! I also have a lot more knowledge than you, who have never been out of church territory. ”

Little Derek was dumbfounded.

Uncle Lawrence couldn't bear to see him like this, so he got up from the carriage, patted little Derek on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "Young man, who hasn't made a mistake or two when he was young?" There's still a long way to go......."

Half an hour later, little Derrick with a sad and lost face followed Uncle Lawrence north.

This time, Uncle Lawrence was still greeted on the way back, and the acquaintances he met on the way thought that someone in Little Derrick's family had passed away, and sent a short eulogy.

Uncle Lawrence's return journey was not easy, and he explained the whole way to these passers-by.

****************************************************************

Bidding farewell to Uncle Lawrence, Harold bypassed the town of Northport, and he made his way south along the canal, found a secluded and uninhabited place, and quickly took off all his clothes.

He recited a few incantations, and it took a lot of effort and time to wrap the new woolen garment with earth magic, and then he tied the clay wrap around his body.

Harold jumped into the canal with a light leap, he was very good at the water, and he was perfectly capable of swimming a few kilometers before sneaking back to College City through the water gate.

Harold knew very well that the commotion caused by his pursuit of the black-robed guest a few nights ago had already made the Knights of Punishment target him, and after these two days, it was estimated that they had already learned a lot of information about themselves, and they had definitely entered their house to search.

Therefore, entering the city from the city gate now is tantamount to throwing yourself into a net, so it is better to sneak back to the academy city first to contact an acquaintance in the city, and ask him to find a way to solve this matter.

Diving into the water, Harold swam swiftly southward like a nimble fish, and in just a few moments, the "big fish" gradually disappeared.

Note 1: Aluphmia is said to be the goddess of love and beauty among the gods. The Church of this world is a pseudo-polytheistic true monotheistic religion, although the doctrine of the church is compatible with the existence of the ancient gods. But above the gods there is the Most High God who controls everything, and the Godhead of the Supreme God is much higher than that of the gods.