The library of Caesarea Castle is arguably the most complete collection of books in the whole of Rome, with a large number of complete scrolls and ancient books that even the library of the Caesarea Academy cannot match. Theodore, however, almost never came here, and was more accustomed to sitting in the garden than in a cramped attic reading, except that the butler periodically brought in a new batch of books and changed them when he had finished reading.

Therefore, when Malcius made this library his room, Theodore did not have much objection - in his opinion, the so-called wizard can also be regarded as a kind of scholar, and it is normal to be full of curiosity about unknown new knowledge. It's just that scholars who have lived for hundreds of years are indeed too rare.

The gloomy library, lit by sunlight from only a few windows, was littered with neatly arranged bookshelves, leaving hardly too many gaps, stacks of books and scrolls almost reaching the ceiling, and some unknown secret seemed to be hidden in the dust and silence.

Because the entire library was full of very valuable books, in order to prevent fire, there was not even a single wall candle in the room, only a small candlestick was allowed. Even regular cleaning was strictly enforced, so that the air in the entire room was slightly cloudy - especially after Malcius arrived, he hardly allowed any outsiders to enter the place, only Theodore's butler who regularly came to return the books, so that the place had not been cleaned for some time.

It was evident that the old man was not particularly welcoming to Theodore and Aaron's sudden visit, and did not even bring a glass of water—Theodore was even skeptical. The old man had never eaten or drunk anything since he came in, and the castle kitchen never seemed to have prepared food for him.

“...... You mean, you want to know about the past of the Misty Mountain people. I guess so, right?" Maltheus looked older than he had ever been, his body full of old age wrapped in a torn brown robe as if it were an old antique, and on the cramped desk lay almost opened books and scrolls, only these things still looked relatively new.

"The highlanders of the Ryan tribe have sworn allegiance to me, and as Emperor I have a duty to defend my people. Theodore said in a deep voice, acquiescing to Malcius's question: "I want to know the way." In the time of Aragon, the Misty Mountains...... What does it look like?"

"They believe in a werewolf with bat wings, which is an extremely rare belief in the entire world. Aaron on the side couldn't help but say loudly: "When I was a child, I once heard my mother tell a story. It is about the human emperor Aragon...... A legend...... Of course, it's more like a personal conjecture!"

"Ancient werewolves turn into bloodthirsty demons on moonlit nights, and vampires with bat wings crave the fresh blood of humans...... Are these stories?" said as if looking at the kind old man of the two juniors, "Hehehe...... In today's eyes, these things are indeed absurd stories. Because those things were ...... a long time ago."

"Say so. Vampires and werewolves really once appeared?!" Aaron couldn't wait to ask, "And then, Aragorn drove them all back to hell?!"

"Hehehehe...... How can I explain this to you?" the old prophet smiled bitterly that was difficult to explain: "It is true that some of the legends are true, but ...... Stories are just stories. ”

"If you want to trace the history of werewolves and vampires, you have to start with that chaotic era...... Yes, that empire has not yet flourished, and the entire Anthropocene realm is still in the era of large and small city-states.

In those days. City-states, large and small, are like small kingdoms, and the treacherous wilderness has shrunk the power of humanity behind the walls. The lords who ruled over the city-states, large and small, had their own banners. Just as the Ultok family is now the golden lion and the red dragon banner of the Pendragon family, and these banners have become synonymous with large and small city-states, Issos was once called the 'Red Dragon City'.

There was a city-state in the south at that time, where the people and the families that ruled the city-state were very different from the rest of the city, and they welcomed the visit of wizards, while the other city-states were awe-inspiring and disgusted with wizards. Therefore, it has the largest number of wizarding towers in the entire Anthropocene, and it is also the core area of wizarding power at that time.

The city-state's name was 'Dracula', and it ruled the Vimpal family, and their heraldic banner was a black bat with a purple background, hence the name 'Bat City'.

At that time, werewolves were just like the orcs of the south today, except that they were few and far more primitive than the orcs, living like wolves, and were also a terrifying threat to the people living in the farms, with the exception of one city-state, yes, the city-state of Dracula.

Rather than seeing these werewolves as a threat, the city-state of Dracula, with its large number of wizards, tried to tame them. Most of them failed, but this also led to the killing of werewolf groups, and in those days, catching werewolves was one of the most common jobs for rangers and mercenaries roaming the wilderness, and Dracula's wizards offered a lot of money for wild live werewolves, and the dead could be sold for a good price.

