Gayola Island.

In these two decades, not only France has changed dramatically, but so has the island of Gayola.

The largest world of Italian wizarding was originally a loose alliance similar to Switzerland or the Netherlands, with a council of several large families controlling the economy and politics - now the Mancini family controls the entire island, and the rest of the families can only rely on it. The Duchess of Colonna doesn't have a good reputation on the island, after all, when it comes to integrating the inner world, she and the wizards of the Mancini family are like a pack of greedy hyenas.

It's just that the Mancini family had already served the king at that time, although the wizards were self-satisfied with their talents, but they also needed food, clothing, shelter and transportation, it is no exaggeration to say that before Louis entered the inner world, only the wizards of the big family on the island of Gayola could live satisfactorily, except for them, the wizards could only fall into each other, such as werewolves, vampires and other dark creatures had almost no foothold, and the source family of the monks of the Inquisition was even more like them.

Everyone must admit that the Mancini family was indeed cruel when it came to excluding dissidents, but their king gave new hope to the wizards of Gayora, and the outside world of cotton, wheat and steel was sent to Gayola Island in an endless stream, and the looming crisis on Gayola Island finally showed signs of the past, and the young wizards were elated and rushed to become the "Royal Special Escort Company" Either hired by the king, they did not even return to the island of Gayora, but settled in Calais, and possibly Orleans now, yes, it was cruel for these vibrant young men to be confined to a small island of class solidification.

But this was not a good thing for the old great families of Gayola, whose authority over ordinary wizards was like gold and silver in their pockets, gone forever - you may remember what Louis had seen with your own eyes, the wizard's world bank's almost monopoly exchange system, meager salaries, scarce positions, small hives that guaranteed survival, bloody but single entertainment, nay, to be precise, more like paralysis of oneself.

All this, before Louis quietly launched the strangulation of Gayola Island, was commonplace, and was thought by these big families to continue for hundreds or thousands of years, but it was like a closed dark room, as long as someone opened a gap to let the people inside see the light and breathe fresh air, they would not hesitate to abandon the "gift" of the big family.

The current island of Gayola is much quieter than the one that Louis saw, or it can be said to be dead, because a large number of ordinary wizards have left the island of Gayora, and only the palace of the House of Cologna is still brightly lit, because Mancini's army of wizards is stationed there, guarding the little Duke and Duchess of Colonna.

The great families that had lost their people—they used to own banks, but now they no longer have people to exchange and deposit them— Wizards used to be unable to gain a foothold in the outside world, and even if they were hired by mortals or made money, they had to return to the island of Gayora, but now these wizards have Calais, and the wizards in Calais live with mortals who pretend to know nothing, and exchange heavy gold and silver coins for spacious and clean shelters and abundant food, and they used to have newspapers and bookstores, but now there will be no customers unless the big family is willing to take out their collections, because the hateful king, even if he does not want to be a wizard, buys all the books he can buy, and then takes them to the outside world to be printed, and the price is like a giftThe taverns, restaurants, and even markets they once owned were also very few people...... Although wizards make strange hallucinatory wine, raise strange birds and lambs, or weave magical cloths, these things are not needed on a daily basis, and only occasionally wizards try one or two nostalgically— They finally understood why the wizards of a thousand years ago would resolutely erect the walls of the inner world, strictly excluding mortals, although wizards have talents beyond mortals, but they still have human weaknesses, this king did not even drive the army, only put the interests and prospects in front of them, they were defeated without a fight.

— Or rather, some families are willing to admit defeat, others are not.

Agnelli, Roca, Gagne, Dante, Delon and Bufandi, these six families, they used to be equal to Mancini, even higher than Mancini, after the defeat of Merlin, the church searched for wizards everywhere, it was Agnelli and Roca who found Gayola, Gagnelli and Delon prepared a large number of ships, and Bufandi and Mancini were wizards hired by them - after they moved to Gayola, the first speaker was Agnelli, and Mancini almost failed to enter the council.

Later, it was the Mancini family who unexpectedly regained the cursed or blessed bloodline, and with their special abilities that neither man nor woman could resist, they not only gained a seat in the council, but also recruited many powerful members, and they have developed all the way to today. But if they can really occupy an undoubted position on the island of Gayola, the Mancini family will not need to look for a way out - when the involution is serious, not only ordinary wizards will be affected, but even the upper echelons of wizards will inevitably be in turmoil, and Delon and Gagne have had a fierce conflict with the Mancini family.

When the Mancini family became related to a cardinal, the other families just laughed at it, they were not the Mancini family, they still had side branches in Tuscany and Naples, and they were not without a way out - when the Mancini family daughter became the Duchess of Cologna, they were still laughing at the Mancini family for being fooled by an alien wizard, even if the man was a king, but who of them had never seen a king? The king is also a mortal, and can never be compared to a wizard.

No one could have imagined that there would be a mortal king who indulged in his ambitions beyond the reverence that an ordinary person should have for a wizard and the inner world—that he would regard the island of Gayola as his own, just as Caesar saw a strange land, and did not care what beasts inhabited it, who inhabited it, or what gods he worshipped, and he would conquer it when he saw it.

The Mancini family has degenerated into his sword and hound.

They became prey.

In the deepest of nights, in the gladiatorial arena of wizards, perhaps the only place where the atmosphere can still be kept warm (in the daytime), there is no place in Calais or elsewhere in France where blood and life are amused. But at night, it's not only cold and dark, but it's always hovering with spirits who don't want to leave - although wizards rarely appear in the arena, there are always intelligent magical creatures thrown in, such as werewolves, low-level vampires, unicorns or spirits, and when there are enough people, wizards cast spells every night in the arena to exorcise spirits, but since wizards have been running to work for the king, this job has been reduced to once a week.

