Act 4 Wizards, Dragons and Empires

Outside the study is a corridor with a terrace. The stone pillars supporting the ceiling at regular intervals are covered with moss. The sunlight passes through the shade of the oak trees and leaves golden spots on the walls and floors. The handrails of the terrace A few chirping spotted finches were dropped. After Brando gave Roman a good education, he opened the door and walked out. The birds immediately fluttered their wings and flew away. Looking at this scene, he closed the door with a backhand and blurted out as if subconsciously. Want to say:

"Qian, prepare the carriage, let's go to Gris Harbor."

But as soon as he opened his mouth, Brando was stunned. In his memory, the girl with the long ponytail always leaned against the second stone pillar in the corridor with her spear, and sometimes fed the spotted finches with bread crumbs. He had seen such a scene several times. The girl was quiet but as beautiful as a character in a painting.

But now, the second stone pillar is empty, with only the mottled sunlight reflecting on the moss.

Brando sighed.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly.

In the distance, the staff lady holding a stack of parchment documents in the darkness at the spiral staircase at the end of the corridor also sighed quietly. She understood when she saw her lord standing there with a lost expression. Her knuckles were a little white, and she almost accidentally wrinkled the parchment, but those were important documents in the territory for a while, and the lord had not yet looked at them. She was startled by her actions and quickly let go. , but accidentally scattered these rolled parchments all over the floor.

Antitina was stunned, biting her lower lip, and then bent down to pick up the parchments one by one. She dazedly touched the necklace inside her collar. It was a necklace that had lost its pendant, but she seemed to feel that the pendant was still there, so she pressed it on the empty place. But finally reacting, the girl glanced at Brando in the distance with a complicated expression, and silently retreated.

Brando stood in front of the study door for several minutes before he came back to his senses, as if since when. He was already used to the silent mountain girl beside him. He used to tease Qian about this matter and asked her how she would be able to marry in the future. But he didn't expect that one day she would really be gone, and he would feel a little... Getting up at a loss. "What's going on..." Brando couldn't help but press his temple, "Brando, Brando, Qian can't be with you forever. She also has her own future."

But when he thought about it, he felt a little bored. He shook his head and temporarily put the idea out of his mind.

Veronica and her party settled in a hotel in Port Gris. It only took half a day by carriage from Fir Castle to Port Gris. Brando understood that this lady had her own reasons for not wanting to stay in Fir City. After all, she is the army commander of the empire and cannot get too close to a foreign count.

This is not surprising, not to mention that the nominally wanted criminal of the empire, Gray Sword Saint Mephistopheles, still lives in Brando's castle. Reasonably and emotionally, she should stay away and at least make a gesture.

But what Brando is really curious about is why Veronica wants to see him now. It has been more than two weeks since she arrived in Tonigel. It stands to reason that she should have returned to the empire long ago. Her mission here has come to an end, not to mention that she is accompanied by the eldest son of the empire and the Knights of the Broken Sword.

He really couldn't figure out the thoughts of the female legion leader, and he didn't understand why she was so worried and hesitant. Everything was calm inside the empire, and except for some uneasiness at the border, it didn't look like anything big was going to happen.

With such doubts, I walked through the corridor and walked down the stairs. Passing through the hall outside, several apprentices of Charles were debating some magic-related issues here - because Charles's wizard tower was built in the castle, his apprentices also lived in the servants' rooms in the castle. Fortunately, The world of wizards has strict rules, so these apprentices did not cause too much trouble to life in the castle. When several apprentices saw Brando, they stood up respectfully and saluted the young lord. Brando He also nodded in response. These people are all selected from the descendants of adventurers or local minor nobles. Most of them or the families behind them are grateful to the lord for such an opportunity. Wizards with real heritage are very rare in Warnd. , most academic wizards are inherited from the Buga lineage. But is the knowledge of the Silver People so easy to learn? Even in Cruz, only talented people like scholar Shi Duo are qualified to win the favor of the Silver People. It is precisely because of such a heritage wizard that his social status is extremely high in both Eruin and Cruz, far better than Those charlatans.

And Charles happens to come from the inheritance of the Black Tower Wizard. Even though it is only a branch of the Buga Wizard, it is enough to be said to be from a famous family. Having the opportunity to become the apprentice of such a mentor is a great opportunity for these little people from remote areas. For the nobles, it is simply pie in the sky, let alone those adventurers who are poor and living in embarrassment, so it is not surprising that they have such thoughts.

Antitina also took a fancy to this. As a staff member, she advised Brando to use this as an opportunity to win over people and allocate rare quotas to those who are truly loyal to him, such as Su, the daughter of the red copper dragon Leto, relied on such a connection to tightly tie all the reliable people to the chariot that shared his interests.

But Brando himself doesn’t see it that way. In his eyes, this is not just a vanity fair. These young wizard apprentices should be Tony Geer’s future. An army without a wizard group will always be regarded as a third-rate army in Warnd. , not to mention the coveted floating fleets of the Cruzes and Wind Elves, each of which is controlled by a wizard. It can even be said bluntly that wizards are Warnd's high-tech arms. Each one costs a lot of money to train, but it is definitely worth it.

