It was not until the afternoon that the emissaries of Nuland finally received the long-awaited news that the leader had allowed them to enter the forest.

The man who came to guide them was a young man named Tiward, who seemed stunned for a moment when he saw Noro, but his expression quickly returned to normal. He had a pair of simple and resolute eyes, and from the appearance of him, he was no more than twenty years old, but he was calmer than the older watchman at the lookout, and his attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, as if he had long been accustomed to this kind of scene of dealing with nobles.

However, what intrigued Noro, Muchi, Kailas, and Rhodes the most was not the young man himself, but the long knife in his hand. The blade is not very wide, and the shape is not very peculiar, just a knife type that is more common in the Eastern Continent. However, the patterns embossed on the scabbard wrapped in animal skins were not ordinary at all, but any nobleman with a little historical knowledge could immediately recognize them, and those patterns were the flame map on the flag of the Fog Ming, which had been extinct for more than thirty years.

"Can you show me the knife in your hand?"

Suddenly a cold voice came from behind him, and Tiward paused and instinctively turned around, but saw that the blonde nobleman was looking at him condescendingly, and there was a noble aura around him that could not be concealed in any way. His astonishing beauty and haughty demeanor were different from the nobles that Tiward had come into contact with in Asmara before, and it was irresistible. He nodded silently and handed over the weapon in his hand.

Although it has only been about a year since it was acquired, it has become an indispensable companion. For Tiward, it is alive and emotional, because his soul is deeply attracted to it. When he first saw it in the Underground Palace's armory, Tiward immediately had a wonderful resonance with it. It also has an amazing name called "The Guardian". The name coincided with Tiward's state of mind at the time, and he decided to use it to protect his most important people.

Noro grasped the hilt of the knife and carefully pulled the knife out of its sheath, and the quaint and touching aura immediately rushed to his face, as if carrying the enthusiasm poured by the temperer, from the handle to the blade, everywhere showed the meticulous concentration of the temperer. It is a silent reminder that it is not just a weapon, but also a trusted comrade-in-arms who can fight side by side.

"This knife is not ordinary at all!" Mu Qi couldn't help but admire.

"This is a relic of Naruto Mist, right?" Kelas asked affirmatively. In fact, it wasn't just Kairas, but the eyes of several others also fell on Tiward.

Tiward had never imagined that they would pay so much attention to this long knife, but it was brought out of the Underground Palace's arsenal, which was still a secret that Jianing City would never be able to proclaim to the outside world. Secrets that the Nabolanders did not discover when they slaughtered the city in the first place, if leaked, would surely bring disaster to this new country. Moreover, the true purpose of Nuland's envoy's sudden visit had not yet been clarified, so he could not easily divulge any information. However, the obvious fog-like patterns on the scabbard and hilt had made the noble emissaries aware of it, and Tiward couldn't deny it. For a while, he didn't know what to do, and he was a little embarrassed.

"Haha...... It's okay, it's okay, it's okay if you don't say it, continue to lead the way for us, no one will embarrass you, I promise. Muki grinned and threw his arm around Tiward's shoulder, and patted the young man on the chest comfortingly, easily dissolving his awkward silence.

Tiward breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, if these people were angry, he was not confident that he would be able to escape back to Jianing City intact. But was this tall, muscular fellow with a smile on his face really a nobleman? Tyward had never seen a nobleman so casual as he was, and so unscrupulously hooked up with the commoners as if they knew each other well......

Noro didn't ask any more questions, indifferently inserted the knife back into its sheath and handed it back to Tiward.

Then, as if everyone had forgotten about this little episode, they continued to march deeper into the forest.

"With such a thick fog, if there is no one to lead the way, we will probably lose our way in the forest. Rod sighed, and then asked Tiward, "Is it the same situation in Jianing City?

"No, there's no fog in the city. Tiward replied.

"There's no fog in the city?" said the Nuland emissaries were all surprised.

