Descending the marble staircase from the hill where the Radiant Cross was located, Edward rode his black thoroughbred horse behind Sir Leonardo and walked along the path stretched out from the stone slabs below in the direction of the Knights of the Sacred Tree's headquarters.

The headquarters of the Knights of the Sacred Tree is located on the easternmost hill of the five hills of the city of Turin - in the beginning, it was only a castle on the east side of the city of Turin, but after the founding monarch of the Kingdom of Turin, His Majesty Levi Marchelus Xià made a stroke of his pen, he incorporated it into the city of Turin, turning the original triangular city of Turin into a diamond shape that was long in the east and narrow in the west.

I don't know if it was due to the deliberate efforts of the city builders, or because of the importance of city defense, the eastern wall of the original Turin City was not completely demolished, but continued to be preserved after a little repair, and the entire capital was also divided into the East City and the West City, a bluestone gate about 20 meters high and an ancient moat, dividing the whole city into two.

As he walked down the hill and through the ancient gates, Turin was left with the impression of great comfort, with a clean road lined with aqueducts and embankments full of flowers and trees, stone pavements with only the leaves and petals of the past midsummer, and two- and three-storey brick buildings lined up one after another: taverns, inns, shops...... In the center of almost every intersection, there is an elaborate sculptural fountain, surrounded by several stone benches for passers-by to rest, as if it were a garden.

The clean, straight avenues, the dancers and bards who walk the streets, the scholars with parchment scrolls and books, the swaggering coachmen driving the four-wheeled carriages, the old tailors smoking pipes sitting outside the ready-to-wear shops, the carols coming from the chapel at the corner of the street...... A kingdom of Turin, completely different from the small town of Fort Hague, was presented to Edward.

And when the group passed through the ancient gate and moat, the place near the gate seemed to retain their original scene, but the deeper they went into the city, the more it looked different. Only the avenue in the middle of the road is still clean and neat, but both sides of the road are almost full of buildings of high and low levels, and there is no rule to speak of, and it is densely packed as if it has been shoehorned in.

The trees that used to stand on both sides of the bank are almost extinct, leaving only the broken stumps, and the few remaining branches have long since been scraped away, and are covered with all kinds of wooden signs—taverns, brothels, casinos, petty traders...... Even the overheads of many roads are forcibly occupied by balconies and corridors erected on the second floor, forming "arches" that look like tunnels for people to pass through.

And the ditch that used to flow with clean water has long been mixed with black mud garbage, and even if you just pass by the roadside, you can smell the terrible stench. The dirty and chaotic streets have no signs to discern the direction at all, and you can only judge where you are by relying on certain buildings.

The already narrow roads were clogged with crowds of people—civilians in humble clothes, hawkers shouting in front of their shops, merchants pushing mule carts or wheelbarrows, pilgrims dressed in different clothes...... Without any scruples, he stepped on the muddy black water under his feet, desperately crowding and trying to move forward.

"You don't seem surprised at all?" Sir Leonardo looked at Edward, who was "browsing" the street beside him, a little inexplicably, "I thought you would be surprised." ”

"To be honest, when I first arrived, it was a little bit, but now it's much better. Edward looked at the buildings around him with interest, and his face was indifferent: "Although the gap is huge, this is the real world, isn't it?"

"When I first arrived, I was taken aback - compared to Xicheng District, this Dongcheng District is like a foul-smelling pigsty, but you are right, this is the real world. Sir Leonardo nodded in agreement: "In the city of Turin, the really rich people and nobles live on those hills, have clean drinking water and air, and do not have to worry about their houses being flooded when they flood. ”

"There are three hills in the Xicheng District, with the Radiant Cross Church, the Royal Palace, and the Port, while the Dongcheng District ...... There is only a huge slum and rat nest, full of sludge and poverty. Sir Leonardo was obviously dissatisfied with the sight, but shook his head with some understanding: "But who let the city of Turin live with 400,000 people, even if you take more money to sell food, you can't feed them." ”

Edward shook his head slightly, although Leonardo was right, he still believed that the city must have its own reasons for becoming the way it is. However, Edward was not interested in this at the moment, and just expressed his feelings a little, like all travelers to foreign lands.

