After entering the city of Loraine, the carriage traveled slightly more smoothly than at the gate. But this did not mean that the crowded streets were not idle in the slightest, but that the drivers avoided the avenues with ease, and the paths they chose were mostly crowded with pedestrians, making it slightly easier to make room and moving at a slightly faster pace than they might have been on foot.

Just watching through the narrow car window, what you see and hear in the city of Lolan has greatly refreshed Brunei's impression of the whole country. The building is not tall, nor does it seem to have anything to do with any adjectives such as clean, new, or solemn, and the people who live here are not all well-dressed, but they can give the impression of great prosperity just because of the boiling enthusiasm and vigor of the people.

After another two hours, the sun was already setting in the west, and in the noise that was boiling more than before, Brunei struggled to make out the crisp sound of the coachman banging on the carriage, and came out to see a crimson sky, and at the same time, Brunei was surrounded by water vapor, and almost in an instant, Brunei was already soaked.

The coachman's head was also covered with shiny droplets, and he grinned at Bruneith and shouted at the top of his voice: "Mr. Castro, there is Port Lorraine ahead." I'm sorry that the car can't get here!"

Brunei's eyes looked down a patch of crimson, and saw the coachman pulling the reins and turning around, and in front of the horses, who seemed to be a little frightened, it was completely pitch black, and there was no trace of the "Port of Loland" in the coachman's mouth. He couldn't help rubbing his eyes, and then he saw that the black pressure was actually a figure that was crowded together and completely connected.

Tall, short, fat, thin, young, old, rich and poor, as if all kinds of people are crowded in front, as if each occupies its own place, but the distinction is not clear, perhaps because everyone is struggling to squeeze forward, and there is not even a gap to be seen. Brunei couldn't help but gasp, the scene he had seen in the city before was really ordinary compared to this moment.

When the coachman saw Brunei's appearance, he showed a smug look again, he seemed to like to boast about something, even if it didn't have much to do with him in fact, just as he had boasted about Brunei to the man who was driving the car, and now he was boasting about Brunei: "Why, it's magnificent, Mr. Castro!"

However, Brunei did not reject the coachman's attitude, and nodded with a smile: "It's amazing." ”

The coachman got the feedback and became more and more proud: "Actually, the Luolan Palace is also quite worth seeing, although it is impossible for people to enter, it is quite spectacular to look around in a circle." But if you want to talk about the opening day of the port, you still have to come directly to the port, and you can see it when you come back to Miyagi, but if you miss it here, you won't be able to see it next time. That's why I hurried over. ”

[Hey, hey. You didn't ask him to get to the docks as soon as possible, but now it's like he made the decision. If you want me to say little Bruneisi, you are too cowardly, so you are still so miserable, this kind of goods dare to kick your nose in the face. This system will provide you with a task for the first time in a long time: make this stinky and shameless boy look good!]

The tone of the system did not change to the mechanical cold feeling of the test, and it was still the usual tone of flam and flam, which was not a real "task" - not to mention, even if it was, Brunei would not complete it.

As I said before, Brunei does not reject this attitude of the coachman.

"Thank you so much. Just send me here, you've worked hard along the way. Brunei opened his bag, took out two pieces of iron with a pentagram pattern from the small box inside, and handed them to the coachman, "Because of the wear and tear, the two add up to about 190 standard units—or maybe 180." You have a way to deal with it, right?"

"When—of course, Loraine has a place where he can be exchanged for money. The coachman froze in a daze, and after answering stiffly, he suddenly shook his head, revealing a look of panic that he hadn't shown for a long time, and his speech was a little stumbling, "This-so much, really-really, can, can? That, we said okay at first, only, only-"

Brunei nodded with a smile, shoved it into the driver's hand, and withdrew his hand: "It's only 110 standard units, I remember." I don't have separate bulk here, and your magic emblem doesn't have that much capacity. Haha, don't be so nervous, I'm kidding, didn't you say it before? I'll give you an extra part, which is a reward for sending me here in advance. ”

