Chapter 1, Winter Night in Wulan Town
The Kingdom of Nord is warm only for three months a year. At other times, it seems that it is always shrouded in snow and cold. The winter here is so cold that the God of Dawn can bring the morning light here, but cannot. To be warm, the believers of the Goddess of Agriculture are always trying to find ways to sow cold-resistant crops such as wheat, barley, rape, etc. on those fertile but cold lands all year round. need.
At night, the town of Ulan, located in the north of Nord Territory, was quiet, and it was the midwinter season of the year. As usual, there was a heavy snowfall in the sky, which fell on the roofs of every household, and even the roads were covered with a thick layer of snow. The air in the town is still and silent, the chimneys of the houses emit thick black smoke, the stars in the sky bring faint starlight to the ground, but the heavy snow covers everything.
In this season, the sun goes down very early. After dark, if you return to town a little faster, you will be safer, and if you go back to town a little slower, you will be more dangerous. After sunset, there are everything in the wild, including robbers and beastmen. , the northern barbarians who come to plunder from time to time, and even the terrible green skins or undead appear from time to time. The residents of the small town basically don’t choose to go out at this time. Only the door and the warm fireplace can bring them safety. sense.
A world covered in silver, except for the occasional patrolling guards passing by, the town is dark, like a dead city, the cold wind of midwinter keeps whistling past, snowflakes are floating in the sky, in this coldest season of the year , the residents of the small town can only hide in their homes, hoping to wait for the moment of spring as soon as possible.
A black leather boot stepped on the steps of the city gate, making a creaking sound, and a man in a black leather suit appeared. He was wearing a leather three-cornered hat with the brim pulled down very low. , There is also a lot of snow on the hat. This man is tall and mighty, with a one-handed long sword engraved with gold and silver patterns on his back, and a golden warhammer in his hand. The length of the hammer is very long, as long as half a person, and the bottom of the hammer handle is a spiral spike, shining with an icy cold light.
This man has a handsome face and always smiles, like a priest, but judging by the fluff around his mouth, this man will not be more than twenty-five years old, and judging from the blood on his chain armor and the fierce eyes You know that this person is definitely not a priest.
The man looked left and right, there was no one on the road, and no footprints could be found on the snow on the dirt road. He sighed slightly, and saw a sentry standing guard at the gate of the city, so he stepped forward and asked in an understatement tone. He said: "Excuse me, have you seen a man with a pale face wearing a tall round hat, a cloak, outdated long trousers and black leather boots in the past two days?"
The guard didn't want to answer at first, but the man gently brushed off the cloak on his chest, revealing a silver badge with a white wolf head in front of the guard.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Sir Knight!" Seeing the badge, the guard straightened up subconsciously and saluted the man: "Three days ago, there was indeed such a man here! He claimed to be Mr. Bute , is the lord's friend, so we let him in, and he left early yesterday morning, heading southwest!"
"Mr. Boot? Hehe, let me think about it. It must have been like this three days ago. A strange traveler entered the town on a horse..." Who knew that the man couldn't stop laughing. He said: "So our loyal guards came forward to ask, but the traveler took out a few silver coins and gave them to our loyal guards, expressing that it was difficult to reveal his identity. , sincerity from Mr. 'Bout', and let him go to town, right?"
In the frigid weather, cold sweat immediately broke out on the guard's forehead, and the sweat quickly froze. He whispered: "Knight, Lord Knight, please forgive us, please forgive our temporary obsession,
I must have been possessed by an evil god at that time! I am willing to hand over the money to you, please forgive our sins! "
The man seemed very dissatisfied, snorted, and after exhaling a white mist from his mouth, the man shook his hand: "Forget it, let me go into the city!"
"Yes, yes! Thank you very much!" The guards hurriedly opened the city gate as if they were pardoned. The wooden city gate was slowly opened by the rotation of simple wooden mechanism bearings. The man led the horse into the town, leaving The apprehensive guard.
At this time, it was six o'clock in the evening, which was supposed to be the time when people in the town were active, but the climate in Nord was such that the sun had already set at three o'clock, so he could only walk alone in the street, thinking about something. what happened on the road.
