As the winter night approached, a sickly tension reigned in the Harons dynasty. Almost every citizen knows that the dynasty is going through a catastrophe at this moment. Since the Early Summer Resolution of the Ice Sea, the people of Harrens knew that their Emperor William I was unshakable in his determination to wage war on the Ice Sea. Even though many upright politicians were keenly aware of this dangerous decision, out of concern for their own safety and the idea of never having a bad relationship with the three major families, no one in the dynasty dared to come out and remind William I that he had chosen to keep silent and wait to see the reactions of Kurt, Hammer, and Andre. Duke Franz, who had always been known as a loyal servant of the Empire, had just spoken out to persuade Wilhelm I to abandon the war with the Frost Empire in the Ice Sea.

He pointed out that a growing slave revolt was taking place in the Malen region south of the Harrlens dynasty, and that the estates of the southern nobles were destroyed and their property was severely damaged. And Mullen is known as the "granary of the dynasty", and the grain produced there feeds two-thirds of Harrens. Slaves were the greatest productive force and means of production on the estate, and now the slaves who were used as farming tools did not work in the fields, but took up arms against their masters, and fled in large numbers into the mountains and forests, causing a series of panics. If the panic was not quelled soon and the slaves were driven back to the fields to produce food, the Harrens would have experienced a severe famine during the long winters.

It was such a serious and obvious problem, but William I, as emperor, turned a blind eye and still listened to Batan. At Duke Coulter's suggestion, taking control of the Ice Sea was a national priority, and in the early summer the Ice Sea Resolution was issued. Kurt was the supreme commander of the war and was awarded the title of marshal. Soler reorganized his army in the royal capital of Calit, set out with 5,000 black armored artillery teams, 100,000 silver light cavalry, and nearly 200,000 ironclad infantry, and joined the Ice God Fleet built by thousands of craftsmen in the northern border city of Simre Harbor, near the Ice Sea, waiting for William I's war order to start a war with the Frost and Snow Dynasty.

Before setting out, William I once said wildly in the royal capital: "As long as those barbarians in the skin of snow bears dare to take a step closer to the ice sea, our warriors will send them to the bottom of the sea to meet the sea god." "The sea fleet created by the fusion of advanced steam technology and alchemy technology is his greatest confidence, and William I believes in technology more than frost and snow, which is based on arcane arts.

Franz's words did not attract the attention of the emperor in the end, and he was also fined by the emperor for half a year to serve as military expenses for the Battle of the Ice Sea. Batan. Kurt as Franz. Hamer's political enemies, they would be happy to see such an outcome, Emperor William I had no time to take care of Mullen, and the Hammer family, as the largest nobleman in the Mullen region, was bound to suffer great losses due to the slave revolt.

The Hammer family, known as one of the titles of the black iron triangle of the dynasty, is bound to decline after the slave rebellion of Mullen, and the two major families, Kurko and Andrea, will take advantage of the situation and achieve a higher status in the palace.

In order to reverse the trend, Franz had his younger brother Franco give a speech at the Karan Beer Hall in Carit City to show that a potential crisis was unfolding, and to use the panic of the southern aristocracy caused by the Winter and the Mullen Slave Rebellion to exert public pressure on William I to attack the Kurt family, who were highly committed to the Battle of the Ice Sea.

On the day of the Cold Moon Festival, Franco found the best opportunity. On this day, the crushing defeat of the Battle of the Ice Sea returned to the city of Carit, and the slave revolt of Mullen reached its climax, and the local grain production was reduced by nearly half, and the slaves hid in the mountains to fight against the local nobles.

After the Cold Moon Festival, the Harrence dynasty will enter a long period of food shortage, and the cold weather and the food crisis in the south will cause the entire dynasty to panic. Now that the Harrence dynasty has skyrocketed prices, the people are trying to save money. The shops on both sides of the original lively Afrien Avenue are now closed, and the Champ de Mars Square, which is usually crowded with people, also seems deserted, only a thin figure wandering like a ghost in the night.

Before his employer, Baron Henry, dismissed him, Kane told him that if a poor man without the potential of a supernatural and without the money of a knighthood wanted to survive this difficult winter, he would have to try his luck at the beer hall in Kahlan to see if anyone would be willing to hire him and give him a little food to get through this terrible time.

Kane followed Baron Henry's advice, passed through Ave Street, walked through the Champ de Mars, and let the cold wind hit him like ice, and he tightened the thin coat that his father had left him before he died, and it was hard for Kane, a poor man, to imagine how he would survive this long, cold and terrible winter if he couldn't find a job to earn food. How Kane wished he could be a transcendent so that he wouldn't have to rack his brains so hard to figure out how to survive. As long as he becomes a transcendent, he will be the guest of honor of the nobles wherever he goes. However, Kane has not shown any other talents other than his natural ability to perceive.

