Several days have passed since the turmoil in the Black Stone Palace, and the mercenaries in the city have finally come to their senses, and after they have plundered the city of Fotagen, they also realized that there is no point in staying in this withered city, so they have begun to evacuate the city of Fotagen, and the garrison guarding the city gate does not dare to confront these vicious mercenaries, and let these people leave.

However, the retreat of the mercenaries does not mean that the security of Vortagen City has improved, Rodney and Ackerman have been missing since the turmoil, there are many rumors in the city that they have died in the fire, and some rumors even tell the story that Rodney carried Ackerman on his back and jumped into the fire in order not to die at the hands of lowly mercenaries.

Regardless of the truth, one thing is basically certain, that is, there is currently no one to govern Vortagan City, and there are those officials of Vortagan City who disappeared in the fire of the Black Stone Palace along with Rodney and Ackerman, and their disappearance means that the city's administrative system is completely paralyzed, and the lower-level officials have no way to manage the city, and no one has enough prestige to unite the large and small forces in the city.

For a time, those merchants in the city of Vortagan were all killed, and they finally rushed to the city of Vortagan from other places, hoping to make a fortune in the city, but suddenly encountered such a thing, some small caravans were directly robbed, and the loss of their wealth was ruined. The caravans that had enough force to protect them were not much better, although they kept their goods and funds, but now the environment in Fortagen City was completely impossible to trade, and they did not dare to go home at the moment, for fear that mercenaries turned robbers would attack them on the way.

The neighborhood was also in shambles, and the once prosperous city of Vortagan withered almost overnight, and the city's vitality was gone, and the unique temperament that Arnold had seen when he first arrived here probably could never be restored.

The only thing that is relatively safe is the church of Vortagen, although Father Puran does not have the ability to stop this unrest, but at least he can protect the church and the civilians who have taken refuge in the church.

Arnold had been in the church for three or four days, and by this time, the news of the Coldhill Army's troops had reached the city of Vortagen. Lord Leslie led a vanguard of 5,000 men to Creek Town, ready to march into the Vortagen Territory, and on the other hand, the Count of Lota of the Snowren Territory also gathered the 6,000 men of the headquarters on the orders of the Duke of Louis, and because his territory bordered the Vortagan Territory, Count Rota Gunther had even entered the Vortagan Territory before Titus and set up camp thirty kilometers away from the city of Vortagen.

After that catastrophe, it seemed that the air in Vortagen City was also different from before, and there was a little more dry heat in the cool night breeze, as if the city, which was independent of the hot breath of Blackstone Peak, had finally been dragged into the mundane by the burning will of Lagres.

Taking advantage of the cool night, Arnold walked out of the church and wanted to breathe in the street.

When he reached the door of the church, he couldn't help but turn around and look at the church. To be honest, the church of Vortagan is really not that big, and even the church in his gloomy castle is not necessarily much smaller than this one. Perhaps before, such a small, shabby church would have seemed out of place with the prosperity of Vortagen, but now it is a perfect fit for the city.

"Please don't go too far. Just as Arnold was thinking about something, a voice came from behind the door, "It's so late, and the streets are still a little dangerous, after all, the current garrison is not as functional as it used to be." ”

Arnold followed the sound, because the moonlight was not bright tonight, and he couldn't see who was speaking.

"Do you like to walk on the streets at night and enjoy the faint feeling of loneliness?"

A smiling Father Watt stepped out of the shadows behind the door.

"However, the archangel's teaching to us is to be united, so that we can fight against all alien races without good intentions. Arnold said to Father Watt with a calm face, "I heard that you used a very physically demanding magic to protect the church, are you feeling better now, Priest?"

"With the gift of the Archangel, it is all right. Watt nodded slightly, "Thank you for your concern." ”

"Please rest more. Arnold said politely, turning his head to look at the ruined town, "I want to go there, I've been in the church all these days, and I think now I should go and see the scars of the war." ”

"It's not a good time to do it at night. ”

"Yes, but there are some things that have to be done at night. Arnold turned his face sideways and smiled at Father Watt, "You can understand that, these days, I don't think you are the same as the priests I have known before. How to put it, it seems to be more enlightened and less stereotypical. ”

"I understand you're complimenting me, but I think Puran would be a little sad to hear you. Father Watt smiled again, "Actually, you should thank him the most, Puran is actually a very good man, but his concern for others is often not shown on his face. ”

"And what about you?" Arnold asked, "do you laugh a lot because you're always in a good mood?"

Watt just smiled, but didn't answer.

"It's not early, please come back early, if something happens to you, it will be difficult for me to explain to the Duke." ”

Arnold didn't ask which Duke it was, as long as he knew about it.

"I will. He nodded at Watt and headed for the city.