"The military pay of the soldiers can guarantee food and clothing but cannot guarantee a life of abundance. In the face of some dispensable things that do not violate military orders, it is understandable to accept bribes. Mr. Belter is really smart. He has been a soldier for many years He is a demon hunter, he has insight into human nature, and a few silver coins saved him a lot of trouble along the way, but this made it very difficult for me." The man looked up at the bright moon in the sky, and whispered: " Going to the southwest, Mr. Belt is planning to go to the port?"
"Anyway, let's stay here at this time, the night in the wild is too dangerous." The man thought for a while, and decided to stay first.
Stay for a day or two, and then go meet up with that woman from Garland Council.
The Nord Kingdom is a desolate and remote place, but no matter how small a town is, as long as there are human settlements, there will be an inn. The man quickly found the inn, a two-storey building. From the outside, it should be There are about ten rooms.
Along the snow-covered mud road, the hotels in the town are still open to all town residents as before.
Passing through the solid wooden door of the hotel, the interior of the hotel is like a party scene. The wooden tables and chairs are arranged chaotically. People communicate and drink barley wine in the hotel. For food and ale, the fire in the fireplace is burning vigorously, and thick broth is being stewed in the oven, and the heat of the broth is constantly wafting inside the hotel.
The cold weather outside was in stark contrast to the fiery heat inside. The windows of the hotel were also covered with thick fog. The inside and outside of the house were like two worlds. There were two drunk guys hugging by the campfire in the center of the venue. Together with the cheerful singing of the bards, they danced the Nord folk dance, and a businessman from the empire was being led by a strong man to dance. His strange movements made the people present laugh. laugh.
"Ms. Freya! Have another glass of barley wine!" A big man with two beards shouted at the proprietress. He put the wooden wine glass on the bar counter viciously. The inside of the wine glass was clean. Nothing left but a little foam.
"Beautiful! You must bring a beautiful one when you call me by my name! Do you want ale? Check out first, you have already drank four glasses of ale, pay me twenty copper coins in total!" The big man hit the head with the spoon, and the big man quickly touched his pocket, and took out thirty copper coins in one breath: "These are all for you, beautiful Ms. Freya, hurry up and get the wine!"
"Okay!" The proprietress waved her fat hand, and a large handful of copper coins disappeared into her pocket in an instant. After collecting the money, the proprietress smiled and quickly ordered her staff to bring out more wine barrels. A plate of roasted lamb was placed in front of the soldier sitting on the bar: "Sir! Please use your roasted meat slowly!"
"Okay." The soldier took the barbecue and ordered another glass of wine. He looked quite old, with a lot of wrinkles around his eyes, and he was immersed in the delicious barbecue.
On the other side of the field, a bard dressed fancy, wearing a purple suit, a red bonnet, and a lyre on his shoulders, is tuning the strings of his lyre and preparing to start his performance.
"Mr. Bard! What story are you going to tell us today?" a drinker said loudly.
"Yeah, we won't pay if it's not exciting!" Everyone booed.
"Hoho~" Everyone in the hotel was booing, the bard straightened his clothes helplessly, and began to play his lyre slowly: "Then, I will bring you an old story today, A magnificent epic from one hundred and fifty years ago!"
"Hundreds of years ago, the land was peaceful, and people lived and worked in peace and contentment. Although the barbarians in the north and the Middle-earth continent occasionally exchanged fire, trade and peace were still the main theme. The southern kingdom used to be the largest and best seaport and a free trade city. , the dwarves living in the Eastern Roof of the World used their sophisticated equipment and crafts to trade with the human empire, and the southern wastelands stood one after another dwarven fortresses, witnessing the golden age of the dwarves... At that time, the forest was not as dangerous as it is now ,that time..."
"But about a thousand years ago, everything changed."
"The world has been changed."
The hotel gradually became quiet, only the crackling sound of the burning coals in the fireplace, and the drinkers settled down one after another. It is common sense on the mainland that bards should keep quiet when performing, but the one from the empire The businessman didn't care much on his face, but he was still listening quietly.