"Yes, yes. The coachman shuddered suddenly, looked at the iron piece in his hand and hesitated for a moment, and after carefully loading it, he said to Brunei in a grateful tone, "Mr. Castro, I have never mentioned it before, but you are really a good man. It's the same thing about giving money now, and it's the same thing about teaching me spells before...... My whole family will be saved because of your generosity. I can't help you with my abilities, but I know that a good person like you will definitely be rewarded. ”

[Hehe, what are you talking about, this shameless maggot. If you really are so grateful, shouldn't you say, "What can I do?" and say, "I can't help much" as soon as I come up, and play this kind of trick, beep some eggs and deceive people with lies that I don't have. The more I look at him, the more upset I get with little Brunei, so kill him. 】

"It's not that exaggerated, you don't have to be so excited. Brunei smiled and waved his hand at the coachman, packed his luggage and simply put it into a backpack, and pointed to the crowd, "Is there the port of Loraine?

The coachman nodded: "Yes, there is Port Loland in front of it." However, the opening ceremony is just about to begin, so people are crowded here, and by the time they can take the boat, they will probably have already dispersed. But the opening ceremony is really spectacular, I've seen it several times, forget it this time, it's your first time here, and if you miss it, you'll really suffer a big loss. ”

"Since you say so, I'll go to the front and take a look. Then I will leave it here, and hopefully we will meet again in the future. Brunei half-bowed solemnly, and then laughed to himself.

The coachman also jumped out of the car and bowed to Brunei very solemnly: "I hope to see you again, Mr. Castro." ”

The coachman sat back in his seat, shook the reins, and the two horses neighed, and somehow deftly dragged the carriage around, heading in the other direction, and Brunei watched him walk into the distance, mingling with the bustling figures, and then turned around and squeezed in in the direction of the crowd.

[I said, Little Bruneith, why are you ignoring me again? I thought our relationship had passed the stage of being arrogant and not talking, and a new chapter had been opened. Let's chat~】

"......" Brunei's thin figure and extraordinary height played a great role at this time, although he could not withstand the push of the crowd, he could see the direction of the crowd at a glance from a high place, and squeezed through the fleeting gap nimbly, and at the same time, he responded in his heart: "That is also based on the fact that you don't say those boring words." ”

This system is very serious about thinking about you, alas, as the chosen protagonist, you have to be as cold as winter in the face of unpleasant characters, as ruthless as the autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, only then can you be welcomed and increase popularity, and only then can you reduce the risk of your story ending suddenly as much as possible. Instead of being soft-faced to a passer-by character who is far worse than you, you don't understand that you have no future like this!]

The nimble figure of "......" Brunei quickly passed through the crowd, occasionally triggering a few dissatisfied shouts, but those people could not keep up with Brunei's footsteps, so they were blocked by the crowd that was huddled together again, unable to move forward half a step.

[Okay, okay, I see, that's boring, isn't it? Let's talk about something else - well, guess what the so-called "opening ceremony" looks like?

Brunei was suddenly squeezed and fell to the side, but only pressed on the other person, listening to one person's apology and apologizing to the person who was pressed at the same time, their footsteps did not stop: "I can't guess." But it seems that the driver is right, if it wasn't a very special scene, there wouldn't be anyone who flocked here to watch it. ”

[Ah...... What a boring response. It's really disappointing, it's so disappointing!Little Bruneisi, this system is going to be angry!]

The system began to repeat the stupid things he had said countless times, and Brunei ignored them as always. Rao is Brunei has the advantage, and it took him more than five minutes to barely squeeze to the front position, with the advantage of height, to be able to look over the dense crowd and see the whole picture of the long-heard river.

Red, white.

He said that he had seen the whole picture of the great river, but in fact, there were only two strong colors left on Brunei, which hit his eyes and brain, and the crowded human head that had previously occupied all the field of vision seemed to have completely disappeared from sight, and everything except these two colors seemed to be non-existent, and even the two colors themselves, the things they represented, he could not recognize.

[Huhu, yes, this. 】

It took a while for the sound of the system to make Brunei recover from the shock of his distraction, and when he looked closely, he saw two things that seemed to be completely opposites, fire and ice, as if they were perfectly blended together.

