In the year 819 of the sacred calendar, at the end of January (the beginning month), at noon.

The lead-colored sky revealed a clear blue glow, as if the blizzard that could hide the world had finally stopped.

The houses in the unique style of the half-dome were covered with a thick layer of snow, some of them half a person high, blocking the doors, so the inhabitants of the Shahran Empire climbed out of their windows, drinking strong liquor and shoveling the snow.

They have a predominantly golden, pale yellow, and pure black hair color, and most of them have large shoulders and round waists. The young girls are generally good-looking, but the aunts are very blessed, and many of them have snowballs that their husbands are two sizes wide and often require a few middle-aged men to push, which they can handle with one hand.

On the second floor of an elegantly decorated dark green hotel on the street, two young people were looking out through the window at the lively scene outside, and the beautiful girl with blond hair and blue eyes rubbed her hands together and smiled playfully: "I have never seen such a heavy snow in the Urals, and it has been almost a month since the New Year." ”

The Urals belonged to the Kinov province of the Shahran Empire, located in the southwest of the empire, separated by two provinces from the northern fortress of the Principality of Vaorit, and was famous for its blacksmiths, ores, and weapons, which provided logistics for the Marinov Line.

Looking at the girl's soft and delicate face, and the bumpy figure wrapped in the fire fox fur coat, the sturdy young man beside her, who had pale yellow hair shaved to an inch, opened his mouth with some hesitation, and finally mustered up the courage to say: "Lena, you don't want to ...... You're still very close to that Mr. Peter?"

Lena turned her head suspiciously: "Igor, is there any problem? Mr. Peter is a serious gentleman who is very knowledgeable, well-informed, and has a good sense of humor, and it is a pleasure to talk to him. ”

When she said pleasantly, the corners of Lena's mouth curled slightly, revealing a faint smile.

The smile made Igor very uncomfortable, and he took a few steps in place impatiently, not caring about his demeanor. The voice was quick and slightly high: "Lena, he is a nobleman, and his wife will definitely be a descendant of the nobles. ”

Lena's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. Somewhat unhappily, he said, "What does this have to do with me? I am just friends with Mr. Peter." Igor, can you please not be cranky, if Mr. Peter is here, he will definitely talk to me about the blizzards elsewhere. Talking about good games related to heavy snow doesn't make me angry and sad at all. ”

"Mr. Peter, Mr. Peter. Lena, can you please not mention him?! They are very hypocritical like nobles! He always maintains an elegant and dignified demeanor in front of everyone, but secretly does all kinds of bad things, and from the two ostentatious swords he carries, and from the same politeness and politeness he has with all the beautiful girls in the caravan, it can be seen that he is in fact a frivolous and flowery fellow. And he hasn't activated his blood power yet, and sooner or later he will lose his nobility!"

Similar conversations have taken place several times between the two young men. But seeing that Lena was still talking and laughing with that Mr. Peter, and there was no distance at all, Igor finally couldn't help the surging jealousy, and revealed all the sour feelings hidden in his heart.

Then Igor said sullenly: "Caring about you will bring up these things, and it will make you unhappy." An unchanging elegance and thoughtfulness like his. It can only show that he doesn't take you to heart, and only thinks about deceiving you and deceiving you......" Although he gets along with mercenaries and adventurers all year round in order to stimulate his blood power, and occasionally speaks rudely, he still subconsciously does not use swear words when facing Lena.

Lena's face fell, and there were tears swirling in her blue eyes: "Igor, Mr. Peter is not the kind of person you think, there are two beautiful single girls in the caravan who have tried to seduce him, but he refused. And am I a man who is greedy for vanity and easy to deceive in your eyes?"

With that, she sniffled and turned to leave, returned to her room, and slammed the door shut, leaving Igor outside to apologize in chagrin.

At the other end of the corridor, around the corner, someone is also looking through the glass window at the lively scene of snow removal outside.

"Mr. Peter, the manners of the Vladimir family are truly outstanding, and you are the most decent nobleman I have ever met in terms of women. The red-nosed old man in a gray coat smiled and said that he was Lena's father, Belf, a member of the caravan.

Lucian, who is currently Peter Joseph Vladimir, stretched out his white-gloved right hand, pressed it against the railing under the window, and replied with a gentle smile: "In fact, there are many single-minded nobles. Isn't that the case in love stories?"

In keeping with the characteristics of the Vladimir family, Lucian's hair was dyed golden with the sap extracted from some kind of tree, and his eyes also turned dark blue through the spare invisible membrane, and the whole person looked sunny.

"It's all about currying favor with the nobles, writing to deceive the little girls, so that they willingly become the lovers of the nobles. Berf said with an exaggerated expression, and then laughed: "Mr. Peter, do you want to have lunch together? ”

Lucien withdrew his right hand and shook his head: "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Berf, I injured my body during my travels in the north and cannot drink. ”

"Haluha, Mr. Peter, that's the least attractive thing about you. Drinking and fighting are the romance of men!" After more than a month of getting along, an old fox like Belf almost figured out Lucian's temper and was able to joke more relaxedly.

