Chapter 13, Kartzenhaven

About 1,600 years ago, Charlemagne, who was more than 200 years old at the time, almost unified the entire continent and established an empire after a series of conquests. The human emperor announced his abdication in 2000. Before he abdicated, in order to quell the disputes over the heir among the tribes, he established the electoral system.

The system of the empire changed from a centralization system to a feudal system, and the vast land was re-entrusted to twelve electors. The emperor ruled the capital of the empire and the most fertile plain in the entire continent near the capital. After the death of the previous emperor or the war After death, the twelve electors and the three major churches of the Church of Justice, the Church of Life, and the Church of Magic will vote to select the next imperial emperor from several candidates for the throne. This elector system is still in use today.

"Speaking of Mr. Oliver, the empire is obviously a centralized and powerful country. Why did it establish such a system of electing emperors? Isn't the primogeniture system also an option?" Ryan looked at the wild scenery. In the distance, the pine forest was Under the cover of heavy snow, it stands quietly on the mountains. The cold air makes the horses snort. Mather, the guard in front, is carefully guarding against possible movements. Falke is not very skilled in driving the car, because it turned out that he was not the one who drove the car. People had already died in that encounter.

The weather is already cold enough, if you don't chat, it will only make people feel more uncomfortable.

"If the empire has no foreign enemies, we are located on an isolated island, no one will visit us, and we will not trade with others, then the emperor's eldest son is also acceptable, but almost all sides of the empire are enemies, yes, Now we have knight allies in Brittania, and we also have close allies of dwarves, but what about other places? There are enemies everywhere. His Majesty Charlemagne uses this method to hope that the most capable heir can lead the empire to continue. Move forward, instead of raising a group of spoiled waste because of stupid blood discrimination." The imperial businessman said in a tone full of admiration: "Your Majesty Charlemagne never shy away from his past, he directly told the ministers that he used to herd cattle And be proud of it, isn’t Ludwig also a small nobleman from the countryside? Birth is not important, what matters is strength, brave heart, and love for the empire.”

"It makes sense." Ryan nodded without saying anything.

After several hours of trekking, they finally came to the seaport city of the Nord Kingdom-Kalzenhaven.

Compared with Wulan Town, which has only a few hundred households, the port city of Kaltzenhaven is much larger. There are about 800 households living in the city. From a distance, the black smoke straight into the sky is impressive. The scale of this city is roughly known. Although the gray city wall is not too high, it has changed from a wooden city wall in Ulan Town to a solid stone city wall. The guards on the gate are obviously better equipped. The guards in Ulan Town They all wore breastplates, but Kaltzenhaven's guards had a full set of scale armor. They held spears and halberds in their hands, and their faces were healthier. With a long sword, a shield in one hand, and a black robe outside, it looks quite imposing from a distance.

"This medium-sized port can accept more than a dozen medium-sized or large merchant ships. It has all the facilities that a port should have. There are 150 standing troops and a kingdom knight stationed in the port. If necessary, up to 600 can be recruited. A militia—if the lord here doesn't care about the consequences and the price." Ryan introduced to Teresa in turn.

"Have you been here before?" The sorceress looked at this medium-sized port city and asked curiously.

"There is no place in Nord that I haven't been to, even Skydome, let alone this port." Speaking of this, Ryan is a little complacent. He has indeed traveled to many places, at least compared to only haunting all day long. Teresa, who lives in several major cities and stays at home, is much stronger.

Cargo ships set off along the inland river,

It seemed that they were transporting goods, and the soldiers at the port looked very serious. They didn't know what was going on. In addition, Ryan noticed that there was a caravan at the gate of the city arguing with the garrison chief.

"Liars! Liars! You lied to me! Since you can't go to sea! Why didn't you tell us and charge us to enter the city? We don't plan to stay any longer, so get your money back!"

There was chaos at the gate of the city. A whole caravan dragged several carts of goods and was arguing with the guards at the gate of the city. Looking at the blushing and thick necks on both sides, it was obvious that the result was not good, especially since many caravan guards had already stretched out their hands to hold The hilt of the sword was removed, and the guard's spear also gradually tilted from upright.