Before, he thought that the sky was dyed red by the setting sun, but when he thought about it, it was spring now, and the time was not so late, and the blazing red of the clouds in the sky was completely dyed red by the flames on the ground.

Below the flames, there was a snow-white surface of ice, reflecting the light of the fire above, leading into the distance, and I don't know if it was because it was obscured by the flames, and there was no end in sight. The white water vapor that evaporated spread out in all directions, and at the same time surged upwards, rapidly spreading in the air until it disappeared, until it condensed into dense clouds, which were also white masses, and also reflected the color of fire, like snowy fields stained with blood, compared with the picture created by the "hyena" that night, it did not have the slightest weirdness, but showed endless solemnity.

It was only at this time that Brunei suddenly realized that he was obviously facing such a flame, crowded in the crowd, but because he was always shrouded in a fresh breeze, he was extremely comfortable, and even the sultry heat he felt when he just got out of the car disappeared without a trace.

Brunei couldn't help but exclaim: "...... This is the opening ceremony ......"

"What's the matter. "It's just a prologue—no, no, it's just a prelude, and the real ritual is much more powerful than that." ”

Brunei lowered his head to look at the person who spoke, the man was wearing a shiny hat, he couldn't see his face, the corners of his clothes were a little torn, he didn't look very clean, he rolled up his sleeves and trouser legs, revealing his thick arms and legs, his bare feet, his hands and feet seemed to be full of calluses, full of mud: "Really? I don't doubt what you mean, it's just that in my opinion, it's shocking enough." ”

The man raised his head, and a face befitting his stubby body was revealed under the hat, with small gray-green round eyes and a somewhat sparse eyebrow, nostrils slightly upward, a grinning mouth, but a very square face, the skin was tight on solid muscles, there were no wrinkles, but he didn't look young, he wasn't loyal, but he didn't look treacherous. He laughed heartily twice: "Haha, little brother, you're not a local, right?"

People here seem to like to like to ask the question "Are you a local?" Brunei's thought flashed through him, and he echoed and laughed twice: "Well, I'm not a local. I came here because I was looking for a boat to sit on, but I didn't expect it to coincide with the 'opening day'. ”

"Whew, you're in luck, little brother!" the man's tone was exaggerated, as if Brunei hadn't picked up a large sum of money on the ground or a stone that would make him strong instead of just in time for the opening of the port, and then he pursed his lips as if trying to make the smile look subtle, "My name is Ropol." ”

"Brunei. Brunei smiled back and nodded. He considered for a moment, whether it is an empire or a federation, a surname is a symbol of status, and the countries in between are affected by it, and naturally it will not be an exception. He would be a little embarrassed if he received the same reaction as the coachman outside the city, and therefore there was no need to give his last name here.

"Brother Brunei, you're young, isn't you?" the man—Ropol spoke further, and from the time he took the initiative to answer just now, he was probably a talkative and self-acquainted man, "though he wears a mask, but he can tell it by looking at his eyes alone—let me guess, twenty?"

Brunei was not in a bad mood during this time, and the night he met the "hyena" did have a lot of bad effects on him, but after adjusting his mentality before, he recovered all of a sudden, but even the depression of being forced out of the city for a longer time was left behind. Moreover, no matter who he has met so far, he is not qualified to compete with the system in terms of chatter.

"No, sixteen-seventeen. It's almost seventeen. Brunei smiled and corrected the other.

[Ah, I almost forgot. You're still so young. 】

Ropol showed a very exaggerated look of surprise: "Sixteen years old? Sixteen years old came here alone, traveling?"

Brunei scratched his head: "Haha, I kind of want to visit now, but not this time." Sixteen is already an adult, whether it's in the empire or in the Federation's algorithm, it's not so surprising. ”

"You're from the Empire?"

"......!" Ropol's cold question startled Bruneith suddenly, and his guard, which had been a little lax, tightened again: "Can you tell who it is just by looking?"

