Solar Calendar 1728 The town of Kuro in the territory of the Kingdom of Portnas

Located in the southern part of Portnas, the land of crafts, the town of Kuro is a small town that is only half an hour away from start to finish. It is close to the Portnak Mountain, and as long as you look up to the west of the town, a towering mountain peak stands there, because it is at the foot of the mountain, the mountain spring flowing down from the mountain stream merges into a small river next to the town, ensuring the town's water source and bringing a lot of convenience to the town. Most of the town's men would gather in the morning to mine the stone in the Potnak Mountains, where it would be pulled up the river and floated to the uniform cargo ships. This work is the work of maintaining the livelihood of most people in the town, as long as the quota is completed, the kingdom will give each person a reward of seventy gold coins a month, although it is not a lot, but it is enough for the family to eat and wear. In the country of crafts, the supply of raw materials is very important, which is the basis for crafting, so every month the kingdom will send someone to the town to check the progress here, if the progress is slow and can not submit enough stones on time, then the month's salary will be deducted, for which men do not dare to be lazy and rest for a day. To add insult to injury, although the town of Cullo is part of Porturus and bears a lot of pressure on the supply of stone, the remote location of the town does not attract the attention of the craftsmen of the Land of Crafts, and the ornate sculptures and exquisite crafts are not visible here. Even the mayor's house is nothing more than an ordinary style bungalow, and the remote location makes him an ordinary poor town.

There are no pampered noble ladies among the women here, even the mayor's daughter has to learn to do housework from an early age, there are no rich families here, everyone is equally poor. The splendid carriages of the big city would never set foot in this poor town, and even if there were nobles who wanted to enjoy the scenery of the countryside, they would only pass by the entrance of the town in a hurry and never look inside, there was nothing to see here, and the streets were full of unkempt quarrymen and country women who were rude in their work, and even the most good-tempered young lady would frown when they saw it.

But there are two houses that are special in this poor place, they are beautifully and gorgeously, both have a unique signature style, and they are bustling with people all year round. One of them is the branch of the York Chamber of Commerce here, the York Chamber of Commerce is a business group composed of goblins, this house is a small house trading station here, the house in the nearby towns will be bought and sold here, and it is also the only Chamber of Commerce bank near here, even the poorest people have savings, and they deposit their savings in the bank of the Chamber of Commerce at least some meager interest, so there are many people coming and going every day.

The other is the branch of the Adventurer's Guild, where adventurers in the vicinity pick up and deliver quests. Guilds receive commissions from citizens and towns, and then post them on the bulletin board, and adventurers will receive quests according to their own conditions to win rewards. However, most of the people in Kulo Town are poor, and most of the tasks are in the next town, and the only important task here is the housekeeping competition organized by the guild itself, the guild will invite the women of the whole town to participate together, and the winner will get a large sum of money, and the annual competition can make the women of this town collectively crazy. This seems to be the personal interest of the sub-ministers here.

So even though the town of Kulo is poor, because it is located in the middle of the surrounding towns, you can see not only stonemasons and country women on the streets, but also the occasional adventurer in gear and high-spirited goblins.

Another special thing about the town of Kulo is that because of its remoteness, there are no Kingdom Inspectors stationed here, and people can relieve their stress in some unusual entertainment in the town's only tavern, the "Beauva Tavern".

It's late at night, and the Tavern Beauvoir on Couya Street is at its busiest. At this time, all kinds of people, from wealthy merchants and goblins to vagabonds, will appear in the tavern.

The wine here is not good, the bar is made of a few wooden planks, only the most tasteless drunks touch the glasses here, and the poor drunks lying on a few chairs always fill the place with the smell of cheap wine. The bartender wiped his glass in boredom, tonight was no different for him, a bunch of drunkards and a bunch of gamblers, they got rich and went crazy, it's always like this here, so as long as you don't take credit and don't get killed in a fight, he doesn't care.

"Rod..."A young man with blond hair was nervously pulling the corner of his friend's clothes at this time, he looked very ordinary, his hair was slightly wet now, and the cold sweat on his forehead kept dripping, he stared at the desktop in front of him as if he had seen the end of the world, "We have lost all our rewards this month..."