It's just that no one knows, and this is also a deliberate effort by someone to dispel wizards who may appear here rashly.

The spirits cried, even the purest unicorns let out a creepy groan, werewolves tugged at their bowels, and hordes of spirits crawled on the ground like toads...... Ordinary wizards will be entangled as soon as they walk here. But at the very bottom of the auditorium, in the corridor where the beasts and werewolves involved in the gladiatorial battle had been pushed out, a torch that had been fighting day and night suddenly jumped, and the flames burst out, illuminating the entire dark stone passage, and when the light disappeared, a wizard with a square face strode out of the flames.

As soon as he stood still, he drew his wand and waved it a few times, and after making sure that there were no other wizards here but him, his face relaxed a little, he put his wand away, took out a bottle, and slowly poured water on the ground—the water swelled from finger-thin to three feet wide, and then shrunk out of her legs, waist, and neck, and a female wizard emerged from the water, she stepped out of the water curtain, looked left and right, and then nodded to the male wizard: "Thank you, Councilor Agnelli. ”

"By all means," said Agnelli, "but call me sir, Madame Gagne, and whether Gayola still has a council is only a laughing stock." ”

It really doesn't look like Agnelli said it. Another voice joined them, and the two wizards immediately clenched their wands, but their shoulders relaxed, "Mr. Delon." "I advise you not to do that – approach people without warning, especially at this moment." ”

"I'm not afraid of Mancini. DeLong said that he also came here by water, but he took the passage into the gladiatorial arena - a passage that is said to be known only to Delong, the owner of the gladiatorial arena.

"But we must fear the king. Madame Gagne said.

"He's just a mortal. Delon snorted softly.

"He already knows where Gayola is, and even if he can't see or hear, he can still keep his fleet on the seas and cut off all our trade, and you don't think we can satisfy the appetites of the people of Gayola by working as soulless. Agnelli said.

"How many people are there on Gayola now, a third, a fifth or a tenth?" asked Madame Gagne.

They fell into a brief silence, and after a few minutes, Agnelli looked at the sky, then at the ground, and then at his magic pocket watch, which was magically allowed to never go wrong, but no one came: "It seems that it is only us." He said.

"The head of Rocca is only fifteen years old, Dante is no longer an heir, and Bufandi seems to have willingly become Mancini's tool. ”

"We wouldn't mind if it was just for Mancini, but Mancini is also just a puppet of mortals. Agnelli said majestically, "Our ancestors gave up everything in the mundane world and entered the inner world, not wanting to be manipulated by those who were below themselves, and the Mancini family broke our promise. ”

"They can only see benefits," DeLong said jokingly, "and maybe love." ”

"Mancini has the Duke of Colonna, and the king has said that this duke will have more than Gayola in the future. ”

"Yes, how big is the outside world compared to Gayola," said Madame Gagne, sighing, "but we only have Gayola." ”

"Are you ready, then," Agnelli looked away from Madame Gagne to Delon "and we're going to face the king's wrath." ”

"As long as he withdraws from Gayola, there will be nothing to lose. Madame Gagne said, "Neither the Duke nor the Duke of Cologna is on the island, and my friend, who is sure that the Duke of Cologna is very badly wounded, and it will take at least three months to move freely, and the person who hurt him is his mother, the Duchess of Cologna, who has gone mad, and the king will not let her out, and the Mancinians are now leaderless." ”

"That's good news, but you're still reluctant to tell us who that friend of yours is?" asked DeLong, tentatively.

"I can only say that he is an enemy of Mancini," said Madame Gagne, "and we have made a soul oath, and I cannot tell you who he is, but I can only promise that he must be an enemy of the Mancini family." ”

"Is he a wizard?" Delon asked.

"I can't say. Madame Gagne said. ，

"Don't ask," said Agnelli, who must have been very tightly bound and heavy, given that Madame Gagne could only see him as "he," "can you trust him?"

"It is true that the Duchess and the Junior Duchess of Cologna are not in Gayola. Madame Gagne said.

Agnelli was silent, and it was impossible for him to back down any longer, "Then, Delon. ”

"I'm ......" Delon turned and raised his wand, and the torches on the corridor lit up one after another, and in the depths of the darkness, one after another, a commotion accompanied by a strong blood, irritated whimper, and angry roar reached the ears of Madame Gagne and Monsieur Agnelli, and behind the corridor was a row of huge iron cages containing Sphinx, werewolves, manticores, Chimera, and nightmares...... You can see all the ferocious beasts and magical creatures in the world, they all wear collars around their necks, and the runes on the collars light up every time Delon waves his wand, and each flicker takes away a part of his sanity - cages like this exist in the seven corridors of the gladiatorial arena.

"What a loss. "Why wouldn't that mortal want to be a wizard," said DeLong, "I have heard from Murpha that his talent is not inferior to that of anyone in the Mancini family, and that the Mancini family was willing to accept such a foreign wizard as Marie's husband." ”

"Murpha is with you?" asked Madame Gagne in amazement, "is he still alive?"

"Alive, but he certainly prefers to die. "By the way, I asked him such a question, do you know what he said?" he told me that the mortal did not disdain to be a wizard," and he laughed, "How is that possible?" and he said as if to himself, "how can anyone not want to be a wizard?"

His eyes gleamed in the light of the torches: "Magic ......," he whispered, and then retreated into the darkness, Agnelli threw a flame and disappeared with Madame Gagne, the iron cage opened, and the beasts and magical creatures inside rushed out, galloping, jumping, and flying, driven by the magic of Delon, their master, towards the palace of the Mancini family!