The Cornell region has a special status in the Confederation in a sense. In terms of shape, the southwest corner of the Federation occupies the west bank of the beginning of the Great River, while the Cornell area is on the west bank of the mouth of the Great River, forming a harmonious figure with a beginning and an end. Therefore, most of those who are knowledgeable and have seen the map will have an impression of this place name, and with a little hint, they will remember that the so-called Cornell region is the sharp corner of the eastern part of the Union that protrudes unusually to the south.

However, only the big figures who looked at the entire federation from a macro position understood that the abnormal nature of the administration of the Cornell region could better explain its special status. It is not affiliated with any of the federal states, and there does not appear to be a special agency in the Cornell area. It is obviously close to the mouth of the sea, and from a strategic point of view, it is also one of the key positions to defend against the invasion of the Holy See from the sea, but there is not even a garrison at all, and even whether there are any inhabitants there is a question of doubt for those who have not been there.

Formally part of the Connell Confederacy, but in reality, to those within the Confederation, it is more like one of the numerous independent powers on the north and south banks of the Great River. Only those who are particularly curious or well-informed have heard some rumors that the embarrassing situation in the Cornell region is the result of an agreement between the Federation and a trade alliance led by the Thousand Islands that is active in the Great River Valley.

Even those who live in the Cornell region feel that if there is no teleportation magic array that should have come in handy during the election, the Conel region will probably not be included in the federation on the map. After all, the general election, the decennial election of the Speaker of the Bundestag, should theoretically alarm the entire Federation, and it has been at least thirty years since a candidate has passed through that magic array to canvass votes in the Cornell area.

Almost as a matter of course, this magic array that never seemed to have been used before, as if it was just to prove that this was also a part of the Federation, and it would not be as heavily guarded as other places. After all, it is doubtful whether it can be used here, and there is no one stationed here in the Federation, so it is natural to imagine the lax management. Thirty years ago, it was said that twenty-four guards worked in three-shift shifts, but now, Rezel is the only one who actually appears on the job.

Raizel wasn't the type to take his work very seriously, and the main reason why he was able to get out of bed every morning and sit down on a bench in front of this miserable old building was because he didn't have anything else to do even if he stayed at home.

"......," Reezel said, reminiscing drunken as he sipped his wine. His father used to be in charge of guarding the place, too—at that time, the wages were still acceptable, and although there was not much surplus, it was better to be idle. Later, his father was accidentally killed by a colleague in a drunken verbal altercation - as a symbol of friendship, or rather, as a thank you for not pursuing the matter, Reezel received fifty gold coins...... That's a lot of money, almost all of the people's savings, and you can see that they really regret their actions.

Combined with his father's savings, Rezel was able to live on a salary that was now more than nothing, and occasionally had spare money to buy a bottle of wine. Thinking of this, Raizel couldn't help but take another careful sip of the wine in the bottle. It's not that his father's death is a good thing, it's just that if you think about it, Rezel, a waste who can't even hold the magic emblem, how much can he earn even if he learns the hard work of others?

“...... Hehe. Reezel didn't know why he was laughing, but he laughed inexplicably, "Hehe......"

He recalls where he put his savings. At first, there were a lot of gold coins, and I couldn't open my eyes, but then the color gradually became unsightly, silver and copper, and when I went to get the money for the wine this morning, it seemed that even the quantity was much less. I'm afraid that this kind of life is finally coming to an end, and after that, what will I do?

"Hehe," Reezel didn't know what was funny, but he couldn't help laughing, "hahaha-ah!"

He leaned back with a smile, and the poor round stool finally failed to support his balance and fell backwards with him. He lay on his back in embarrassment, trying to get up with his hands, but only to roll on the ground. Covered in dirt, he burst out laughing again for no apparent reason, perhaps because he had drunk, perhaps because almost no one had ever passed by in the vicinity, and he laughed out loud and out of breath, with tears streaming down his face.

It wasn't until a shadow covered his body that the laughter stopped abruptly. A brown-yellow cloth robe stood in front of the table, covered with black spots, and it was impossible to tell whether it was a stain or a deliberate pattern, and above the garment was a face that was too white and uncommensurate with the obviously worthless garment. Even the unkempt, somewhat dirty hair could not hide the fact that the owner of that face was pampered. It's not fat, but it definitely has nothing to do with thinness, and with a relaxed smile on his face, it looks like he has never been hungry for the rest of his life.

"Rezel, are you drinking in broad daylight?" The man's face looked to be twenty or thirty years old, and on the whole, it was not strange to say that he was thirty years old, but his voice was a little sharp, like a child or an old man, mixed with indistinct laughter, which was extremely uncomfortable.

The moment he heard his voice, the chilling discomfort seemed to penetrate into Rezel's bone marrow in an instant, and he came to his senses in an instant. Reezel calmly turned over, half-crouched on the ground, made a sinister look of evil voice, and spit: "What are you? This is a federal secret land, be careful, be careful!"

Reezel said something worthless as he cautiously reached under the table and grabbed the hilt of the longsword. This is a real iron sword, and if it is maintained in the right way, sharpened on time, and used in the right way, it can kill a person in a single stroke—as long as it is human, no matter who it is.

