Rhodoc.

Verdant mountains.

Our ships replenished food and fresh water at the port of Kamic, selling twelve boxes of cargo from Vekia, including amber, otter skins, and Vekia soft hats. Two of these chests were purchased for me by Cesar, and the pound of gold that came from the sale belonged to me. I walked around the port and found that most of the goods sold here were foreign goods from Vecchia or Salander, and that most of the local specialties were grain, fish, and timber, which I could not invest in, so I gave this small sum of money to the pioneers, who gave me a certificate of deposit, which I could withdraw while I was in Parabun. When I came to Paraven, I learned that if I had stayed in Garmicchido for a few days and went into the mountains, I would have been able to buy their beeswax, and that this pound of gold would have become two pounds in Swadia.

One pioneer told me that if I didn't know how to grow my wealth, I could invest in a few businessmen and ask them to help me expand my wealth. But at the moment I don't dare to invest what money I have, it's too risky, and I have a lot of soldiers to feed. The arrival of the Valans caught the attention of the soldiers of the port of Garmic, who said that mercenaries were not allowed to stay here and that we should go out of the city. Count Robert's attendants told them that it was a Svadian Emperor's guard, not mercenaries. When the Rhodok soldiers heard this, they said that they had 'respected' the emperor, and they were going to expel us immediately. A brawl broke out between the Varan soldiers and the Rhodok soldiers, and six of us were wounded, while there were many more on the opposite side. In order to avoid trouble, we hurriedly left the port of Gamichi and rode the wind to Djerkhala.

When on board. I kept asking about the nobles of Swadia. Copernicus told me one by one, and at the same time he would talk carefully about the family history and relationship between the nobles.

I'm most interested. Naturally, he is the enemy of my family.

Emperor Haraus was based in Paravon since he seized the throne. Haraus no longer likes to leave the capital. Probably out of suspicion, he held weekly banquets, sometimes in the palace, sometimes in the suburbs, sometimes even on a boat, and any nobleman he invited but did not come, would be firmly remembered by the emperor. The emperor seems to have used the banquet as a good means of keeping an eye on the nobles. The emperor would not leave the capital, even if he went to the outskirts to hunt, he would never leave the capital more than a day's journey.

General Wright spent half of his time in the provinces. Sometimes General Wright would go to the Dehrim front. Sometimes it's Uxhall. His cavalry is a nightmare for the enemy, and once Emperor Frederick's generals go on the offensive, then they had better end the battle before Wright's cavalry appears, as Wright's cavalry will crush any enemy within an hour of appearing. Now, General Wright has inherited the title of Duke of Beihai from General Tiha through his wife, and he has the land of Beihai from afar, although his actual fief accounts for less than one-tenth of the de jure fief. General Wright was the nobleman in the empire who advocated the most attack on the North Sea countries. Once Nord and Vekia are cleared out of the North Sea, Wright will no longer have just a strong cavalry, he will have the entire North Sea. Of course, the North Sea dukedoms of the Svadia era were not seriously developed. It was not as rich as it is now, and the population was not as dense as it is now, and one day the North Sea was really recovered. Wright's dukedom was bound to be torn apart.

The petty nobles who had taken part in the hunt for my family's relatives were scattered all over Svadia.

The officer who killed my mother. It is now decommissioned. Relying on his friendship among the aristocracy, he now works as a tax collector for the royal family in the Suno region. Copernicus said that one of his scholarly friends had written to him to complain. It is said that this tax collector only needs to provide the royal family with 400 pounds of gold a year, but he often collects taxes of more than 1,000 pounds of gold, so that the farmers of Lower Suno have to swallow dandelions as food.

"Wright?" I was a little surprised, "Didn't Wright have a part in chasing my parents?" ”。

"Pursue your family, it was Haraus's order. Wright was just ordered to carry it out. Just because he was involved with the cavalry captain didn't mean he would support the current tax collectors. The tax collectors squeezed out the wealth of the provinces, causing the soldiers to shrink and commerce to wither. Wright, a rather incorruptible aristocrat, was extremely disgusted with such moths. ”

"Didn't the nobles who killed my family huddle together?".

"There is a difference between nobles." Copernicus seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if he was worried about my reaction, before he said, "Wright is one of the more just of the nobles. ”

"Just enough to draw a sword against his former friends and patrons," I asked Copernicus, "when he knew my father was innocent?" ”

"That's right, Timmy." Copernicus muttered, "He killed your father." ”

Copernicus gave me a list that the pioneers had helped him get.

The force that pursued my father was now divided into two groups, one in Parabun and one on the front line of Dehrim. Of the four officers involved in the murder of my parents, one of the remaining three, one who had retired as a tax collector, had died in a battle under the city of Dehrim, and two, one as sheriff in the town of Sunolurens and one in Paraven, still leading his old unit.

Harlaus, Wright, three officers, a soldier in the barracks.

