Outside Crewe,

The crossroads between Mt. Wild Deer and the Moon's Breath Mountains have changed every day for the past three years.

At the most prosperous location of this crossroads, there is a hotel that has been in business long before the intersection flourished. This hostel has an interesting name: Deep Water.

The owner of the Deep Water Hotel, a veteran of the army, will only cook one dish, and that is the only pot of stewed broth that is characteristic of the army.

Although the dishes are simple, the veterans make them really good.

At this moment, the old soldier was busy in the kitchen of this hotel, and his wife was busy in the kitchen, but he was not busy cooking his broth today. Today, he is busy baking a fat sheep!

In the hall outside the kitchen, during the time when the veteran couple roasted the fat sheep, they were unconsciously full of foot merchants who came to rest and mercenaries who were tired of walking.

"Old Neil, I smell the mushy smell of your roast meat outside. The mercenary, who was familiar with the boss, picked up a tall glass of ale in one hand, and threw two copper crowns with a face value of 'one' to the hostess with the other hand, and the big hand squeezed his round buttocks very unceremoniously.

Amid the eyes of the waitress and the laughter of the many travelers, there was a roar from the kitchen: "Do you know what a barbecue is? Do you understand? This barbecue is my specialty, all the ingredients for the marinade are bought from the highland grasslands, and in your vulgar eyes there are only women and ale!"

"But... I want to smell the sauce burning. A more formally dressed businessman responded to the boss's roar in a flat tone, as if he were telling an irrefutable matter.

The innkeeper in the kitchen suddenly fell silent when he heard this, but the hall was still noisy, and the ridicule of mercenaries and foot merchants was a normal daily routine in the eyes of these people.

After a while, the boss walked out of the kitchen in embarrassment, but looking at his embarrassed appearance, everyone understood that he was kicked out, and after being driven out, he tilted his head and shouted to the kitchen: "It's all your fault... See how you roast it?"

"Your voice is too low, you have to say it louder for your wife to hear it. The mercenaries began to heckle, and some merchants began to bet that the boss would not dare to return to the kitchen until a few minutes later.

The owner of the deep-water inn is notoriously afraid of his wife. However, his wife is not a fierce person, but as soft as the delicate young lady in the aristocratic manor.

Rumor has it that Neil's wife was a magician, and the two met on the battlefield, and when the war ended, they chose to settle here. It is also rumored that she was the daughter of a nobleman in the Suker Plains, who was rescued by Old Neil during the noble civil war, and then the two fled here to escape the nobleman's pursuit and opened the inn.

In the midst of everyone's laughter, the boss slapped his palm on the bar with a "snap", "Today, all the barbecue in my store is sold at 50% off!"

"Generous boss!"

"Generous boss!"

"For the generosity of old Neil, I ask everyone here for a glass of ale!" The rich businessman is the best at being a man, and the best at seizing the opportunity to express himself.

"But... Just laughed at me, no offer!"

"No one is laughing at you, dear Mr. Neil. The mercenary who spoke at first, remembering the way the nobles he served, bowed to the veteran who was standing at the bar with his face straight.

Louder laughter echoed through the hall, and countless people drank with their glasses raised, and then rushed to the bar to ask for the cup of ale that had been invited.

In the midst of laughter, the curtain of the kitchen door was lifted, and a woman in a long gray dress stepped out of the kitchen, this woman appeared to be about thirty years old, her black hair was wrapped in a gray turban, and her delicate facial features gave people a quiet beauty, which was somewhat out of place where she was at the moment.

"The leg of lamb is sold separately!" the woman shouted into the noisy hall, "and the rest of the parts are fifty fold." ”

"I'm going to the police station to accuse you of cheating on your customers. ”

"Then go and sue!" Neil skillfully cut off the leg of lamb from the sheep with a sharpened dagger, "I have an important guest today, and he has paid a full ten crowns for this leg of lamb... You poor devils, you can't even take a single crown, and you want to eat this?" Neil put the leg of lamb heavily on the iron plate, and with a muffled "bang", he went up to the second floor amid the curses of many customers.

The travelers in the hall didn't stop much on the leg of mutton, and they were used to seeing many rich nobles taking care of the whole inn, and they were now more concerned about the good meat left over from the roast lamb than the 'important guest' that Neil said.

After the intersection became bustling, Old Neil renovated the inn, and he converted the large rooms on the second floor into comfortable single rooms for the reception of large merchants. Compared to the noisy hall downstairs, the second floor is much quieter, and listening to the noise downstairs in the quiet hallway, there is a sense of being in a different world.

Neil held the roast leg of lamb, thinking about the ten crowns in his pocket, and the smile on his face unconsciously brightened.

"Knock knock" Outside the room, Neil knocked on the door very politely, and subconsciously lowered his head to see if he was dressed appropriately, he was full of joy and couldn't notice his greasy nausea, and nodded satisfied with his current dress.

The door was opened by a young man whom Neil had seen, and who had paid him ten crowns of gold. The habit he had cultivated for a long time made him subconsciously glance at the other people in the room, an old man dressed no different from ordinary rich businessmen was chatting with his entourage, these people must be talking about something particularly interesting at the moment, because the laughter in the room was constantly echoing.

"Exceptional barbecue. The young man raised an eyebrow at the leg of lamb that had been roasted on the inside and outside of the iron plate.

"That's what many people say!" "The long inn life has already made Neil cultivate his face as thick as the walls of Crewe City, "The roast mutton of the Deep Water Hotel is famous throughout the kingdom, and even the elves who never eat meat come to me, and they can't help but want to buy a few catties." ”

"You deserve it. The young man smiled noncommittally at the innkeeper's words, took out the 'five' silver kroner from his pocket and placed it on the tray, and as he took the iron plate and returned to the room, the door of the room was closed from the inside.