The friend he pulled was a red-haired young man, with clean facial features and a handsome handsome, but the clothes he wore were very torn, and the patches sewn with rags looked like there were four on the front, and he had once bet that he had more than ten patches on his clothes, so he had earned ten gold coins, and he was biting the sleeve of his left hand at this time, and his expression was full of uneasiness. A green-skinned goblin on the other side was looking at him with a happy expression.

"Despicable goblin, you must be cheating, how can you play ten games, each of which is bigger than mine!!" the boy slapped the table and jumped up.

The goblin on the other side looked at him apologetically after hearing this, "Poor Rod and Lot, it's not me who said that your luck today is indeed too bad." How could I, Darkppie Les, the gold investor of the York Chamber of Commerce, cheat for a mere thirty gold coins?" the goblin smiled kindly as he shook the shiny gold coin in his hand, "I'm just lucky today. You say, don't you, everybody?"

The crowd at the table laughed, they were a bunch of gamblers, some of them were drunk, and the greatest pleasure of watching the game was to see one side lose.

"I don't believe it, come again" Rod threw away the cards in his hand, he hammered down the table with his fist, it was a low table, not very stable, he hammered the whole table violently, and several cards fell to the ground.

"What a reckless fellow," the goblin looked at Rhodes, who was leaning over to pick up cards, his strange nose twisting from side to side, and his eyes glancing around, "what are you going to gamble on? You've lost all your money." ”

Throwing the picked cards back on the table, Rod pointed to his clothes, "My clothes, and Lot's," he said, hugging Lott over, "If not, add pants!"

"No" Lott cried out, his tone felt like he was about to cry, he was hugged vigorously by his friend, his body was twisted strangely, looking very awkward, "It's not okay, Rod, stop it!" I don't know if he was referring to such a strange posture or if Rod was making a bet.

"I'm going to win, trust me. Rod looked at him with confidence on his face.

"That's what you say every game!" Lott broke free of Rod's hand, "The money we made after washing the dishes here for a month is all gone, and we owe rent, and Aunt Beauva won't take us in... It's winter, and we'll freeze to death if our clothes are gone. ”

"I'm sorry to interrupt you" Goblin Darkskin raised his voice, he didn't want to continue listening to these two poor boys' nonsense, "I don't want your clothes, this kind of tattered clothes doesn't matter if he's worth a silver coin or a copper coin, the law of goblins, it's not cash, at least it has to be something more than ten gold coins" His eyes looked at Rod's whole body, and finally landed on his waist "So if you want to continue gambling, take your..."

"Lot's sword won't work!" Lott saw the goblin's thoughts, and he immediately interrupted the goblin's words, "Sorry sir, we won't play" Lott said as he stopped in front of Rod with his hand

"What are you talking about, Lot!" Rod didn't appreciate it, he reached out and pushed away Lott in front of him, Lott didn't let him at first, Rod pushed him away with a little effort, and then Rod untied the strap of the scabbard around his waist, "It's me sitting at this table now, it's up to me whether to play or not" He pulled out his sword and showed it to everyone, and a strange light instantly lit up the entire tavern

Everyone was blinded by the bright light, and the goblin's eyes were the same, but he saw the origin of the sword, "Is this Mithril..."

"That's worth at least a thousand gold coins on the black market. Rod pressed his sword on the table, "Goblin, you have to make the corresponding bet!"

"Rod... It's your family..."Lott wanted to stop him, but Rod glared at him, and at this time Rod seemed to have made up his mind, and Lott knew that it was useless to say anything more, so he sighed and said no more.

Darkskin thought about it, and although he was dressed well, he didn't have anything worth as much as a thousand gold coins. However, he had to bet on this one, because if it was really a Mithril sword, it could be sold for at least 10,000 gold coins on the black market, and this young man didn't understand the market at all, which was a big bargain, so he took out a note and a pen from his clothes, and then wrote a few words on the note

"It's a check for two thousand gold coins, and as long as you win, little ghost, you can go straight to the York Chamber of Commerce and withdraw the money. But—" The goblin said with a deliberate pause

"What other conditions?"

"You've got to have an account first, and if a poor boy like you can get in, maybe I can get one for you," the goblin said, a look of contempt on his face.

The dark words directly amused the good deeds around him, and the drunkards in the distance at the table laughed along.

