This is the will of God. ”

"Of the god of the morning light?"

"No, the god of fate. ”

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The citizens' assembly of the castle is an unusually desirable and beautiful word, but in fact, ninety-nine percent of the people in the castle may not be able to put a single word in it, such as servants, small craftsmen, prostitutes, and itinerant merchants, these little people are not even qualified to observe, only the big merchants and guild leaders who can wear satin furs are eligible to enter, and of course, our consuls and mages.

There are fifty-one members in the parliament, and the reason why this number is set is to avoid a situation where the final issue of the confrontation is not resolved, so it is not very permissible to abstain from voting in the final decision, either right or wrong, very clear; if someone is sick, or has an important deal to negotiate, then he can pay a fine, and then the assembly is postponed, and in any case there is no absence allowed. There was a councillor who had made an abrupt trip to mourn the moor before the convention, and his family had to pay a fine and find a new spokesman in just three days, not only to be a direct blood relative of the councillor, but also to be an adult who had been a citizen of Cape Castle for more than three years, and who had to pay an annuity of 10,000 gold coins, and whose son was only five years old, had to sell his seat to a new merchant.

This new man, called Alex, was a fur merchant, and had been granted citizenship of Cape Pier for exactly three years, and it was not a coincidence that no one muttered that the vacancy of that councillor's seat was indeed a bit of a coincidence, but Alex never showed even the slightest criticism of his fault, and although he was almost pathologically fond of women, and liked to overeat, and liked extravagant clothing and jewelry, he was also a generous man by nature, and often invited the ordinary citizens of Cape Castle to his feasts, to the singing of bards or juggling, and sometimes, I mean, at some ceremony, there were even the priests of Flo at his feast, this is enough for young people to be enthusiastic and have a good impression of him.

Perhaps he was aware that the Archon and Master Alva were always watching him, and that he had never played any shady tricks in buying and selling, honestly selling furs from the north to the south, and then carrying salted fish and whale oil from the south to the north and selling them, without deducting weight, nor shoddy, nor delaying or denying the payment, but what kept the Archon at ease was that, according to the estimates made by his clerk, Alex's expenses were almost equal to his profits, and it was inconceivable for a merchant to no longer have some gold coins in his treasury, but the problem was that it was not against the law, it was his money, he can certainly decide how to use it.

"Hello, my dear friend. "Alex walked into the council hall surrounded by a group of merchants, his gray-black beard with a trimmed end, smeared with beeswax and oil, and stiffly cocked upward, looking like an old goat wrapped in brocade fur, but his brain belonged to a fox, and his heart belonged to a lobster. It's dark and cold, but the latter two things are little known, after all, he has been well disguised and disguised so far, but today, on this wonderful day, you must allow him to be a little frivolous.

The merchant he greeted turned his head to look at him, his eyes were cold, he was also an old man, his beard had turned pure silver-white, more natural and beautiful than Alex's hair that had been dyed with magic potions.

"Don't be so cold. "I have never offended you, my honourable Aubrey, but I hope you will change your mind after today, if you are not willing to let your eldest granddaughter marry an ordinary fur merchant," he even took out a silk embroidered handkerchief and wiped the corners of his eyes: "Then you can consider how about marrying your eldest granddaughter to the Archon of Cape Fort?"

"Hawek never proposed to me. Aubrey said indifferently.

"I'm not talking about Harvey," Alex pretended not to hear Aubrey's words, "I, my dear friend, I'm talking about me, and the poor Harvey Archon is only ...... Let me see, for about half a day, he will continue to have this glorious name, and then he will be just the most ordinary citizen, well, maybe I will pity him, although he has done a lot of stupid things, I can make him a soldier, standing by the city gate, and his daily remuneration will be increased from two to three copper coins, after all, he has done a little for the fortress. ”

"He's giving more to Fort Billy than you can imagine!" said Aubrey angrily.

"It also hurts a lot, if we continue to make him our consul. Alex said, "We're going to lose more." ”

"Those herbs can destroy a person!"

"Ha, lie," Alex swiped his short fingers contemptuously, like a goat moving its feet ready to attack, "he's just afraid of losing his power—he always finds his enemies," he said, looking around, looking at the conformists with a kind of pity, "either pirates, thieves, or so-called poisonous herbs, but isn't that the case in all ports?" Especially a free port, look at the Sharp Jaws, look at Grenada, we should accept everyone who longs for freedom, and their tinkling purses, their messages, their ships, their goods - instead of rejecting this and that, the gods are above, we are only merchants, not knights of Tyre, we don't need justice and justice, we just need gold, yellow gold! What do you say?

"That's right!"

"Long live freedom!"

"Oust the dictator!"

"We need more customers, more gold!"

Alex smiled and raised his hands, spun around and bowed to all those who supported him, "Thank you, my friends, and thank you to the great and loving Gredi, that after today we can get rid of this good man with a sense of justice, and maybe he can go to the temple of Tyre and see if he can find a job there, I think they will be willing to take in such an old fellow, at least he can lick the toes of every Tyre priest - I think he must be very skilled in that job......"

"Shut up!" Aubrey shouted, "you're blaspheming!"