It has been documented that over the past few hundred years, the area has often been marked by foggy weather. The small country that was once famous in the Eastern Continent for its superb forging skills, Wuming, was also named after it. However, there is no historical evidence that Wuming is dense and foggy all year round, and almost all of them are described as follows: in the territory of Wuming, especially in the capital Jianing, fog is foggy for about a third of the year, and the fog usually dissipates slowly in the afternoon...... But the strange thing is that since the demise of the fog and the appearance of the Devil's Forest, the weather here has become a little abnormal, and there is a significant deviation from the historical records. Nowadays, the dense fog here does not disperse all year round, and the city of Jianing, which is surrounded by the deep forest, should be more foggy, but this young man said that there is no fog in the city, how can it not be surprising?

"Well, it is said that more than thirty years ago, Jianing City was often foggy. However, we haven't seen fog in the city since we settled here. Tiward replied.

"In just a few decades, why is there such an unnatural difference in the climate?" Rod wondered.

"This ......," said Tiward, knowing that it might be related to aliens, but the question was obviously difficult to answer, "I don't know. However, the closer we got to the city, the lighter the fog became, and by the time we got to the inner forest, there was no fog. ”

"In other words, is the fog almost all concentrated on the outskirts of the forest?" this reminded Rhodes of the Death Forest on the Dorodo border, where the opposite is true, the fog gets thicker the deeper you go, and it's all a poisonous miasma.

"Yes. Tiward nodded.

"Nature's wisdom is unfathomable, and there is no better natural defense than this. Rod sighed.

As Tiward said, after a long walk, the fog began to fade, indicating that they were not far from the city.

There were obviously far more beasts in the inner periphery than in the periphery, and they were not afraid to jump from the feet of this group of strangers, and they had no sense of danger at all. Gary easily caught a small herbivore beast that jumped at his feet, held it in his hand and looked at it, and said with a smile: "The beasts here don't seem to be afraid of people at all, but there are very few wild beasts in the mountains and forests in the south of Nong, and sometimes you can't see one all day, and it's too easy to hunt here with you." ”

Tivod reached out and touched the little furry beast in Gary's hand and said, "We are usually not allowed to hunt wild birds and beasts here. ”

"No hunting?" said Gary in surprise. Hearing this, several other people couldn't help but look at Tiward with curiosity.

"Well," Tiward explains, "because the presence of all kinds of wildlife makes forests healthier, more conducive to the growth of trees, and indirectly protects water and soil." Besides, this forest is also a barrier to protect our homeland, and we naturally cannot destroy it. ”

In fact, in the early days of the establishment of this forest country, many refugees who fled here had hunted in the forest because of unbearable hunger. However, after the problem of food and clothing for the residents of the city was solved, people naturally accepted the subtle influence of the general environment, and gradually learned to abide by the order of life here, and no longer did some illegal things. It is precisely in this way that the birds and beasts in the forest have once again begun to live next to the Jianing people, instead of hiding in the forbidden area in the east.

"But if there is a total ban on hunting, how do you solve the problem of the survival of so many people? After all, there is not as much arable land in the forest as there is outside. "Kailas never wastes any opportunity to gather information.

"We have our own ranch and food is no longer a big problem. "Although there is no wide arable land here, as long as all the land is used efficiently, the food can still meet the needs of the inhabitants of the city." You'll be able to see this at a glance when you're in the city. ”

Fortunately, the weather was very sunny today, and when they walked out of the inner forest, although it was almost dusk, the sky was still very bright, and the progress was much faster than expected. Of course, without Tiward to guide the way, even if it took a day and a night, they would probably not be able to find Jianing City. It's easy to get lost in foggy forests, especially for newcomers. Moreover, in order to protect themselves, Jianing people generally try to avoid stepping on the same ground too many times, so as not to leave obvious road marks. Therefore, even if you are an outsider who has been here once, you may not be able to find the right way next time.

Standing on the edge of the city and looking around, they realized that Jianing City was much more vast than they imagined, and the outskirts of the city were almost all pastures and fields separated by fences. After passing through pastures and fields, it is a long walk to enter the city. This distance could have been carried by riding beasts, but since Tiward, who led the way, did not ride beasts, everyone had to follow him and continue walking into the city.