"Don't worry, I'll figure it out myself when I get this check, as long as you don't pay the bill when the time comes!" Rhodes couldn't hide the shame in his heart, his face was hideous as if he was about to kill the goblin, and his hand pressed the sword hard as if the whole table was about to fall.

"Take it easy, boy, and watch the outcome with a relaxed mind. The goblin tapped lightly on the table, "Now let's open the cards." ”

A new hand begins at the command of the goblin. The cards on the table all moved after the goblin finished speaking, it was a magic card driven by a faint magic force, at first these cards were just a mess of the cards, then all the cards began to be neatly laid out, then scattered and integrated in the air, and finally merged into a knife of cards and landed on the table.

"Will you touch it first or will I come first?" the goblin asked Rhodes politely, and he deliberately dragged out his voice to speak, looking very provocative.

"You go first, I hope you have good luck. Rod waved his hand to signal the goblin to touch it first, it seemed like an indifferent action, but in fact, the center of gravity of his body was pressing forward, and his neck was also stretching forward.

"To prove that I didn't cheat" the goblin put his hand on the card pile, he touched a card and turned over a card, and directly all four cards were exposed "three sevens, so-so" The goblin smiled and looked at Rod "Imp, it's your turn"

Rod didn't have the guts to be like a goblin, he touched four cards into his hand first, and then he turned over the head of the first card, which was a five.

Rod's heart sank, and he immediately turned over the second card, and the result was still five...

There is hope... There must still be hope, Rod looked up and looked around, at this time the people around him were staring at his hands, what Rod wanted to see was not a human face, he stretched out his head and glanced forward, there were people coming in and out of the gate one after another, there were too many people and it was a little difficult to see. According to his impression, the back door should not be locked at this time, he glanced at Lot, at this time Lott rubbed his hands nervously, and also stared at his hands, this kid... Rod complained to Lott in his heart, hoping that he wouldn't drag his feet when he was about to escape.

Turning around, it's time to open the third card, Rhodes turns over the third card, five....

It's still five... Rod's heart is beating wildly, if there is another five, another five... He had slowly retracted his feet, his body had changed from lazily open to tightened, he was ready to get up and run, everyone was looking at him now, there were people on the front door, and he had to run towards the back door.

He flipped through the fourth

"Five!!" Rod exclaimed excitedly, his voice loud enough to resound throughout the tavern in an instant, "Four-Five! Take the money, goblins!!"

The crowd exclaimed, "Rod, this kid's luck is here tonight!"

Looking at the goblin, he was not in a hurry, he was not angry at all because of the loss, he still maintained that smiling expression, "Congratulations, boy, it seems that you are the biggest winner tonight..."

"Haha!" Rod shouted and jumped, and after the big ups and downs, he fell into a state of almost madness, he ran wildly in the tavern, and then jumped on the table next to him and twisted his body, the crowd was cheering, they didn't mind Rod going crazy now, they were originally a group of people watching the fun, and they were as excited as the owner to see this reversal of the scene. Lott on the side was moved by this scene and really cried, he sat on the ground and looked at Rod writhing on the table, "I have money, two thousand gold coins, I'm not dreaming, right?"

"If you hadn't cheated—" The goblin still smiled, but the cold words were like a dagger into Rod's throbbing heart.

"What?" Rhodes was stunned at the goblin's words, his movements on the table suddenly stopped, and the cheering crowd was stunned, and the tavern seemed to stand still in time, and they all looked at the goblin, even the bored bartender at the bar.

The goblin looked calm at this time, and he tapped the table lightly, "Check." ”

The cards that had been ordered began to be grouped one by one, and soon a deck of cards was spread out on the table, and everyone looked at the table, and it was obvious that there was a two, two fours, and a ten missing from the deck.

"As you can see, the kid who just said I cheated, he cheated himself. The goblin smugly pointed at Rhodes, who was stunned, "I think the card should be in his sleeve." The goblin smiled, his face very pleasant.

Someone immediately pulled Rod's sleeve, and Rod's still wanted to struggle, but after all, he was just a child, and as soon as a few adults pressed him, he had no choice, and soon the cards were searched

"Actually, I noticed your cleverness in the first place," the goblin looked at Rhodes with a constant smile as if he was giving a winning speech, "deliberately getting the cards to the ground, then hiding four cards, ready to cheat." ”

"But I didn't use them! I didn't cheat!" Rod quibbled, struggling repeatedly to break free from the grasps of the adults, but he couldn't.