"Oh. Alex feigned a panic, "What did I just say?" he asked the people around him, "Did I curse Tyre?" or did I discredit Tyre's followers? Ha, no, I didn't," the fur merchant spread his hands in a sinister manner, "I'm just worried about an old fellow, anyway, we've known each other for a few years, although he doesn't seem to think very well of me." And speaking of blasphemy...... Ah!" he cried out suddenly, "aren't you you?, you, you," he pointed with his finger one by one, "and with Harvey, and Alva, were you not the ones who, together with Harvey, and Alva, refused to allow the priest of the honourable goddess to erect a sanctuary and a temple in the Castle of Capeland? To everyone's surprise, Alex jumped up literally, grabbing his hair: "It's a mighty god, mighty, great, huge, great, great, great, great......, great, great, great, great, You don't know at all, you're just a bunch of hapless lemmings, what the guys in front do, the guys behind you do, you don't even know you're about to jump off a cliff - my God, I can almost see how you're ending," he nodded pityingly. It is so sad that your children will die, and then your wives and daughters-in-law, or daughters, will lose their ability to have children, and even if the noble goddess has allowed you to keep your possessions, you will have no children to inherit them, and you will be alone in bed, with no one to say goodbye to, and no one willing to take care of the rest for you, how sad it is," he shook his head desperately, "I can hardly imagine it......" But then, to everyone's amazement, he actually stuck out his tongue and grimaced: "A bunch of fools, but not worthy of sympathy. ”

He was obviously proud of his performance, and while arranging his hair, which looked like it had been cut with black satin, he laughed and winked at Aubrey: "This way," he said, "I will not retract my offer, you can hold on to that vague hope and promise until we are finally victorious, and when I become consul, I will personally go and ask you to make a marriage contract to your eldest granddaughter, don't worry," He made a gesture that almost made Aubrey pounce on him and punch him (if it weren't for the fact that Aubrey's companions grabbed Aubrey's arm when they saw the opportunity): "I don't want too much dowry, Aubrey, you are the leader of the Spice Guild at Bullslands, and I only want to add a little cargo to your caravan." ”

"Those herbs, right?" said Aubrey, "I won't agree." ”

"Ah, Aubrey, old Aubrey the Bull, Aubrey the Stinky Stone," Alex straightened his hair, and then began to fiddle with his coat, shaking the solid stone buttons so that people couldn't open their eyes, "What could be more important to us merchants than gold coins, do you really intend to become a knight of Tyre? No, my dear, you are too old for even Tyre to want you, we will continue to believe in our Woking, and of course, the goddess Gredi. She is the protector of marriage and childbirth, and if I make a marriage contract with your eldest granddaughter, I will have to sacrifice a thousand cows and sheep, or a hundred slaves, for your faux pas and blasphemy? I have been promised, although Aubrey, I am a little older than you, well, I remember ten years ago I seemed to be sixty years old, but the priest of Gredy gave me a potion blessed by the gods, Aubrey, you don't have to worry that your eldest granddaughter will be left empty, I promise that she will give me children year after year...... ”

The people exclaimed loudly, and this time Aubrey's friend failed to catch the old and sturdy guild leader (perhaps on a deliberate note), and he pounced on Alex like an enraged tiger, and the two old fellows scuffled together on the splendid carpet, some tried to participate, some tried to help, some tried to pull them apart, but neither succeeded, until the arrival of Harvey, the current consul of the Bullies, and his soldiers lifted all the ordinarily personable merchants from the ground one by one, and this ridiculous war ended。

"We'll get the results soon!" shouted Alex, who had two missing teeth when he opened his mouth, and it didn't matter, he had a "close" relationship with Gredy's priest and he could get the best treatment.

"How many of us are there?" asked Aubrey in a low voice as he was helped up.

"The situation is not good," replied the merchant in the same small voice, "only fifteen have made it clear that they want Harvey to remain the consul of Cape Fort, and twelve more are wandering, as for the rest...... I'm sorry - Aubrey, the profits on those herbs are so high that the people who supply them are almost giving them away, even if you are an idiot, you can get a profit of five silver coins a pound when you change hands, and that's the price of a small transaction, if it's a large batch...... Maybe they'll pay a little bit for the shipping costs. ”

"And they don't even know that the bait is always sweet and tempting. ”

"How do we do ......"

"Do as much as you can," Aubrey said, "and we don't have time." "Alex and the others had only started their attacks a month before the Citizens' Convention, and it was obvious that they had been prepared, and he and the people behind him were not prepared to set aside time for Harvey, Alva, and those who supported them, even if Aubrey was willing to give up a portion of his profits, except for the lovely herbs like gold coins, and the priests of Gredi...... As far as Aubrey knew, there were indeed infertile couples who had children after sacrificing Gredi.

In fact, even Aubrey was flustered, he didn't know if he had really done something wrong, and Alex's curse was burning his heart like a soldering iron.

Now that everyone had arrived, the biggest issue of the day was soon raised: Harvey, the consul of Cape Beach, had been severely impeached, and if the resolution was passed, he would not only lose his position as consul, but perhaps be imprisoned on the spot.

Aubrey looked at him worriedly, and the Archon of the Castle was calm and unrecognizable, and there was even a hint of mockery and contempt in his eyes. (To be continued.) )