Stepping on the path by the field, the evening breeze brings a burst of natural fragrance, which is refreshing. Mu Qi took a comfortable breath and couldn't help but sigh: "The breath here is refreshing and clean, and it doesn't seem to be the same as outside." ”

"It's natural," Tiward smiled pleasantly, "and the city is surrounded by many plants, and the people who are in it will also be affected by the bad environment, so they will naturally become calm. Plants make people's souls healthier and prolong people's lifespans, so we pay great attention to maintaining a balance between the regeneration rate and the cutting rate of trees to reduce the negative impact of logging on the environment. ”

The architecture of Jianing City systematically inherits the early fog singing style, which is strong and down-to-earth. The stone bricks used on the walls and roads are made of several stones hewn into a specific shape, tightly intertwined, without any glue in between, but very strong. Moreover, the layout of the city is also different from that of other countries in the Eastern Continent. Most of the capitals of the kingdoms were centered on the royal palace, surrounded by aristocratic residences and commoner quarters. However, according to Tiward's introduction, Jianing City is centered on the central square, and the royal palace and the residences are surrounded by the square, and the buildings are distributed in a neat and orderly manner, like a circular water pattern that expands outwards in layers. However, these rings are not sealed, there are several paths between houses and houses, courtyards and courtyards, and a straight main road appears every few buildings, indicating that the ring city is actually accessible in all directions.

Kailas couldn't help but sigh: "I really didn't expect that the capital city of Wuming was actually such a strange layout, I have never seen it in other places, it is like walking into a historical ......"

"Actually, the Jianing City you see now is not the layout of the early stage of Wuming. Tiward pointed the way.

"Isn't it an early layout?" said Kailas, surprised, "why is there such a sense of history?"

"The reason why it retains a sense of history is that all the new buildings also consciously follow the early fog style. After the expansion of the city, many old buildings that had suffered varying degrees of damage due to the slaughter of the city in the past were not discarded after demolition, but the raw materials were carefully restored little by little and put back into use. Today, most of the buildings in the city are made of a combination of old and new materials. Tiward explained.

"Restoring a badly damaged old building is much more troublesome than building it entirely, so why go to the trouble of doing something that is obviously a waste of time?" asked Muchi, puzzled.

Hearing this, Tiward couldn't help but pause, which was exactly the same as his original doubts, and now he is still a little embarrassed in retrospect. I couldn't help but solemnly explain: "That lord once said: We are all fleeing, and being able to live here is also a blessing from our predecessors, and we must know how to be grateful and respect its history." As a result, the style of the old city has been preserved intact. However, this circular and corrugated urban layout is not a remnant of the foggy era, but was reset in accordance with the will of the lord in the later expansion. ”

Tiward still vividly remembers that the Lord had mentioned that when the Streamer Smog people came to this ruined city to escape the scourge of war, it was with gratitude that they buried the corpses around the city one by one, and then cultivated a forest to protect this historic city to this day. Now, we have also received the blessings of this ancient city, and naturally we must know how to repay them...... However, it is inconvenient to say these things to outsiders, and Tiward omitted to mention them.

After listening to Tiward's explanation, Noro couldn't help but feel respect, so he asked, "Which adult said this?"

"Oh, it's our leader. Tiward was not used to being called that and explained, "But somehow the chief doesn't allow people to call him that, so we generally call him 'Lord'." ”

"Why did he make the city a water-like ring, and is there any meaning behind it?" asked Murch curiously.

"Uh......" Tiward didn't know why, so he couldn't answer. "I don't know, I'm afraid you'll have to ask the lord for yourself to find out about this question. ”

At the mention of this, Tiward couldn't help but think back to the beginning. Due to the rapid increase in population, when everyone discussed the expansion of the city and asked the lord's opinion, he blurted out without even thinking about it, and directly decided on the new layout of the city. The others respected him so much that they did not raise any objections, and the matter was settled so that no one could still guess why.