Outside the study was a long corridor with a terrace, the stone pillars that supported the ceiling at intervals were covered with moss, the sunlight through the shade of the oak trees left frecks of gold on the walls and floors, and a few chirping spotted finches fell from the balancing of the terrace. Brando educated Roman well, before opening the door and walking out, the birds immediately fluttered their wings and flew away, he looked at this scene and closed the door with a backhand 'click', as if subconsciously blurted out:

"Akane, get ready for the carriage, let's go to Port Griss."

But as soon as he spoke, Brando was stunned. He remembered that the girl with the long ponytail was always leaning against the second stone pillar in the corridor with her spear, and sometimes feeding the finches with bread crumbs. He had seen such a scene several times, the girl was quiet, but beautiful like a figure in a painting.

Now, the second pillar is empty, except for the dappled sunlight shining on the moss.

Brando sighed.

He couldn't help but smile wryly.

In the distance, the young lady of staff, holding a stack of parchment papers in the darkness at the end of the corridor, sighed quietly, and she understood when she saw her lord standing there with a look of loss. Her knuckles were a little white, and she almost accidentally folded the parchment, but those were the important texts in the territory for a while, and the lord had not seen them, she was startled by her own actions, and hurriedly let go, but accidentally scattered the rolled parchment all over the ground.

Antitina froze there, biting her lower lip before bending down to pick up the parchment one by one. She touched the necklace in her neckline in a daze, it was a necklace that had lost its pendant, but she pressed it in the empty place as if she felt that the pendant was still in place. But finally reacted. The girl glanced at Brando in the distance with a somewhat complicated expression, and silently retreated.

Brando stood in front of the door of the study for several minutes before he came to his senses, as if since when he had become accustomed to the silent mountain girl beside him, and he had used to make fun of Akane about it, and asked her how she would marry in the future. didn't expect that one day she was really gone, but he felt a little at a loss. "What's going on...... Brando couldn't help but press his temple, "Brando, Brando, Akane can't be around you for the rest of her life, she also has her own future." ”

But when he thought about it, he felt a little bored, and he shook his head, throwing the thought out of his mind for the time being.

Veronica and her entourage stayed at the hostel in Port Gries, and it was only a half-day journey by horse-drawn carriage from Fort Fir to Port Gris. Brando understood that this lady was reluctant to stay in Fir City with her own considerations, after all, she was the captain of the Empire, and it was not surprising that she could not get too close to a foreign count, not to mention that the nominal wanted Empire's Grey Sword Saint Mephistopheles still lived in Brando's castle, so it was reasonable that she should stay away and make at least one gesture.

But what really strange about Brando is why Veronica wants to see him now, it's been more than two weeks since he arrived in Toniger. It stands to reason that she should have returned to the Empire long ago, and her mission here has come to an end. What's more, she also has the eldest son of the emperor of the empire and a group of knights of the Broken Sword by her side.

He really couldn't figure out what the female legionnaire was thinking, he didn't understand what she was hesitating about, the empire was calm, and apart from some uneasiness on the border, he didn't look like something big was going to happen.

With such suspicion in mind, he walked down the corridor and down the stairs. Passing through the hall outside, several of Charr's apprentices were arguing about some magic-related issues - because Charr's mage tower was built in the castle, his apprentices also lived in the rooms of the people in the castle, but fortunately, the wizarding world was very disciplined, so these apprentices didn't cause too much trouble in the castle - when a few apprentices saw Brando. They all stood up respectfully and saluted the young lord, and Brando nodded in response, these people were all chosen from among the adventurers or the heirs of the local minor nobles, and most of them themselves or the families behind them were grateful to the lord for such an opportunity, wizards with real inheritance are very rare in Vainde, and most of the academic wizards are inherited from the Buga lineage, but how can the knowledge of the Silver People be so easy to learn? Even in Cruz, only a proud son of heaven like Miss Scholar Shiduo is qualified to be favored by the people of silver, and it is such a legendary wizard who has a very high social status in both Eruin and Cruz, far better than those charlatans.

And Charr happens to come from the inheritance of the Wizard of the Black Tower, even if it is only a branch of the Wizard of Buga, but it is enough to be called a famous family, and the opportunity to become the apprentice of such a mentor is simply a pie in the sky for these small nobles in the poor countryside, not to mention those adventurers who are poor and embarrassed, so it is not surprising that they have such thoughts.

Antitina also saw this, and as an aide she persuaded Brando to take this as an opportunity to win hearts and minds, and to allocate the few places to those who were truly loyal to him, such as Sue, the daughter of the bronze dragon Leto, by virtue of such a connection, to tie all those who could be trusted firmly to the chariot of his interests.

But Brando himself didn't see it that way, in his eyes this was not just a vanity fair, these young wizard apprentices should be Toniger's future, without the army of the wizarding order, Vaynd would always be a third-rate army, not to mention the coveted floating fleets of the Cruz and the Wind Elves, each of which was operated by wizards. It can even be said bluntly that wizards are Vahnd's high-tech troops, and each one costs a lot of money, but it's definitely worth it.

