The rain stopped the next day, but the sky was still overcast.

Kant's domain was shrouded in a long cloud, the last rain before winter was always reluctant to leave, and the land should receive several more moderate rains in the coming days, and such abundant rain would be extremely beneficial to the territory's specialty, potions.

Most potions also grow in winter, and while their roots and plants appear to be withered and dead, casters know that their "spiritual plants" are still nourished by the magical environment and will come back to life in the following month of revival, and how much they can grow during the winter depends in large part on the last rain before the frost and snow fall.

Gawain had breakfast with Viscount Victor Kant in the castle's dining room, because the Viscountess was too sick to see the guests, and the Viscount's only son was not in the territory, and the two of them were the only ones dining at the huge table.

He preferred the atmosphere of a large group of people sitting around a table rather than a long table between himself and an old aristocratic man, as he was now, and they were eager to delay each other's words.

"I hope you are well resting in this old house," said Victor Kant, cutting the bread in front of him, "this castle is too old, and I am going to renovate it again in my lifetime." ”

"It's cozy, more comfortable than I thought it would be," Gawain praised with a bit of insincerity, "and the old castle gives you a sense of security." ”

Victor smiled and looked at Gawain's side: "Your two relatives seem to have left early in the morning?" ”

"They're not used to being inhibited, so I let them go out into town for a walk, and they're more comfortable in the messy tavern."

"Understandably, in fact I preferred the tavern to the quiet castle when I was younger," the old viscount said, raising his glass, "of course, I was only a junior in front of you. ”

Gawain raised his glass in response, and said casually: "The Viscountess's health is very worrying, what is her specific disease?" ”

Victor's movements paused imperceptibly, and then a smile appeared on his face: "You've already met her?" ”

According to that Lilith Kant, it was obvious that the old viscount should have arranged for her to say hello to Gawain, but at this time, Victor acted as if he knew about it for the first time!

Gawain hid his psychological changes and maintained a faint smile: "After dinner yesterday, she came to say hello to me, but her face was very bad. ”

"My poor Lilith," sighed Viscount Victor, "she has not been in very good health, unable to see the sun or tolerate noise, so that she can only stay in the North Tower for a long time, and can only come out at night. But she was a very kind person, and my tolerant attitude towards the people was largely influenced by her - she always urged me to think more about the feelings of those who could not afford to live in a good house or eat meat, but her own health was getting worse and worse. ”

Viscount Kant's kindness and tolerance to the commoners of his own realm was something Gawain had heard of yesterday when he heard some servants in the castle gossiping, and this was one of the things that surprised him: he had already preconceived that Victor Kant was likely to be a cultist of the Order of Eternal Sleep, or at least had been controlled and bewitched by the cultists, so he would do something to capture the outcasts for evil rituals, but he never expected that, All the words I heard after entering the Kant Realm were in praise of this old lord!

He couldn't judge the truth of the gossip he had heard from the castle servants, so he could only say, "It is the duty of every lord to be kind to his subjects, and we created this kingdom to protect our people, not to ride on their heads. ”

"Yes, it's a pity that few people still remember this now," Victor sighed as if from the bottom of his heart, "More and more nobles have forgotten what their ancestors first picked up the sword for, we were originally a barrier to protect the commoners, a reliance for them to live in peace, and a guide to lead them to prosperity and warmth, but most of the nobles now grew up in castles and manors, and they take the service and worship of others for granted, and they completely forget that they should have some responsibilities...... Ahem......"

Victor seemed to be a little excited, and couldn't help coughing, and after finally calming down, he let out a sigh: "I spend a lot of time every year inspecting every farm and medicine field in the territory to accurately grasp the harvest of the year, to prevent the excessive tax pressure from starving the lords, and also to spend a lot of energy dealing with the merchants to ensure that the surplus medicinal herbs and grain in the territory can find buyers, so that my lords can have enough money to repair their houses and buy fuel for the winter, But because of this, he was absent from many so-called 'high-class parties', so that he was regarded by those vulgar southern aristocrats as simple eccentrics, philistines with no taste...... Alas. ”

Viscount Victor said a lot in one breath, and only after he finished saying it did he smile awkwardly: "I'm sorry, I've had a habit of talking a lot when I'm older, but I think you should be able to understand me - because I've heard that you're also very kind to your subjects." ”

"Of course," Gawain smiled and raised his glass, "it's the duty of every lord. ”

……

At the same time, in the town outside the castle, Amber was holding a fiery glass of ale, listening to the farmers and craftsmen who had nothing to do boast about their meager and boring daily lives, with a look of interest on her face, but planning in her mind how many more glasses of wine she needed to get what she wanted to hear.

The farming was over, and the weather was not suitable for any work outside the home, so the rich peasants and artisans who still had a little spare money would spend their worthless time in the town's taverns, and Kant was one of the few wealthy territories in the south, as was the town of Tanzania, and the common people who lived here naturally frequented places such as taverns and casinos more frequently, and for these people, it only took a few glasses of ale and a few compliments for Amber to reveal all their secrets.

