Imperial Crown.

Chapter 212 Raven's Change

Snake Castle, the castle of the Slater family, was breached more than a year ago. Now it has been basically repaired. The old and new bricks overlap on the wall, and the mottled walls carry a trace of the vicissitudes of history.

The main body of the castle is divided into four floors and covers an area so large that you will definitely get lost if there is no one to guide you.

Led by the servants, Raven walked inside and came to Earl Tyrone's study.

Earl Tyrone had slightly gray hair, a short and neatly trimmed beard, and wore a plain solid-colored robe, without any of the luxurious decorations popular among the nobles at the time.

Seeing Raven coming, Tailong stood up with a smile: "Baron Raven, you always give me surprises every time we meet."

"If you hadn't dealt with the vampire, I would have been embarrassed."

Raven said modestly, "My Lord Earl, thank you for the compliment. It is a perfect opportunity. Even without me, I am sure he will not be able to escape your control."

Earl Tyrone did not comment, but pointed to a chair and said, "Sit down."

After all, the city of Monn was the territory of the Slater family. Earl Tyrone had heard about what happened on the ship long ago and did send Typhon's Fang to monitor it, but he did not take the initiative.

He was waiting for Raven to ask him for help.

Unexpectedly, Raven solved the problem quietly by himself.

Typhon's Fang reported the news, confirming that the vampire had the strength of a third-level vampire. In order to defeat a third-level vampire, Raven himself must be at least a third-level.

He had been a noble for two years and a magician for less than two years, but he had already become a third-rank strongman.

Genius is not enough to describe the speed of his progress.

This is also the reason why Tailong took the initiative to summon Raven instead of waiting for Raven to hand in a visiting card.

Tai Long asked, "I'm afraid it's not easy to fight a third-level vampire?"

"Vampires are secretive and very agile, so they are indeed difficult to deal with." Raven smiled: "Fortunately, I have mastered several third-level magics that can restrain these dark creatures, and I am more familiar with the terrain of Mon'en City, so I won by chance."

In Tyrone's opinion, it is a consensus in the supernatural world that magicians are physically weak. Raven was obviously not injured, which means that in a one-on-one duel, he suppressed a vampire so much that he could not get close to him at all.

Vampires are much more agile than knights of the same level.

Being able to do this means that no one who uses Dou Qi at the same level can be a match for Raven.

Even if other factors are excluded, Raven is already one of the strongest men in the Nord Province in terms of personal strength.

If a year ago, when distributing military merits, Raven still relied on the power of the Fox family and barely stood in front of Tyrone to bargain with him, now Raven is really qualified to sit at the table.

Thinking of this, Tai Long's expression softened: "It's a pity that I don't have a daughter of the right age, otherwise I would never let the Fox family get ahead."

Raven was stunned when he heard this, but then he was relieved.

As old rivals, it is normal for the Slater family to plant some spies in the Fox family.

But Raven was not going to admit it. Sometimes, even if both parties knew the truth about something, they still had to pretend to be stupid:
"Fox is from an earl family, they won't be interested in my brother, right?"

Earl Tyrone shook his head and chuckled, then suddenly asked, "Baron Raven, have you ever heard of the story of 'the fox laying eggs'?"

Without waiting for Raven to reply, Earl Tyrone continued, "Once upon a time there was a golden eagle. It was very powerful. Its prey was hung on the branches, and its nest was decorated like a palace."

"An old fox coveted the wealth and allowed his daughter to approach the golden eagle."

"The golden eagle and the little fox lived together, but one time when they went out hunting, the golden eagle died."

"The king of the forest, the lion, wanted to redistribute the property belonging to the golden eagle, but the little fox took out an egg and said it was the golden eagle's child."

"Everyone suspected it wasn't the case, but they had to wait until the eggs hatched before they could come to a conclusion. During this time, the old fox moved into the golden eagle's nest."

"Three months later, the egg broke."

"But the golden eagle's nest has been emptied, and all the wealth has gone to the old fox's nest."

Raven thought for a moment and asked, "Where is the snake in this story?"

As if he had not expected Raven to ask this, Tai Lung was stunned for a moment, then said: "The snake is telling a story to the golden eagle."

Having said that, the two smiled at each other.

In the story of Earl Tyrone, the old fox refers to Montreal, the young fox is Nancy, and the golden eagle is of course Raven.

As for the snakes, they are the Slaters.

Raven's counter-question was telling Tyrone that he had a clear mind and would not let down his guard just because of the good intentions shown by those in higher positions.

