"Your Excellency. ”

Colbert withdrew his gaze from the sparkling sea, and the leader of the group of exiles, a knight named Xiu, was approaching him, a middle-aged man over six feet tall, emaciated and emaciated from the displacement, his skin clinging to his bones was an unhealthy grayish white, his cheeks were sunken, and his lips were full of fine cracks, and even then, no one could mistake him for a serf or a soldier— You must know that every inland person will suffer a kind of earth-shaking torture when he first boards the ship, compared to the land that has stood still since the existence of the plane, the gentle inland rivers, the ups and downs of the sea are as large and never-ending as the breath of the gods, even on a clear night, the waves hitting the three-masted ship still make people feel that they are sitting on the back of a restless wild horse, and Xiu's companions have almost all returned to the cabin - the knights are qualified.

His soldiers lay or lean together in the shadows of the cabins below the ship's side and in the cabin, depending on which position would make them feel better, the sea breeze was strong like a strong man pushing Coubert, but there still seemed to be a sour smell on the deck, probably from a little filth on his clothes, but on the whole the situation was much better, and the hinterlanders neither complained nor pleaded, and seldom prayed to the gods, or more correctly, most of them did not say a word- This caused the owner of the Sparrow to furrow his thick eyebrows in his heart, and Alva did not hide the origin of these men when he gave him the job. Colbert had a hundred and twenty thousand sympathy for them, but by experience, he knew that these people were in fact extremely dangerous—their innocence, their grievances, their pain. The confusion about the future and the constant betrayal and frustration that he suffered were like lava under the volcano—which made Colbert worry about the black-haired spellcaster, and the young man was introduced to Alva and Kerribben through him, and he was genuinely happy to know that Cremar had "returned" to Grey Ridge, and was surprised to learn that he had become a lord again in the blink of an eye—fate seemed to have a penchant for tricks, didn't it?

For these highland Norman outcasts. It's a good thing, they can't go north, Wuthering Plains is orc territory. There the humans could only be slaves and food, and they could not go east, and almost every country that bordered the Normans in the Highlands had fought bitterly with them, and because the Norman royal family was scarcely populated. They have not been married to the outside world for hundreds of years. In the middle was the domain of the Archduke Luzel, worth half a million ducats, and further south, along the edge of the land, were small and intertwined domains, occupied by vain kings, archdukes, and knights, whose domains could afford the luxury of one or two men, but not an army of thousands, let alone their families.

Colbert never guessed why they didn't go west. Everyone on this continent knows that it is overrun by evil dragons, and the kingdom they have built is filled with the breath of suffocating brimstone and blood. Dragons are located at the top of the pyramid, and their descendants occupy the positions of kings and nobles, and the cardinal sorcerers with dragon blood are as dense as the stars, ordinary humans are no better than slaves there, especially outsiders, and it is very normal to be watched, and if you have something worth mentioning, whether it is your ring or your face, it is not uncommon for your bed to suddenly empty one night - but you can't say that it is not prosperous enough, and some regard profit over dignity, The merchant of life and conscience can always dig out the golden sand from under the dragon's paws by means of inhuman madness and ingenuity, not to mention some evil people with evil intentions who never mind paying the price of maybe half a country in exchange for the services of a mighty warlock, let alone the wealth that cannot be put in the light and declared into the vast caverns day and night like a river flowing into the sea— Grenada, the strongest and most expansive of them all, has a huge market that no other country can have, and you can find everything you want in it, and some things may not be in your wildest dreams and worst nightmares.

Further west, to the north are the drowsy Black Sea and the Seventy-Seven Islands, which were overrun by the Greys thousands of years ago, and it is no exaggeration to say that there may be a lich standing on every reef there.

Beneath the Seventy-Seven Islands is the Azores, also an archipelago shrouded in evil and darkness, and although the Grand Duchess of the Azores claims that the Azores are a free land without camps, it is probably only pirates and thieves who think so.

The Dragonfire Islands are indeed their only remaining choice, although they can't say that it is good, because there is never a shortage of wars on the Dragonfire Islands, but at the very least, they can fight for a meager property and shelter for their wives and children, so that they will not be driven around like a wild dog, and eventually die of starvation.

"Your Excellency," Knight Xiu bowed to Colbert, "I beg your pardon, but I would like to know how long it will take us to reach the Dragonfire Islands?"

"Call me Coubert. The captain of the Sparrow said, "I am neither a Sir nor a mage—I suppose that if the sea breeze blows consistently in one direction, we may have a second meal on the Dragonfire Islands." ”

The knight pondered for a moment, there were very few people on the continent who only had two meals a day, so the second meal that Captain Colbert was referring to should be the middle of the day, he exhaled softly from his chest, he was so eager to see the new land that could be their own.

"Thank you very much, Captain," he chose a modest title: "We will never forget the favor you have given us." ”

"It's my pleasure to help you," Cowbert said, "and everyone on the continent should be grateful to you—to every soldier and knight stationed at Thundercastle, and to every mage. ”

A disturbing shadow passed over the knight's eyes. At the same time, he showed an obscure smile, "Maybe." He said.

Just as Xiu was about to take his leave, returning to the cabin he shared with his companions. Colbert stopped him.

