One of the five principalities of the East Francian Kingdom, the Duchy of Eswabia borders the Kingdom of Burgundy and within its territory is the southern foothills of the entire Black Forest region. In the direction of Strasbourg, there is a pass into the Black Forest. About 60 miles in the direction of the Black Forest is the town known as Tosto. It is a veritable town with a permanent population of less than 300 people, and a fence of fir and pine trees is no more than 6 feet high.

However, this is a stop in Zuihou from the south into the Black Forest region, and beyond the town, the next supply point is to spare half of the ridge of the Black Forest and reach the Speyer Abbey. But the Speyer Abbey was aimed at the nobles and pilgrims, and the vast castle and monastery hidden deep in the almost isolated Black Forest, what would it be like for the ascetics to arrive there after a great deal of difficulty, and to watch a magnificent gray castle suddenly appear on the top of the hill at the foot of the mountain? Of course, this mood was limited to the ascetics and the great nobles who had traveled a long way, and to the rest of the commoners or mercenaries, it was just a cold stone building.

Because of its special location, the town of Tosto has a large floating population, whether it is a timber business or a fur business, a large number of merchants often come here. Some of the gems carved out by dwarves in the mountains often break down and are sold in this town at a low price. As a result, Tosto is also a popular place for jewellers. Especially since it's not far from the Kingdom of Burgundy, those gems can fetch a good price with a little touch-up. Compared to Tosto. Another exit from the Black Forest in the Duchy of Swabia. The Rose Collar, located near Württemberg, is much worse. The Rosary could only be sold to the nobles of the poor parts of the Duchy of Bavaria. Even good things don't sell for a good price.

It should be said that although the town of Tosto is small, it is a source of wealth for the Duchy of Davabia, especially those commercial taxes, which are different from agricultural taxes and are not controlled by the Holy See. Therefore, it was a good choice for the Grand Duke of Towabian to keep a squad of knights and their caws in Tosto. In particular, such a knight squad does not need the Grand Duke to pay a single copper, and those merchants who are afraid of the proliferation of robbers will pay for their own safety.

Seeing the end of autumn, the fur purchase is also at its most vigorous, and those foxes are in order to survive the winter. It will make your food fat and strong, and the color of your fur is extremely shiny. And the fur is best kept warm at this time, so at this time of year, the merchants of the Burgundian kingdom gather in Strasbourg and even Tosto. Only God knows that those places where the winter is very warm weishenme still need these furs to survive the winter, and they are all big nobles, are those nobles who are fatter than bears have no clothes to wear in winter?

This year, however, is more different than ever, as a hunter discovers a relic in the mountains near Tosto that is said to be older than the Roman Empire, and there are rumors of it. A powerful witch is guarding the ruins.

Whether it's ruins farther away than the Roman Empire, or witches. All of them irritate the mad fanatics and the Knights of Punishment in the Holy See. Some missionaries believed that the ruins were mostly related to the forsaken land mentioned in the scriptures, but Pope Sylvester II did not say a word about it, but the elite Knights of Punishment belonging to the Holy Roman Empire sent at least three squadrons.

Aside from the missionaries, thieves, and mercenaries, the adventure party was all interested in the ruins. Regardless of whether the ruins are abandoned by God or not, just imagining the possible remnants of wealth in the ruins is fascinating. Therefore, in recent times, the town of Tosto has been overcrowded, not to mention accommodation and rest, even if you want to sleep on the street at night, you must be careful not to step on or be stepped on by others.

As a result, the only tavern in the town, the Black Forest Oak Barrel, has become particularly thriving, and its daily sales even exceed that of the Strasbourg Bistro. But the owner of the tavern, Carpenter, with his thick beard, was very unhappy. Because the tavern was selling so well, even the wine he had to drink every day was sold, and he had not drunk a drop of wine for 4 days. God testifies that a mountain dwarf without wine can still be called a dwarf?

The grumpy Carpenter watched the sky darken outside, and the anger and sorrow in his heart surged up. In a few moments, the drinks from Strasbourg will arrive, but they may be divided in an instant by the "polite" robbers, who can only stare at the empty barrels. It's polite, just because the robbers pay the bill after they've drunk.

