Three carriages bearing the crest of the Cecil family drove through the streets of the royal capital, and in the lead carriage, the witch Gibrielle opened the covers of the windows, looking at the city with a hint of curiosity, but with caution.

Born and raised in the impoverished Southland, her entire world consisted of the town's dark and filthy gutter corners, low, dilapidated slums, and rancid garbage heaps until she met Amber, the "Big Sister", but like most Ansu people, she had the opportunity to hear stories about the great king—from the occasional passing bard, to the bombastic adventurer, to the cunning and wary merchant, to the imaginary city of the city, to the tall and majestic walls, the magnificent church, the magnificent aristocratic mansion, and the "Silver Castle" covered with silver leaf where His Majesty the King lives.

In those days when she was a liar and a witch in the gutter alleys, she knew that it was impossible for her position and ability to visit the royal capital, let alone visit the royal capital, and she might even be caught and whipped by the lord as long as she dared to step into a larger city, but fate was sometimes so wonderful - she was always used to fooling adventurers when she wore a hood and a divination deck, but at this time she was tempted to tell herself - under the wonderful arrangement of fate, she became a decent person, A person who is loyal to the great nobles, and this royal capital, which used to exist only in the imagination, is now in front of her eyes.

It is indeed majestic and magnificent, as bards and adventurers say.

But it is old and dirty everywhere.

Jibrie frowned, seeing that the streets of the royal capital were lined with filth, and there were many dilapidated slum streets and alleys in the tall city walls, along the way, she still saw the ragged paupers and the "untouchables" driven away by the soldiers, and she felt that her beautiful imagination of the royal capital had collapsed little by little.

It was indeed a magnificent old capital, worthy of the head of Ansu in terms of its heritage and scale, but Kibrielle found herself preferring the clean streets and orderly city of Cecil Ling, and the vibrant people and law-abiding officials.

But she remembered the task she had received before leaving, so all the emotional changes were well hidden by her, and with an elegant and proper smile, she lowered the cover of the carriage and turned to look at the young arcanist sitting opposite her: "Mr. Santis, let's go directly to the Duke's mansion?" ”

Santis was a little uneasy, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, "I want to ...... Let's go home first. ”

Then he hurriedly added: "Of course, the Duke's task is more important, if you think it is inappropriate, we will go to No. 4 Crown Street first......"

"There is no need to be so restrained, Mr. Santis," the witch Gipley smiled slightly, like a real mage's apprentice from a small noble or wealthy merchant family, "according to the Duke's orders, you are the leader of this operation, and Pierce and I will only give you the necessary advice and assistance. All you have to do is follow what you think makes sense. ”

"Good...... Okay," Santis nodded a little unaccustomed and looked away a little with a little weakness, trying not to look at the "witch" with long flaxen hair and a long black dress and a charming face, "then let's ...... Head to Cross Street. By the way, the remaining two carriages can go to 4 Crown Street first, and you don't have to follow them together - Cross Street is a very narrow street. ”

The tall and thin man sitting next to him interjected: "Mr. Santis, if our carriage can enter Cross Street, then surely the other two will too, and I suggest that the two accompanying carriages follow—you should be as high-profile as you can when you go home, it is a gesture." ”

Santis was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "Ah, okay, Mr. Pierce. ”

Pierce, who was acting as a guard, knocked on the plank at the front of the carriage and shouted to the driving guide sitting outside, "Cross Street!" ”

The three carriages turned a corner in the street and turned towards the civilian quarters of the royal capital.

Santis felt his heart "float" in the process, a feeling of nowhere to go around him, and he took a few deep breaths, and a cold air mixed with a strong fishy smell entered his nostrils: the carriage was passing through Sturgeon Street, where the smell of fish could even drown out the stench of the drowning stuff on the corner of the street.

Even though it's winter, the stench of decay lingers in disgusting because it has soaked every brick on the street.

He couldn't help but open the window covers and look at the street scene outside.

The familiar street scene greeted him.

Low, disorganized, and crowded dwellings were piled up under the city walls like layers of moss, and due to the cold weather, there were only a few street vendors scattered in the streets, and even fewer pedestrians, and the occasional faces were full of numbness, and those numb people swayed through the streets like walking dead, as if the cold of winter and the malnourished diet had made these people lose all their expressions, but they also suddenly "came alive" - when the carriage with the insignia of nobility drove through the streetAlmost immediately, these numb-looking paupers would fall to the ground, their foreheads pressed against the ground, and they reacted so quickly as if it were an instinct they were born with.

Santis frowned slightly, and at this moment the carriage had already driven through the short Sturgeon Street and entered the slightly better "Cross Block".