The Shahran Empire is known as the country of knights, because the proportion of knights who have become knights is nearly 50% higher than that of the Duchy of Vaorit and the Kingdom of Holm, so that they can persist in fighting for hundreds of years when the clergy are much weaker than the Southern Church.

This has also made many adventurers believe that the harsh environment can help hone their will to fight and stimulate their blood power.

After returning to the dining room with Belf, Lucien found a table in a secluded corner to eat, while Leo, dressed as an old butler, stood meticulously beside him.

After a while, when Lucien lowered his head and drank the sweet and sour soup of beetroot with a spoon, a middle-aged man in a black coat and sable leather shoulders walked over with his entourage. His pale yellow hair was brushed back with thick oil, a thick cigar in his mouth, and seven or eight gold rings set with different gems on the ten fingers of his hands, which were so dazzling that they seemed to blind others.

"Mr. Peter, is there anyone here, and if not, do you mind if I sit here?" asked the stout middle-aged man warmly and politely.

Lucien raised his head, glanced around the restaurant, and saw that there were no vacant seats, so he nodded: "No, Mr. Sergey, you can sit here." "Heavy snow closed the road, and many travelers did not leave, causing crowding in restaurants.

Sergei had joined the caravan five or six days earlier in the previous city, and his destination was Ural City, the capital of the Ural region.

After ordering Bollinger bread, frozen sea caviar, veal steak and kebabs, Sergei smiled without a hint of rustiness: "Mr. Peter, after these few days of travel, I have found that you are a true nobleman with an elegant demeanor, just like Count Kutuzov of the Vladimir family. I met him a few times when I was doing business in the city of Falk, in the northwestern province. He seemed to be showing off the big people he knew.

Lucien cut off a piece of fried chicken and smiled, "Uncle Kutuzov, does his joints still hurt when he is wet?"

This is a big figure in the Vladimir family, Valentin naturally did not forget to mention it, and revealed a lot of his privacy, such as because of the failure to impact the rank of Heavenly Knight, leaving an incurable hidden physical danger, whenever the weather is wet, it will be very uncomfortable, just like ordinary people have arthritis.

"Your Excellency, he is still the same. Sergei snorted, then unobtrusively changed the subject, and began to mention other nobles he knew.

After the names of the nobles set off the image of a mysterious rich man with an astonishing background and a wide range of contacts, Sergei sighed softly and said: "It's a pity that I have arrived in the city of Urals, and I am about to say goodbye to your talented aristocratic friend, Mr. Peter." It was here that I met Count Witte through a personal relationship with Baroness Carliliana, who preemptively bought a newly discovered gem mine. Although it is difficult to mine, it is incredibly valuable and has attracted many people's eyes, so I will have to stay in the city of Ural for a long time to come. ”

Count Witt's fiefdom occupies nearly half of the Ural region and is the de facto control of this region.

Lucien chewed the chicken slowly, waiting a few minutes before asking, "Amazing value?"

"Yes, according to the testimony of several clergy and prospectors, that mine contains enough gems to buy a country. If it weren't for the fact that Count Werther didn't like trouble, and preferred to get his wealth easily through the mining tax and the gem tax, I wouldn't have gotten it at all!" Sergei ostentatiously took out from the black leather box carried by his attendant the certificate of exploration of the gem mine, the certificate of mining and the deed of the estate with the count's seal, and the low-cost reservation contract of the church.

Natural gemstones are required for many magical spells, spells, and otherworldly items.

Lucien smiled politely, "That's really congratulations to you, Mr. Sergei." ”

"Thank you, Mr. Peter. But how could this gem mine be easily obtained, just to curry favor with Count Witte almost bankrupt me, and at present there was no money to recruit manpower or buy equipment to open the mine. Alas, I have been running around all this time, borrowing money from my friends and preparing to double it back to them when the time comes. It's a pity that they can't withdraw so much money for the time being, it's still a little bit worse, so anxious that I have the idea of selling some of the gem mine shares. Sergei sighed and said with a sad face, "Why is there a bank that can take out loans in the Empire like those places like Sturk and Holm?"

After saying that, he waited quietly for Lucian's answer, but after a long time, Lucian did not speak.

"Mr. Peter, don't you want to say something?" Sergey greeted with a smile as he raised his glass.

Lucien wiped his mouth with a napkin, "Yes." I'm done with lunch, Mr. Sergey, you take your time. ”

Then Lucien calmly got up, sorted out the two "gorgeous" long swords, and went back to the room with Leo.

Sergei's smile briefly froze on his face, then he shook his head, smiled and took a sip of wine.

............

In the afternoon, as soon as the snow cleared from the road, an invitation was sent to the hotel, inviting Lucien to Baroness Carliliana. (To be continued.) )