And this was only the 1940s, a time when the Slate War had not yet begun.

Of course, some of what Antitina said also made sense to her, not to mention that Charles mentioned more than once that Su had an outstanding talent, so Brando also adopted some of it. In fact, he himself was quite optimistic about the person who was popular among people. It seems that only the girl with healthy wheat-colored skin and a head full of fine braids is left. The calmness she showed during the battle in Ampelsel was simply amazing. This is the most basic quality of a wizard, but few people can do it well. When Su was not a wizard, she was better than most wizards at this point. Even more outstanding, it can be seen that as long as she can feel the thread of law, she will have a bright future one day.

And as an additional benefit of this decision, just like what the staff lady said. The red copper dragon Leto was indeed very grateful to him. The veteran who had experienced the November War could be pampered and humiliated in the face of life and death, but this daughter was his only weakness. He originally wanted to leave Su an inheritance, but he did not expect to encounter the invasion of Madala. Now Su had the opportunity to become a wizard. Although he would not have a prominent status in the future, at least he would have enough food and clothing. The key is that you don't have to rely on others to judge their looks, which Leto is particularly satisfied with.

But there are also some negative effects. The guy came secretly several times to find out what he meant in a roundabout way, asking him if he was interested in his daughter. The guy actually thought he couldn't see his temptation. Brando felt that his IQ was being undermined. Serious contempt. Several times he drove the other party back to Mintai's territory angrily.

In fact, this is not an isolated case. It once made him feel very troubled. For some reason, the probability of women having magical talents in Warnd seems to be much higher than that of men, although male wizards are often more likely to become real geniuses. , just like Ciel and Leigh Woods, but the base of female wizards is larger than that of male wizards. This is the truth. This directly led to the decline of yin and yang under Charles. It was like there were subordinates for every master. It once made people suspect that this was actually just a way for the lord to open a harem. That’s all.

Especially in such a remote place where magic is not prosperous, the rumors are even more outrageous. But what makes him laugh or cry is that those small lords and small nobles are still enjoying it, and they keep stuffing the so-called "pretty" nobles into his place. As for whether the daughter is really pretty or not, Brando doesn't really want to comment. Anyway, he has asked Charles to brush back all those who have no magic talent. But what makes him a little depressed is that this incident has become a laughing stock in his small circle. Both Medissa and Antitina have made fun of him more than once.

This is really a failure of the main line, which makes the retainers run rampant.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shake his head. As he walked out of the archway of the hall, he suddenly frowned and smelled the aroma of barbecue. He stopped, turned around and asked, "What does this smell like?"

The expressions of several Shire apprentices changed and they began to hesitantly.

"Char didn't teach you the silence technique, did he?" Brando had actually guessed it. I couldn't help but asked angrily.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, one of the girls with a round face and some cute freckles on the tip of her nose, who was said to be the youngest daughter of the president of the silversmiths guild in the city, turned pale with fright. He replied hesitantly: "Uncle...Your Majesty, Mr. Star didn't let us say it."

Sure enough, Brando shook his head, even Aloz was captured, and this guy was still able to get away with it. But this is a good thing for him. After all, Star signed a contract with him. Regardless of how outrageous the contract is, if Star is captured and returned to the Dragon Clan, then he will suffer a big loss.

He waved his hand, signaling to the little girls not to worry, then turned around and followed the smell of meaty charcoal. He didn't know what this guy was grilling, so he just hoped he wouldn't set the castle on fire. Last time this guy secretly had a barbecue in the sawmill, and half of the sawmill was burned down, causing Roman to lose a lot of money. As a result, the business lady herself was fine, but the housekeeper Antitina was so heartbroken that she couldn't sleep for several days. good.

He turned around a corner of the castle covered with vines, and sure enough he saw Star squatting behind a grape trellis, secretly tending a bonfire. There was an iron shelf on the fire, and on the shelf were several almost cooked chickens. The foodie was smearing condiments on the prawns with bottles and cans. Needless to say, he must have stolen this set of things from the kitchen. This guy doesn't have much fighting power, but his sneaking skills are second-to-none. I'm afraid even the Nightingale Masters among the halflings would have to submit to him.

Come to think of it, someone who can sneak away a dozen carriages under the noses of Veronica and Mephistopheles is not a simple person no matter how you think about it.

Brando walked over and patted the other party on the shoulder, which startled Star. When he turned around, his round face was covered with charcoal ash. It was hard to imagine this face. A dragon, because it looks just like those naughty kids. When Star saw Brando, his face turned pale with fright, and he hurriedly shouted: "I didn't chop the grape racks for firewood. I didn't steal these things from the kitchen. They lent them to me!"

"Very good," Brando sneered. The flower garden left by Grudin is now Antitina's treasure. Although he has never seen the noble lady get angry, he also understands that the calmer people get angry. It's getting more and more scary. He couldn't help but patted Star on the shoulder with great admiration: "You are very courageous, Star. Do you know that it is Miss Antitina who is responsible for arranging daily life in Fir Castle?"

