In the territory of the empire, the royal capital was basically in the center. The coast can be seen in two months or so on horseback to the east and north, with a federation of smaller nations to the south and southwest, and the wild highlands infested by orcs to the west.

To be precise, it was not the borders of the Empire, because the Wild Highlands did not belong to any country, and no human dared to settle on the Wild Highlands. Since ancient times, it has been a place of all sorts of dangerous subhumans, werewolves in the jungle, lizardmen on the edge of the lizard swamp, and various ogre tribes scattered throughout the wilderness. It is said that deep to the north, there are also huge and ferocious strange beasts and eagle eagles in the high mountains.

Beyond the Wild Highlands and further west, you will reach several other kingdoms, with which the Empire's caravans have always traded. Although the merchants had to hire a large number of mercenaries, there were also small groups that were all part of the orcs' meal. In the past ten years, the imperial army has begun to carry out a large-scale sweep of the orcs, basically sweeping away all the orcs in the wild highlands, and the trade between the empire and the west has gradually flourished, and even some small towns have been established on the edge of the wild highlands.

Bracada is one such town. In the beginning, it was just a few inns and inns, but as trade grew, the population became more and more concentrated, and gradually developed into a town. It was in this vicinity that Chris's caravan was ransacked, as was the ransom place left by the Big-Eared Monsters.

Asa traveled from the royal capital day and night to Bracada in only twenty days. Half a year ago, he and Xiao Yi landed here after escaping from the Lizard Swamp.

It's a young town that's a little too frivolous and rough, and all the buildings have been built in a hurry in recent years. Most of them started as temporary inns, and then quickly expanded and then expanded again because of good business. Even if it was planned to be built on a larger scale from the beginning, it was not necessary to put any effort into the decoration, and the residents here were very real passers-by and good men who licked blood on the knife edge. As a result, the whole city appears to be very rough and unruly, without the slightest cultural temperament and subtlety. But no one seems to care about that, and the constant flow of people and the noisy streets show the unique vitality of this place.

The city is centered around three industries. One is naturally an inn for people to stay, the second is a mercenary tavern for caravans to recruit bodyguards, and the third is a brothel that mercenaries and merchants love to go and out. It is said that in order to facilitate management, the magistrate ordered all the inns, taverns, and brothels in the city to be operated together. As a result, these three pillar industries were integrated into one, and the towns were full of inns with the same style and rough appearance, and even the inside was full of the same smorgasbord of merchants, prostitutes, and mercenaries, which was the unique and unique folk culture of this new place.

Asa went straight to the town hall, and as soon as he saw the magistrate, he took out the instrument of appointment that the Duke had given him. During the journey of more than ten days, he found that this was the most useful way of speaking, and at first he was tired of explaining to the officials of the inn that he was the envoy of the Duke, and the officials at first only looked at him with suspicion, and only as soon as the documents were revealed, the fellows immediately rushed to help him prepare his horses and bring out wine and food to entertain him.

The magistrate is still the Porugan who helped them. The magistrate of Porugan was only about twenty years old, and being able to become a magistrate at this age showed that he was quite capable. He was a short man with a wooden brain at a glance, with a huge head on top of his five-short body, a bit like a puppet played by children. The face of a large cake was rudely placed with the same large and rude features, and the big black eyes went straight and unscrupulously cast a gaze at everything worthy of attention, and there was not a trace of dull foolishness. The hair was jagged like a bird's nest, as if no amount of combing could suppress it.

Befitting his rude appearance, he jumped up and down with his hands and feet in everything he did, more like a runner in a low-class hotel than an official. I have the exact same style as the city he runs, with no rudeness but a dynamism of efficiency.

Not quite commensurate with his stupid appearance, he still remembered that Asa was the one who had drifted here with the duke's daughter half a year ago. After seeing the Duke's documents and knowing Asa's intentions, he was taken aback and asked, "Is that the Duchess who was injured last time?"

"No, it's her sister. ”

Mistress Porugan groaned, his feet still dangling in the chair that was a little too big for him, his broom-like eyebrows twisted in the middle. "Mr. Special Envoy, I'm afraid we won't be able to help much in this matter. "His voice is a bit of a duck and a goose mixture, obviously hard to hear, but occasionally raised in important places. "It seems like thieves from all over the world are gathering here, and there have been three or four of them this week alone. He looked angry, his stubby hands clattering against the desk. "Because of the fighting in the south, all the troops originally stationed here were transferred two years ago, and the local escort force has begun to recruit a large number of new soldiers, but it is still not enough to maintain local law and order. I have also reported to the imperial court to request that some troops be transferred from the south. I suggest you wait for reinforcements to arrive. ”

"No, I'll just solve this matter myself. "It's best if no one else comes in, and Asa always remembered what Bishop Ronis said to keep a low profile. He had come to inform the magistrate only because he had to take the ransom from the magistrate if necessary.

