Chapter 002: Admonition

Characters in this chapter: Count of Arassis, Bachelor of Cordion, and Sheriff Harrick. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

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Count Aracis knew that Harrick rarely expressed his opinions, and always carried out his orders meticulously.

But Harrick has also helped him deal with a lot of complicated things over the years, and he needs to give Harrick a chance to express his inner thoughts.

"Let Harrick go on," Count Arassis began. "Harrick is a sheriff, and his opinion matters. Go ahead, Harrick. ”

Harrick coughed, lowered his head as if considering his words, and after a while raised his head and said, "Lord Earl, Lord Bachelor, more than five hundred years have passed since those stories, and the seventeen kingdoms of the continent have all become the five kingdoms now. ”

"The so-called dark Ones should have come back long ago if they wanted to, and we're still maintaining our unaffordable fleet expenses," Harrick said in a raised voice. "Ah! Speaking of the fleet, King Ragnar and King Yarogark have even sent envoys to question us about our threat to the fleets of both countries! We have sent our fleets every year to patrol the storm-infested seas, and in the fifteen years since I took office, we have destroyed eighteen seagoing ships, and more than three hundred sailors have set out from the port of Chanda and never returned, and it is a staggering expense to build ships and to compensate the sailors, what are we for?"

"Lord Earl," Harrick said bluntly. "Excuse me for being offended, the Five Kingdoms have not even officially recognized the title of Lord Earl, and we have to pay so much to guard them against some enemy from the story of a thousand years ago, isn't it ridiculous?"

Harrick finished speaking in one breath, and seeing that both the Count of Arassis and the Maester of Codien were looking at him intently, there seemed to be a force pushing him to stop hiding it, and he stood up and spoke aloud:

"The people of the 'Continental Horn' are now devoid of a few followers of the Holy King! Here are gathered the best gladiators and freelancers in the entire continent of Calradia, the lords who manipulate the casinos and their handicaps, the craziest gamblers in Calradia, the homeless vagabonds, the exiled lords, the ubiquitous eyeliner, and the criminals who are wanted for all kinds of crimes!"

"Gladiatorism is an activity that Chanda has been advocating since the founding of the city, and I have no objection," Harrick said with some emotion, stepping out of his seat and walking up and down the floor of his study in an attempt to ease it.

"This is also the biggest source of income for Chanda City, but in the past, the winners of gladiatorial battles would pull the losers up from the ground, and they would become good friends or even brothers or mentors, but now more and more losers are being asked by the audience to be slaughtered on the yellow sand of the gladiatorial arena! If I remember correctly, the original purpose of this event was to sharpen the warriors' skills and inspire the people to defend their homeland!

Harrick saw Count Arassis nod, as if his words had provoked his thoughts, and Maester Cordion nodded.

"In addition, speaking of exiled lords and criminals, which pose a great hidden danger to the safety of our towns, the first article of the Chanda statute is that no outsiders are refused except enemies and deserters, and entering the territory of Chanda gives us the right of asylum, and no country or lord is allowed to arrest and extradite. But since I took office, I have taken in more than forty lords, large and small, and even exiled princes, princesses, illegitimate children, and reverts, and perhaps many more that have not been discovered, and how much trouble and pressure these have brought us, the Earl should know better than me. ”

"Also, I have learned from the water thieves I have caught that the wars between the Nord Kingdom and the Kingdom of Vigia have displaced the Yudis and Zurazido people living in the Yuhe area, who used to make a living by fishing, but now they have become the pirates we know well. As the war continues, there are more and more water thieves in our vicinity, and passing caravans are repeatedly looted!"

"We all know that Chanda's income from the Colosseum is more than half of the ticket and handicap commissions, but the second is the customs revenue of the caravans, which account for more than a third of our total income, and they have seriously threatened our trade routes and reputation! ”

"I think it's time for us to cut down on the fleet and instead strengthen the defense of Chanda itself, and stop caring about those bullshit dark forces! The freelancers have captured batch after batch of water thieves, and if we want to clean up their Chanda's prison, it will be at least twenty times larger! I demand that the proportion of security funds be increased, otherwise I will not be able to issue a bounty!"

