Deman Goebel rubbed his hands together and looked at the fluttering pennants. The strong east wind carried the piercing strength peculiar to the mountains of East Virginia, and it made his face ache. Deman looked into the distance, and hundreds of ships, large and small, were quietly moored in the docks of the port of Gzeysk. It is surrounded by low, gray houses that characterize the dockside, and the walls are plastered white with lime. Despite the winter months, there are still sporadic transactions between merchants and fishermen on the wharf.

Deman wore cotton clothes in his armor to soften the chill of the cold steel. Unlike the deserted winter of previous years, it was crowded with Hawk warships of the Order and requisitioned merchant ships. Most of the soldiers on the stone brick road were sword-wielding crossbows, wearing smocks decorated with the black sword coat of arms on a white background of the Knights. The soldiers who walked by all bowed their heads in greeting Deman. As the heir to the declining papal nobility, de Man took refuge in the Order. Here is no question of origin, just practical work. In fact, from the extremely cold and savage island of Raglan to the warm city-state of Polyis in the south, there are all kinds of characters joining the Order. The second son of a noble family, a bankrupt merchant, a prisoner seeking repentance, a desperate peasant, a burgher eager to get rich...... They all served for the Order, but the Order's top officers were all descendants of Nord knights or Nord immigrants.

A fisherman-like, dirty man moving a barrel full of cod. Dirty water drips from the barrel, and in less than ten minutes the water freezes. Cod caught in the North Sea was an important export commodity for the port of Gzesk under the Order. The Holy See's scriptures stipulate that only cod can be eaten during the feast, and that cod can be preserved for a long time without being tasty, compared to venison and even swan meat, which was common to the nobles, which was out of reach for the common people. Deman walked past the fisherman with a slight disgust. When the fisherman saw that Deman was dressed, he hurriedly bowed his head.

There was a clamor of fists coming from the water ghost bar by the dock. The pale yellow light indicates that even in the cold and snow, people's enthusiasm for having fun is still undiminished. Several big men walked out of the bar door drunk. It was a veteran from La Gaulan. Strong, tall, rusty armor covered with animal skins, and carrying heavy two-handed swords or battle axes. The Raglan were the best foot soldiers of the Order and the most common perpetrators of tavern disturbances.

Deman avoided the drunken Raglan and made his way to the clubhouse in the center of the city. The merchants' guild has been requisitioned as a temporary headquarters, and despite the constant protests of the merchants, they have obeyed when they see the sword. Afternoon in the North. It was already dark. Huge candles are lit inside the office for lighting.

"Good afternoon, Deputy Head de Man. Or should I say, good evening. "As soon as you enter the door. Ser Martin, Deman's assistant, greeted him jokingly. Martin was a newcomer to the Nords, unfamiliar with the day and night of the Northland.

"Has the Grand Master arrived?"

"It's here. ”

The hall of the guild is very simple, with a few blankets hanging around it to protect it from the wind. On the long oak table in the middle was already covered with a large, yellowed map. The gray-bearded, gray-haired, scarred Grand Master Heidelmann sat on his elbows. Looking at the map pensively. This is a map of the city defense of Frost City. On the harbor on the map, there are already many models of knight warships.

"You're early. Grand Master looked up at Deman.

"The sooner you go, the more prepared you are. ”

Deman began to arrange maps for the meeting, and although most of the officers and soldiers of the Order were illiterate, the basic maps were still readable.

After a while, the main officers of the Order arrived one after another, and everyone sat down noisily. Around the long table were Father Sean, the overseer in charge of finances. The regimental commander of the Raglan mercenary brigade, Kramard, the deputy commander of the Moritsky. and the captains of the Nords of various other squadrons. Lawrence, another deputy leader, was now in Frost City to negotiate with the nobles of the West.

Clamard's fiery red beard was dipped in beer. Seeing Grand Master Heidelmann's gaze staring at him, Clamard hurriedly wiped it with his dirty sleeve.

The Grand Master stood up, slammed the table with his large, iron-gloved hand, and said, "Now the battle meeting begins. ”

Deman received a signal from the Grand Master to place the models of the flags of the Knights' squadrons in various places on the map. In order to prevent leaks, Grand Master only informed Deman of the final battle plan. Deputy Commander Moritsky stared at Deman with indignation, his eyes full of indignation.

"Could it be that only two people know the details of the battle that will affect the fate of the Knights?" said Deputy Head Moriskey.

"The more people there are, the easier it is to be careless about leaks. What's more, some people can't keep a secret after a barrel of wine. Kramard felt the Grand Master say no more about himself, and couldn't help but look at the Grand Master's face. Moriskey stopped talking, and his blue eyes looked at Deman like the tip of a spear.

"Governor, how is the fleet recruiting?" the Grand Master spoke.

"One hundred and twenty Kirk and Hawk warships have been requisitioned, and two hundred and ten merchant ships capable of transporting soldiers. Five more ships were wrecked while being transferred from the east coast. Fr. Sean said.

"Where's the size of your brigade, Clamard?"

Kramard roared in a thick voice of the Raglan, "all in place! a thousand and two hundred men are waiting to sacrifice our axes with the blood of the enemy!"

"Well, from tonight onwards, your brigade will be free from alcohol. ”

Kramard agreed with a painful look on his face.