"You didn't cheat?" the goblin looked at him with a surprised expression, this idea was the only thing he had exceeded his expectations so far tonight, his big twisted nose was snorting wildly, goblins are different from humans, their expressions are generally difficult to judge if people who are not familiar with them, but now in this situation, anyone can see that the dark skin is angry, "You can actually say such a thing? The cards you hid have affected the outcome of the shuffle, don't you understand?"

"Then you know why you have to bet with me if I cheat?" At this time, Rhodes had already been caught and pushed to the goblin's side, like a thief who had been caught.

"Because you cheated, I can win whatever card you draw. The goblin had already won at this time, so he also said his thoughts without any scruples, he stared at Rod's face, and his expression was terrible, "You are still tender, boy, cheat in front of my dark uncle, and practice for another ten years!"

At this moment, the table in front of the goblin was suddenly lifted without warning.

"Oops" lifted the table and smashed into the goblin's head, the sharp pain made the goblin instinctively retreat, and as he retreated, the crowd also retreated, because even if Darkskin was the winner, no one wanted to touch a dirty goblin, everyone tacitly let an open space come out, and the goblin successfully fell to the ground.

Then a bright light shot out from one side

"What's the matter!" The intense light caught everyone off guard, and everyone couldn't help but cover their eyes

"Rod! Run!!" At this time, Lot's voice came from behind, Rod knew that the opportunity could not be lost, he did not hesitate to squeeze away from the people around him, the hands that originally grabbed him were now placed on their master's face, and the two young men squeezed out of the crowd and went directly to the back kitchen.

"Good buddy!" Rod and Lott scurried through the back kitchen to the back door

"Give" Lot threw Rhodes's sword to him, just now he picked up the sword and kicked the table directly, this kind of low table is inherently unstable, kicking and opening at most to scare people back a few steps, he originally just wanted to scare the goblins, who knew that the goblins were too short, and the table could be smashed directly on the head, which was even better. He then drew his sword, causing the intense light to dazzle everyone, and he took advantage of the situation to untie Rod's restraints, and the two of them successfully escaped.

Rod hurriedly tied his sword back to his waist, and then breathed a sigh of relief, "It seems that this place can't stay anymore"

"Anyway, it's not the first time, but I feel a little sorry for Aunt Beauva"

"Don't worry, she will definitely be able to live strongly, but it's a pity that our wages are a pity. Rod felt a little regretful, he thought to himself that he would have known to take some money and then run away

"Sorry, I didn't think that much about it"

The two of them ran out of the tavern and came outside, it was late at night, there was no one on Kuya Street, the stonemasons had to get up early every day, those who did not come to the tavern had gone to bed early, and now there were not even lit rooms on either side of the street.

Lott is a smart man, and knows that it is impossible to spend the night without a place in the middle of the night, and although they have escaped from the dark skin, they also have no place to spend the night. The only tavern in the town is Beauva...

"Forget it, the money will still be there. Rod sighed, "I just want to make a little more money, maybe I can make a stove, but now I don't even have a place to sleep..."

"We can only go to the church shelter now. Lott interrupted Rod, his thoughts were quick, and he had just come to this point, and he stopped, and now they were at a crossroads.

"Ah, go to church... Didn't we tell the priest before that we didn't believe in any god, and we wouldn't be kicked out if we went to church?" Rhodes recalled their 'heroic deeds'.

"I can't help it, I can't spend the night on the street. Lott also knew that it was embarrassing, but it was really fatal to sleep on the street in the middle of the night in winter, and the church was the only option" I remember that the Church of the Word had a rule that anyone who asked for help in the middle of the night had to be taken in for at least one night. By the way, you should go to the church on the left..."

"It should be. Rod turned and walked to the left, saying no, but moving faster than Lot.

Although it was dark at night, there were also magical street lamps on the road to ensure illumination, and they were so bright that many nobles also installed them in their carriages. This kind of lamp needs to be filled with magic every day to ensure operation, because it is a public facility, so it is managed in a unified manner, and the maintenance cost is acceptable. But the nobles' carriages use this lamp, and the maintenance cost will be very high, which is completely showing off their wealth.