This is true for Tyrone, and of course we must be even more cautious against Montreal.

To put it bluntly, what I'm saying is - you old guys, stop interfering in my life!

After laughing, Earl Tyrone said, "There is something you may not have heard yet."

"Marquis Anthony has already set out from the capital. He will arrive in Nord Province in two months at most. He is carrying out the king's order to re-evaluate the previous battle against the Hand of Death."

Raven's pupils shrank slightly: "Is it that Anthony?"

"it's him."

Anthony Edwards, Marquis of the Empire, had a powerful family and great influence in the three central provinces, and had always been a loyal supporter of the royal family.

In the history of the Edwards family, there have been seven governors, nine marshals, and they have almost never been absent from the king's cabinet.

"Our king, His Majesty the XVI Cairns, is still young, only 28 years old now." Tai Long said casually, "He is energetic, talented, and very opinionated. He is a rare ruler in a century."

Raven's eyelids trembled slightly.

Being young means being impulsive and energetic; being strong-willed means being conceited and selfish.

Such a person will never allow power to fall into the hands of others, nor will he tolerate betrayal by others.

There is no doubt that the previous actions of the Fox family angered the king, so he sent Anthony over. The so-called review is probably aimed at the Fox family.

No matter how powerful the earl is, he is just an earl and cannot fight against the king.

The good days of the Fox family may be coming to an end.

After finishing the serious business, they started to engage in gossip exclusive to the nobility, and even Earl Tyrone was not immune to this.

He stayed in the castle until noon, and had lunch with Earl Tyrone before leaving Snake Castle.

To Raven's surprise, the person waiting for him outside the castle was actually Mantheni.

"My Lord Baron." Mancenee saluted respectfully: "I am here to protect your safety."

It seems that this arrogant former gangster girl is very upset about not being able to help Raven last night.

"Have you eaten?" Raven asked.

Mantheni was stunned: "Uh... not yet."

"Then accompany me to go out for a walk and have something to eat." Raven said, "Last time I came back, I didn't have a good walk around the city."

"But, haven't you already eaten at the Snake Castle?" asked Mantheni.

"Denise should have invited you to dinner as well." Raven raised his eyebrows: "Did you enjoy the meal?" Mantheni was speechless for a moment, her face a little embarrassed.

When facing Denise, it was purely a subordinate facing a superior. There was neither personal relationship nor old friendship. The focus was on interpersonal relationships, and the mind certainly would not be on food.

Seeing her expression, Raven laughed and said, "Let's go!"

After sending away the Chamber of Commerce carriage, Raven and Mantheni walked in the streets of Mon'en City.

The upper city area is still the same as before, with clean and tidy streets and soldiers patrolling every few dozen meters. They look down on passing civilians, but smile when they see people in fancy clothes.

When you arrive in the downtown area, the environment changes.

The streets began to become narrow, and the buildings on both sides of the road became strangely shaped due to disrepair or random additions. Between the houses, there were messy hemp ropes like spider webs, on which clothes, shoes and socks wet by last night's drizzle were hung to dry.

Old, messy, disorganized, yet full of vitality.

But Raven felt something was wrong.

When passing a crossroads, Raven finally understood what was wrong - it had rained last night, and the ground should have been muddy and wet, with pits left where one stepped. However, after walking for a long time, there was no mud at all on the soles of his feet.

After hearing Mantheni's explanation, Raven learned that since taking over the Chamber of Commerce in the lower city of Mon'en City, Denise had followed Raven's example and started to improve the traffic environment in the lower city.

The lower city area of ​​Mon'en City is huge. The Chamber of Commerce did not and could not spend a large amount of money to build roads like Eagle Town, where even the roadbed had to be dug two meters deep. However, it also mobilized some people to repave the main roads with stone slabs and stone strips.

Afterwards, the mercenary guild was given a mission to clear out the small monsters and criminals entrenched in the sewer system. Now the common waterlogging in the lower city has been basically solved.

Light rain turning into streams and heavy rain turning into rivers are a thing of the past.

The two were walking on the street. Although almost no one recognized Raven, Mantheni's military uniform was quite conspicuous, so no one would bump into him.

"Oh, here we are." Raven pointed to a building.

Mantheni's face turned red. Raven had broken into this place by force, saw her changing clothes, and revealed her identity as a man dressed as a woman.

The fate of the two people is thus intertwined.