Next. The officers, including Deman, reported on their ranks. The whole army numbered nearly 9,000 men, all of whom were on standby in camps outside the city. Ordnance, food, horses, etc., had been secretly mobilized months earlier. De Man had always feared that the Holy See would install spies in East Virginia, but unaware that the Holy See had not reacted to the Order's actions for months. At this moment, the Western aristocracy was entangled with the delegation of Deputy Head Lawrence. This was the message that came back from the carrier pigeon a few days ago.

The north wind was blowing, and the humble windows of the clubhouse were blowing.

"Do you understand the offensive lines of the teams?" said the Grand Master.

"Understood. ”

The Grand Master began to explain some of the details, which Deman explained from time to time. The officers are already familiar with Deman's role as an assistant to the Grand Master. But there are still a few who are skeptical that a non-Nord holds such a high position.

Moritsky asked: "We have ladders and catapults, but how can we break through the gates of the inner city? We don't have time to build siege engines." The gates of the inner city were thirty yards high and were heavy wooden gates reinforced with iron bars. ”

"We have procured new siege weapons. Deman interjected.

Moritsky had a look of surprise and dissatisfaction on his face: "Why don't we know. ”

"The siege weapons were bought only recently from the Poriis arms dealers. Now the Nord Kingdom and the Swadia Kingdom in Shannan have been adopted in large quantities. Fr. Sean said.

"Hey, what's the matter, the Raglan man's axe can rip the gates!" said Clamard.

The Grand Master glared at him and said, "The new weapon is outside the city, and there will be a test launch, and you will all come over later." ”

The north wind had subsided a little, but the snowflakes were still falling. The cold did not prevent large groups of Knights from coming to watch the test launch of the new weapon. The soldiers were dressed in cotton clothes under their armor. The Raglan were covered in animal skins and managed to squeeze their way through the crowd. In the distance, the crowd watched the snow-covered meadows. Several high-ranking officials of the Order and the Grand Master himself were there.

It was a cannon cast in bronze with two handle-like lugs on the gun. The gun carriage was made of wood with wheels and could be hauled by horses. Several skilled Boriis artillerymen were using mop-like tools to fill the barrel with wrapped black powder. After that, the round iron cannonball was lifted into the muzzle. The last artilleryman. The gunpowder bag was cut from the ignition hole at the tail end of the gun.

"A cannon, a weapon invented by the Poriis, pushes a projectile with burning gunpowder. Deman explained. The Virgians in the north of the mountain are relatively isolated, so what many countries in the south of the mountain know, it will take a long time for the Virgians to hear about it.

Deman took the torches from the soldiers, motioned for everyone to cover their ears, and lit the gunpowder through the ignition hole.

There was a loud bang, accompanied by a tremendous amount of energy that shook the ground. A hundred and fifty yards away, the abandoned stone wall used as a target was blown to pieces. A pungent smell of gunpowder filled the air. Kramard stammered, staring at the artillery with wide eyes. I want to reach out and touch it.

"Don't touch it, the barrel needs to be cooled!" said Deman.

Kramard immediately withdrew his hand.

The Grand Master looked satisfied, and said to Deman, "This weapon must be delivered to the siege troops." ”

At the same time, chaos reigned within Frost City. Three days have passed since the representatives of the Order accused the Bishop of Beritz of accepting bribes from nobles. In St. Canaan's Cathedral, the war of words has long since replaced the daily prayers. After Lawrence's accusations were made that day, the hardliners, represented by the Duke of Wisavalon, almost made the Nords blood spill the church. Thankfully, Pope Constance threatened to excommunicate anyone who used force in the holy church, and the Duke of Savalo put his unsheathed sword back. Lawrence just sneered and led the people away from the scene.

At this moment, the great nobles of the West are gathering at the Duke of Wickwood's palace to discuss their next move.

"If they pursue it to the end, I'm afraid they will die with them. As long as the current pope sits in the seat, the more stable it becomes. Said the Duke of Savalon.

The aristocrats began to discuss.

"I didn't expect them to threaten them with this, didn't they bribe the bishop?" said a baron, indignantly, as if the election were more unfair to the party with fewer bribes.

Duke Wickwood took a sip of red wine and said, "We have another weapon to fight back." ”

"Oh?" said Mayor Ragbu, who had been listening.

"Accuse the Knights of poisoning the killing of the former Pope. ”

"But we don't have proof. "Mayor Ragbu was deflated.

"Do they have proof? They just want to plant the seeds of doubt in people's hearts. Duke Wickwood said.

"That's it, and tomorrow we can argue. ”

Outside the conference hall of the Duke's Palace, Bode stood outside the door and waited for the Duke's orders. Only a few weeks had passed since he officially took up the position of Duke Bodyguard, but Pod felt like a world away. Although Pod usually eats and lodging in the lower rooms, which is not the same as the guards from the aristocracy, it is much better than sleeping in the open air in the past.

On the second floor, across the courtyard, Eleanor was looking up at the starry sky of Vegea. Eleanor recalls when she was a child, in Wick Castle, the gray and cold castle and the starry night sky. At that time, Onogu had not yet inherited the title, and often played with his sister. Now, the relationship between the two is not as close as it was when they were children. She sighed.

She looked at the brown-haired mercenary standing guard downstairs, and she felt that in the Duke's Palace, he was as lonely as she was, except that one was high up and the other was unattended.

Bode sensed someone watching him and looked to the second floor. It was Miss Eleanor, her pale green eyes staring at her. He felt a little sympathetic to her, for neither knights nor maids were afraid of the duke, and did not dare to approach or laugh with her. Bode bowed lightly and smiled softly at Miss Eleanor. He saw Eleanor's face flush slightly in the moonlight, and she turned away. (To be continued......)