After he was born, his parents took him to the church and spent a large sum of money to ask the clergy to baptize him, hoping that he would be blessed by God to become a transcendent being in the future. More than ten years have passed, and Kane has still not become a transcendent, and the original gold coin was a waste of money.

In contrast to the dim and cold surroundings, the two large windows of the Karan Beer Hall now exude a beige light, bringing warmth and warmth in the cold dark night.

Kane pushed open the oak door and was greeted by a warm smell of wine mixed with the smell of wheat. The beer hall was bustling, with the clanging of clinking glasses, and drunken men spitting out alcohol and talking.

There were people of all classes, nobles in noble woolen gowns and poor people in shabby clothes sat in harmony in a tavern, where there was no discrimination and invective. Kane was incredible.

"Hey, man, guess what a great presentation Mr. Franco is going to have tonight."

"I can't guess, but I'm sure that Mr. Franco will take us out of this difficult winter and that he'll give us the right instructions."

The two middle-aged men, who were obviously paupers, chatted with admiration about Mr. Franco.

The eyes of the cleanly dressed burly young man were always fixed on the people who were talking, and he took out a notebook from his coat and cut down the words he heard and recorded important information in the notebook. Those who were recorded were still unaware of it.

Kane found a quieter corner and ordered a beer to drink on his own, while his eyes fell on the men who dressed like nobles, hoping to hear from their chats about finding hired men.

"Hey, boy, are you here to hear Mr. Franco speak too?" A middle-aged man with a red beard and a golden wolf badge on his chest in a black bowler hat sat down next to Kane, and the teenager who was drinking alone had an inexplicable attraction that made him want to take the initiative to approach.

"Well, yes, by the way, let's see who needs to hire people here, I want to come here and earn some food." Kane doesn't know who Franco is, he's just here to try his luck and hope for a job to earn food. He had heard the name Franco many times from the time he entered the door, and he must have been a very powerful person, so when Redbeard asked him if he had come to hear Franco speak, he replied yes. By the way, I also told the redbeard the purpose of his job search. Kane could tell from Redbeard's outfit that he was a wealthy man, and perhaps he might be able to provide himself with a job to earn food.

Sure enough, Kane was right, and after hearing Kane say that he wanted to find a job to earn food, Redbeard happily offered him a job.

"I can offer you such a job, but only if you are clever and obedient enough. But this job can be a bit dangerous and even life-threatening, are you willing to do it? ”

When Kane heard that his life was threatened, Kane's mind flashed for a moment, but the thought of not having a job and no food would surely make it through this winter. Taking a sip of wine, Kane thought for a moment and nodded firmly to Redbeard:

"I think I can."

Redbeard looked at Kane with a determined gaze and smiled as he introduced himself.

"My name is Wilkin. Hammer, tell me what your name is. ”

"My name is Kane. Sivir, what exactly do you want me to do? ”

"Don't rush to know, wait, I'll tell you after I hear Mr. Franco's speech."

Having heard the name Franco mentioned many times, Kane was also curious about the person who was about to speak.

At the height of the conviviality in the tavern, a young man in a black woolen coat, with his short hair combed to the end, and his eyes were piercing, stepped out and stood in the middle of the beer hall.

His arrival instantly caused cheers from the entire beer hall, and everyone present looked like fanatics.

Franco pressed his hand down to show that there was a moment of silence, and the crowd stopped talking, but the excited look on his face was still there.

"Friends, His Majesty the Emperor has made a wrong decision under the hood of those despicable people, and has not resolved the slave rebellion in Maren in time, and the grain of Marlen, which is the granary, has plummeted, resulting in this bad winter when we do not have enough food to feed every of our people. The Malen problem was not resolved in time because of the wrong decision of the Battle of the Ice Sea, and not only did the dynasty not win the war, but even the hidden dangers within the dynasty were not solved in time. I am saddened by the starvation of our compatriots because of some conspirators who advocate the Battle of the Ice Sea. Franco lowered his eyes and spoke in a mournful and low tone.

But then he said impassionedly: "In order not to let our countrymen fall in hunger and cold one by one, and to make those hateful conspirators pay the punishment they deserve, we must act and give them some color." We must make His Majesty the Emperor see the faces of these hateful conspirators, and hold them accountable for the people who died of hunger and cold! We're going to expose their plots! Tomorrow we will organize a protest in the Champ de Mars to let His Majesty the Emperor know how much we hate these conspirators! Let His Majesty the Emperor give them the punishment they deserve! ”

Franco's words elicited a response from the audience, who raised their arms and shouted in their mouths to punish the conspirators in the palace who deceived the emperor, and to lead people to march together in protest tomorrow to remind the emperor not to be deceived by villains again. One of them shouted, "Master Franco is the cornerstone of the dynasty, and if we follow him, we will survive the winter!" ”

Franco smiled satisfactorily at the angry scene, nodded to Velgin, and walked into the next room.