As if frightened by Brunei's reaction, Ropol hurriedly waved his hand: "How can that." It's just that we are closer to the Federation here, and our customs are closer to the Federation. This is the case for most neutral places, so it's rare to hear the term 'empire or federation', and it's relatively new to hear it, so you can't help but guess. ”

“......”

[Psychological test: 1<5<60, great success.] 】

[His panic does not seem to be fake, and his words are in line with what you know, and there is no doubt that what he said is true.] It's just that, from his overly nervous and stammering attitude, you smell the smell of a stranger who shouldn't belong to just a casual conversation, and you can't help but wonder if he approached you for another purpose. 】

[Oops, it's a big success again - it's really boring.] 】

"Whew-" Brunei let out a long breath, and when the last trace of breath was exhaled, his spirit was also raised to the highest, and he quickly made a simple analysis in his heart: "He is telling the truth." Then he doesn't know that I'm from the Empire - it has nothing to do with the Empire's pursuers, and it's unlikely that it has anything to do with Fernando or hyenas...... So much of the time it didn't come to me for the system......"

Although it didn't really matter for what purpose, Brunei somehow seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and said, "Yes." You're amazing, I did grow up in the Empire. ”

"Hmm. Ropol's eyes rolled twice, "I'm sorry, you don't want to talk about this, it's because I don't have good eyes, I'm very sorry, let's say something else." Although fourteen years old is considered an adult by the standard of the Federation, you are definitely a young talent when you go out at your age! Can you ask what boat you are going to take this time and where are you going?"

"......" Brunei pondered and speculated on the other party's purpose, weighed the pros and cons, and finally decided to answer truthfully here: "I haven't decided what ship to take yet, the goal is to go to the country of a thousand islands, and I heard that many ships will be overturned." ”

Ropol was overjoyed at once, and the joy on his face was as exaggerated as his other expressions, but this time he did not feel the slightest hint of falsehood: "It's a coincidence! It's not a coincidence!"

Brunei was stunned for a moment: "What is too coincidental?"

"The Rama is a boat designed for the convenience of a lone tourist like my little brother. Ropol rubbed his hands together and introduced with great interest, "Of course, it's not even a tourist. In short, the Rama is the only ship that will travel between the port of Loland and the port of the Thousand Islands! Eight round trips a year, the first of which departs on the second day of the opening day!"

Brunei was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but smile dumbly: "That's really too coincidental." ”

"Yes, yes!" Ropol looked very excited, his voice was very loud, and the people around him seemed to glance at him because of this, but soon his head turned away again, leaving Ropol to shout, "Introduce yourself again, despicable, Ropol is one of the two owners of the Rama - that is, the word 'Luo' in 'Rama'!" Haha, meeting today is fate, we have a good chat, you also happen to be the one who is going to Qiandao Port from here, to be honest, from the first voyage of the Rama to the present, there has never been a guest who can go with us completely, that is even more fate!"

"......" the corners of Brunei's mouth twitched twice, "Psychology." ”

[Psychological Assessment: 28<60, Success.] His excitement and enthusiasm are reminiscent of the federal merchants you have ever seen soliciting customers, and in this case, apart from the unnecessary embellishments that inevitably add to soliciting guests, you think there is nothing false in what he says. 】

“...... I'm just trying to attract customers. Brunei pursed his lips and grumbled inwardly, "Then you still take the trouble to say that he has another purpose, which startles me." ”

[Hey, hey, hey, hey...... Well, just your words, I have to refute, isn't there another purpose to attract guests? 】

Brunei couldn't help but snort coldly. Perhaps seeing that Brunei's attitude was still hesitating, Ropol hurriedly struck while the iron was hot: "Ah, yes! What he said was that he fell in love with Brunei's little brother like this, but it didn't mean anything at all! Fifty percent off! As long as half of the money! Anyway, we were going to Qiandao Port, so it doesn't matter if we earn a little less! Our crew members attach great importance to fate! Since you are so destined to be our ship, it is enough for the little brother to pay half of the ferry fare for others!"