Vortagan Church is a small separate area wrapped around the Silver District, but it's not too far to get to other districts. Arnold made his way through several looted streets of the Silver District, then entered the laneways and headed towards the Bronze District.

Since the previous murders, no one had dared to go to the Bronze District at night, except for the residents who were already so poor that they had only one life left. And after the mercenary riot, even the residents of the Bronze District were not happy to visit their homes, and now there are some empty ones everywhere. It's a dilapidated house with no door.

Of course, even among the ruins, there will be a rat or two, not to mention that the city of Vortagan has not completely become a dead city now.

Arnold searched for a long time in the Bronze District, and finally found the tavern he was looking for.

Pushing the door in, there were almost no customers inside, and the tavern owner had already fallen asleep on the bar, for him, there was nothing of value in the tavern anyway, and he should think more about when to move out of the city than the rags that were not worth caring about.

However, although the tavern was empty, it was not entirely devoid of customers, and John Fonner was sitting at a table pouring himself a drink, and in front of him was a small keg of rye beer and another empty wine glass.

"Can you drink, Lord Arnold?" Arnold walked over, and he didn't look up, but just asked.

"It's not a good drink, but at least I can have a drink with you. Arnold sat down and took the empty wine glass from the table, "Why don't you pour it for me?"

Fonnar lifted his eyelids and glanced at Arnold. "Can't you lift a keg?"

"Actually, yes. Arnold made a "please" gesture, "Excuse me." ”

Fonner chuckled, then picked up the barrel with one hand and poured Arnold a slow glass of beer, his movements so rough that the drink spilled straight out of the quilt and spilled it on the table.

"I'm sorry, it's a bit rude, but it's at the table. Fang Na chuckled, his face not showing much apology, "The people of Leng Shan don't care about etiquette when they drink, this may make you feel very uncomfortable, right?"

"I'm also from Lengshan. Arnold glanced at Fonnar, then raised his glass and drank it down.

"Haha, good!" Fonner laughed, then drank the wine from his glass as well, and lifted the barrel again. This time, however, he was much warmer, and his hands filled Arnold's glass.

"Eh, if you don't drink like this, it's really hard for me to connect you with the Lengshan people. Funner had obviously drunk a little too much, and not only did his face become very red, but he also talked a lot, "You are so beautiful, like a woman in a brothel...... Oh, sorry, I was rude again. ”

Arnold drank silently, who knew if Funner was really drunk or if he was pretending to be drunk to provoke him.

"Drinking with you here reminds me of when I used to be an attendant to the Duke. Suddenly, Funner's tone suddenly became sad again, his head bowed, and his eyes became a little moist, "At that time, Lord Duke, like you, had not yet become a duke. But apart from that, he was almost the opposite of you, the Duke of that time, and he was so sincere and bold that every time he went to drink, he had to get drunk—unless he was the last man standing in the parlor, for he had to carry the others back. ”

But then he changed. Arnold said silently, "I heard that after he married my mother?"

"yes. Fonner raised his hand and touched the corner of his eye, the light was too dim for Arnold to see what the glittering light was, "Titus and I were among the first to follow the Duke, and the only ones in that group survived. In the past twenty years, there has been a time to go to war almost every year, and after conquering the Holy Helm Collar, it has settled down a little. But does that really mean peace?"

"I've known Valolet for a long time, when he wasn't Earl Frecon. Valolet wasn't very close to the Duke, but he wasn't a bad guy either, at least he wasn't the kind of person who betrayed the Leng Shan Domain. ”

Arnold understood what Funner meant. "Indeed, confiscating the territory and putting the whole family to death is a cruel punishment. ”

"Heh, what is this, you haven't seen anything more cruel!" Fang Na suddenly sneered, with a drunken state, and his voice became louder again, "When we first started fighting the Holy Helm Leader, we met those cities that did not surrender, and we slaughtered the whole city. ”

"And that earned my father the nickname Redbeard?"

"Redbeard, heh, Redbeard......" Fonner lowered his head and muttered the word repeatedly.

"I don't mind drinking with you, but please say something that makes sense to you. Perhaps thinking that such a conversation was really meaningless, Arnold simply picked the topic clearly, "What about your decision?"

Fonner's eyes were red, and his lips twitched several times.

"I ......"

"Smack!"

Suddenly, a wine glass slammed into the table.

"yes, I want to know, and I'd like to know a little bit more. ”

Arnold and Fonner subconsciously followed the sound, and a smiling Father Watt appeared beside them at some point.

Father Watt sat down to himself, and then filled his glass with rye beer.

"Father, do I remember that the doctrine of the Archangels was against drinking?" Arnold asked Father Watt, frowning.

"The archangel is against indulging in material pleasures because of drinking, and against indulging in pleasure and losing quiet reason. Father Watt took a sip of his wine, still smiling, "Now, let's talk about what you just talked about." ”