Harrick sat back down, looked at Maester Cordion as if in anger, and then looked out the window.

"I'm sorry Lord Earl, I shouldn't have said that," Harrick seemed to calm down in an instant as he finished what he wanted to say. "Maybe I'm too ......"

"No," interrupted Count Arassis, and once again poured Harrick himself full of wine. "I am very grateful that you, as my sheriff, have given me a very responsible and pertinent counsel, and you have done a good job. ”

Count Arassis stood up and went to the window, under which was the armoury and stables of Chanda, outside the walls of the armory was the bustling free market, the blacksmith shops near the city walls to the south clanged all day and night, and the gladiatorial arena to the north was obscured by the inhabitants and the buildings of the market, and only the banner of Chanda could be seen flying high around the field, and the cheers in the field were like the sound of the tide on the western coast at night.

The sound of chanting could be faintly heard in the wind, which came from the holy mountain in the north of the city.

The sacred mountain was originally a shrine built on the top of the mountain to commemorate the holy king Leon after the establishment of the city of Chanda, so the originally nameless mountain was called the holy mountain, and when more and more people came to Chanda from all over the mainland.

The churches, altars, churches and prayer halls of all faiths, which were built around the Church of Lyon by people of all faiths, were increasingly called the Temple of the Gods, but Arassis preferred to call it the Holy Mountain.

"You're right," Aracis turned around, holding the windowsill with one hand. "We must put an end to this senseless sacrifice, although casualties in the gladiatorial arena are inevitable, we must prohibit the killing after defeat, and the new regulations will be drafted by you; the security around Chanda City is as you said, we must strengthen governance to ensure the safety of the trade routes, you don't have to worry about the bounty, just do it, if necessary, you can transfer the city guard; in addition, the size of the sea fleet can be reduced, the current maintenance of 50 sea ships can be reduced to ten, the other 40 ships do daily maintenance, reduce the frequency of going to sea, but still cannot be canceled; as for the trouble caused to us by the exiles, we can only accept itI believe that I am not the first person to encounter this problem in a hundred years, and there will always be a way to solve it. ”

"I am very much in favor of your decision," said Maester Cordion, turning to Count Arassis. "But we have to think about the consequences of that, and if the ban on spectatorial killings could reduce the income of the Colosseum, it could affect us a lot, and those who are in exile ...... IMHO, sooner or later we will be drawn into the war. ”

Count Arassis looked out the window. "Having lived in the city since I was born, I know every brick and every tree of the city. I know them, I know my people, they will be tempted by gold, silver and jewelry, they will be mad with blood, they will lose their minds with hatred. But you should know that they are proud to be the people of Zenda! If war does come one day, I will not pin my hopes on the lords and nobles who come here and spend a lot of money to watch the gladiatorial fights, but it is the gladiators, the freelancers, the wanderers, the merchants, the fishermen, all my people who can really stand up and defend the Zenda. The reason why I maintain a large fleet is also to give Chanda's people a way out of life when Chanda is in a situation from which he will never recover. ”

"I'll do it right away," Harrick said, standing up and bowing to Arassis. "Thank you for your trust, and I am equally proud to be a citizen of Zenda!"

Just as Harrick turned to leave, he was stopped by Count Arassis. "Harrick, I'm afraid you've forgotten to ask the Master for advice. ”

Cordion gave Harrick a questioning look, and Harrik remembered what had happened before Maester Cordion arrived.

"Oh, yes," Harrick said again. "The other day, I remembered a man who called himself Alleyne in the list of people who had been arrested for the water thieves, twenty-two years old, about five feet six, with reddish blond hair, and a sturdy appearance. He defeated Karadus, and is said to have been very brave and resourceful in his efforts to exterminate the water thieves. I suspect that he is an exile, so I would like to ask if the priest has ever heard of this name, and if he has anything to do with any princes and nobles?"

"Alleyne?" Cordion thought for a moment, tilting his head slightly, "I haven't heard of it. ”

"That's for the best. Harrick walked to the door of the study, turned around, and bowed to Alassis again. "I'm proud to be in the service of Lord Earl. ”