"Ah......" Brunei thought for a while, "Actually, I'm more concerned about whether I can pass as soon as possible." Actually, my trip to the Thousand Islands has something to do with work, and the sooner I get there, the better-"

"Early! Absolutely early!" Ropol didn't wait for Brunei to finish speaking, and quickly interrupted him, "Little brother, you can go and inquire, the Rama is in Luolan Harbor - all of them are well-known ships on this route! Of course, there is no way to leave today, and there will be a few stops on the way, but you don't have to get off the ship halfway to find someone else, so you don't know how much time." We fell in love, and you talked to the little brother about your conscience, and if you want to go somewhere else, I really can't guarantee that it will be the first ship to go there in a year. From the port of Lorain to the port of the Thousand Islands, hey, you really can't find a boat that can get there even a second earlier!"

[Psychological Assessment: 52<60, Success.] The eagerness and pride in his words were palpable, what he said was not necessarily true, but it was not entirely a lie, at least his eagerness to make you his ship showed no hint of concealment or falsification. 】

"Hmph, start saying ambiguous things again, what a useless guy. While expressing dissatisfaction with the system in his heart, Brunei also pondered, "It is not certain whether the Rama is really a good ship. But it is really convenient to find a new ship without having to disembark halfway. Finding the most reliable and fastest way to get past will only add a lot of trouble – and probably cause unnecessary delays. ”

With a plan in mind, Brunei nodded: "Then, Mr. Ropol, I'll trouble you." ”

"Alas, don't dare to be, don't dare to be!" Ropol hurriedly waved his hand, "It's not troublesome, we fell in love, I'm happy, so I introduced you to the ship." Dig out your heart and speak your conscience, no matter how you say it, I am also a dignified ship owner, and I don't have to do this kind of work myself, right?

[Psychological Assessment: 8<60, Success.] You can easily see that both his expression and tone clearly indicate that most of his boasting in this passage is not entirely true. 】

【...... I said, "Little Bruneisi, are you suddenly addicted to it, or do you say it?" Why do you use it endlessly? Do you have to take a psychological test for such a boring thing? Why don't you usually use it so diligently?]

Hearing the system's unhappy tone, Brunei felt a lot more comfortable in his heart, laughed out loud, and said to Ropol: "Yes, I also think that you are very close to Mr. Ropol." ”

"yes, yes—ah, here it is!" Ropol said, suddenly raising his head and shouting.

He was not the only one who was shouting, the original bustling crowd was already lively and noisy enough, but at this moment it was boiling all at once, and everyone shouted at the same time, although it was not neat, it seemed to make the whole earth shake, covering all the flames in front of the crowd from left to right, and spreading to the sky, as if they were swaying and swaying because of this shout.

"What's coming?" said Brunei in a low voice to Ropol—in a low voice, but in fact it was only at a normal volume, but in this environment, it might feel less like a whisper than a whisper.

"Alas, Brother Bruneisi, I know you don't understand, but you still have to be careful when you speak. Ropol rarely showed a serious expression, "His Majesty the King is here!"

Hearing this, Brunei looked to the side following the gaze of the crowd, only to find that the originally crowded crowd in that direction had vacated a wide passage at some point, and a group of well-dressed and glamorous guards at the south gate of the academy city were carrying a tall shelf with a towering chair on it, and above the seat, a rather plump looking person was sitting upright, as if waving his hand to this side.

The crowd erupted in a cheer far greater than before, and Ropol was one of them, and seemed to be among the most excited.

Brunei couldn't see the man's face clearly, just as he couldn't see what the chair was. It had little to do with distance or sight, but the whole seat, including the person, was wrapped in infinite light, even if it was still daytime, even if the light of the flame seemed to have obscured everything before, and now it seemed to be nothing compared to him.