Cross Street is where the middle-class "citizens" live, and those with a little status and wealth live here, and compared to Sturgeon Street, which is a slum neighborhood, the houses here are significantly taller, and those who walk on the road are obviously a little more spiritual.

They were not to immediately prostrate themselves at the sight of the noble carriage, but they had to hide in the streets at once, and bend their waists to a height absolutely below the carriage window—the commoners had to do this, to prevent them from gazing with their dirty gaze at the nobles who might be looking out from the window.

It was only in the higher, baptized neighborhoods of wealthy citizens that the "decent people" who had been blessed by the Church did not need to do so, but simply stood on both sides of the street and bent down in respect.

In the royal capital, there are naturally more rules than those wild places on the border.

Santis, who was born in Crossstreet and was promoted to a second-level arcanist, is the "most promising child" in this block, and his mage level is also the highest achievement that people living in this area can achieve so far, in the past, even if Santis was unsatisfactory in the mage society, no matter how ostracized he was, he returned to the block with pride, but now, seeing those neighbors who bowed their heads deeply on both sides of the street, he only had a burst of boredom in his heart.

Nothing has changed here, just like when he left.

It was like that last year, it was like that of Cross Street ten years ago, and it was like this at Cross Street a hundred years ago!

But in Cecil's territory, one year was enough time to erect a city, enough for a group of illiterate children to learn to write their own names and those of their parents' families, enough to beat the monsters from the Gondor wasteland back twice!

Santis thought to himself, and then suddenly he saw a little girl staring blankly at the corner of the street.

The little girl was dressed in a neat but old dress with only one patch on it, she wore two neat ponytails, her face was red from the cold wind, and she held a bulging cloth bag in both hands.

She seemed to have just stepped out of some street corner, and before she had time to bow down to the noble carriage, she looked at it a little unresponsively.

Santis was stunned for a moment, then shouted, "Pepe! ”

However, the little girl had run away before he could speak, and did not seem to hear what he was saying.

"Who's that?" Jipley, who was sitting across from her, asked curiously.

"My sister," Santis said in a strange tone, "why did she run?" ”

The little girl ran quickly across the street, ran to a house that looked slightly newer than the surrounding buildings, hurriedly pushed the door and ran in, a middle-aged woman wearing an old cotton coat and an old apron, who was grinding herbs in the center of the house, heard the movement and raised her head, and looked at her little daughter in surprise: "Pepe? How did you come back so quickly? Did you give the herbs to Mr. Wayne? ”

Then she saw the cloth bag in the little girl's hand, and her brows couldn't help frowning, but before she could start reprimanding, the little girl had already stammered because of nervousness: "Mom...... Mom! Three big wagons came outside! It's noble! There was a ...... hanging on the carriage It has a badge on it, just like the one my brother drew on the letter paper the last time he sent a letter! ”

The middle-aged woman was stunned for a moment, and suddenly her hand shook, and the mallet used for grinding herbs fell to the ground.

She didn't care about picking it up, so she immediately stood up and stared into her little daughter's eyes: "Do you see clearly?" Is it really that emblem? The emblem of the sword and the plow? ”

The little girl grabbed the cloth bag in her hand, a little nervous and scared: "I can see ...... clearly"

"That's the emblem of the Cecil family...... Someone sent by Duke Cecil...... Do you see anything else on the carriage? Is there a chrysanthemum in the driver's hat or clothes? Is there a strip of cloth with white petals hanging from the horse driving the car? ”

The little girl seemed to be frightened by her mother, and was nervous and speechless for a moment, while the door to the back room opened at this time, and the man of the house heard the movement and walked out: "What's the matter?" I heard it was noisy outside. ”

"My dear, Duke Cecil's men, three carriages have come......" The mistress of the house wrung her hands vigorously, "Could something happen to Santis?" I told him that the Dark Mountains were a very dangerous place and that he should be careful, but he always said in his letters......"

"Calm down," the middle-aged man said, "Santis is only a second-level arcanist, and there's no way the Duke can send three carriages to inform ......."

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Almost immediately, the man and woman straightened up, their breathing stopped for a moment, and they stared in the direction of the door, while the little girl, who was standing closest to it, almost jumped.

The knock on the door was still ringing, and the little girl was a little dazed for a moment, and then subconsciously walked to the door.

"Wait a minute, I'll go drive."

The middle-aged man said as he walked past his wife and daughter to the door.

He opened the door, and a tall, thin figure stood in his face as a cold wind blew in his face.

The little girl stood behind her father and cried out happily: "It's my brother!" ”