Central Italy, Florence.

As the sun set, the dusty knights jumped off their horses, slapped the mud off their bodies, and stopped on the hillside outside the city.

From Sicily, Erwin, the chief knight of the Barony of Tebelly, gazes at the long-awaited port city of the once-prosperous pearl of the sea, where he had been with Connor five years earlier.

The Grand Duke of Medici, the controller of Florence, had recently convened a council of lords, and he, as the representative of Baron Tebelli, had come to attend the meeting.

In fact, the Grand Duke of Florence was not the leader of Baron Tebelli, and Baron Tebelli only had to obey the orders of Count Campbell of Syracuse, and even the King of Sicily could not pass Count Campbell and issue orders directly to him.

The king's return to the king, and the lord's to the lord, that's the truth.

But after sending Leon to the Witches' Forest, how could Baron Tebelli, who had no worries, be willing to continue to stay in the territory and endure the hard years?

Whether it's responding to a great lord, joining a crusade formed by him, or taking on any other battlefield, it was a quick way for medieval lords to accumulate wealth and fame.

After all, how can there be a robbery in farming that comes quickly?

Of course, war often comes with great risks, but neither Erwin nor Connor Tateberry cares about that.

When a party like the Duke of Medici convenes a council of lords, it is usually about to fight.

Nominally, the model of jihad is usually adopted, with many lords swearing together to send troops to form legions, and Erwin needs to send a message back about the details of this meeting, and then Baron Tebelli will personally lead the soldiers to set off.

"Of course, it is also possible that the Duke of Medici is just going crazy with old age, and wants the lords and lords of all parties to come to Florence to experience the style of the plague capital. ”

"In that case, let's wait for His Majesty the King to launch a holy war against the Moors. ”

He led his horse across the Pont Vecchio, with its reliefs of the Five Roman Sages, and the boats that used to come and go on the Arno River are now only a piece of sail.

It may be the most Roman Empire city-state in Italy, but the sheer volume of people meant that the Black Death hurt it far more than anywhere else.

In fact, the more developed the port cities, including Messina in Sicily, the more affected by the Black Death became.

So much so that at one time some people called this plague the Florentine plague.

All the way unimpeded.

With the seal letter and the title of knight, Erwin managed to enter the inner city, which was clearly separated from the slums.

The relatively delicate armor means that he is extraordinary, and the mottled knife and axe marks on the armor mean that he is not an embroidered pillow, and no one will easily trouble him.

Lo and behold, a decent outfit can solve a lot of potential troubles, such as a down-and-out knight like Bob, who can't even get through the door.

Of course, in this era where every time you go far can mean the separation of yin and yang, Erwin still encountered a lot of dangers along the way.

There were so many people in this era that deserters who could not bear the weight of the lord and civilians who fled the town to escape the epidemic were the main members of the bandits.

Italy and Sicily are considered to be relatively safe, and there are often lords who send troops to suppress bandits, and Central and Northern Europe is now really in chaos.

Fortunately, Erwin was the champion of the Sicilian Kingdom competition, and even if he accidentally ran into a gang of thieves, he still managed to escape with his skillful martial arts skills.

"It's still comfortable in a big city. ”

Erwin sighed.

The sound of the war horse stepping on the stone road is crisp and pleasant, and there is no need to worry about the sewage splashing out of the cracks in the stone slab from time to time.

The rows of small buildings appeared in front of Erwin, a place he was familiar with.

He had agreed with Baron Tebelli to buy a property here, and he loved the white façade and the little garden inside.

Unfortunately, they still don't have the money to this day, and it is said that one property here is enough to hire a team of Balkan light horsemen to serve you to the death.

And now the streets and alleys here are full of corpses, as well as the bird's beak doctor who carries the corpses, which makes the Erwin knight feel a kind of disillusionment, and the current Florence may not be as livable as the country town.

His footsteps came to a halt abruptly, and he saw a man with a blue face lying on the ground, his well-dressed clothes soaked in mud, his topper hat grasped weakly in his hands.

A thin little girl shook him and called softly to "Father".

No one answered, but they kept calling until they despaired.

He couldn't help but sigh.

It's not that he laments the impermanence of life and death, after the arrival of the Black Death, he has long been accustomed to seeing life and death.

Instead, he lamented that even this well-dressed, it could be seen at a glance that a rich merchant and a noble person were equal to lowly serfs in the face of the epidemic.

The horse led around the maiden and her dead father.

He watched as a group of soldiers in red jackets rushed into a small building like robbers, and the sound of smashing and angry quarrels followed.

"Are you catching criminals?"

The Knight of Erwin was a little puzzled, so he led his horse and watched the excitement.

Soon, a group of men and women, still well-dressed, were driven out, they were guarded by two soldiers, and the rest rushed into the next house.

A young girl who looked like a noble lady cried in a low voice, "What the hell are they going to do?"

Beside her, the gray-bearded man said in despair, "They say we spread the disease." ”

The girl retorted in horror: "It's a plague spread by witches, how can it be us?"

A tall, muscular man laughed self-deprecatingly: "They say we Jews did it, they used to say that it was witches who spread the plague, and we didn't stand up and speak, but now they say that we spread the plague, and no one will stand up and speak for us." ”

The girl's eyes widened and she tried to justify: "The Son Jesus is also a Jew, is it true that being a Jew is a sin?"

The man sneered: "But they say that the Jews betrayed Jesus and crucified Him, that our sins are innate, and that they have the right to do whatever they want with us." ”

"This is ridiculous!"

Ridiculous indeed.

But as many people know, this is just an excuse.

More and more people were arrested, and they were ordered to line up, facing the white wall.

They shuddered at their fate, followed by the sound of sharp weapons piercing flesh.