The laughter in the room stopped in Neil's ears the moment the door closed, and the noise of the guests downstairs regained at this moment, Neil chuckled and shook his head, picked up the silver krona on the tray and took a bite, looked at the new tooth marks on it, smiled contentedly and walked to the staircase of the hallway.

In the room, the young man with the leg of mutton skillfully slices the mutton with a dagger and slices it into pieces and places it on a porcelain plate prepared in advance.

"I've said it all, don't bother, I'm not old enough yet. The voice was a little old but sonorous, and the tone was casual but indescribably majestic, the voice of the old lord of the Covind Lord, Zerodin Marne.

He was supposed to enjoy his old age at Fort Cowinder, but he was actually in such a small hotel, and at such a sensitive time in Crewe.

"Young people should do more. A middle-aged attendant beside Viscount Marne, after winking at the busy young man, refilled the old lord's already dry wine glass with ale, "My lord, there has been news from the city that the police department intends to make a public judgment on the nobles in the dungeon this afternoon. ”

"A day earlier than I thought it would be. The old lord leaned back on a chaise longue and waved his hand at the wine glass handed by his attendant, "It must be something that has happened in the last two hours in Kawal Castle!" he looked at the cronies present, "Find a familiar face from Crewe City and ask what is going on, and you don't have any contact with any of them yet." ”

"Yes!" the attendant at the door nodded and took the order, and when he was about to go out, the old lord suddenly sat up again, "No! This kind of thing shouldn't be up to us, I believe... Someone will bring us news soon. As he spoke, he asked, "My friends should know I'm here." ”

"Yes!"

"Then there's nothing to worry about... What we're going to do now is to enjoy this plate of barbecue first. Zerodin-Marne leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his glass, and as the aroma of highland ale swirled in his stomach, the young man presented him a plate of shaved tender meat.

"It was thirty years ago... It was still forty years ago..."The old man looked at the plate of barbecue in front of him, "It's been so long that I've forgotten... I was young at the time, and I followed the old duke back to Crewe from Anku Fortress, where I made a bet with the old boy from Harensburg, and lost all my money, and ended up starving back to Covinde. ”

"Trust me... It was a terrible feeling, after all these years, I can forget the bloody battle at Anku Fortress, but I can never forget the feeling of going home hungry. "When he was about to faint from hunger on the Garmici grass, he abandoned his honor and robbed a passing foot trader, who was leaning on a leg of mutton, which tasted like this. ”

The old man did not shy away from explaining the absurdities of his past, "But I ate too much in hunger, and I almost went to see the gods... But in the end, it was the kind foot trader who saved my life, and I want to thank him!"

"Cheers to that kind footman!"

The crowd raised their glasses and drank with their lord.

"Knock Knock"

As the strong smell of alcohol spread through the room, the wooden door slammed softly.

"It's our friend who has arrived!" said Zerodin-Marne, pointing to the door of the room with a low grin, "Let our guests in." ”

The door of the guest room was pushed open in silence, and at the same time as the noise outside reached everyone's ears, a young man wrapped in a thick cloak that covered most of his face with fluff obscuring most of his face, and a servant with his head bowed, appeared in everyone's eyes.

The old man looked at the young man in front of him and frowned, then looked at the attendant on his left, who shook his head and said that he didn't know him either.

After looking at each other for a few seconds, the young man bowed humbly after giving way to a position, and the servant next to him raised his head and stepped forward, exposing his entire face to the candlelight in the room.

"Dear Viscount Marne, the Burster family brings you their sincerest greetings. The young man exposed to the candle flame was Wids Burst, the hottest businessman in Crewe.

"Hello, Viscount Burn. Zerodin-Marne pointed to the chair in the room closest to the fireplace, "Come and sit, I've been waiting for you for a long time." ”

Weiss Burstt bowed politely, nodding politely as he passed by, and nodding politely as he sat down by the fireplace.

"The people under the mountain are always so polite. The old lord first praised Weisz-Burst, then waved at his retinue and said, "I want Viscount Bloom to talk about it alone." ”

The old man's words were casual, but no one could disobey him at this time.

Soon, only an old man and a young man sat facing each other in the room, both with gentle smiles, as if they were in harmony with family.

"I'm almost seventy years old and don't have much time left, so... I hope that the rest of my life is easy and not that I am fighting with people all the time. The old man skillfully fiddled with his cigarette, "How about we get straight to the point?"

"As it happens, I have a very, very limited amount of time today. Weisz-Brew smiled and rejected the cigarette handed by the old man, "But before I do that, let me welcome your arrival, and let me thank you for your help on behalf of the nobles of Crewe." ”

The young Weiz Burst's words were full of sincerity, but the meaning of his words was also obvious, and there was no promise, only a sincere thanks.

"Haha!" The old man took a puff of smoke and laughed: "The royal capital is also my home, I am not a guest, I am just going home now, so... There's no way to say anything about your welcome, and... I'm not here to help you, we're here to seek cooperation, and I'm the main one. ”

"Dear Viscount Marne, you seem..."

"Don't you think it's a little too early for us to talk about these issues?" Zerodin-Marne puffed out a puff of cigarette and waved his hand, "Maybe two days later you'll be in a prison uniform in a dungeon full of rats." ”

"I'm confident in our plans and I'm sure that won't happen. Weiz Burst didn't care about the old man's warning, he said very confidently: "More than half of the nobles in Crewe City support me, does Hanina dare to order all these people to be arrested in the dungeon of the police station?"