"An old friend of Pills gave me a pretty good piece of blue cheese," said the captain of the Sparrow, "and perhaps you would like to have a drink with me, with cheese, I think you need it." ”

Xiu paused for a moment, "Thank you," he said succinctly, "but I can't eat anything right now," he said, his voice hoarse. But the tone was uplifted, and the sparkle in his eyes reminded Corbett of the gamblers who sat at the table and left the last child in silence, "So. His body was tensed, like a bowstring in the shooter's hand, and Colbert thought his spirit might be the same: "I just want to go back and rest for a while, I'm so sorry." Captain. ”

Colbert nodded. Once again, his worries came to him, the black-haired spellcaster would certainly be given a sharp broadsword, but it was obvious that it was double-edged, and the captain of the Sparrow had no doubt that its owner would cut his fingers just as much as the slightest mistake.

At this moment, the lookout, who was at the very top of the mast, suddenly let out a small, small whistle. He leaned out of the barrel and gestured downward.

"What's wrong?" asked Xiu.

Colbert stared at the lookout for a moment: "There's a merchant ship. It's not far from us. ”

The new Sparrow flew over the calm sponge with an astonishing speed, and they soon saw what the lookout had called a merchant ship.

It didn't look good, the hull was charred black in many places, it was obvious that the fireballs from the ballistas hit it and then burned, the ship's masts were all damaged to varying degrees, the mainmast was broken, the sails and ropes were indescribable, and there was a terrible silence on the deck, and the moonlight and starlight shone on it, allowing people to see the miserable scene after the catastrophe— The deck was littered with lying bodies, their clothes stained with blood, and the sight of broken swords and arrows turning a barrel into a hedgehog everywhere illustrated the fierceness of the previous battle.

"Did you hear that?"

"I hear you. Captain Colbert said, and there was a faint cry for help from inside the merchant ship, and there were still people alive.

This is not uncommon on the seas, where pirates plundering ships with nothing but their possessions and the nobles who could be ransom-worthy, and those who can be sold as slaves and experimental materials, who do not keep their ships, but only spill them with oil, light fires, or dig holes in their hulls and let them sink on their own, but in rare cases, ships attacked by pirates are able to escape, as they see with this boat, which is a sail and oar, so that it can still escape by oars after the mast is broken and the sails are burned, but now it is also at the end of its crossbow, and Cowbert wonders if the paddle hand inside is shackled to the bottom of the shipAlthough the laws of the Castle repeatedly state that this is wrong, there are shipowners who do it—these paddlers are generally either fugitives or poor wretches who are in debt and cannot be repaid, and who do not dare to appeal to the consul even if they are treated unjustly.

"Shall we come closer?" asked the knight.

The captain nodded, there are many unwritten rules on the sea, one of which is to rescue everyone who can be saved, because you never know if you will be the next unlucky man to soak in the sea and cry helplessly. However, Knight Xiu noticed that Colbert was winking at him.

Of course, he did not think that the captain had suddenly fallen in love with him at first sight, and the knight once again stared at the merchant ship that was about a few hundred feet away from them, he had no idea about the ship, but he also felt that something was wrong.

"Can you help me get Gavin?" said the captain, "I remember he was a good doctor, and I think those people will need a doctor." ”

Xiuzhan showed a smile of understanding, this smile was much lighter than the previous one: "I'll go right away." He said.

"Yes," said Corbett, "maybe you can look at the boxes under you, which have blankets in them, and take them out, and I think they'll need them too." ”

"Of course. Xiu said that he bowed again to Corbett and hurried away, and Corbett asked a sailor who was passing by to inform the others.

&&&

"Red Scar" hid himself behind a cabin, covered himself with broken sails, and peered out at the movements of the beautiful ship, and for a moment he didn't even want to destroy it, maybe he could tow it back, repaint it, and sell it for a good price.

This may have been difficult for other pirates, but not for Red Scar, who has a large precious rune disk in his hand, which he tells others can cause fog on the surface of the sea so that his ship can hide and escape, and in fact it can also create illusions - it will be "Red Scar" disguised as a dying, non-threatening merchant ship, the ships that come to the rescue will come to the rescue like birds jumping into a snare and board the ship, and when they lay down their knees in mournful ways to find survivors in a pool of blood, Red Scar and his pirates will silently jump to surprise them.

The rescue ship may leave some people on board, but the pirates will jump into each other's territory via gangplanks and hooks, and when caught off guard, few of them will be able to react in time - so "Red Scar" does not have to go through the formalities that other pirates must do - throw spears and rockets at their prey beforehand, and the ships he plunders can be almost completely preserved, except for the inevitable blood and other traces, and sometimes the value of an empty ship outweighs the total price of the cargo and passengers it carries.

"Red Scar" can also save time for chasing and besieged, which makes his work simply fast and good, although this time he may give a little to the Sea Demon and Drake, because they originally agreed to enter the sea area where the side island is located at the same time, now he may need to delay for a while, just a while, seeing the big fish but letting it slip away from his hand in vain is not the usual style of "Red Scar", but he can imagine how angry the other two companions will be, but as long as there are gold coins, there is no unquenchable hostility - He could almost replicate them in the void, from questioning, to surprise, to anger, then to swift calmness and greedy demand, and he would give them a little, but not much.

He saw that there were a few more people on the beautiful three-masted ship, one of them was wearing a gray robe, a short robe, not a robe, then it was most likely a ship doctor, "Red Scar" silently cracked his mouth and smiled, he liked kind people. (To be continued.) )