Chapter XXXIV: The Soldier

Snow

It slowly approached us from the end of the horizon, at first with one or two black grains, like ants, and then gradually the smooth edges of the horizon gradually turned into folded mountains

When I realized that this was the end of the empire, an inexplicable sadness suddenly welled up in my heart

In my sleep, I have imagined countless times that in ancient times the mountains in the east, the Zen people ruled the whole world, and when they reached the snow-capped mountains in the east, they built the last castles and stopped advancing for a long time, this is the end of the world, and the ocean in the far west, people are thinking about the end of the eastern world with fear in their hearts

Am I going to flip over it?

So many heroes have died on the snow-capped mountains, the fortresses have been abandoned, and the villages have been deserted, and it is said that over the snow-capped mountains, there are endless fields and crows flying in the sky

I don't know why I feel this sad feeling, it stands to reason that this is the homeland of Kaja, and the homeland of the Romanovs, where there should be countless stories and legends, countless villages and towns, countless men and women, féivo land, and sturdy cattle and sheep

But I can't help but look back at the land behind me, as if I had left something

I became a little silent, listlessly riding on the iron instep, Christopher gave me a good saddle, I don't have to hunch over the mane when I ride the horse, I just need to straighten my feet to sit up straight on the horse's back, I feel that my body has gradually changed, I feel no longer as weak as before, the muscles in my body are beginning to tense and harden, although I am not very long, but I feel more energetic than before

It is said that it was the result of rough food and proper labor, and I was not very happy with that, and I wanted to learn the art of martial arts, especially after being thrown into a puddle by the knight, but Christopher made me be a little more patient, and he told me to get fit first and then think about fighting

"Young Master Renault is like you, when you are old, you are a vigorous eater, play happily, and when you are healthy, you will learn things faster, now ride the horse first, you are already ahead of other children"

"But last time I was thrown into the water by the knight, like a dog," I complained, "and if I knew how to fight, I could pick him off his horse with a long pole."

"Hey," Christopher said with a smile, "what about that?" You were the one who provoked others, and you don't have the ability to do it, what's wrong with being taught a lesson? I'll get here when you're older," he gestured to his nose, "and I'll teach you swordsmanship."

"Alexei said that he taught me in the past two years," I wiped my nose, which was a little itchy, "and when I grew to your height, I was beaten to death."

"If you don't cause trouble everywhere, who will have nothing to beat you up? Young Master Alexei said that he wants to teach you, why don't you go to him, tell me what I don't accept dwarfs, and I don't dare to teach those who can't even lift their swords."

"Forget it, I'll just try to grow as tall as I can," Iron Foot sneezed, and I leaned down and patted it on the neck

"It's easy to grow taller: drink more milk, eat more meat, run around with nothing to do, at your age, you grow up all of a sudden, don't you have a good relationship with that Tom? I think she has a very good relationship with the milkmaid and the cook, you go and ask him to help you, it's hard not to grow taller."

"Eh, don't mention him," I shook my head, "the last time I picked the fruit for him was not ripe, and as a result, a large group of women had diarrhea, and all his soul eggs were counted on my head, and even Amy said that I bullied Tom and said that he would not play with me, which was really unlucky"

"Haha, Tom does have a woman's fate, you have to learn this damn it, I have to learn it too" He spat out a mouthful of phlegm into the grass on the side of the road, "By the way, what's going on with you in the last few days, look at you sullen"

I squinted at the snowy mountains that were getting closer and closer

"I don't know, Christopher," I said, "I don't know what's wrong, but when I got to the snowy mountain, I was suddenly very scared, not afraid, but a little uncomfortable, as if I couldn't come back after the snowy mountain."

"What are you doing here, is there anything you're worried about here?" he said nonchalantly, but I could see that he was still vaguely worried, "Have you thought of something?" ”

"No," I sighed, "I just think I ran to the other side of the mountain, and my heart feels empty" I turned my head and stared at him, "You know, I feel like I'm going to come back, and there's someone waiting for me to go back"

"What relatives do you have that you should remember?"

"I don't remember, but I can remember a lot of people's faces, in a trance, with blood all over their faces"

"Have you ever been to the battlefield?"

"Battlefield?"

"Where there are many dead people in the place where there are wars," Christopher said with a frown, "I have seen soldiers who have lost their memories after returning from the battlefield, in fact, I envy them, and it is not necessarily a good thing to be able to forget them cleanly."