The white walls quickly turned blood-red.

This is a slaughter in the truest sense of the word!

Knight Elwin looked at all this with a heavy expression.

From now on, he probably will never miss the residential area of Florence again, and he will never look forward to the little white walls here.

The crowd of onlookers trembled at the bloody scene, but there were still some who laughed loudly as if they had drunk sweet honey.

"God willing!"

"Good thing I'm not Jewish. ”

Someone looked at this scene with joy and drew a cross on his chest.

"The Jews are not merciful to the rich, they have come to our land, they have plundered our estates, they have sold our land, we have become slaves, and yet they have been able to live a life of great prosperity and live in mansions, and it is a great pleasure to be in this field. ”

Someone whispered a mockery.

A noble young master said angrily: "Shut up, bastard!"

By his side, he was guarded by two knights in bright armor.

Just now, they were holding the noble young master's arm tightly to prevent him from rushing out and clashing with the soldiers.

At this time, seeing that everything was useless, the noble young master loudly defended to the onlookers with tears on his face: "It is undeniable that there are many profiteers in the Jews, but you must admit that Mr. Liadsan and his family are all people of high moral character!"

He roared, "They don't deserve this!"

An ugly man covered in mud and in charge of carrying the corpse said contemptuously: "Your Excellency, you should not rebuke a little man like me who is as lowly as a bedbug, you should stand before the Duke of Medici, who issued this order, and denounce his immorality." ”

"Look at what I am now, noble lord. ”

Another corpse bearer grinned, revealing a mouth full of rotten teeth: "I also had a happy family, but it was the Jews who used despicable means to bankrupt us. ”

Someone whispered: "During the famine a few days ago, they raised the price of grain and hoarded it, causing my sister to starve to death at home. ”

The noble young master argued weakly: "In any case, it is despicable and immoral to anger an entire race because of the sins of a few. ”

"Yes, sir, you're right, but we're just some low-level people, and it's none of our business. ”

There is still only numbness on their numb faces, these people at the bottom who have been crushed by the weight of life, they will not care about the lives of irrelevant people at all.

Because even for themselves, it has become very difficult to survive.

The Knight of Erwin stared at this scene and said to himself, "This is the Duke's order, and is it also related to the fact that he summoned the Italian and Sicilian lords to assemble this time?"

"Is it to deal with the Jews?"

"But they're just a bunch of wretched creatures who have lost their homes. ”

His brain was completely incomparable to that of Baron Tebery, to whom he was allegiated, and he was only suitable for fighting on the battlefield, completely unaware of the Duke's intentions.

If Baron Tebelli had been here, the black-bellied man would have marveled at the Duke's ingenuity.

Due to religious factors, the Jews were driven from the land and migrated westward, and as outsiders, they had no land and could only devote themselves to commerce.

And because they are very cohesive and have always lacked a sense of identity with the region they belong to, they tend to engage in some commercially unethical behavior.

In the Hereafter, this may be unsanctioned, but in this era, the lords will raise their butcher's knives.

After all, Jews are both rich and a minority, and they do not provoke a sense of rebellion.

It is much more profitable to steal money from them than to take money out of the pockets of the peasants, and it is likely that the money will be used as a commission for the lords who hired them to attend the meeting.

As for cruelty?

Careerists never cared about that.

Knight Elwin shook his head, trying to get the uncomfortable image out of his mind, and moved on.

He does not think about whether what he witnesses is sinful or not, because when he lives in this age, he has become accustomed to sins that are abhorred by modern man.

And this is precisely what Leon is disgusted with.

Because we are in the abyss, we do not yearn for beauty, we turn a blind eye to evil, and do not think evil.

He is unwilling to save such a world.

......

Outside Dante's Cottage.

Leon stood under the dead tree and waited.

He stared with some boredom at the translucent crystal bottle with its striking beauty, watching it reflect its enchanting colors in the setting sun.

In this era, there were glassware, but they were relatively rare, and the Witches' Forest naturally did not have such a thing.

So, is this really a bottle carved out of crystal?

Leon calculated that the bottle alone should be worth a lot of money.

Suddenly, the light and shadow changed in front of him, and Ms. Angelina, who was wearing a long palace dress and a noble lady, appeared in front of him.

Seeing Li Ang, she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, and walked forward quickly to check him carefully: "How is it, you're not hurt, are you?"

"Of course. ”

In fact, he was seriously injured, but under the werewolf transformation, the skin wound healed very quickly, and after drinking the healing potion given to him by Dante, it seemed as if he was not injured.

The power of demons is still very effective for self-healing, of course, when applied to ordinary people, it is a corrosive effect like concentrated sulfuric acid.

Angelina asked, "Have you waited here for a long time, and you can come out next time I knock on the door." ”

Leon replied with a smile: "In order to let you see me at the first sight of your arrival, so as to calm your heart, so I am waiting for you here, not next time." ”

"That's good. ”

Angelina's eyes narrowed, and her smile grew gentle.

Sure enough, the son always speaks more than the daughter.

Li Ang raised the potion in his hand: "Mr. Dante asked me to bring this potion back to take it, he thinks that my strength is still too slow." ”

Lady Angelina said with some distress: "But this is a high-grade potion, although the dragon's blood potion is a large branch, no matter what kind of dragon's blood potion it is, it is not something you can take." ”

Leon asked tentatively, "Then I'll give it back to Mr. Dante." ”

"How can that work?"

Lady Angelina crossed her waist, as LaGaia said, she was actually a stingy woman, and this bottle of dragon blood potion was a treasure!

"I'll think of a way to do it again, my potions master Angelina will definitely be able to concoct a dragon blood potion that the apprentice level can take!"

Angelina retrieved the potion, navigated the Rainbow Bridge, and disappeared with Leon.