"What does that matter?" Star was stunned. Unexpectedly, Brando didn't get angry, and he suddenly felt a lot more confident.

"It's nothing," Brando chuckled: "For example, if the kitchen has one less dinner or main meal, it is actually a matter of course. After all, there are too many people, and occasional negligence is possible. Let alone occasionally. Even if it happens. It's not a big deal if it's like this for three or four days in a row."

Star opened his mouth wide and his face changed. The little fat man stared at Brando with wide eyes. His face turned red and white, and his forehead was covered with sweat, as if he had never seen the dark side of this society.

"Actually, this is not the worst thing. It is said that some people accidentally ate something they shouldn't eat and died. You know this is close to the Black Forest. There are all kinds of materials in the castle's warehouse, and there are several that are particularly effective against dragons. "

Star was almost scared to tears. The little chubby dragon suddenly felt that this was entirely possible. Besides, in his opinion, the staff lady was gloomy and indifferent to everyone. She might have become very serious. I can't stand him anymore, I definitely want to get rid of him quickly. He almost trembled. I reluctantly picked up a grilled shrimp from the charcoal fire. He said to Brando with snot and tears: "Lord, please don't expose me. I'll treat you to shrimp. After eating, we will be on the same boat."

"Damn it, don't be so obvious when you drag me into the water." Brando thought angrily, but when he saw the mustard-smeared shrimp on the putty-covered claws of this frost baby dragon, what did he think? It feels familiar. He couldn't help but ask: "Where did you get these shrimps?"

"kitchen."

"No, your first sentence can't be the truth." Brando analyzed with experience: "Have you ever been to Hipamila's room?"

The little fat man's eyes rolled around and he shook his head like a rattle.

Brando laughed angrily, the shrimps in Hipamira's room were the priest girl's favorite. Although he didn't know why she liked raising shrimps, he knew how important this thing was to her as long as he saw her carefully carrying the water tank out to change the water every day. Now it's fine, these shrimps have become Star's meal, once and for all. From now on, Hipamilla won't have to get up every morning to change the water.

It's just that someone or a certain dragon will pay a heavy price for this.

He glanced at Star with pity, turned around and left, joking, who knows what trouble he might cause if he stays with this disaster star for a while. Unexpectedly, Star was very discerning. He seemed to have seen his irreversible tragic fate from the look on Brando's face. He quickly wrapped all the shrimps in oil paper and chased after him without opening a word, as if he wanted to follow Brando. There are as many as the ends of the earth.

"What are you doing?" Brando asked angrily.

While Star stuffed a grilled shrimp into his mouth and sucked his fat fingers twice, he replied angrily: "Lord, do you want to go out?"

"You are quite smart," Brando sneered: "Do you know how to escape?"

"No, Lord, I have signed a contract with you, haven't I? Now I have to fulfill the contract and protect you." Star thought about it seriously, then said with a mouth full of grease: "There is a lot of fire outside the castle. Danger."

"Dangerous ass!" Brando thought to himself, if it was indeed not very safe outside the city half a year ago, but now Tonigel's security can be said to be the best in the south, with patrolling cavalry on the road and cavemen in the forest. There is no room for monsters and bandits. Besides, how could ordinary monsters and robbers defeat him? This guy was obviously telling lies with his eyes open.

But he didn't bother to care about him. The two of them walked in the direction of the stables one after another. When they passed the dwarf rose bush that Mrs. Camille was tending, Brando seemed to suddenly remember and turned around and asked: "Speaking of which, Why didn’t the Dragon Clan send someone to capture you, this scourge?”

He originally thought that Star would be proud when he mentioned this issue. After all, even Aloz could not escape the clutches of the devil, but he could continue to get away with it. This was a very glorious thing no matter how you thought about it. And without the restraint of the little female dragon, he could obviously be more lawless, but unexpectedly Star blinked his eyes, looking a little disappointed.

"What's wrong?" Brando was slightly startled.

"That's because Aloz is willing to go back with them. In fact, we rarely attack each other. If she wholeheartedly wants to stay here, they won't force her." Star pretended to be a little unconcerned and replied: "But Aloz Sister Zi still admits that she is one of them, so she must abide by this rule."

Brando keenly captured the key point in this sentence: "You are not really being completely expelled from the Dragon Clan, are you?"

"Tch, what's good about staying there is to collect some inexplicable things," Star replied with some pride: "They don't understand that food is the most important thing in the world, and collecting food is biological. Instinct, no matter how precious gold, silver, bright diamonds are, they don’t need food to fill their stomachs.”

"Damn, your theory is quite simple." Brando looked at the little chubby dragon in amusement, who was obviously very unwilling, but he still pretended not to care: "But for the giant dragon, he is keen on Collecting food is indeed a bit too... well, too strange. In our legends, dragons should stand on mountains of treasures with flames breathing out, and burn those who come to covet their treasures. Readers, dragons are creatures that coexist with beauty and danger in our minds."

"But if you imagine this legendary dragon lying on a mountain of rice, then the ornamental value will be greatly reduced."

"This is prejudice!" Star couldn't help but jump to his feet.

ps: There will be another chapter in a moment.

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