"How's going over there?" asked the lich.

The knight paused for a moment to realize, "Not very good," he said, "the number of orcs is greater than expected, and we were forced to abandon the first wall by order of the lord - we removed the drawbridge connecting to the first wall after withdrawing to the second wall, and they tried to jump over that distance, but more of them fell into the outer bunker, and then we poured black oil out of the shooting hole, and the mages threw fireballs, and the abominable beasts were all burned inside. ”

No wonder he had always smelled a lingering stench, "So have they retreated?"

"For the time being," the knight said respectfully, "your people have already set out to find out the orcs' movements, as well as their numbers, and the lord suspects that the orcs have hidden some of their power......" The spiral stone staircase that descends along the tower wall is only the width of a man, and out of convention, the knight has always walked in front of the mage so that he can face the enemy in advance in the event of an accident, but this makes it impossible for him to see the caster's face, and the brief silence behind him makes him misunderstand. Although the two men seemed to be about the same age in appearance, the knight knew that he was dealing with a half-elf, and according to the half-elf's lifespan, the person behind him was still a child: "They should not encounter too much danger or obstacle," he explained, "The lord only wants to know if his assumption is correct." ”

"Correct. ”

The knight seemed to hear the mage behind him say this, but when he stopped and looked back, he saw only an inquiring look in the dim light.

Perhaps he had misheard, he continued.

The knight's description was as simple as it could have been, the lich thought, but he could imagine how long and painful the battle had been. Tyre's followers had cleaned and sorted themselves out after accepting the task, but his body was still weak and uncontrollable from extreme exhaustion, his steps heavy and scrambled, his unresponsiveness to the status of a knight, and the hand on the hilt of his sword was not for grace or to guard against an enemy, but to avoid an embarrassing tremble, and he took off his armor in his chain mail. The garment was made of thick cotton cloth with patches inlaid inside, and after a fierce battle, it would suck up the blood of the knight and his enemies, unlike chainmail and armor that could be easily washed and wiped clean - though his chainmail was also stained with black, dried blood in inconspicuous places, and it was too heavy to be pressed on the shoulders of a man in dire need of rest.

The main thing is that, even if he is not standing on the double walls, as a former undead, the lich can still touch the breath of death brought by the wind.

He happily felt the coldness that he had not felt for a long time, and he actually smiled when he saw the thief Glenn.

"Do you know this man?" asked Berdwin.

"An accident," said the lich, "I was once lost in Sharp Jaw Harbor, a strange place, for me," he nodded to Gülen, and the poor fellow's eyes suddenly lit up with hope, "I commissioned the master of the Blunt-Head Tavern to find me a berth...... But alas, Captain Drake, who was willing to give me this spot, the owner of the Golden Lady, often seems to confuse 'his passengers' with 'his cargo', and he can't go where I want to go," he noticed that Berdwin raised his thick eyebrows, apparently the lords of Thundercastle had also heard of Captain Drake's name, "So," the lich took two steps and sat down in his place, "I finally found Gülen - on Captain Drake's strong recommendation, he was' The leader of the Silverfinger's Guild's Sharp Jaw Harbor Branch, a kind and warm and generous man (Birdwin couldn't hide his smile when he heard the word), helped me out of this little trouble. Oh, I hope you don't pay too much attention to it," he said to Gülen, "I think I should say thank you for the sake of that ship—Mr. Coubert, the owner of the Sparrow, is a very good friend. ”

There was also nearly half of the funds, and Gülen thought resentfully, the reason why he was here was ultimately due to this black-haired young mage. He threatened Gülen and plundered the guild's property, and in order to fill that terrible hole before the quarterly audit came, Gülen frantically pressed his subordinates, Drake and the taverns and shops of Sharp Jaws, and his actions provoked their wrath and rebellion, and they conspired where he could not see or hear, and in a seemingly simple murder mission, he killed people who should not have been killed, and suffered a terrible curse- How happy he was when he learned that the Guild had not expelled him, but in the end, he realized that the Guild still retained his membership only to find a suitable scapegoat.

