Dusk always comes early in winter, and the afterglow of the setting sun stretches the city's shadows for a long time.

Surdak rode on horseback, leaving a long shadow in the street.

Pedestrians on the street occasionally looked at him, but no one paid much attention to him, and they were accustomed to seeing young knights like him on horseback.

The fence was so high that even if he was on horseback, he couldn't see the view of the courtyard.

The walls of the courtyard are covered with creeper vines, which have dried up in winter and only sprout after spring.

There was still some snow piled up on the street, but it wasn't that cold.

Surdak was a little hungry, and the area was a large aristocratic neighborhood with few restaurants or food stalls, and he lifted a linen bag hanging from his saddle that contained a few dry baked wheat cakes.

I don't know when he felt that this dry wheat cake had to be served with broth before he could swallow it.

Life is constantly changing, and so is the stomach......

In the past, even chestnut rice multigrain porridge could be eaten sweetly, but now even white bread has to be cut off from the outer crust and coated with butter jam before it can be served.

He untied the water bladder that was almost frozen into a lump of ice, drank a sip of cold water, and suddenly felt a lot more sober.

Surdak originally planned to take a walk along the river in the aristocratic quarter to see the manor and castle here, but he didn't expect the aristocratic quarter of Bena City to be so big, and it was almost evening after walking around.

Against the golden sun, Surdak came to the gate of the Marquis of Luther's palace.

……

Before he could get to the porter and announce his name to the guard guarding the gate, a magic caravan sped from the corner of the street, and two black horses spewed out two clouds of white vapor as they ran.

The coachman was almost half-crouched on the horse, holding a soft, long-pole whip with a striking Luthor family crest on the carriage.

Seeing the magic caravan approaching at a rapid pace, Surda pulled the reins of his horse and leaned towards the side of the street.

As the magic caravan passed past Surdak, the driver suddenly grabbed the handbrake, and the four wheels almost completely stopped turning, and the axles rubbed dazzling sparks, and the two horses pulling the magic caravan also let out a long neigh, and almost stood on the spot.

Surdak was also taken aback by the sudden situation.

He looked at the coachman in front of the caravan, who was sitting in the driver's seat, and took off his hat and saluted him.

The door of the carriage was slammed open from the inside, and Beatrice jumped out of the carriage first, holding her puffy dress in both hands, and ran towards Surdak with an excited face.

Surdak didn't expect to see Beatrice at this time, he hurriedly leaned over and hugged Beatrice, who was lifting her skirt, and lifted her to the horse's back with a light lift of one arm, and let her sit in front of the saddle.

There are no words to express Beatrice's feelings.

She wrapped her hands tightly around Surdak's neck, and pressed her lips on his face as hot as rose petals.

"Dark, why are you here? Didn't the letter say that he was still on the northern expedition? ”

Beatrice asked.

"The Northern Crusade is over, this time I happened to pass by the city of Bena......"

Surdak put his arm around Beatrice and looked into the car, where Hathaway held the door with her hands and poked her head out to look at him with a smile.

Pulling the reins to the car door, he leaned over and kissed her smooth forehead.

"Hi dear, how are you doing?" Surdak asked softly in Hathaway's ear.

"You're here, it feels like the sky is blue......"

Hathaway replied with her hands on her chest, a little intoxicated.

Surdak took Beatrice in his arms, and rode along the carriage of the magic caravan, chatting with Hathaway in the carriage, and entered the Marquis of Luther's palace.

Along the way, the servants of the Marquis's Mansion stopped what they were doing and saluted him.

It wasn't until the magic caravan heard on the steps at the foot of the castle that Surdak jumped off his horse with Beatrice Mali in his arms, walked to the carriage first, and helped Hathaway open the door.

Hathaway took Surdak and Beatrice in her arms and walked up the steps of the castle.

At this moment, a row of servants quickly walked out of the castle, and the gate in the center of the castle was pushed open.

To Surdak's surprise, the Marquis of Luthor actually stood on the high platform of the hall with Lady Marianne in his arms.

The Marquis of Luther was in good spirits, staring at Surdak with bright eyes, and seeing him walk to the stage, then he walked down, stood in front of Surdak, stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said happily:

"I didn't expect Chester to bring you back this time, I heard that you did a great job in Dodan Town."

"Lord Marquis, Lady Marianne!"

Surdak knightly saluted.

Lady Marianne smiled softly and nodded slightly to Surdak.

"I'll go to the kitchen and arrange dinner." Lady Marianne said to the group, and then winked at Hathaway and Beatrice.

Hathaway's eyes widened, pretending not to understand what Lady Marianne meant, and she took Surdak's arm and refused to leave.

The Marquis of Luthor could only cough lightly and said to his daughter: "Hathaway, take Surdak, I have something to say to him"

"Can I sit in on it?" Hathaway still refused to leave, and prayed to her father.

Marquis Luthor shook his head slightly.

Lady Marianne herself came over and took Hathaway, who refused to leave, and Beatrice could only obediently follow behind.

……

Marquis Luthor beckoned to Surdak, turned and walked out of the hall on the first floor, and walked through the side door into a cloister.

Surdak hurriedly followed.

Through a long corridor, next to the porch that passed along the way, stood several guards with halberds.

Coming to a council chamber in the castle, where the walls were covered with various maps, and in the center of the hall were five sand tables, Surdak recognized at a glance that the middle sand table was a map of the province of Bena, and he recognized first the city of Bena, and then found the city of Highlanza on the sand table.

A nearby sand table is the occupation zone of the White Forest Plane, and the surrounding unknown areas are covered with black cloth.

Marquis Luthor stood in front of a sand table and said gently, "Since Chester can bring you to Pena City, it means that your strength has allowed you to complete such a dangerous mission. ”

"I just broke through the second turn half a month ago." Surdak said.

The Marquis of Luthor was a little surprised, as if he did not expect Surdak to become a second-turn warrior so quickly, and then he said, "Chester is very well-informed! ”

Surdak said: "Originally, he didn't know, he rushed to Dodan Town to borrow two of my subordinates to participate in the mission with him, I heard that he was going to enter the dry cloth plane to carry out the mission, I wanted to share more strength with more people, and it just happened that my rank was promoted ......"

"That's how it is, but ...... In principle, I am opposed to your participation in this operation. The Marquis of Luthor stood in front of the sand table and said to Surdak very solemnly: "But whether to participate in this mission or not is up to you to decide. ”

"What happened?" Surdak asked curiously.

The Marquis of Luthor circled the somewhat strange sand table, and then said:

"This is the terrain of the Gampoo plane, this operation you will enter the Gampo plane through the portal of the teleportation hall in Bena City, and the magicians who will bring you into the Gampoo plane are from the astrologer union, and they are also the intelligence officers of our main battle faction who have entered McDonnell's side."

He stopped, and then said:

"However, we are not sure for the time being whether the temporary portal that this intelligence officer has set up on the opposite side is really safe, so this mission is very risky."

Without waiting for Surdak to speak, the Marquis of Luthor continued:

"And I think the magician from the Astrologers' Guild is likely to be a double agent, who will not only reveal information from there, but also leak our information to that side."

"Now the House of Representatives is divided into two factions, and the main battle faction wants to take the opportunity to regain this plane, as one of them, I naturally can't object, but this operation can be said to be extremely risky, you have to be fully prepared."

Surdak exclaimed, "How can it still be like this? ”

Marquis Luthor nodded and stood in front of the sand table: "Well, this operation is to enter the dry cloth plane and capture McDonnell back, and I also want to see if there is a chance to repair the destroyed portal." ”