Poor two teenagers followed the only light on the deserted streets.

"How long will it take to get to church..."Rhodes looked around impatiently, there was nothing but dark houses and street lamps, and he couldn't help but feel irritated after walking for a long time.

"We have walked through twenty-seven street lights, almost six hundred meters, and according to the street signs, we should have to walk more than half the distance, and there should be about fifty lights. Lott was very witty and calculated the distance from the street lamp, but wisdom could not resist the cold, and a cold wind blew, and the two teenagers couldn't help but squat down and shiver.

"I didn't expect you to count it" Holding his body, Rod couldn't stop shaking, and when he spoke, even his voice was trembling, "That cotton coat is still in the tavern, it seems that it can't be taken back..."

"Let's go" Lott urged Rhodes "Get to church early, there will be hot soup and a stove...", the blonde boy struggled to get up, although he was shivering from the cold, but he knew in his heart that the worst thing about this late night was to stop, the cold and darkness would swallow up those who were afraid to move forward.

Rhodes saw Lott walking forward again, and he had to stand up with a shudder.

After walking more than 20 street lamps, the two of them were already frozen at this time, and they could no longer speak fluently, their hands and feet felt stiff to varying degrees, and fatigue and psychological pressure gradually affected them, but it was gratifying that looking into the distance, the lights of the church were already faintly visible.

Hope was already in sight, and the two of them were motivated to speed up slightly. The silence of the night was terrible, with only the rustle of two people walking.

However, at some point, another strange sound began to appear.

At first, the two didn't care, they could just hear the sound between their steps, it was too small to be noticeable.

But soon, the sound became louder and louder

"What is that sound?" Rod asked first

"I heard it too, but I don't know" Lott stopped and looked around, there was nothing but the dark room, but once the two stopped, the sound became more pronounced.

As the voice intensified, Lott could guess the direction in which the voice was coming from, and he looked in the direction it came from

"It's a horse!" said Lott to run, but his frozen body did not obey, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Lot!" Rod hurriedly helped him

"Let's go, it's so late that the rider may have come to catch us!" Lott pushed Rod's body, "I'm fine, you go quickly." ”

"But..."

"I didn't cheat, they can't do anything to me, the point is..."

Before Lott could finish speaking, a crisp sound of horses' hooves came from behind him.

Rhodes quickly turned around, and a man in armor stepped off his horse and slowly walked towards them.

"Who are you, what are you going to do?" Rod said in a flustered tone, his sword at his waist ready to be drawn for battle.

"Let me introduce myself first, my name is Brute. The man's appearance was not clear in the shadow of the light, and then he drew his sword from his waist, "Actually, I was at the Tavern de Beauvoir just now, at the table next to you. The sword light reflected the light and looked very conspicuous, and with the man's calm and slow tone, the two children were directly frightened.

Lott had already gotten up, his feet were trembling, and he felt like he might fall again at any moment, but his brain was still spinning rapidly, and he tentatively greeted first, "What a coincidence that I met here..."

"Oh, no" Brut laughed "Don't get me wrong, Lot, it's not a coincidence" Brut stopped, "Because of your unreasonable behavior, Darkskin is very angry, so he offered a bounty of thirty gold coins to catch the two of you, and it just so happens that I have bad luck today, so I hope you will cooperate, let me at least go back to sleep with my empty wallet, okay?" The man's tone was very sincere, although he couldn't read his expression clearly, but the teenagers also knew that this was more than just a request.

"Run, Rod, as long as we get to the church, we'll be—" Before Lott could finish his words, suddenly his head sank, and his eyes suddenly went dark, and his body went limp, and then a big hand held him to prevent him from falling.

"Lott?" Rod turned his head, and he saw a man standing behind Lot

"I'm sorry, I forgot to say," Brut's voice came from behind him at this time, "I'm not the only one who took this job." ”

Rhodes wanted to run, but a feeling of dizziness came, his body lost his balance, and he fell to the ground instead of being helped

"It's so easy. ”

"It's just a ghost. ”

Rhodes didn't know who was speaking, and there was an unbearable cold on the ground, and he lost consciousness.