Master Porugan jumped down from his chair and said to Asa, "You'd better not act rashly, for those big-eared monsters have suddenly become violent. In the past, they just stole and robbed a small amount of money, and some of them did some righteous deeds. But I don't know what's going on lately, it's not just robbery, but if they resist they will use knives, and people are often killed or injured. You don't know your own life, and I can't afford to go wrong again. ”

"You don't have to worry about that, I just want you to be able to tell me about the recent situation," Asa said. ”

"En......" Lord Porugan got up from side to side, the broomstick eyebrows on his forehead furrowed almost up, as if he was thinking hard. After walking for a while, he suddenly ran to the door of the room and looked around, then closed the door and walked over to Asa. He was only as tall as Asa's chest, and when he looked up at Asa, he probably felt a lot of pressure, and pointed to the chair to Asa. "Sit down, Mr. Envoy. ”

Asa sat down on the chair, but he jumped down on the table, a little higher than Asa, and looked down with his big, bulging eyes like a bull and said: "Mr. envoy, to tell you the truth, I feel that I have fallen in love with you as soon as I see you, and you don't hate the other officials sent by the royal capital, but you know at a glance that you are from a commoner and go up by your own personal efforts." So I think you have to be much more open-minded, so I will discuss something quietly with you. I don't dare to talk nonsense about this matter with others, I am the magistrate here, the people's nanny, and I can't speculate and spread rumors. But it's really weird. "Lord Porugan's face was close to Asa, and the large mouth and the pig's nostrils facing the sky were aggressive. "You know, we don't have laws that say whether or not big-eared monsters are citizens of the Empire, so we don't usually be polite to them. Petty theft was all it takes, as soon as they heard the news that they had done something really bad, the army immediately killed their village. So those green-skinned guys are also considered safe, and they generally don't dare to mess around. But now they're suddenly so rampant......"

"You're saying there's someone behind them?"

"No, there is, people. Lord Porugan's eyes widened, as if he was about to fly out of his sockets and knock the man on the other side to the ground. His face was brought closer, and his voice was as low as he could. "In the last two months, strange rumors have begun to circulate that a large city is being built in the depths of the wild highlands, and that it is also a city of beasts, men, and people. I heard that there are werewolves, lizards, and ogres gathered in it, and the big-eared monsters are also planning to join this orc alliance. They have decided not to survive in the corners of human society anymore, so they have no scruples at all, so they are suddenly so bold to make a big profit when they leave. By the way, I've heard that it seems that they have taken all the loot and money into the depths of the wasteland. ”

With that, he finally retracted his head, but suddenly sighed again. "I know it's ridiculous, and I don't even believe it. At first, the news was originally spread in the small road, but now it has become a bit stormy in the city.... Hey, why is your face so ugly?"

Asa coughed and readjusted his facial expression, as if he was nonchalantly saying, "There shouldn't be such a thing.....

"It doesn't matter if there should be or not, but if it does, think about what kind of information it is. I also wrote a report on the rumors here, but they were completely unreflected, and I went to the officials who came to inspect them and told them that they scolded me for having a problem with my head. I don't have enough people here to send someone to investigate the depths of the wasteland, so I can only tell you the news, and you can take Miss Duke back and discuss with Lord Duke to see if you can send an army over......"

Suddenly, there was a sharp knock on the door, and someone outside shouted: "Lord Porugan, it's not good, another caravan has been robbed." ”

Lord Porugan jumped off the table and cursed a foul word used by street hooligans. He opened the door and turned to Asa and said, "I'm sorry, envoy, please take care of yourself, I'll take care of it and come back." Then he ran away with the people outside.

Asa sat there in a daze. The battle of the orcs he had seen half a year ago was very likely to be true. If the big-eared monsters did get all the cargo there, if the book was unfortunate enough to be mixed in....... He began to pray that Chrissy would enjoy the book and carry it with him, and would tuck his underwear into his underwear to protect him when he was kidnapped.

No, it's just a humble book, and no one thinks it's worth much. The big-eared monster would never go out of his way to snatch the book with him during the robbery, maybe the book is still in the hands of the caravan people, just go and redeem Chriss, and find someone to get it. Thinking about it this way, Asa felt a lot more relaxed.

But just thinking about it will never solve the problem. Asa decided to follow the map left by the big-eared monsters and negotiate with them first. Let's see how it goes.