Among the relics left by his father, only this sword was left by Raizel, who did not plan to sell it, and the reason was not to commemorate it. It's not that he's a heartless person, it's just that he's more of a pragmatist, and has always looked down on those who cry bitterly at one or two relics. If you want to commemorate it, just remember it yourself. Reezel always remembered his father's voice and smile very clearly, and he kept his father's teachings in mind, such as how to make a sword, such as-

"It doesn't matter if you can't fit the magic emblem. Listen, Rezel, you will indeed suffer a lot if you can't use spells, and those stable and well-paid jobs, transportation, production, including brewing and farming, I'm afraid you won't have a chance. But, that's all! Don't be afraid! You can do my job, as long as you know how to fight, how to fight, and dare to kill, there will be no problem. ”

"Remember, the thing that doesn't need spells in this world is to fight! In real battles, the spells that can be used are just some innocuous things, stick close enough, take advantage of their unpreparedness, move fast enough, just raise your hand, and once! Even the second-turn mage has no way to escape! You know! As long as you are ruthless and fast enough, it is enough!"

Raizel gripped the hilt of his sword and stared at the man. Kick the table away, stab the vital point, it only takes three seconds, no, two seconds is enough. This man is probably a child of a certain family, and judging by his face, he may be a first-turn mage, or even a second-turn mage, but that doesn't matter, the younger the children of these families, the higher the level, the more inexperienced they are. From the moment you hold the hilt of the sword, it's over.

The man still had a relaxed smile on his face, and he didn't seem to notice that his life had been held in the palm of Razel's hand: "Haha, it's so fierce, Razel." I'm a hyena, can't I remember? Didn't we have a good conversation yesterday when I came out of the house behind you? Haha, Rezel, his eyes are so vicious, like a man-eating beast, I'm scared. ”

Reezel didn't even frown, he remembered very well that yesterday, as it had been for many years, no one had ever entered or left the building behind him. The guy was talking nonsense, and for some reason, Raizel was starting to want to do it right away - but he didn't want to kill people just yet. The standard chanting time for the direct kill spell represented by the fireball technique is 30 seconds, and with the accelerated chanting, it can be reduced to more than twenty seconds, and in terms of twenty seconds, he decided to give this person another eighteen seconds of chance, that is, the opportunity to say a word.

"Fuck off. Reezel's strength is completely gone, "It's for your good." ”

The man who called himself the hyena leaned down and stared into Razel's eyes, his pitch-black pupils occupying almost the entire eyeball, the whites of his eyes completely invisible, and there were no human mood swings. The man sneered, and for a moment Reezel seemed to see his mouth turn into a long, wolf-like snout, full of sharp fangs, and full of saliva, which kept flowing outward and rattling.

"Reezel, why are you drinking in broad daylight?"

Still messing around. Reezel decided not to give him any more chances, anyway, he still received a pitiful salary every day, and this salary gave him the duty to kill. The body is pressed forward first, and when he stands up, he lifts his sword, kicks the table, and his foot steps forward, and when he lands, the sword can be sent into the man's chest. No matter what spell he was preparing, he couldn't continue with the pain of being messed up in his chest—everything was already planned in his head.

However, Reezel has not yet acted. It's not that you don't want to act, it's that you can't act. His dark eyes swirled like a whirlpool of his whole spirit, and enveloped him like night, leaving him with nowhere to run. It was as if his entire spirit had been sucked in by those eyes, and he couldn't control his spirit at all.

"I see, you're in a lot of pain. Because the pain is too intense, I have to rely on alcohol to restrain myself in broad daylight. ”

The man's shrill voice seemed to soften, muffled, blending into the gentle darkness, as if warmed. It's just that, even in this warm darkness, you can still hear the shrill laughter in his voice, and the cold goes straight to the bone marrow.

"Why? Why, you and I are facing each other, talking to each other, looking into each other's eyes, and you are already like this, and you are in so much pain, and I don't feel any pain at all? Hey, Reezel, tell me? Why, I don't feel any pain at all?"

The vortex loosened in an instant, and the sword, which was about to fall to the ground, was re-tightened.

"Hey, tell me about it. Why do I already know that you lost your father at a young age, that you were ridiculed, that you were powerless to take revenge, that you were in pain every day, and that I didn't feel any pain at all? Why?"

Reezel broke free from the whirlpool, stood up, kicked the table away, and raised his sword: "You're going to feel pain soon!"

Reezel thrust forward with all his might, he had never slackened a day of stabbing with his sword, and even if he wasn't clear in his mind and his feet were unsteady, the movement was as smooth as instinct. He watched as the sword stabbed into the man's chest, in the heart of the heart, impartially, and in a split second, it was already an inch short - and yet, at that moment, he could no longer see the sword, he could no longer see the man, he could no longer see anything.