By the time I reached the south, almost all of the werewolf groups had been wiped out, except for the city-state of Dracula, which was no longer pure-blooded werewolves - the wizards 'mated' werewolves and humans to create a more special species. These people have some werewolf characteristics, such as extremely vigorous hair, naked and not afraid of the cold, but their intelligence is far lower than that of humans, and like werewolves, once the group exceeds a certain number, they will kill each other, so the wizards keep them in captivity. ”

"Demon!!" Aaron stood up almost reflexively, gritting his teeth and screaming, "They, how could they do such a thing?!"

Yes, the same reaction was felt at the time. The old prophet smiled indifferently: "So when Aragon was crowned the human emperor, his first battle was to exterminate the city-state of Dracula - in the eyes of humans at that time, all wizards were accomplices of the Noldor elves, and the city-state of Dracula, which has many wizards, and the Vimpal family, who ruled there, were basically equivalent to traitors to the Anthropocene realm." ”

"The victor has everything, and the loser has nothing - even the right to speak, these are the exact words of Aragorn, who banished the Vimpal family and their werewolf clan from the south. "Unless you reach the mountains and rivers frozen by ice and snow, you are not allowed to stop your journey to the north, otherwise any race has the privilege of hunting you!" This is also Aragorn's original words, humans, elves, and dwarves have all carried out without reservation, and the members of the Vimpal family who can really reach the north alive may not even have a tenth!" Maltheus said in a deep voice: "You can imagine how much hatred they have for the south. ”

"That's true...... Even if it is the emperor of the people, it seems that this is too much...... Rough. Aaron nodded and said, "However, what does this have to do with the Misty Mountains?"

"The legendary vampire is supposed to be a descendant of the Wimpal family. Theodore said silently, "And the werewolf is the barbarian of the Misty Mountains. ”

"Maybe not pureblood, but these guys should have the blood of ancient werewolves - not afraid of the cold, bloodthirsty, mentally retarded, and once in groups, they will kill each other. Theodore felt a slight twitch in his face: "Doesn't it sound exactly the same as the barbarians of the Misty Mountains?"

Hearing this, Theodore had already roughly guessed what the background of the entire Misty Mountain Barbarian Clan was going on—although, there was still a little bit of something he hadn't figured out.

The barbarians of the entire Misty Mountains should be the descendants of those so-called werewolves, who are mixed with the local highlanders, inheriting the custom of tattooing that the highlanders used to have, but to a greater extent, they retain the bloodline and bloodthirstiness of the werewolves in the past.

As for their sudden unity, according to Theodore's guess, it is likely that some descendant of the Vimpal family has rediscovered a way to make these guys obey orders, or more members of the Vimpal family have united - originally Theodore did not believe in the so-called blood power or anything like that, but after seeing that the little Duke Bran was able to talk to the Radiant Cross Sacred Sword with the blood of Aragorn, he also had to believe this fact.

If it is told in a more "biographical" or "legendary" way - a certain unpopular highlander fellow, who one day found out that he was able to control these guys during a raid by the barbarians of the Misty Mountains, and then found out that he was a descendant of the ancient Wimpal family after a lot of hardship, so he began to search for the bloodline of the same kind, and gathered the barbarians of the Misty Mountains under his own hands, and began to take revenge on those who had bullied him - it is quite bloody, but it cannot be said that it is impossible.

"Thank you for telling us a good story, Prophet Malcius. Theodore stood up and said, "Duke Aaron Brennus, can you still fight on horseback?"

"Obey your commands at all times, my majesty. Aaron smiled proudly and rested his right hand on the hilt of his sword: "Mistermael's falcon can go hunt enemies for you at any time!"

"Take your best rangers and go to the Commander of the Fleet of Constantine, and he will send your men to Ryan. Theodore said in a deep voice: "Now we must also accumulate strength, and we cannot easily start a war in the north. I need you to preside over the situation for me, to unite the Highlanders, and to gather any information about the Vimpal family. ”

"Go early and come back early. Theodore patted him on the shoulder: "When you return, I will personally appoint you as the first ruling legion commander of the Empire!" (To be continued......)