Because this group of people stagnated, the mercenary group's entry into the city could only be temporarily delayed. Seeing this, Ryan was a little impatient. He was still waiting to enter the city to find Belter's trace.

So the kingdom knight got off his horse and stepped forward under the eyes of everyone: "What happened?"

The rest of the people did not move, seeing that many guards had already held their hands on the hilts of their swords. The experienced deputy commander Wirth knew that he must not stimulate the nerves of the guards anymore at this time, and everyone turned their eyes Put it on Teresa, meaning what are we going to do?

"Wait a minute, only Ryan's status is suitable for negotiating at this time." Teresa was riding on the horse. The hem of the long coat almost covered her long legs, and only the toes of the high-heeled boots and shoes were exposed. and.

The Garland Council is only a recognized organization and does not have the right to directly interfere with state affairs. Strictly speaking, Teresa is not an aristocrat of the Nord Kingdom. It is better to resolve matters within the system.

A guard stopped Ryan: "Hi sir! You need to pay a fee of five silver dinars to enter the city, and we will issue you a pass within five days... Good morning! Lord Knight of the Kingdom!"

Ryan flashed the badge of the White Wolf Knight, and the guards immediately saluted.

"what happened?"

"This...Master Knight, yesterday the City Master announced a ban on the sea, prohibiting any ships from going out to sea." The guard lowered his head and said in a low voice.

"There is no way to go to sea here?!" Ryan thought of something vaguely. He frowned, and yelled at the guard: "Then the city lord didn't notify or post a notice? He charged the entry fee to let people know that he couldn't go to sea? Why not? Go to sea?"

Even so, the price of five silver dinars is too much, Ryan thought that the city lord collected taxes really hard.

After charging such an expensive fee to enter the city, the prohibition of going to sea is obviously to blackmail these businessmen who want to go to sea. Anyway, if the money goes into their pockets, it is their own. If you can’t go to sea, you can’t go to sea. This is my territory, you have to obey me rules of the game, right? Don't come if you don't like it!

This is the most typical practice of the lawful evil camp.

"Is the hotel still open?" The quarrel at the city gate had nothing to do with Ryan, and he didn't want to get involved in the muddy water.

"There are some adults who are open. Because there are not many customers, many hotels have reduced their prices. If you plan to stay, the city is basically full due to the ban on going to sea. There may still be rooms in the Butterbeer Hotel in the center of the city. The luxury private room is definitely in line with your status as a knight, of course you can also notify the city lord..."

"Shua!" There was a sound of tearing the air, and Ryan subconsciously looked at the gate of the city. There was already a quarrel between the caravan and the captain of the guard. An arrow shot into the soil in front of the caravan's location.

The captain of the guard was triumphant, thinking that you people don't know where you are standing now, do you dare to be presumptuous here?

"Whew!" At this time, a sudden change occurred. A man in a cloak in the caravan suddenly pulled out an arrow from the quiver behind him, and opened the bow and set the arrow at a very fast speed. Almost instantly, the helmet of the archery guard on the tower In this way, he flew into the sky, but the guard himself was safe and sound, but sat down on the city wall in fright.

This strength! This is an elite ranger! And it is very likely to be an elite high-level! Ryan became interested. He pulled his horse and stood like this, watching the farce at the gate of the city with great interest.

Under the cloak, the ranger's slightly pointed ears and slender features were exposed, revealing his identity as a half-elf. The ranger's face was full of arrogance, and he even smiled disdainfully at the guard chief. Subconsciously took a step back, his face was ugly, he was only a person of elite elementary strength, facing this powerful ranger, he was not sure that he could win with a relatively small loss.

When you really start to fight, if you lose your life, or lose the lives of a dozen of your subordinates, then the lord will blame it, and I, the chief guard, will not be the chief of the guard!

Tax collection is a small matter, but my life and future are more important.

The guard chief looked around subconsciously, and soon noticed Ryan who was watching a play next to him.

A kingdom knight!

