Heart of the Castle

Chapter 553 A Spring Full of Disasters

For the vast majority of people in the Kingdom of Arthur, 591 years in the Dawn Calendar is an extremely long time.In just half a year, the drastic changes in the situation were dizzying. Demonic disasters came ahead of time without warning. The northern border of the kingdom was shrouded in thick fog, and reinforcements could not be dispatched. The territories of the lords in the northern border were divided and surrounded by demons. .

At this time of crisis, a young man named Levi Stone suddenly rose up like a comet, tearing through the thick fog like a golden dawn, and expelling the demon army from the kingdom's territory, especially the airborne Lord Lord Volcano and the bloody battle. In the two battles of Heihe, he personally led the army to attack, and even cut off the head of the notorious abyss alchemy lord General Kleinus, making great achievements in the world.

However, at the moment when the whole kingdom felt the dawn was coming, the demonic war that ignited from the north had just been extinguished, and the situation in the four southern counties and Xifeng County suddenly collapsed. under.Dragon King Arthur XII made a prompt decision and led a large army to fight in person, trying to turn the tide before the situation deteriorated.However, his approach was later proved to be in the trap of the devil. The various kings suffered heavy losses in the trap jointly set up by the devil and the deceased, and less than one tenth of the troops were able to escape back to the fortress of the Holy White Stone Castle alive.

This disastrous defeat brought a more serious blow to the Kingdom of Arthur than it seemed. The Dragon King, who was seriously injured in the trap, returned to the capital secretly, trying to use tricks to save his crumbling power.However, this just happened to make him fall into the final trap prepared for him by the mastermind behind the scenes, not only cost him his life, but also involved the griffin lord Levi Stone who happened to meet him.

The changes that followed were beyond the imagination of most people.Just after the Dragon King died in an assassination, Raul Adams, the powerful Grand Duke who was rumored to have a luxurious and corrupt attitude towards life, made a strong debut, and with the support of two powerful forces, the Death Knights and the Jailers of the Dreadfort, he used unparalleled decisiveness The wrist wiped out the opponents in one fell swoop.Among them even the famous sword dancer, the head of one of the nine pillar families.Ricardo, Magistrate of the Northern Territories, made Earl of Anse Aire.

After holding the power of the kingdom in his hands, Grand Duke Raul immediately presided over a simple enthronement ceremony, helping the crown prince Ken Adams to the golden throne that symbolized supreme power, and at the same time announced that the griffin lord Li Weiston was a traitor who killed the king.Just when he was ready to show his strength, a coalition army composed of many lords in the northern border appeared near the capital, demanding to find out the truth about the death of the Dragon King, and expressed their support for the Griffon Lord in a clear-cut manner.

This is also the last surprising change that happened before it was recorded in the history books of later generations as the "Day of Glory and Defilement".Then all the conspiracies and undercurrents surfaced, a huge obsidian castle descended in a sea of ​​flames, and the high walls and towers of the capital became useless waste, unable to protect anyone's life anymore.

The "city favored by the gods" that had never fallen fell into the hands of demons.

Under the tenacious resistance of the human defenders—especially the troops under the Griffin Lord—the demons' offensive was repeatedly defeated. In the end, they won precious four hours with their blood and lives, and helped more than a hundred thousand residents of the royal capital Fleeing the threat of death.

These people then went all the way north along the Guangyao Avenue, crossed the Oath River and the Baitou Mountains, which had never melted snow for thousands of years, and arrived at the Northern County, which is known for its barrenness and bitter cold.This embarrassing journey of lack of supplies and suffering from hunger and cold was described by many nobles as "the experience of conquering suffering with courage and will", and it was listed together with the life notes in the northern county in the following years as the first chapter of the revival of Arthur's kingdom. The heroic epic of the road.

The actual situation is not the case.

The climate in Northern County is cold and the land is barren, but that is already a thing of the past. The rise of the Griffin Lord Leviston not only maintains the last hope for the revival of the devastated Kingdom of Arthur, but also ends the Northern County has a history of few products and difficult farming.

As for the long and difficult journey described by the nobles, it is actually not that difficult.After evacuating from the capital, except for a slight delay in Duncan Village, the team has not stopped for a day, and along the way, they have absorbed refugees from the capital and farmers who have not evacuated in advance. , the number has reached nearly 20. Except for a small number of elderly nobles who caught colds due to their frail bodies, there is not even a single person who is sick, let alone left behind.

From this point of view, the ten-day journey could not be called "short of supplies, suffering from hunger and cold" at all. At most, it was more difficult than the days of drinking afternoon tea in front of the warm fireplace in the royal mansion.

However, the records of these nobles are not wrong. The winter in Northern County is indeed extremely long. Although the years on the calendar have moved towards spring, neither the snow-covered forest nor the frozen river can be seen melting. signs.

