Twenty minutes later, everyone tried to hold back a smile as they watched Dures, who was soothing the weeping bride.

Tommar approached Shepard and forced a smile and said, "My lord, this is the first time I've seen the bridesmaid and the manservant have a private meeting in the toilet before the master's wedding, but they were broken by the hostess, and they were so nervous that they couldn't pull it out......"

Shepard's performance was average, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised: "It's the first time I've seen ...... Poor Dureth, his well-prepared wedding is probably going to become the laughing stock of many people because of this accident. ”

Due to the poor state of the frightened bride, the wedding had to be hastily ended, and it was not until the next day that Shepard met the spirited Dures.

"Looks like you had a hard time last night." Shepard is sitting in the dining room of the manor, on the dining table with a white tablecloth in front of him, the silver plate holds the fully cooked fried lamb chops, the carefully prepared side dishes are very decorated, Shepard casually inserts a piece of mutton and puts it in his mouth, the burnt aroma that stimulates the taste buds in the chewing is intoxicating, the fully cooked lamb chops are not tender, but the taste is more chewy and the aroma of frying, which is completely different from the pursuit of focusing on fresh and tender eating.

"I'm glad to see you eating so happily." Dures casually pulled away the chair, the dark circles on his face still carried the tiredness of last night, and casually snapped his fingers to let his servant bring breakfast, turned his head to look at Shepard and said seriously: "Continue our conversation from yesterday, Shepard." ”

"Yesterday? Oh, you mean the flotilla thing? Shepard put the last piece of lamb in his mouth, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and raised his hand to the waiter, "Bring me another beef rib!" It's still fully cooked! ”

Seeing that the waiter saluted and went to the kitchen, he looked at Durith and said, "I am going to organize a fleet and go north from the vicinity of Esmirtaran to the Esmir River, then reach Sword Bay, and go north to [Winterfell]. ”

"What are you doing this for? My friend? Durith wondered: "You are already an earl, you can completely let your men do this, there is no need to participate in it yourself, you must know that this journey is not only very long, but also very dangerous, the pirates of [Luscan] are raging throughout Sword Bay, even if it is a powerful city-state like [Baldur's Gate] or [Waterdeep], it can only deter but not destroy." ”

Shepard smiled: "Duris, you and I are different people, for me, although the Prell Territory is comfortable, it is just a peaceful harbor, and I yearn for the wonderful and dangerous world outside the harbor, which fascinates countless people. ”

Dures was silent for a while before muttering, "Well, I won't participate, but I'm willing to make an investment for your actions...... Do you accept it? ”

Shepard said briskly: "Of course, there are so many caravans trading between the kingdom and the north, and I also know some things that are easy to sell, if you are willing to invest, I will write it down for you and give you a share when the time comes." ”

Dures only proposed to invest because of friendship, and he had no opinion on whether it was rewarded or not.

……

The salty smell of the sea breeze blows the flag, the sea is calm and waveless, and the sky that has just fallen after a light rain soon becomes clear, and the vision is clear, and the intersection of the sky and the sea is so natural.

The blue sea reflected the golden sunlight, and the dazzling light shone on the tall sea boat, so that a few people who were originally standing at the bow of the ship looking into the distance had to retreat to the shade.

Shepard, who was dressed in a capable knight's casual clothes, looked at the calm and elegant middle-aged nobleman beside him and smiled: "Baron Krell Garde, it is really troublesome for you to ask you to accompany me to the sea this time." ”

Krell Gard bowed very gracefully, and his voice was warm and friendly: "Lord Earl, if you hadn't rescued the Gard family from Esmirtal, my family and I would have died in the war a long time ago, and it is my honor to serve you, besides, although the Gard family is only more than a hundred years old, since my grandfather, it has always been the richest of Esmirtaran, but it must be the most successful businessman!" If you don't take me on this trip to open up trade routes, who can you take with you? ”

"Ha, very good, Lord Guardian, I hope your son will be as shrewd and wise as you in the future." Shepard said with a smile.