Kane, who had been confused since Franco's speech, was only reacted by a pat on the arm by Virkin.

"Come with me." Kane followed Wilkin to Franco's room.

"Sit." Franco sat down on the soft couch and said to the two of them, then asked, "Are you ready for tomorrow?" ”

"Don't worry, everything is ready, and as soon as they go out to protest tomorrow, the people we have found will join them. I have taken the task to heart as Mistress Franz has given me. ”

From the moment he entered, Kane had been observing his surroundings, the room was poorly decorated, with only a brown table left except for a soft sofa. Although the room was simple, the two people who spoke made Kane feel more and more dangerous. Their words gave Kane a bad premonition, as if he was caught in some conspiracy, and a strong uneasiness struck, and Kane retreated. But at this point, he had heard things he shouldn't have heard, and knew that he had been involved in the struggle of these nobles, and it was too late to leave.

Only then did Franco ask Virgin: "Is this also sent by Franz to assist us in our mission?" Kane's youthful countenance and pauper's outfit did not underestimate Franco, who had brought him in by Virkin.

Virkin smiled and explained, "No, this kid I just met in the tavern, he has a unique attraction in him, I heard that he wants to get a job, and then I brought him. I thought maybe he could help us. ”

Virkin's identity was not simple, and he had always been known for his caution among knights, but it was surprising that such a cautious man had today brought a young man he had just met into the room and exposed him to their plans.

"Are you transcendent?" This was the first answer that came to Franco's mind, and perhaps only the transcendent could explain Wilkin's passionate attitude towards the boy.

"No, my father wanted me to be transcendent from birth, but I never fulfilled his wish."

Hearing Kane's denial, Franco was slightly disappointed.

"If you use potions, you still have a chance to become extraordinary." Wilkin spoke slowly.

Kane and Franco looked at Virking at the same time, the former shocked and the latter confused.

"To become a transcendent, the Hammers can help you, but you have to show enough value to prove that you are qualified to use potions. Once you become a Transcendent, you must also be loyal enough to prove that you will give everything to the Hammer family, and if you can prove both, the Hammer family will be happy to pay you a potion to help you become a transcendent. With that, he looked at Franco, "You say yes, Mr. Franco." ”

Franco replied with a smile, "Of course, the Hammers are happy to invest in a loyal transcendent. ”

With the opportunity to change his fate at hand, Kane replied, "I will show that I have what it takes to become a transcendent, and if the Hammer family is willing to use potions for me to become a transcendent, I will be grateful, and I am willing to sacrifice everything for the Hammer family." ”

Franco said, "You'll have to find Franz about potions, after all, he's the housekeeper." ”

Virgin looked at the watch in his arms, and when it was not too early, he ended the topic: "When tomorrow's business is over, I will take him to meet Master Franz, and today's meeting will be here." ”

The three of them stood up and walked out of the beer hall through the side door next to them, Kane following them, and all three were silent the way.

When they came to a fork in the road, Franco and Virgin separated.

As they passed through Ave Street, a figure approached them in the dark, and Kane, who was naturally scertic, quietly stepped forward and grabbed Velgin's clothes, trying to tell him that there was danger approaching. Without waiting for him to prompt further, Virgin also smelled danger. As a transcendent, he could quickly perceive such danger, but he was even more surprised in his heart as to why Kane, a seemingly ordinary teenager, was still above him as a transcendent being.

Virkin, who didn't have time to think about it, first signaled Kane not to panic, and the two walked around a corner in front of them normally, and then Virkin took out a set of silver and white armor from the space magic weapon and gave it to Kane and asked him to put it on.

He himself took out another set of armor engraved with runes and put it on, and held a silver-white sword in his hand.

"Find a place to hide yourself, and I won't be able to take care of you when the fight starts." Virkin reminded Kane.

"Be careful yourself." Knowing that he could not participate in such a battle, Kane hid behind a stone pillar, and the battle of the transcendent was not something that he, a pauper, could join.

As one of Franz's most powerful assistants, Wilkin not only has strong strength, but also has an extremely cautious mentality, when he does not know who the other party is and how strong the strength is, he will always show a posture of "lion fights rabbit, but also needs all his strength", this cautious good habit also made him lucky to survive countless battles.

Although the assassin in the dark does not know who his opponent is, he is the Kalit Sword Saint Hess. Kurt's protégé, Hess, was sent to assassinate anyone who had come into contact with Franco, but he was explicitly warned not to provoke Franco. Solve the task cleanly and finish the task, and don't leave traces of identity.

He waited in the dark like a predatory beast for a long time, and finally found his next chance when Franco and Wilkin were separated. He was afraid that Franco would find out, so he deliberately waited for the two to enter Ave Street before choosing to do it.