Carrying the banner of the Knights of the Sacred Tree, the group passed through this huge slum made up of poor and immigrants, and finally came to the foot of the Garrison Hill, which although it still does not look luxurious and beautiful, but it is very clean and tidy, and there are even many colonnades, towers and old walls left over from the past, and the newly built brick buildings and churches, showing the charm of an old city with a long history.

According to Leonardo, in addition to the headquarters of the Knights of the Sacred Tree, there is also a garrison camp of 3,000 people stationed in the capital garrison on the hill, and the salaries in these people's pockets and their families support the surrounding area of a relatively stable and prosperous city, plus a part of the caravan entering through the east gate holds a nearby market, making it look relatively clean.

It is also because it is near the barracks, and the security around it is quite good, and it is a good place in Dongcheng District, which is full of slums and shantytowns.

The headquarters of the Knights of the Sacred Tree sits on the edge of the cliff of this guarded hill, with a series of towers reaching into the sky, a dark city wall on top of a mountain peak, six towers of arrows surrounding the cliff, and a huge drawbridge extending from its door, connecting with the stone path at its feet.

Although Edward did guess at first, he really didn't expect that the headquarters of the Knights of the Sacred Tree in the capital was really an incomparably huge fortress, and it was built on a cliff, and the majestic momentum seemed to overlook the entire city, just like the hill on which it stood, guarding the world.

A huge banner of a black tree on a white background fluttered on the tower of the fortress, showing off its momentum without the slightest concealment, as if it was not a castle standing in front of Edward, but a proud knight holding his battle flag high.

"I'm a little lucky to be by your side when you first saw this castle. Sir Leonardo smiled heroically: "Welcome to the Knights of the Sacred Tree!"

After saying that, Sir Leonardo rode side by side with Edward on his horse, and waited until the group was almost in front of the gate of the fortress, only to find that there was another person who was also there and was about to enter, and as if he had already discovered them, he stopped and stood in front of the gate, waiting there like a sword unsheathed.

It wasn't until a few people crossed the suspension bridge across the cliff that they realized who was standing there waiting. Surprised, Sir Leonardo almost immediately rolled over from his horse: "Gayor Valens, you goddamn bastard, why did you come back later than I did - didn't you arrive at the King's Bridge long ago?"

After seeing who it was, Gayle Valens's face twitched visibly, but his expression was still the same as that of a gloomy owl. The black-haired boy standing behind Sir Leonardo carefully looked at the knight of the sacred tree who had a "one-sided relationship", and the other party was wearing a clean dark gray burqa, which was obviously not what he was that night.

But at the moment when his expression twitched, his shoulders were obviously still a little trembling, indicating that the arrow wounds left that day were estimated to have not healed until now, and he just pretended to have no problems.

"There were some minor problems along the way, and it took a few more days - but the gains were huge. Gaiyo carefully blocked Leonardo's right hand that was about to pat himself on the shoulder, and a slight smile barely appeared on his face: "When I came back, I heard that you have been promoted to knight chief, congratulations." ”

"Congratulations on me, at last qualified to be your equal, or is it something else, my beloved Knight Captain Gaylian Valens!" Sir Leonardo asked in a joking retort, dragging Edward behind him as he spoke, "This kid is the one I mentioned to you, Edward Wetwood, Tornier's squire. ”

Almost as soon as he saw Edward, Gaio Valens's gaze immediately became cold, but a smile on his face was more ugly than crying, and he patted Edward on the shoulder very "warmly": "Oh...... I don't need you to introduce me, I already know him, right?"

The black-haired young man also nodded quite kindly, as if the sharp pain in his shoulder had nothing to do with him, and a somewhat frightened smile appeared on his face: "I didn't expect that just on the edge of the King's Bridge, you can still remember me such a small squire, it is really a deep honor for me!"

"Just rest assured. Gaiyo was still smiling, but the smile was getting creepi, "Even if you are burned to ashes, I will recognize you!"