At that time, she had not thought that Raven would come as an absolutely strong man in the future, nor had she thought that she would become Raven's subordinate.

She was a little embarrassed and didn't know how to respond, but fortunately, Raven did not extend the topic, but quickened his pace and rushed to the port area.

With the port, there is a huge amount of cargo throughput, which not only supports many porters, but also makes the catering industry here particularly developed, with many specialty restaurants.

The most distinctive one is a kind of fried burrito, the outer skin is made of pig or sheep intestine casing, the inside is covered with a layer of batter, a layer of red beans, and then a layer of minced meat. After rolling it up, it is fried in a pan.

Since the source of the raw materials is suspicious, one only costs three copper coins, and two weigh one pound, which is nearly half a kilogram.

Even if you are a big eater, after eating 5 of them, you won’t feel tired even after a day’s work.

In addition to food, there are also drinks. Although those who do heavy manual labor like to drink, they only do so after work. Otherwise, if they drink too much and fall into the river, they will not only have to pay for the goods, but may also lose their lives.

So "dock tea" became the most popular drink.

It is called tea, but in fact it is just a kind of dried black berry called "star" brewed with hot water. This berry is called "star" and is very sour. In order to neutralize it, a lethal amount of sugar is added to it.

It’s very sour and sweet, and one bite will stimulate your appetite, refresh you, and quickly replenish your energy.

The two bought some fried rolls wrapped in palm leaves, ordered two large bowls of dock tea, and came to the Mon River, leaning on the railing and looking at the river view.

Boats come and go, the setting sun shines obliquely on the river, and is beaten into pieces of broken dreams by the sparkling river water.

Raven took a bite of the burrito and drank a sip of dock tea, then suddenly stopped.

When he was still hanging out in Mon'en City, he often ate and drank like this. Sometimes, when he was very hungry, he would eat six or seven burritos in one go without any problem.

But now, after just two sips, he began to feel greasy; the dock tea that he once loved the most was also sour and bitter, and sweet and cloying.

These two things haven't changed, what has changed is Raven.

He shook his head slightly, and the setting sun cut his profile into a lonely silhouette, which entered Mantheni's eyes.

Following Raven along the way, she thought of a lot.

In fact, since she became the commander-in-chief of the Security Forces, she has rarely had the opportunity to travel through the streets of the downtown area like this.

Like Raven in the past, Mantheni is also a part of the downtown area, like a drop of blood, running in the criss-crossing streets as densely packed with blood vessels.

Born and raised here, absorbing all kinds of knowledge, I was also tainted by the dirty and messy background of this city.

If nothing unexpected happens, Mantheni and Raven will be like most people in the underworld, falling into a corner or a gutter before they get old.

If Mantheni's identity is exposed, the fate that awaits her will be more miserable than death.

But Raven jumped out and became a noble.

When he came back, he was already over this land.

He did not feel disgust, nor did he cover up this dirty history. Instead, he transformed the downtown area in his own way, bringing many people like Mantheni, who were destined to live in darkness, into the sunlight.

At the same time, he also used his thunderous methods to wash away the dirty and sinful background of the downtown area.

Perhaps, this is the legendary savior of the evil.

Raven came back to his senses and looked at Mantheni intently.

She was wearing a military uniform with the buttons of her shirt casually open, revealing the white cotton vest underneath. Her wheat-colored skin above and below her collarbone reflected the sunset.

The wind blew, outlining her slender waist, and the skin around her waist could be faintly seen.

Raven suddenly raised his hand and reached out to Mantheni's cheek.

Mantheni's breathing stagnated, a hint of red appeared on her face, her lips slightly parted, and she looked at a loss.

Only in front of Raven did she realize that she was a woman, but she had no experience in how to face a man as a woman.

Raven's finger brushed lightly across her lips, picking off a piece of torn casing.

Mantheni swallowed, and her heartbeat, which had been rising, slowly slowed down.

"What do you think about the future?" Raven suddenly asked.

"This..." Mansene's mind went blank: "...I haven't thought about it."

People in the downtown area, even top gangsters like her, take things one step at a time.

future?

That's a luxury.

Raven threw the fried burrito in his hand to the homeless man huddled in the corner not far away: "The mark of the City of Mon'en is too deep on you and me. If we continue to live here, we will never be able to get rid of it."

"Eagle Territory can give you a new start."

After saying that, Raven patted her shoulder and whispered in her ear:
"Think about it carefully. I'm waiting for your answer."

……

(End of this chapter)