Krell Gard bowed slightly and said, "I also hope that he can grow up so that he can serve adults." ”

Shepard nodded: "Needless to say, about the goods and transactions, please, after this trip is over, we will check the account books." ”

"Yes, I'm a little tired, my lord, please allow me to go back to my room and rest."

Shepard bowed his head and said, "Please." ”

Seeing the person in charge of trade on this voyage enter the cabin, Shepard turned to look at the people behind him, and couldn't help but smile: "Gibbs York, Berghardt Ike, Henry Dereger, Simon Montford, and Edward, you are responsible for the safety of this trip, Gibbs, you are a [noble knight], the York family is already famous for its rich knights, this trip is a grind for you, and some exchanges along the way are taken care of by you." ”

Gibbs York is the eldest son of Baron Miye York, and the future heir of the York family, Shepard gave them the White Swan Castle near the forest in the south of Prell as a territory, which can be said to be a great favor to them, this traditional knight family is very clear about grievances, so Miel is very active to let his son be the earl's guard, not to mention what a rare opportunity to increase the affection of the monarch and the courtiers on this trip.

The young knight was excited, and agreed calmly, and Shepard's words did not stop: "Henry, you are a mage, and you have such a long experience of adventure, there are some things that I don't need to order, after this trip, the alchemy shop will be under your name, and you can pay taxes normally in the future, and the Earl's Court can also pay money to buy you the knowledge of a four-ring spell, or the knowledge of two three-ring spells." ”

"Simon, you've been in Candlestick for a while, right? We'll rest around Candlestick for half a day, and we'll need to talk to them when the time comes, as it's not open to strange ships. ”

These two former adventurers that Shepard had collected from Esmirtaran were not very important in the realm, one had been in charge of the alchemy shop, and the other had been teaching the Earl's wives and mistresses some knowledge, so he simply helped them bring them this trip to add some training.

As for the remaining wandering knight Berghardt Ike, he had awakened the power of the [Moonlight] bloodline a year and a half ago, and then was privately accepted as a believer in the God of Light, and he didn't need much arrangement for him, he would consciously find his rightful place.

Then there was Edward, a young man who had accidentally broken through the railing of the green dragon and was absorbed into the city guards, his master had moved from the countryside to Bloucester City, and was hired as a sword instructor for the city guards, and he was assigned to work as a guard for the earl.

Sidney, Tommar and others are already important real power figures in the Prell Domain, and it is harmless to go out to a banquet occasionally, but when the Earl needs to leave the territory for a long time, they are the Earl's back-ups, and they must stay in the territory to help the hostess keep the foundation of the Prell family.

In addition to these people, there was a young man with long green hair, who looked unruly but awe-inspiring, this young man wore a brown leather jacket and a pair of blue canvas trousers, a look and dress that was rare in the Old World.

After Edward and the others retreated, Shepard looked at the young man with some curiosity: "Takulark, where did you get this dress?" ”

The young man who had transformed from the green dragon with the [Human Transfiguration Technique] spread his hands: "Boss, this dress is the effect of Transfiguration, as long as I take it off, it will disappear immediately." ”

"And what's going on with this style?" Shepard pointed to the lower piece of clothing that resembled jeans.

The green dragon said helplessly: "This is the shape I thought of in my memory when I transformed, as for why I don't know, boss, is there any problem?" ”

Shepard waved his hand: "It's okay, just ask." "The steel-feathered griffin couldn't be transformed, and it was too dazzling to bring it out, so it had to stay in the territory just to guard it, and the green dragon was so quiet that he couldn't return to the Wildas Forest, so he simply followed Shepard out for a walk.