But, my God, the feeling of looking at the empty barrel and letting the remnants of zuihou drip a little ale in your mouth is enough to drive people crazy.

At this moment, a slender boy walked into the tavern, and this boy looked a little different from those who were either talking at the table or sleeping on the table.

Carpenter couldn't tell what was different about this teenager, but the mountain dwarves were all masters of mining and mining, and their eyes for identifying people were naturally not bad. The tavern owner always felt that this teenager seemed to have something to say, what did he say? Ripe? Steady? It seems to be higher than that, in short, not the temperament that belongs to this age group. No, it should be said that it doesn't belong to this tavern, as if it is the kind of temperament that is high up.

"Noble, that's right, noble."

Carpenter whispered such a judgment, and he pursed his lips impatiently. The noble lord went to such a remote tavern, either to hunt for curiosity, or to invite his subordinates to venture into the ruins of the mountains and forests, in short, it had nothing to do with him.

As for nobility, ha, Carpenter lived to be 120 years old, and I don't know how much real nobility I have seen. Those vassals and elegant human nobles thought that they were called noble, and that it was just a fur, not even a fur. Well, Carpenter turned his head to look at his empty oak barrels, and secretly admitted that the young man in linen had a somewhat noble nature.

It's just a little, very little, a lot worse than Carpenter.

The boy walked up to the tavern counter with no expression on his face, no impatience or fuss about the dirty tables and wooden stools. He sat up normally and looked left and right. Since he, a person who was out of place in the entire tavern, walked in, the surroundings had long since quieted down, and many people stopped talking and looked at the young man, with curiosity and cruelty in their eyes. I don't know whose young master it is, if he comes here, if he turns around and is knocked out and kidnapped, he may be able to get back a large sum of money.

Carpenter has long seen the greed in the eyes of those adventurers, but he will never say it, just in his heart. Going against this kind of person who has an aristocratic temperament in his bones, no wonder you can only become an adventurer, destined to be lonely for life.

"My name is Flemann, and I'm from Württemberg, and I'm Lord of the Rose Lord."

The boy suddenly spoke to Carpenter, although Carpenter looked rude to the boy at this time. But the boy didn't think it was a pestle, and continued, "You don't need to know much about me here, I need to hire some people to escort me back to the Rose Territory." ”

There was silence in the tavern for a moment, then burst into laughter. The mockery and banter of everything the teenager said, including swearing, spilled over in the midst of this laughter. There were even some people who slammed the table hard to prove their disdain for teenagers.

"You're lord of the Rose Lord, and I'm still Lord Mansell, fool, go back to your mother's arms and drink milk."

Someone shouted.

Carpenter doesn't think so for those stupid adventurers, what is true nobility? What is truly powerful? Those who shout for people to go back to feeding are stupid. He looked up, looked at little Fleman in the midst of the noise, and asked, "What can you offer?" ”

Little Fryman took out a leaf wrap tied with strange silk thread from his bosom, and carefully opened it in front of Carpenter. In that moment, the bearded dwarf felt his heart stop beating.

The 18 thick green fingers, which were the thumb parts, did not seem to be long off the palms, and the blood was only clotting, and it would be some time before it was completely hardened.

"Orcs?"

Carpenter asked in a low voice, not loud, but enough to silence the entire tavern again. Without waiting for little Fryman to reply, Carpenter had already taken out the green fingers wrapped in leaves one by one and looked at them, and even now these fingers, which had been detached from their masters, showed an indescribable hideousness because of the green.

"These are thumbs, and even if their owners are alive, they will not be able to pull a bow and arrow, wield a weapon, and be indistinguishable from waste for the rest of their lives. Orcs don't let waste live and waste food, so, before you came here, you killed 9 orcs? ”

Little Fryman nodded slightly and said, "Before I killed them, this small group of orcs once attacked a village somewhere in the Black Forest. ”

Carpenter's face changed color, and despite the fact that he still needed to step on a wooden pier to greet customers at the counter, he grabbed little Fryman by the collar across the counter and asked in a low voice, "Which village?" ”

Pulled like this by the strong dwarf, little Fryman did not panic, he glanced at Carpenter's arm with an almost condescending gaze, and whispered, "Let go." (To be continued......)