If there hadn't been a large amount of hardy oats planted in late autumn last year, and a bumper harvest had been obtained under the blessing of the God of the Earth, the sudden influx of nearly 20 mouths would have been enough to completely paralyze the extremely fragile food supply in Northern County.There has been a precedent for this kind of thing in history. When the land north of Dusk Forest was still occupied by refugees and rebels, King Arthur VIII of the Conqueror drove the defenders of Green Castle into a desperate situation by surrounding them heavily and cutting off the supply line. Then it ended the 150-year war in the northern border of the kingdom in one fell swoop.

Of course, all these problems were solved under the blessing of the God of the Earth—or in the words of the insider, the Griffon Lord.Thousands of carts have continuously brought a large amount of supplies from Li Wei's territory. In addition to the oats that contain the weak power of the earth, there are also dried meat, sausages, spices, salt and animal furs. Wooden barrels for other supplies, and a big fish with a body like a child, whose scales glisten in the sun.

But this only solves the problem of eating.Although the land in Northern Border County is vast, it is sparsely populated. Most of them are wastelands, mountains and jungles waiting to be reclaimed. It is not as easy as imagined to digest nearly 20 refugees.

As the capital and largest city of Northern County, Dirk City has only 5 residents, which is far from being able to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees.Li Wei ordered most of the frail old people and children to stay here, and the large group of people continued northward, passing through Sicily, North Ora, and several other northern towns, leaving some refugees in each place.However, when the final team was preparing to cross the Dusk Forest, there were still as many as 12 refugees.

The Dusk Forest is not a safe place. Although the Guangyao Avenue passes through the forest, even riding a horse takes a day and a night. Difficult to pass.Even for the tens of thousands of elite soldiers of the Northern Allied Forces, escorting such a huge team through was still an unprecedented and severe problem.

Generally speaking, with the Dusk Forest as a dividing line, the place to the north is the truly bitter cold and barren borderland of the Kingdom.Li Wei originally thought that many royal nobles would try their best to stay in the richer cities of Dirk or Sicily, but what surprised him was that, except for a few older or lower-status nobles, the vast majority The nobles of the royal capital all expressed their tireless and heroic gestures, resolutely following the Griffin Lord to the northern border, and doing their part for the revival of Arthur's Kingdom.

The resolute attitude of these nobles once moved Li Weiston quite a bit, until he saw the sneering smile on the corner of the mouth of Vice Archbishop Beria.

"Those people are not very loyal to the Kingdom of Arthur. You can see from the undercurrent of the nobles in the capital during the period after you fell into a coma. What they don't want to give up is the right to participate in decision-making." Experienced many similar struggles The experienced vice archbishop sighed slightly and said to the young griffin lord, "Dirk City and Sicily City are no longer the core of power in Northern County. It's been marginalized in the poker game."

"Wouldn't those people feel a little bored?" Li Wei snorted annoyedly, a burning flame flashed faintly in his eyes. "It's come to this point, and they still haven't forgotten their thoughts. Could it be that these royal nobles can't think of anything other than chasing power?"

"This is the way of life for the nobles in the royal capital, Lord Li Wei." The soft voice of Chief Bamilian Yang came from behind the two, "They are different from other powerful lords in that they have no territory, let alone an army, so they can only Always chasing power, whatever it takes, because that's the only thing they can hold."

Li Wei turned his head and examined the expression of the court chief, hoping to find his true thoughts from under the smiling mask.However, this is obviously quite difficult. Even the vice archbishop of Beria, who is also well versed in the rules of the game of power, would not be able to find any flaws in the face of Chief Bamilian.

"My lord, what you said makes sense." The vice archbishop of Beria spoke calmly, but the meaning in his words was as sharp as a razor blade, "The nobles of the royal capital will never give up the possibility of chasing power, but you also Like them, you didn't stay there, so what is your purpose?"

Facing the sharp questioning from the Deputy Archbishop of the Earth Temple, Chief Bamilian smiled slightly. Even during the long journey, this Chief Chief still found a chance to take a bath, and his body was full of the smell of rose dew. "Oh, of course it is for the interests of Lord Li Wei." His smile is sincere and enthusiastic, just like the expression he has shown many times in front of Li Wei, "Because we are allies of the same camp, so the interests of Lord Li Wei are also important." It's in my interest."

Li Wei didn't know if he could trust the always smiling court chief, but judging from his previous contacts with eunuchs, it seemed that he hadn't done anything to harm Li Wei's interests. "In this case, Lord Bamilian, I ask you to continue to perform the duties of the Sleepless Eye, find out all the movements of those nobles, and report to me, the guardian of the Kingdom of Arthur, is that okay?"

"I am willing to obey, Lord Li Wei." Director Bamili Yang smiled and bowed deeply to the Griffin Lord, as if receiving the royal order next to the golden throne, with posturing elegance and respect, "It is a pity that following the king With the fall of the capital, Sleepless Eye's information network is running low, and I'm afraid it won't be of much help for a while, but I will do my best, and I will leave first."

Seeing the back of the eunuch leaving, Li Wei and Deputy Archbishop Beria looked at each other, and they both found uncertainty in each other's eyes.