"I don't know," I thought for a moment, and all I could say was that

Christopher pouted, "Okay, let's not talk about it, just wait for the snowy mountain"

The peaks of the snow-capped mountains reflected the golden light, the sun scattered light and heat in the clear blue sky, the clouds received a very high and empty sky, and the scenery on the side of the road seemed more and more barren, the land was neglected, the people were sparse, and only the old man sat with his back against the earthen wall in front of the village, looking at our team blankly, without any reaction, as if it were a pile of numb stones

On the last afternoon of climbing the snowy mountain, we camped at the foot of a ginkgo forest

The advance team has planned a camp here, and we will rest here for two days, although the weather seems to be very good, but it is said that there will be a rain tomorrow, and then the weather will be sunny for a week or so, and we are going to take advantage of that time to cross the snowy mountain pass, and go to the other side of the mountain

The leaves of the ginkgo biloba trees are all yellow, and a large area of golden sè trees looks clean and beautiful

I tied my iron feet to the side, found a haystack and lay down on the ground to sleep, the afternoon sun was very warm, the yellow fan-shaped leaves fell, fell on my face, I looked at the sky very high and far away, and slowly fell asleep

"Be sure to run, run far"

A man said to me that he was wearing a robe, and he was whimpering with his head down, and I was in a small shack, and I smelled smoke, and the ground was wet, and there was a strong wind hanging outside

"Look, this is the bloody world of ah"

When I wanted to look at the man in the robe, he suddenly changed into a different image Behind him, countless skeletons were shooting arrows with bows stretched, and instead of water droplets, rain of arrows fell from the sky

"Child," the man turned into an old man again, he took my hand and clenched his pen, "your name should be written like that, yes"

"Victoria?" A voice woke me up from my dream

Damn, I almost knew what my name was I opened my eyes and saw Herman

Herman wore a straw hat, his red and yellow face looked like a half-ripe apple, "Victor, Jack is in trouble, you go help him"

"Jack?" I was a little annoyed: Just because of Jack, what are you doing with me?" What's wrong with him? ”

"He heard that you had gotten someone else's fruit, and he wanted to get an orchard that we had just found on the edge of the camp, so he went in, and a group of soldiers came, and he was taken down."

"What's the soldier in the orchard," I didn't believe it, "Herman, you didn't burn it"

"No, really," Herman sweated on his forehead, "Jack forced me to let him out, so I went with Hyde, and a lame old man came out and saw him, so he scolded him twice, and asked him to pick two less, but Jack got angry, so he smashed the old man with a fruit, and the lame old man limped away, I told Jack to hurry up, but Jack said it didn't matter, and after a while, a group of soldiers came, and they grabbed Jack and Hyde, and our horses were also snatched, I saw Jack and Hyde being tied to a tree and beat me, and I ran back, I didn't dare to tell anyone, so I came to you."

I couldn't cry or laugh, "I can't win the fight to be a soldier, what are you coming to me for, you go to Yuri or Alexei this Jack is really, at this time, you can accept it when you see it, melons and fruits are not stealing, he is too blatant, others can't teach him a lesson"

"Victor, please, I don't dare to go to the master, the master must be angry When we were in the fort before, the three of us provoked the patrol people, and we were beaten up outside, and we were beaten again when we went home, and this time if the master knew, I guess I would also be beaten, you didn't see those who were soldiers, and when you untied the belt, you were beaten in the face of the two of them, and the blood flowed."

I listened and felt that something was wrong, and I felt that this matter was a bit serious, "Really, Herman, I can't handle this matter, you go to Lord Alexei, and when they ask, they say that I went to steal fruit with Jack and Hyde, and then you will be fine, find them where you were caught?" ”

"Two miles to the north," Herman pointed to the end of the ginkgo grove with his chubby finger

"You go back first, I'll go and see," I said, untying the rope of my iron foot, and climbed onto the horse

Herman was a little anxious, "Don't go, go back with me, those soldiers are very fierce, I can't understand what they say, they seem to be foreigners"

"Svadians?"

"How do I know, don't go"

"You go back first," I whipped my horse, and ran north, and by the time I turned back, Herman had already hurried to the camp

The ginkgo grove was wider than it looked, and along the way, the iron feet stepped briskly on the dead leaves, and the breeze blew, and the leaves rattled, and the woods were quiet and terrible, and after a while, I saw the traces of man-made man, a wooden bridge, and I rode over, and the woods came to an end here, and the heavens and the earth suddenly opened up, and I saw the orchard that Herman had spoken

The farmhouse is nestled in the orchard, and there are windmills in the distance, and the orchard is surrounded by a fence and a house with smoke rising from it, and wheat ridges stretching across the fields

I sniffed and walked towards the orchard

Stupid Jack, there's a nice tree right next to him, what are you going to do in there, it's really a troublesome guy

A boy who was in the haystack saw me, turned around and ran, I was still worried about being seen, one walked cautiously, at this time I saw that it was seen, there was nothing to worry about, I did not come to cause trouble, I simply found the path at the entrance of the orchard, and swaggered in

There was a barn in the middle of the orchard, and I heard a cry at the barn, and I walked past a walnut tree and a cherry tree, and came to a clearing, and Jack and Hyde were tied to a tree, and with their heads bowed and crying, Hyde saw me coming, and with tears in his eyes, he asked me to help him, and I was also shocked in my heart, these two fools were in big trouble: their faces were bleeding, their bodies were stripped naked, their hands were tied behind the tree, and there was a rope tied to the top of the words, and they were tied to death

My first thought was that it was funny, "What happened to you?" ”

"They steal and their mouths are not clean" A man walked out carrying a sword, this sword was a two-handed sword, he put the sword around his neck, and it looked imposing

At the same time, a couple of soldiers came out behind me, "You're with them?" That's right, don't go too."