And this was only the forties, the era when the Slate War had not yet begun.

Of course, Antitina also has some truth in what she said, not to mention that Charles mentioned more than once that Sue has a rather outstanding talent, so Brando also adopted some of it, in fact, he himself is quite optimistic about the girl who seems to have only wheat-colored healthy skin and a full head of fine braids in people's impressions. Her calmness in the battle of Ampesel is simply amazing, which is the most basic element of a wizard, but few people do it well, and Sue is more outstanding than most wizards in this regard when she is not a wizard. It can be seen that as long as she can feel the thread of the law, she will have a bright future one day.

And as an added bonus to this decision, as Miss Staff said, the red bronze dragon Leto is really grateful to him, the veteran who has experienced the November War can be pampered in the face of life and death, but this daughter is his only weakness. He had wanted to leave Sue with an inheritance. But he didn't expect to encounter the invasion of Madara, and now Su has the opportunity to become a wizard, although the future is not to say that the status is prominent, but at least food and clothing are worry-free, the key is not to send people to look at people's faces, which is especially satisfactory for Leto.

But there was also a bit of a downside, and the guy had to sneak around the bush several times to inquire about him, asking him if he was interested in his daughter, and the guy thought he couldn't see his temptation. Brando felt that his IQ was being scorned by Yan Zhan, and several times he drove the other party back to Min Tailing in a bad mood.

In fact, this is not an isolated case, and he was very troubled for a while, for some reason, it seems that the odds of women having magical talent in Vaulnd are indeed much higher than that of men, although male wizards tend to be more likely to become real geniuses, like Charles and Leywoods, but the female wizard base is greater than that of male wizards. This is an indisputable fact. This directly leads to the prosperity and decline of Xia Er's subordinates, as if there is a kind of master and what kind of subordinates. It once aroused suspicion, but this was actually just a means for the lord to open a harem.

Especially in the poor countryside where this kind of magic is not prosperous, the rumors are even more outrageous, but what makes him laugh and cry is that those little lords and little nobles are still happy to do it, and they are trying to stuff those so-called 'quite beautiful' noble daughters to him, as for whether it is really quite beautiful Brando really doesn't comment, anyway, he has asked Charles to brush back all those who have no magical talent. But what made him a little depressed was that this incident became a laughing stock in his small circle, and both Medissa and Antitina made fun of him more than once.

This is really a sluggish program, which makes the retainers rampant.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shake his head, and as he walked out of the arch of the hall, he suddenly frowned and smelled the smell of roasted meat. He stopped. He turned around and asked, "What does this smell like?" ”

Several of the Shire's apprentices changed their faces and began to slump.

"Charles didn't teach you silence, did he?" Brando had actually guessed a few points, and couldn't help but ask angrily.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, one of them, with a small round face, some cute freckles on the tip of his nose, and the girl, who was said to be the youngest daughter of the president of the silversmith's guild in the city, turned white with fright, and replied in a slur manner: "Uncle...... Lord Count, it was Mr. Starter who wouldn't let us speak. ”

Sure enough, Brando shook his head, even Aloz was captured, and this guy was still at large. But this is a good thing for him, after all, Starr signed a contract with him, and no matter how outrageous that contract is, if Start is captured back to the dragons, then he will lose a lot.

He waved his hand to signal the little girls not to worry, and then turned to follow the smell of meaty charcoal, and he didn't know what this guy was baking, but he hoped he didn't set the castle on fire. Last time, this guy secretly roasted meat in the sawmill, and as a result, the sawmill burned down in half, causing little Roman to lose a lot of money, but the merchant lady herself was fine, but the big butler Antitina was so heartbroken that she didn't sleep well for a few days.

He turned around a corner of the castle covered with vines, and sure enough, he saw Start crouching behind a grape trellis, secretly tending to a campfire with an iron shelf on which were a few almost roasted prawns, and the foodie was carrying bottles and jars to apply condiments, needless to say, this set must have been stolen from the kitchen. This guy doesn't have much combat power, but his ability to steal chickens and dogs is first-class, I'm afraid that even those nightingale masters in the halfling will have to bow down in front of him.

Thinking about it, it is not a simple character to be able to unknowingly touch a dozen carriages under the noses of Veronica and Mephistopheles.

Brando walked over and patted the other man on the shoulder, startling Star, and he turned around, a round face covered in charcoal gray, and it was hard to imagine that it was a dragon, because it looked like the bear kids. Starr sees Brando. His face turned white with fright, and he hurriedly shouted: "I didn't cut the grape trellis for firewood, I didn't steal these things from the kitchen, they lent them to me!" ”

"Good," Brando sneered, the flower garden that Grudin's left behind was now Antitina's baby. Although he had never seen the aristocratic lady angry, he also understood that the calmer the person started the fire, the more terrible it was. He couldn't help but pat Star's shoulder again with great admiration: "You are very courageous, Star, do you know that it is Miss Antitina who is in charge of arranging daily life in Fir Castle?" ”

"So what does it matter?" Starr was stunned, but he didn't expect Brando to be angry, and he felt a lot more confident.