It's a pleasant process for Amber, who has been around such occasions since she was a child.

This feeling is even more pleasant when you don't have to pay for the sake yourself.

She wears a suit that suits her status: black leather armor and a slightly worn cloak, coupled with a short sword that occasionally sticks its head out of her waist and a "lucky stone" tied to her wrist, the image of a wandering warrior is complete, and the commoners are in awe and curiosity about such people, and the cliché becomes easy.

After three rounds of drinking, and having talked enough about the ghost stories in the farmland and the old house, Amber felt that it was time to talk about the lord, so she looked at the blacksmith sitting at the table and the territory with a curious expression: "I heard that your lord is a person who is very good at governing the territory, is it really fake?" ”

"I don't know what it's all about governing a territory," said the blacksmith, snorting with a mouth full of wine and a confused look in his eyes, "but Lord Victor is indeed a good man...... Hiccup, with him, everyone can eat a full stomach, even in winter, and the territory has not starved to death for more than ten years! ”

Further south, there is another place where the civilians not only starve to death, but also occasionally have meat to eat.

Amber muttered in her heart, but there was admiration on her face: "That's not easy! ”

"No, Lord Victor is the most benevolent lord I've ever met," another elderly drinker picked up, "but I've heard from those who bring vegetables and milk to the castle that the castle is rather eerie, and there's always a feeling that there's a leak somewhere......"

A slightly blessed tavern maid slammed the wooden cup in front of the drinker: "Don't talk nonsense! The castle is not your shabby thatched house, and the old George who delivered the food was probably drunk, and the cold wind blowing in the mud puddle thought he was in the castle! ”

The chubby maid told a joke that was not funny, but it caused a burst of laughter.

"Then Victor is a good lord," Amber said, shaking her head, "I just don't know how the Viscountess is—"

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene was eerily quiet for a moment.

Some people were looking at each other, some were bowing their heads and drinking, while the elderly people were frowning, as if they had thought of something bad, Amber immediately realized that there was something inside, so she asked curiously, "What's wrong?" How did you react? ”

"It's normal that you don't know that you're a foreigner," said an old man who looked the oldest, a wealthy landowner or a retired craftsman, and it was rare for the poor to have an old man of this age who had not died of injury or illness, and who knew not only the life of the commoners, but also the affairs of the lord, "the viscountess...... Maybe it's been decades, right? When she died......"

"The Viscountess is dead? Died decades ago?! Amber was taken aback, "How did you die?" ”

"That's a poor woman, and the whole thing is so miserable, that kind of thing shouldn't happen to a good person." The old man frowned, he seemed reluctant to say more, but the alcohol made it difficult for him to control his words, and some young people next to him who didn't know much about the past were also urging him to speak: "Old man Sandru, tell me, I've heard people talk about this since I was a child, but I've never heard it all - you should know what happened back then." ”

Amber glanced appreciatively at the urging young man, and decided to use Gawain's money to treat him for another drink.

The old man, who seemed to have experienced the events of that year, sighed, took a sip of wine, and said slowly: "That's thirty...... About 30 years ago, maybe even longer, it was also the month of the year, and it rained, but it rained very hard, and it rained for several days......

"At that time Lord Victor was still young, and he was as just and merciful a good lord as he is now, when he came back from inspecting the barn in the town next door, and the Viscountess was with him, and their only son, Young Master Bellm. They drove back from the western road in their carriages, and although it was raining heavily, they were still on the road...... They should have stayed in the next town for an extra day, alas.

"I don't say you can guess that with such heavy rain and so slippery, something must have happened - the carriage had an accident on the old hillside, and the car overturned, and fell into the mountain stream from the highest point of the old hillside, and the whole car fell to pieces...... The whole night passed, and no one knew that something had happened to the lord's family outside, and it was not until the sun came out the next day and the rain stopped that the viscount appeared in the town covered in blood...... She had almost crawled into the town, covered in bruises and almost dying from crying, and she said that she had watched the old man and the young master being thrown out of the carriage in front of her, and had fallen out of nowhere, and that we should hurry up and save them. ”

When the old man said this, he couldn't help but sigh for a while, and then took another sip of wine before continuing: "We escorted Madame back to the castle, and then immediately sent people to the old hillside to look for the carriage and the whereabouts of the old master and the young master, but for three whole days, except for some blood stains and carriage fragments, we only found the corpses of two horses.

"Madame washed her face with tears every day in the castle, alas, she was a good and good man, and she had always taken good care of the poor people of the land, and from the day she married into this place, she had to give the poor wood and black bread every winter, but this happened to her. For three whole days, her husband and son were not recovered, so she finally went crazy. According to the servant who was working in the castle at the time, she shut herself in her room and yelled, then ran to the dark corners of the castle to talk to her imaginary husband and son, and finally she shut herself up in the cellar of the castle's north tower, where she drank poison and ended her suffering.

"On the fourth day, Lord Victor and Master Bellm returned to the castle alive, and they did not die."