"Master Knight! These profiteers do not abide by the laws of our country! They openly despise the rules of the Lord of the City!" The captain of the guard immediately confirmed that this was a Lord Knight of his own country, so he immediately stepped forward to ask for help. He not only bowed deeply, He also flattered Ryan with a flattering face, and at the same time gave the group of caravan people a look of resentment, which sounded like he had been humiliated.

Ryan raised his eyebrows, and everyone in the caravan was busy arguing, so they noticed him. Many guards showed vigilant and disturbed eyes when they saw a kingdom knight appearing here, while the half-elf ranger clenched his hands tightly. Raising the longbow in his hand, he looked at Ryan with unfriendly eyes. All the merchant's guards clenched their sword hilts, but the mercenary team seemed a little hesitant. After all, no one wanted to offend a knight of the kingdom.

As a knight of the kingdom, Ryan is indeed obliged to uphold the laws of the Nord Kingdom, even if the laws are not so reasonable. Seeing that the matter finally spread to him, Ryan gently raised the warhammer, and said to the guard chief in a bad tone: " Oh? Is the entrance fee of five silver dinars stipulated by Nord law? Your city lord is really ruthless in collecting taxes, and even I, a knight of the kingdom, have to pay this sum of money."

"I'm very sorry, my lord, but this is the order of the city lord, we can only obey it!" The chief guard hurriedly apologized.

"That's right! Lord Knight, we came here because the commodity tax here is lower than other ports, but now we are charged with such a high city entry tax and told us not to go to sea! You say this is not fair at all. Ah!" Oliver also came up to argue.

In the end, under Ryan's mediation, everyone settled with three silver dinars for entering the city. The fee for the mercenary group's entering the city was still paid by Teresa, but the dozens of silver coins for the sorceress really didn't care. After entering the city one after another, Ryan greeted everyone, and rushed to the lord's mansion of Karzenhaven on horseback.

The lord of Kaltzenhaven lived in a large wooden longhouse in the city. This building has three floors. The first floor is used to receive visitors and serve as a restaurant, and the top two floors are personal spaces. Most of the building materials are wooden. For the structure, Ryan notified the guard at the gate of the city, and soon found the clerk to inquire about the record of going to sea.

"Yes, Mr. Lane, there was indeed a tall and thin man who rushed into the town yesterday when the doors were about to close. He didn't stop, and immediately proposed to take a boat to Fort Marien. The boat owners were unwilling to do it, but this The guy took out fifteen gold dinars and asked to go to sea, which is already several times the normal price of going to Marienburg, so a ship owner decided to accept the money." The lord's clerk flipped through the sea record, Said to Ryan.

"I'm going, I'm lost!" Ryan said angrily. In fact, he had a faint premonition before. After being slowed down by the beastmen, he had a premonition that he might not be able to catch up with Belt.

"Then why can't we go to sea?" Ryan asked again.

"It's like this. The high priest of the Ocean Church told the lord this morning that there are a large number of sea monsters gathering in the nearby sea area, and the barbarian fleet in the north is also constantly plundering the caravan. For safety reasons, the lord ordered this period of time. Going to sea is prohibited," the clerk continued.

"Okay, I see." Ryan knew that he would not be able to catch up with Belt. Even if he could persuade the lord to arrange a special ship for his group to go to sea, the risk would be too great. The only solution now is to take a long-term plan and report to Innocent first. The Archbishop speaks again.

When I came out of the tower, it was noon time. It was rare that the dark clouds faded, and a few rays of sunlight stubbornly broke through the blockade of the clouds, bringing a little warmth to the earth. It is still so cold in November. If you wait until the Winter Veil Festival At that time, I really don't know how long I will not see the sun.

"Bishop Innocent, I lost Belt." Ryan said helplessly as he pressed the gemstone on the bracelet.

"I know, Bert took the opportunity to leave Nord by boat yesterday, and I don't blame you for this incident. It was two days after I informed you of the incident, and..." The majestic voice seemed a bit Tired: "Now is not the time to pay attention to Belt. The barbarians in the north are making big moves. At least 20,000 barbarian troops are gathering. Let's stop here."

What? Are the northern barbarians heading south again?

This is really not good news.