The bard began to play a melodious piece of music slowly, the tune was sad but full of hope: "
just nearly a thousand years ago
In the north of the empire, darkness falls
The evil gods are fierce, and chaos is rampant, just like purgatory on earth
The god of totems falls, the god of beasts annihilates
Civilization is defeated by barbarism, wisdom retreats from evil
Peace is gone, swords are raging
Imperial South, Greenskins Rise
Gnush's head, turned into an ornament of Uzag
The fortress of the dwarves for thousands of years cannot stop the spreading plague
The statues of the former kings were torn down, and the treasures of the ancient tombs became a surprise for the invaders
luckily
The alliance was re-established at the time of the collapse of the country and the genocide
Bearded Guards, Lion Knights, march forward hand in hand
However, this victory is not worth celebrating
empires lost their emperor
Brothers fought against each other and fell into endless disputes
In dark corners the dead rise from their graves
Evil Beastmen are corrupting all parts of the continent
The world is falling, everything is in danger
One hundred and fifty years ago, a twin-tailed comet streaked across the sky, and the hero finally came
that is ludwig the savior
The devil prince confers the head, the evil shaman is killed
No matter how powerful the Son of Chaos is, he is nothing but a puddle of flesh in front of him
On the plains of Fasha, the righteous form an invincible coalition
Roar of the Ancient Dragon
angel soars in the sky
Elven staffs and longbows glisten
The dwarves form the strongest wall of iron
There are even demons from the Molten Underground
Inspired by the savior, fight for justice and fight against chaos
All to Ludwig
Dozens of purified heads of demon princes and gods hang on the walls of the empire
Showcasing his supreme glory and great achievements
Shouts of victory resonate
They elected him as the new Emperor of the Empire
All to Ludwig
Chaos go home
Peace has come to this land again
People live and work in peace and contentment
The hymn of the gods resounds
All to Ludwig"
The bard sang his epic poem impassionedly, and no one noticed that there was a new guest outside the door of the hotel.
The man stood at the door and listened to the magnificent epic before he opened the door. The story of the savior Ludwig is shared by everyone in the entire continent. Familiar story, this great former rural nobleman, later emperor of the new empire reunited the ruined old empire with his powerful strength, domineering skills, and outstanding political wisdom, and finally defeated the army of chaos, the new empire Rebuilt from the ruins of the old empire, Ludwig was the founding emperor of the new empire.
"Excuse me, is there any room left?" In the eyes of everyone, the man spoke. As many people expected, his voice seemed very young.
"A stranger?"
"There are no rooms, foreigners, our place will be closed soon, please go back."
"Closed, closed!"
The drinkers yelled half-jokingly and half-seriously, the town is not very welcoming to outsiders, the person in front of them is not a familiar face, and the drinkers are a bit xenophobic.
"You... shut up, old lady! Is it easy to have a guest in this weather? You bloody idiots always won't let me do business!" The proprietress's roar interrupted the behavior of the drinkers, and then A smile appeared on her round face immediately: "Yes, we have a lot of empty rooms here, are you alone?"
"That's right, I'm alone, help me prepare dinner by the way!" The young man went up to put things on, and then sat down on the bar counter. He ordered rye bread, boiled broad beans, barley wine, and a large piece of Grilled lamb chops are also worth twenty copper coins.
"Mr. Bard, tell us a new story."
"Then what kind of story do you want to hear?" The bard also said with a smile: "How about I tell you a story about the founding knight king of Brittania?"
"We've all heard that too!" The drinkers said they had heard this too.
"Tell me a story about the war between the greenskins and the dwarves?"
"This is boring!"
The drinkers and the bard began to discuss loudly. Some wanted to hear war epics, some wanted to hear love stories, and some even wanted to hear stories about gods. Difficult.
"So, how about we let Mr. Bard tell us a new story, the legend of the young hero of our Nord kingdom, 'Sledgehammer' Ryan!"
"Okay! This is good!"
"Just listen to this!"
The man just lowered his head to eat, and by the way, he paid the proprietress to bring a piece of butter to spread on the bread. After dinner, he said his goodbyes and returned to his guest room.
He booked the best room in this hotel. The worst accommodation in the hotel is of course the big room, which is filled with simple linen and thatch beds, and the slightly better single room is double or single. There is only a simple bed and a bucket of water in the corner. The bucket of water is not for drinking, but for convenience.
The room he lives in has a soft bed, a table, a chair, and even a special compartment for washing. There is a small window in the room. After returning to the room, Ryan gently pushed the window Open, looking at the heavy snow outside: "I don't know how long this heavy snow will fall..."
At this time, the bracelet on the man's wrist suddenly shone with a soft white light. Without any surprise, he pressed the gemstone on the bracelet with his hand, and a majestic voice came out of it.
"Ryan, have you found Belter's trace?"