[Hey, this dead fat man is really popular, when can you pretend to be such a decent force, I will be satisfied. 】

After a while, Ropol finally calmed down and coughed at Brunei: "Sorry to make you laugh." To be honest, we have the opening ceremony every year, no matter how wonderful it is, the locals of Roland will not be too eye-catching. To gather so many people, at least like me, just to catch a glimpse of His Majesty's face. ”

"Hmm, oh. It was not difficult for Brunei to understand, if His Majesty the Emperor would personally come to Garth City, Brunei believed that the pomp and circumstance there would be far better than this, and at the same time, he saw that the people in the front row had pulled out something black and threw it into the endless flames, "Mr. Ropol, what are they throwing." ”

"Oh, it's throwing rice dumplings. It is our custom here to throw zongzi on the opening day of the port – a type of food that is steamed by wrapping food in special reed leaves that have been stored in advance. Ropol wasn't tall enough to see what's going on in front of him, but he seemed to know what was going on," there are many theories about this custom, but only one I've heard. The dumplings were thrown to feed the river god so that he would not attack the corpses in the river and the boats that would be on the river. It means begging for good luck. There are also many people who have come here for this. ”

[Hehe, they still keep this tradition.] 】

"What?"

[It's nothing, by the way, little Bruneisi, you ask him, does he like to eat sweet or salty zongzi?]

"......" Brunei was a little puzzled, but he was a little curious about the meaning of the system's words, and the system naturally wouldn't answer, so he relayed to Ropol: "Mr. Ropol, if you eat zongzi, do you like sweet or salty?"

Ropol suddenly showed an extremely serious expression again, even more serious than when he corrected Brunei's topic about the king before: "Of course it's sweet, what about you?"

[Damn, this damn heretic! Brunei Si, slaughter this sweet rebel and do the right thing for heaven!]

"......," Brunei swallowed, "I haven't eaten it, I don't know—uh, but if I want to eat it, I'd rather want to eat sweet." ”

[Damn, I didn't expect you, a thick-eyed and big-eyed person, to defect to the Xian Party! Why did I choose you to be such a traitor in the first place! I hate! I hate it so much! Why was I blind in the first place!]

Ignoring the nonsense of the system, Ropol's expression soothed again, and he nodded and smiled at Brunei: "Okay, they should almost finish it, let's squeeze forward and throw the zongzi." ”

As he spoke, Ropol handed a strange thing to Brunei's hand, and when he looked closely, he found that it was not black, but dark green and yellow, which looked good, but did not seem to look like food. Brunei blinked, didn't dwell too much, looked up, and sure enough, as Ropol said, the people in front walked a lot after throwing the zongzi, and they followed the flow of people, and after a while, they finally reached the bank of the river, facing the flames in the sky.

Brunei was still watching the flames, and Ropol had already thrown the zongzi away, his hands "snapped" together, and he closed his eyes as if he was silently chanting something twice. Brunei did the same, and after the two of them were done, Ropol grinned at him: "His Majesty the King is here, which means that the opening ceremony of the port is about to officially begin." Although I really want to talk about the details of the business, this ceremony is really worth watching, and if you disturb the ceremony, I am afraid that the little brother will hate me in the future, haha. I'll go first, and when the ceremony is over, I'll come to you and talk more about the boat. ”

After speaking, without waiting for Brunei to respond, Ropol turned around and greeted the flow of people, perhaps because of his height, he was completely submerged and disappeared. Brunei was speechless, and before he could say anything, he heard a voice from the direction of His Majesty the King in the high place, not rich, but solemn and powerful, dragging a long note: "Start ———— ————"

With this shout that pierced through the crowd, the flames in front of them suddenly separated, and they gathered together, as if they had formed tangible things—living things, creatures formed by flames, each of which was taller than a house, and they did not seem to be colossal on the river surface that could not be seen left and right, and could not be seen on the opposite bank, but they did not seem to be colossal, and countless flames were scattered and flying one by one, seemingly chaotic, but as if they followed a certain law, and had a unique beauty.

Even the system is rarely admired.

[Whew!That's quite a big deal!]

However, Brunei was in no mood to pay attention to the system at the moment. The flame-forming creatures danced together on the ice with steaming water vapor, flickering electric lights fought in the clouds, and the breeze still covered Brunei's body, so that he was engrossed in the feast before him, as if there was nothing else to pay attention to, and he threw himself into the festive atmosphere.