I was in the cabin, studying the backgrounds of these people.

Ania and her female companion had been in the cabin because of seasickness, and every afternoon Aniya would step out of the hatch for a while and take me by the arm to visit Count Robert. The count, who was now pale, cursed the sea all day long, until one of the settlers' sailors had threatened him with the capsize of the ship, and began to curse the Valans again, saying that if it weren't for us, he wouldn't have had to go all the way to Vecchia to suffer.

"Why did you walk over the land?" I asked knowingly, I wanted to hear what he thought of Frederick.

"It seems that you Vekian nobles are just as inexperienced as those GIs." He uncorked a bottle of mint water and sprinkled a few drops on a silk handkerchief. Covering his nose with a handkerchief, he took a few sharp breaths, "Ivangorod from the land." The fastest way is to cross all of Svadia. But the east is occupied by rebels, how can I go to you with a token from Your Majesty? Another way is to take a boat to the North Sea. Change the Nord ship to the Knight's Fort and from there head south. But the Knight's Castle has recently had its third outbreak of plague, and the city is full of dead people, and the docks are all locked down, and I don't want to bury myself there. So, I can only take a clipper boat to get you this great boyar by going around the Gulf of Creel and into the East Lake! He said grumblingly.

His words told me three things, first. He hadn't had the plague, second, there was no waterway connecting Knightsburg to East Lake, and third, Innocent was about to rise. Perhaps I should lend Innocent some money to help him attack Fort North Shore in exchange for commercial privileges there. If it is possible to open a route from Vikia to Parabun, even if it is only a few ships, before the competitors squeeze me out. You should be able to earn a lot of gold. I even thought to myself, maybe Innocent will join the Zenda Alliance?

A few days later, we arrived at the port of Djerkhara with a dense raindrop of bells.

This is the custom of the port of Djerkhala. Whenever a ship arrives, all the boats here ring the brass bell on their stern to welcome them. In the ringing of bells. A low horn sounded, and then. The sound of all the ship's bells slowly stopped, and a navigator ushered us into the mooring. Two chubby Rhodoks boarded the boat in a small boat. They inspected our holds, looked at our sailors and soldiers, and finally decided to let us go to a warehouse on the dock for six days. I know, it's a check for the plague. After registering the information of the goods and people, we landed on a stone stack away from the crowd and walked into the warehouse. The Valan soldiers were about to go to bed when they were beaten with short sticks by the Valan officers, who divided them into six teams, and then appointed one person from each team as their deputy. The Varan soldiers who had been on the battlefield were more obedient, while the Valans who had chosen from the hunters and farmers were more resistant, and in the face of disobedient soldiers, these officers allowed them to challenge themselves and not be disciplined if they were victorious.

When a Rhodok administrator came up to me with a scroll of paper in one hand and a quill pen in the other, he was surprised to find that the Valans in the warehouse were divided into several piles, and in each pile there were two people fighting.

"What is this for?!" Administrator Rhodoc was shocked.

I reassured him and then gave him a sum of money that was enough for my people to eat for six days. He took the money, and he kept babbling that he would have to pay for the damage he had smashed here, and I promised that he would pay for it.

The Administrator turned back as he fled the warehouse, wondering why we 'brutes from Vikia' were fighting as soon as we got ashore, and it wasn't long before he found a nobleman on the docks.

When the nobleman heard of me and Robert's identity, he became very kind, and said that we might as well go with him to his lodgings, and that he could entertain us.

Robert gladly complied and left with Annia and their entourage, but I declined their offer and said I would stay with the soldiers. The Rhodok nobleman had a regretful expression, but he was obviously more concerned about Robert, and I was happy to do so, and I asked Count Robert to take care of Aniah. After Robert went ashore, his bad temper disappeared immediately, and at this time, in order to please Aniah, he was even more friendly to me, and he promised to accompany Aniya considerately.

Bella, because she was a Rhodoc, cured a noble relative's back disease, and the nobles allowed Béla and Copernicus to move freely around the docks and dock markets. The Kugit were also stained with them and hung out with them in the bustling markets of Djalkara. Copernicus bought a pearl and had a jeweler make a pendant, which the pioneers gave to his wife on their return. As for Bella, Copernicus gave her a complete set of glass jars, which were very expensive, which made Bella very happy, and even Elon, who helped to hold the jars, was full of flattery to Copernicus. For Iu and Cruzedel, Copernicus had Djerkhara's artisans help them make a hookah made of iron and glass, and the Kugit loved it.

The Kugit lying on the ground smoking a hookah attracted the curious Rhodok, and Cruzedel rented a tent. A makeshift 'Salander Shisha House' was opened to entertain the bored Rhodok sailors. He quickly earned back the money Copernicus paid the craftsmen to make hookahs. Several Kujit people discussed renting a tent after going to Parabun in the evening. Open a real 'Salander hookah house', and hire beautiful dancers to dance in it, and compare it to the 'sultan bath'.