No matter how stupid I am, I know I'm besieged

The appearance of these people is indeed different from mine, the eyes are all light gray, the head is also very light, all of them are tall, fully equipped, they don't have helmets, and the armor on their bodies is very strange, I haven't seen it

"I didn't steal anything from you, I heard you arrested them, come and see"

I pulled the reins and spun around, facing a few soldiers behind me, who coaxed me in reaction and opened their hands to block the way, "It's good that you didn't steal, but leave your clothes and horses behind us so we don't beat you or tie up your thing, and you can go back naked" The soldiers laughed

"Leave it to your mother" I raised my whip to open a few soldiers, but the soldiers pulled away like a joke, and then reached over and pulled my leg I hit one of the soldiers in the hand with a whip, but behind me, someone grabbed me by the waist

I felt like I was going to be pulled off my horse, and I was about to jerk my horse's legs and rush out

As a result, a shout came and asked, "What's going on?" Noisy and yelling, those two little ghosts are making trouble again? ”

A man who looked like a leader walked out, with a cloak on his back and his head and beard neatly groomed

"No, Your Excellency" several soldiers bowed their heads, "the accomplices of these two thieves are here, and they have brought a horse over, we are ready hehe"

"Hmph," the man grimaced, "have you ever seen a thief ride a war horse and saddle it with a bast horse?" He turned to look at me, "Who are you?" Are you here to ask for someone? ”

I panicked because I saw the leader wearing a heraldic robe over his chest, embroidered with keys and swords: wisdom and courage

This is someone from the Pilsudski family?

The Pilsudski family had six or seven sub-families, each of which kept the key and the sword, and then put together its own unique insignia, but the man's coat of arms was the whole of the key and the sword, and they were members of the Pilsudski family

The Count said that they were enemies

"Boy? Are you listening to me? ”

No, the enemy is a matter of the future, and now they are just a group of passing nobles Pilsudski, aren't they on the east side of the Gungroup Mountains? Over here, it's the land of the Kingdom of Vekia

"Yes, Your Excellency, are you a guest from the Pilsudski family?"

These people's eyes widened in surprise, and the leader looked at his chest and showed a playful smile, "Heh, I met a kid who knows heraldic Yes, I'm glad to meet someone who knows our great family on this side of the mountain."

It's a precarious family

"My best regards to you"

"Okay," he waved to disperse the soldiers on either side, "who are you?" It's a friend from a noble house, and if so, I'll consider handing over these two thieves to you according to Burke's law, and as punishment, what they stole must be bought for ten times as much, or their fingers will be cut off."

Hyde and Jack burst into tears

"Your Excellency, I'm afraid I want to remind you that now you are standing on the land of Vekia, and the law of Burke is on the other side of the snowy mountain"

"No," he shook his head, "this manor is our property, we are here to rest and we are a mission to meet the king of Vekia, walking on your land is like a royal patrol, you don't know how to call your lordship, the affairs of the nobles should be negotiated between the nobles, you go back"

This group of people from the Pilsudski family has not yet reached the sphere of influence of the Berk Kingdom, so arrogant, although what they said has some truth, but I have become disgusted with them, and now I will think in a negative direction about what they say, at this time they moved out of the aristocratic shelf, I suddenly thought of Kaja, damn, is the nobility so important?

Didn't the Count say that a Wikibian farmer is nobler than their knight when it comes to the Berks?

Then it's not a big deal for me to call myself a nobleman

"Your Excellency," I raised my whip and pointed at him, "I'm Victor. Alekseev. Romanov, son of nobleman, nobleman hereby asks to negotiate with you now, I don't know very well whether my servant has offended you, but I now ask you to release my servants, and return their clothes and horses, and if you make trouble, I swear by the double-headed eagles of the Romanov family and a hundred knights, you will not reach the city of Kudan."

Several soldiers whistled, and the leader on the other side frowned, "Romanov, I haven't heard of it."

At this time, Alexei rumbled over with several knights and some servants on horseback, all wearing coats of arms, and walked majestically behind me

As soon as Alexei saw the miserable appearance of Jack and Hyde, his eyes were cold, and he directly drew his long sword

The soldiers on both sides drew their swords and retreated, leaving me in the center