The relaxed smile on the man-hyena's face faded gradually, looking at Reezel, who was motionless and standing on one foot in front of him, he looked down, looked at the tip of the sword that had punctured his clothes, and raised his hand to push the sword aside, Reezel collapsed to the ground as if his body had lost support: "Ahhhhhhhhh ”

The hyena crouched down and patted Raizel's head, and Reezel's head suddenly rose up with a expressionless face, and the hyena didn't seem surprised, but said with a strange expression: "Why do you say? You are completely destroyed in front of me—or did I do it myself." But I still didn't feel any pain at all. ”

Reezel was expressionless, but spoke: "Because this world is like this, no matter how painful others are, I will not feel pain." ”

The hyena slapped his head and laughed, "Hahahahaha! What stupid am I doing?" ”

Rezel stiffened himself from the ground, stepped over the sword, opened the door behind him, picked up a stool, and set it up in the room. The hyena followed in, carefully examined the magic array on the ground, took out a few small boxes, and placed them on the ground as if they were thrown casually, and went to sit on the stool, leaning against the wall, cocking Erlang's legs, and nodding at Reezel. Raizel turned around again, walked out the door, picked up the sword, and stood in the doorway as if it were a real guard.

The hyena hummed an unknown song briskly and sat like this until the evening. Before the sky was dark, but the sun was already gone, the circle on the ground suddenly brightened up, emitting a deep blue brilliance. The hyena whistled, stood up, and bowed deeply as the light of the circle gradually dimmed: "Dear 'sir', long time no see. ”

"Don't call me that," the crisp voice of a girl came from the dark blue light, and the woman in the light blue dress walked out of the light slowly, the woman's face didn't look as immature as her voice, at least she was already twenty, although her figure was not plump, but it was also quite mature, but the look on her face was as childish as her voice, "Didn't I say it many times, Brother Hyena." ”

"Huh. The hyena's laughter was always hard to hear, but it seemed that the women he called "sir" had long been used to it, "That old thing has failed in his mission, and there is no way to continue to dominate the title of 'sir'." How many people in the whole family are qualified to compete with you for this name now?"

The woman took the hyena's arm, the hyena was not tall, a little lower than her, but her movements were extraordinarily natural, as if they were both used to it: "There are many more! Even 'black', when I was last evaluated, my score in illusion was not much worse than mine." ”

The hyena chuckled briskly: "'Black' is dead, have you forgotten?"

Comparing the unchanged expression of "......" and the hyena, it can be seen that although the woman's expression has not changed much, she is still more or less touched, and then she shook her head and shook the hyena's arm vigorously, "Brother hyena, I want you to call me like before." ”

The hyena breathed a sigh of helplessness, pressed the woman's head with the other hand, and rubbed it vigorously: "Little rabbit, are you happy?"

The woman called Little Rabbit showed a happy expression, snuggled up to the hyena's arm, and said coquettishly: "Well, no matter what my code name is changed, to Brother Hyena, I will always be a 'spirit rabbit', just like Brother Hyena will always be Brother Hyena!"

"......" The hyena was a little silent with a subtle expression, and the Spirit Rabbit didn't seem to notice his abnormality, as he quickly continued to smile and said, "Okay." To me, you will always be a bunny. But, remember, you promised me to be 'sir.' ”

Lingtu puffed out his mouth: "But there are still several people in my generation whose illusion ability is similar to me, I'm a little worried." Besides, Brother Hyena is so good at fine control, and his code name is still 'Hyena', which is the most wrong thing!

The hyena coughed slightly. As soon as he spoke, even though the spirit rabbit was only halfway through speaking, he immediately stopped talking: "Okay, there are other reasons for my business, and you don't have to worry." The most important thing is your business, little rabbit. Don't worry, I've got you covered. That's what I called you this time. If all goes well, in a few days, you'll be undoubtedly 'sir'. ”

Lingtu showed an undisguised look of surprise: "Brother hyena is so powerful!, what is the solution?"

"The 'black' kid, although he has always been a stunned young man, is really interested in family technology, and he is not worthy of the name of 'black'. He died like that, and the old men of the family were angry. The hyena shrugged his shoulders, "Even if you don't think about this, the people of the family are very interested in being able to defeat or even kill the black in the inner attack." If you can catch him, the family will definitely look at you differently. ”

Lingtu opened his mouth slightly and nodded with a dumbfounded look. The hyena couldn't help but smile and rubbed her head again: "That spirit emblem, Brunei Carlisle - or Brunei Castro, whatever he is called, will be at the mouth of the great river in a few days." I went to him two days ago to confirm - that kid is nothing special, it should just be that he missed. ”

Lingtu finally showed a look of sudden realization: "Then I and Brother Hyena can easily catch him! In this way, I will be 'Mr.', and Brother Hyena can also get the title of 'ghost'!"

“...... Don't you have to worry about me. Afterwards, we just need to report that it was your own hand. The hyena smiled and rubbed the head of the puzzled rabbit again, "Okay, little rabbit, don't think about it." Let's go find a place to sleep first. ”

"Yes, I haven't slept with my hyena brother in a long time!"

The two of them walked out of the door together, and Razel, who had been standing by the door, stepped forward and closed the door, locking it. Then he followed the two.

It was completely dark.