"When he helped you with that little trouble," Berdwin asked, "do you remember what day it was?"

"Flo's Celebration Day," said the mage, "the day when the magical galaxy crossed the sky." ”

"Are you sure?"

"Sure. The caster said that if he still retained his original identity and powers, the lich thought that this stupid knight of Tyre should be skinned a hundred times for this stupid question alone.

"He proved it!" Gülen cried impatiently, and he was about to struggle to get up from the ground, but the two knights immediately held him down: "He proved my word, my lord, I am innocent! I did not kill the man, I was wronged! Let me go - you are the knight of Tyre, you must be just!"

Bodwin looked up, but before he could say the final verdict, one of the knights beside him placed an iron-gloved hand on his shoulder: "Sir," he said, "you can't pardon this man." ”

"The testimony of a spellcaster is not enough to convince the Prince," said the knight, unconcerned by the gaze of the black-haired mage, who was lavishly dressed and clean, even surpassing the owner of the place. His armor was carved with dense patterns, like embroidery on a woman's dress. Generally speaking, the more patterns there are, the higher the status of the wearer: "You are not qualified to let the criminal go until you have found more conclusive evidence that the head of the 'Silverfinger' guild is lying and catching the alleged real assassin." ”

"And," he continued, in a contemptuous tone, "such a man is not worthy of your sympathy, he is a thief, or the head of a branch, his hands cannot be clean, he is accustomed to lying, theft, robbery, and murder, and whatever he has done, his good deeds cannot go beyond his evil deeds." If he were in the royal capital, he would be dismembered or wheeled, and the prince did not do that and sent him here so that he might be food for the orcs—and if he reappeared unharmed, then neither the prince nor his majesty would be very disappointed in you, Berdwin. ”

"Who is he accused of killing?" the lich asked suddenly.

The richly dressed knight was reluctant to answer the question at first, but he was also reluctant to offend a spellcaster so bluntly, especially since he knew that the spellcaster, although he looked very young, was actually not inferior to any mage who had served in Thundercastle for many years, he glanced at Berdwin, who turned and approached Cremar: "Prince's son," he whispered, fortunately this was not a secret in Highland Norman: " Although he was not born in a marriage (i.e., illegitimate children), he was the only son of the Prince, and if the Prince was willing to marry his mother, he would be the second in line to Norman in the Highlands. ”

"The Prince is the first heir. ”

"Our king has no sons, and the prince is his younger brother. Birdwin regretted that the Norman king of the Highlands had only one daughter, and that the Norman laws of the Highlands did not allow daughters to inherit their father's lands and property, and that even if she was a princess, all she could get was a dowry.

Glenn had been watching their every move nervously, and when Berdwin returned to his original position and didn't speak for a long time, he almost broke down and shouted, "You can't do this!" He cast a vicious look at everyone present, his eyes digging out their hearts like knives if possible, "You already owe me!" He shouted hoarsely, "I killed the orcs, one, two, three...... or more, I also saved an elf!"

He struggled so wildly that even the two knights in chainmail couldn't fully control him.

"If you wish," said the knight, "you may kill him just like that, yes, cut off his head, throw his body to the orcs, or burn him—I will tell Your Highness that he died at the torment of the orcs." ”

Berdwin thought that he was surrounded by the Prince, the henchman of the heir of this country, and that he was able to make such a concession to Baldwin out of admiration and pity from one knight to another, and even that he was willing to be disloyal to his master for a small time, but he was not a follower of Tyre, so he was not pressured to do so.

But to his surprise, as the thieves' cries faded into obscurity, Berdwin gave his verdict.

He pardoned the thief.

"Tell your lord the truth, honorable knight," said Berdwin, "Tyre is above, and my judgment must be just." ”

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