I'm curious how these Kugit people know about the enjoyment of these Salanders.

Crusedel said that he had been a mercenary for Salander for three years and had learned many of the comforts of the Salander people. Iyu and Elon say it's all taught by Crucedel. Since falling in love with hookah, the three of them have not added a sheep to their home for five years, nor have they married a wife, and all the money they earned turned into smoke and flew into the sky.

The day after we landed, the Valan soldiers were already terrified and fearful of their officers. Almost everyone had stick wounds on their bodies. Officer Valan took the trouble of making the soldiers jump, throw stone balls, and lift weights every day, and then let them dig the ground and dig knee-high ditches, explaining to them that during the battle, such ditches should leave two parallel passages at intervals, and that the baggage could be placed behind the ditches, and after the camp had been set, they had to continue digging deep ditches. Until the cavalry could not leap over it either.

The cycle of tossing and turning made Administrator Rhodok unbearable, and he explained many times that there was no treasure buried under the warehouse, and that we should stop digging around. But every time he said that, dozens of shirtless Valans would stop what they were doing and stand up straight and look at him coldly. The administrator will smile awkwardly. said that he remembered that he had something, and then ran away in a hurry.

Count Robert and Ania went on a short trip to the hinterland. They took Copernicus and Bella, who were their guides. Said to be in a small town. At harvest time, there is a custom of rafting river lanterns, when the stars in the sky will lose to the river shining in the night, and they are about to go to see such a grand occasion.

Before leaving, Ania quietly gave me a letter, and after they left, I opened the letter and found that it was actually the information of the Earl's family that Aniya had set up.

I had been with the soldiers while they were out playing, many of whom were stronger and better at war than I was, and if I left them to play on my own, I guess they would soon develop a contempt for me, and think that I was nothing more than an 'infant boyar'—a name by which the Valans called pustules who were born nobles.

One day, three Varan soldiers secretly went to the Kugit to smoke hookahs, only to be severely beaten by an officer when they returned.

Crusedel drew his sword in anger and threatened to fight the officer.

The officer was none other than the nimble little Valan, named Eric.

I persuaded Crusedel, "On the battlefield, there's a big man in Varan, and that's a guy who is two heads taller than you and a big one. Eric cut open his belly, his intestines flowed all over the ground, and finally he was stabbed through the neck and died. You'd better not mess with Eric. ”

"He can slaughter a big clumsy guy because he's fast enough." But nothing is faster than my scimitar. ”

"Don't let the Varan soldiers taste your Salander stuff in the future," I said to Crucedel, "they don't have much money. If you dare to duel with your own people, then I don't need you, you go back to Victoria now. ”

Cruzedell snorted and thrust his cutlass into the scabbard, "It's Chief Victoria. He looked up at the diminutive Eric at this time, and at this time Eric was teaching several Valan soldiers who were much taller than him with a wooden stick, and the soldiers were all terrified, afraid that their throwing or jumping would not meet Eric's requirements, and Crusedel stuck out his tongue, "This guy looks like a porcupine, but one day I will pluck all his bristles off." ”

A week later, the pioneers departed, and one of them was bound for Swadia, where the captain promised to relay Count Robert's order to resign the ship to each port. At the same time, it was also the day when the pay was paid, and the Kugit brought in a small table and piled piles of coins on top of it. One by one, the Valan soldiers came to collect their pay, and the officers stood beside me, paying attention to the columns of soldiers standing in front of me. The men on the docks checked on us again, made sure we didn't have the plague with us, and allowed us to leave. However, in order to wait for Baron Robert, who had not yet returned, I extended the lease of the warehouse for a week, and the caretaker took my money with a bitter look on his face, and shook his head as he looked at the potholed ground.

Officer Valan's draw of lots allowed half of the men to go to Djerkhara for hanging out today, and the rest to train normally, and tomorrow to go out for the remaining half.

After settling the rest of the soldiers, I took Eric and Iyu on horseback to Djerkhara University, where Copernicus said my father had studied.

By the time I set out, it was already afternoon, and by the time I drove my horse into Djerkhara University, it was already dark.

One of the residents nervously walked away nervously at our strange accent, and after a while, a group of citizen guards came to inquire about my intentions.

I told them that I was a boyar from Vekia and that I had just come to visit the university.

"Wikibians?" The captain of the guard said, "Are you here to study?" There have been no foreign students here for many years. You northerners only go to war, and you come here to ask for a priest under the pretense of being a priest, and you end up learning things, all for the sake of killing people on the battlefield! Anyway, what exactly do you want to see? He asked curiously.

"Oh, I don't know." I said to him, "If there's anything to see here, please take me around if you can." ”

The man said, "There's nothing to look at, there's only one stone carving, called 'Six Horsemen,' and there's a bit of a beginning." If you treat one of my people to a drink, I'll tell you the story. (To be continued......)