"What exactly is the manager thinking?" Li Wei scratched his hair in confusion, "Could it be that he really wants to help because of the half-joking covenant made in the tavern?"

"Master Li Wei, I don't think you should trust him, at least not until the power structure is completely stable." The vice archbishop of Beria shook his head solemnly and said, "Even in the Temple of the Earth, I have heard There are some legends about this Unsullied Man. He once won the trust of His Majesty the Mad King, but he also played the role of helping His Majesty the Dragon King, who was the crown prince at that time, raise the flag of rebellion in the bloody night of the king's capital. All in all, this A steward always seems to be on the side of the victor in the end."

"Mr. Beria, don't you mean that I am the final winner?" Levi couldn't help laughing bitterly.

"Who knows? Maybe that's the case." Vice Archbishop Beria also smiled, but the smile seemed a little mysterious, "Master Li Wei, let us pay attention to how long the Lord Chief of the Palace will stay by your side. "

While talking, the two walked through the oak gate of the Castle Black Inn and walked towards the courtyard where countless tents were set up.This place is not much different from Li Wei's memory, except that the fat boss who brewed good wine has been away for a long time, and the counters, tables and chairs are covered with a thick layer of dust.

Castle Black Hotel was originally a military fortress, much larger than ordinary hotels, but only a few people could enjoy the benefits of resting in houses sheltered from wind and snow.As the guardian of the whole kingdom of Arthur and the recognized commander of the coalition forces, Li Wei can certainly have the largest room, but he did not choose to live here, but left it to several older refugees.

Since even the Lord Guardian of the Realm did this, the nobles of the royal capital had no choice but to put on a high profile and gave up their houses to the weak old people and children, some of whom were ordinary people and some of them were wealthy nobles.

Two heavily armed crusader swordsmen stood in front of a huge cowhide tent. They were both wearing thick wool cloaks. Their bodies stood upright in the cold wind. The blade of the sword was inserted shallowly into the frozen ground.Seeing Li Wei and Deputy Archbishop Beria approaching, the two crusader swordsmen lowered their heads slightly, and their iron gloves slammed on their breastplates.

"My lord, my lord the vice archbishop of Beria."

Li Wei nodded to them, "Has the person who hit the front line returned?"

"Yes, I just arrived a few minutes ago." The crusader swordsman on the left replied concisely and powerfully, his voice sounded a bit dull through the full-face helmet.

Because it is related to whether the brigade can pass through the Dusk Forest smoothly, and whether they can be resettled in time after passing through, the knights sent to the front are of course Li Wei's most trusted people.When Li Wei walked into the cowhide tent, the three knights standing in front—Hall, Gavin, and Liat were drinking hot wine while talking with Flame Wheel Knight Wilps.Seeing the griffin lord walking in, the people inside the tent immediately stood up and saluted, and the metal clanging of armor colliding with each other rang together.

Li Wei's face was serious, and he knocked on his chest meticulously in return, and then looked at Knight Hall, the head of the three, "Knight Hall, is everything going well?"

"Everything is going well, Lord Li Wei." Knight Hall replied, "Master Sugard has already started to arrange after receiving the news from the big crow you sent. Several other newly built camps are ready to accommodate refugees, and the combined houses and tents are estimated to be able to accommodate more than [-] refugees, and food, clothing and other necessities are also well prepared.”

Li Wei nodded in satisfaction, "I believe Master Sugard can handle these things well, but have you made it clear to him that our current team is a full 12 people, which is bigger than expected?"

"Master Sugard has ordered that some villages along the way can divert at least 2 people." Knight Hall said. "Lord Li Wei, on the other hand, the wild animal troops led by the big bobcat and the silver wolf have already cleaned up and expelled the herd of beasts in the forest along the Guangyao Avenue. When we passed, there was even a hyena or other wild beast howling No sound was heard."

"The howl of wolves that sound on time only once an hour is almost like telling the time." Riat Knight added with a smile on the side.

"That is a necessary way to drive out the herds of beasts. Although the big bobcats are better at hunting difficult beasts, it is thanks to the wolves led by Yisfang, the silver wolf, that they are able to keep a large number of herds away from the Avenue of Glory. said Hall Knight.

"Should we let the wolves leave the Avenue of Glory temporarily, at least not howling?" Li Wei frowned slightly, "I'm worried that the howling of wolves will cause misunderstanding and fear among the refugees, which will cause commotion."

"That shouldn't be a problem, as long as the wolves don't haunt the roadside, there won't be any misunderstanding." Deputy Archbishop Beria twisted his beard and said, "As for the sound of howling wolves, I think it's better to keep it, because the dusk forest is a If you can't even hear the howl of a wild animal in the famous dangerous place in Beijing County, it will make people even more suspicious."

"Mr. Beria, you are right." Li Wei thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, "Then everyone, immediately inform everyone to prepare. Tomorrow morning, the large group of people will start to cross the Dusk Forest in batches."

"Obey! Master Li Wei!" Everyone in the tent answered loudly together, their voices were sonorous and powerful, like a battle horn blowing.

(End of this chapter)