"It's nothing," Brando smiled, "For example, the kitchen has one less dinner or dinner, which is actually a matter of course, after all, there are too many people." Occasional negligence is also possible. Not to mention occasionally, even if it's three or four days in a row, it's not a big deal. ”

Star's face changed as he opened his mouth wide, and the little fat man stared at Brando, his face red and white, and his forehead was full of sweat, as if he had never seen the dark side of this society.

"Actually, this is not the worst, it is said that there are people who have eaten something that should not be eaten and died. You know it's close to the Black Forest, and the castle warehouse has everything. There are several that are particularly effective against dragons. ”

Starr almost didn't cry in fright, the little fat dragon suddenly thought that it was completely possible, and besides, in his opinion, the staff lady was gloomy and uncaring for everyone, maybe he was already very tired of him, and he must want to get rid of him as soon as possible. He almost shuddered. Reluctantly, he picked up a grilled shrimp from the charcoal fire. A handful of snot and tears said to Brando: "Lord Lord, don't expose me, I invite you to eat shrimp, if you eat us, we will be in the same boat." ”

"Damn, don't be so obvious if you drag me into the water." Brando thought angrily. However, when he saw the mustard shrimp on the putty claws of this frost dragon, how could he look familiar with it, and he couldn't help but ask, "Where did you get this shrimp from?" ”

"Kitchen."

"No, your first words can't be true." Brando analyzed very experiencedly: "Have you ever been to Hipamela's room?" ”

The little fat man's eyes rolled and he shook his head like a rattle.

Brando laughed angrily, the shrimp in Hipamela's room were the priest's girl's favorite, although he didn't know why she liked to raise shrimp, but as long as she watched her carefully carry the water tank out every day to change the water, she knew how important this thing was to her. Now, these shrimp have become Star's meal, once and for all, and Hipamira will not have to get up early in the morning to change the water.

It's just that someone or a dragon will have to pay a heavy price for it.

He gave Starr a pitiful look, then turned and walked away, joking, who knows what else would happen if he was with this scourge later. Unexpectedly, Starr was very discerning, and seemed to have seen his irreversible tragic fate from the look on Brando's face, and hurriedly wrapped all the shrimp in oiled paper and chased after him, without opening his mouth, as if he wanted to follow Brando to the ends of the earth.

"What are you doing?" Brando asked angrily.

Starr shoved a grilled shrimp into his mouth and sucked his chubby fingers twice, and replied angrily, "Your Lord, are you going out?" ”

"You're pretty smart," Brando sneered, "knowing that you fled the house?" ”

"No, my lord, I signed a contract with you, didn't I, and now I want to fulfill the contract and protect you." Starr thought about it for a moment, smashed it, and said with a mouth full of oil flowers: "It's dangerous outside the castle. ”

"Dangerous fart!" Brando thought to himself, if it had been half a year earlier, it would not have been very safe outside the city, but now Toniger's security can be said to be the best in the south, there are patrolling cavalry on the avenue, and there are cavemen in the forest, and there is no room for monsters and robbers to survive. What's more, how could ordinary monsters and robbers help him, this guy is obviously talking nonsense with his eyes open.

But he didn't bother to pay attention to him, and the two of them walked in the direction of the stable, and when they passed the dwarf rose bush that Madame Camille was tending to, Brando seemed to suddenly remember and turned back and asked, "Then again, why didn't the dragons send someone to arrest you as a scourge?" ”

He had thought that Starr would be proud of mentioning this issue, after all, even Aloz could not escape the clutches of the devil, but he could continue to get away with it, which was a very beautiful thing to think about. And without the restraint of the little female dragon, he could obviously be more lawless, but he didn't expect Starr to blink his eyes and look a little lost.

"What's wrong?" Brando was slightly stunned.

"That's because Aloz is willing to go back with them, in fact, we rarely attack each other, and if she is bent on staying here, they won't force it," Starr replied, pretending to be a little unconcerned, "but Sister Aloz still admits to being one of them, so she must follow this rule." ”

Brando keenly captures the key point in this sentence: "You won't really be completely expelled from the dragons, will you?" ”

"Cut, what's so good about staying there, just collect some inexplicable things," Sta replied with some pride, "They don't understand, food is the most important thing in the world, collecting food is the instinct of living beings, no matter how precious gold, silver, and diamonds are, it's not about food to fill their stomachs." ”

"Damn, your theory is quite simple." Brando looked at the little fat dragon with some amusement, obviously very unwilling, and wanted to pretend not to care: "But for the dragon, it is indeed a bit too much to be keen on collecting food...... Well, that's weird. In our legends, dragons are supposed to stand on top of a mountain of treasures with flames, burning to death the adventurers who come to covet their treasures, and dragons are creatures that we think are both beautiful and dangerous. ”

"But if the legendary dragon is lying on a mountain of rice, you imagine it, then the viewing is greatly reduced."

"It's prejudice!" Starr couldn't help but jump to his feet.

PS: There's another chapter in a minute. (To be continued......)