The green dragon looked at the endless sea, and immediately turned his head back, a forest dragon like him prefers the endless dense ancient forest to the bottomless deep ocean, in order to eliminate the rejection of the ocean, he had to say nothing: "Boss, is the purpose of your trip really to open up trade routes?" ”

Shepard laughed, "What? You don't believe it? ”

The green dragon grinned: "Boss, although I am a dragon, I have been different from other dragons since I became an adult, I have been to the Supreme Forest, I have been to Icewind Dale, I have been to the Troll Forest near Baldur's Gate, although I belong to the young people in the dragon clan, but the time of chaos is just the time of my adulthood...... So I can see that there must be some reason why you decided to go north, but you don't want to say it, so you say that you want to open up trade routes, even if this reason is very bad, but your vassals and subordinates will not say it explicitly, you can rest assured, I will not say it explicitly. ”

Shepard smiled, propped his hand on the boat, looked at the boundless vast ocean and clear sky, and smiled at the sea breeze: "You guessed half right, Takulark, it doesn't matter what I want to do, when I was alone, I used to go wherever I wanted, but now I have a large fiefdom, but it makes me feel very restrained, and I long to experience the feeling of walking everywhere and seeing everywhere again." ”

The green dragon shrugged: "Okay, boss, you're a natural adventurer. ”

"Hehe, you've been to the Supreme Forest? The elven patrols there are not easy to deal with, are they? Shepard smiled and looked at the Green Dragon.

The green dragon perked up: "Boss, have you been there too?" Those skinny elven guards were too troublesome, they didn't taste good, they couldn't catch them, and they didn't know where the arrows they shot came from, and I later learned that their arrows could be shot with the help of plane shuttles......"

This person and a dragon chatted about specious adventures, and the green dragon was talking about sex like a brass dragon in a metal dragon at the moment, and they couldn't finish chatting for a long time.

In the distance, a majestic building on an isolated island rises from the end of the view: the Candle Castle.

……

"The Candle Castle is a gathering place of knowledge, and a sacred place for the god of knowledge, and it stands on a high cliff overlooking the sea, at the end of the Lion's Road, which in turn connects to the trade route of the Bayshore Highway."

The ship slowly docked in the pier, the Candle Castle is surrounded by reefs, the water is high and the waves are high, only this place can dock, next to the pier is the [Lion Road] that extends to the gate of the Candle Castle, and the other end goes directly to the [Bay Highway] running through the north and south.

Dealing with the guards of Candle Castle was naturally left to Simon, who had studied at Candle Castle for a while, and his special status plus some remuneration was enough in exchange for the qualification to dock the ship.

Waiting for boredom, Shepard popularized the knowledge about the Candle Keep to the others: "Look there, those towers and the light on them don't look like giant candles? It is the landmark of the Candle Castle and an important part of this huge fortress, and it is said that it contains the prophecy of an ancient great sage about the future of the entire Old World, but until now, no one knows the content of the prophecy. ”

Everyone, including the Green Dragon, looked up at the towering and majestic Candle Castle, which was named after it, and the majesty and solemnity of this place can be imagined, and the precious knowledge was protected in this fortress, and no unauthorized person could come here.

"The interior of Candlecastle is complicated, but the rules for entering are simple." Shepard pointed to a lighthouse stuck in the road next to the dock: "There is a magic guard made by the scholars in the Candle Castle, well, the strength is probably epic, everyone who comes here must provide a new book that is not in the Candle Castle, and then hand it over to the guard for identification, it will identify you can enter, and then leave within the specified time, otherwise you can only be killed, or stay in the Candle Castle and never leave." ”

"What's more, the supreme administrator of Candle Castle should be a legendary-level powerhouse, as for whether it is a mage or a priest, I don't know, so Candle Castle can be called one of the safest places in the Old World, in some ways, even more than the main shrine of some powerful gods."

Everyone was stunned, and Simon, who had just returned, felt even more incredible: "Lord Earl, have you been to Candle Castle before and studied here?" Why are there some things you say that I haven't heard of! ”

Shepard laughed, "I once met a knowledgeable elder on my adventure, and he shared a lot of knowledge with me and told me a lot about Candlekeep. ”

Well, the elder not only shared knowledge, but also gave him an extremely difficult task, for which he hung in Candle Castle four times in a row, and it was really hard to forget.