Rose Empire

However, when they swam to the shore, what awaited the travelers was a stone wall.

The rock wall was made extremely slippery by the waves. The traveler tried several times to climb up but failed. At this time, he was really exhausted and could not muster any strength at all.

The hope he had just seen was shattered again, and the traveler couldn't help but burst into tears.

As the sun rose higher, the water vapor on the sea was also dissipated.

The traveler was tired of crying, and just when he had almost given up hope of living, a fishing net was thrown down from the stone wall and landed in front of the traveler.

Two round little heads popped out from the stone wall. They were a little boy with short hair and a little girl with a high bun.

"Hold on to the net and we'll pull you up," the little boy shouted.

"Okay, okay." The traveler was pleasantly surprised and quickly put his hands and feet into the mesh and entangled them tightly.

The two little heads shrank back, and the traveler felt the net rope was stretched tight. It was the people above who pulled it. However, the two children were obviously not strong enough. After pulling for a while, the traveler did not rise even an inch.

The little girl's sky-high bun and a pair of big round eyes popped out again: "You are too heavy! My brother and I can't pull you up."

"If you can't pull it up, go and call an adult in your family to pull me up!" the traveler reminded.

"Oh, I'll go call mom and dad." The little girl responded obediently, then retracted her head.

The traveler soaked in the water for a while, but there was no movement from above. He couldn't help but shout twice: "Hey, hey, is there anyone else?"

There was no response from the stone wall, probably because the two children had left.

"Hey, is anyone back?" the traveler asked again after a while.

Still no response.

The traveler became anxious. Those two children didn't come back? Did they give up on me? Could I still survive? Was this really God's punishment for me...

The more the traveler thought about it, the more confused and panicked he became: "Please come back soon... I beg you... Save me... I don't want to die... I don't want to die... Save me... God, please spare me..."

These words sounded like a cry for help, but also like a soliloquy.

Suddenly, like an angel gifted by God, the familiar sky-high bun emerged from the top of the stone wall again.

"Hold on tight, we'll pull you up," said the young little girl.

The traveler was surprised and delighted, and he grabbed the rope again. This time, he felt a clear force coming from the rope. His body rose up little by little, and finally got out of the water.

After successfully climbing up the rock wall, the traveler stumbled and fell to the ground. He kissed the earth greedily. The touch of the solid soil made him extremely happy.

When the traveler had vented enough, an adult male voice asked, "Sir, are you the sailor who fell into the water on that big ship?"

The traveler then stood up and looked around, and saw a boy, a girl, a dark-complexioned middle-aged man and a weather-beaten woman standing around him - these should be the two children and their parents who rescued him and brought him ashore.

The traveler did not answer the host's question, but asked: "Do you have anything to eat?"

The male host was slightly stunned, but thinking that the other party might have been drifting on the sea for a long time, he still invited the traveler to his home to eat something to fill his stomach.

The traveler was taken to a small fishing village, which was located on a cape extending into the sea. There was a gentle slope on the east side of the cape and a stone wall on the west side.

It turns out that we only need to go around the stone wall for a few hundred meters and reach the land from the gentle slope. There is no need to cry and embarrass ourselves in front of these people... the traveler thought to himself.

The roads in the small fishing village are muddy and dirty, and there is a fishy smell in the air. People who have lived here all year round seem to be oblivious to it, but travelers can't help but frown.

What made the traveler frown even more was that after he sat down in the dark and simple thatched hut, the hostess, the mother of two children, brought him food - coarse black bread and a few slices of equally black salted fish.

The two children secretly drooled at the black bread and salted fish. However, the traveler asked, "Is this all you want me to eat?"

Before the two adults could answer, the little girl with a pigtail couldn't help but say, "How can you talk like that? This is the most delicious thing in our house!"

The host quickly stopped the little girl and smiled apologetically at the traveler: "Sir, this is a poor place. We really don't have anything good to treat you..."

The traveler pointed to the corner of the thatched hut and said, "Aren't there two chickens over there?"

The man waved his hands and said, "This chicken hasn't grown up yet, and we need to keep it for laying eggs in the future."

The traveler's eyes swept across the faces of the two children and their parents in the house. Suddenly, he smiled, put his right hand into his arms, waved his left hand at the male owner, and said, "Come and see if this is enough to buy two chickens for your family."

The man leaned forward, and the traveler pulled his right hand out of his bosom, holding an exquisite dagger inlaid with coral and gemstones. The man didn't have time to react before the dagger pierced his throat.

The traveler held the dagger, letting the man's blood spray on his hands, body, and face. He muttered something, his eyes glowed with green light, and four green wings of light appeared behind him.

"Ah ah ah..."

The hostess uttered a scream and rushed towards her husband.

The man's body gradually lost strength, and the traveler gave him a light push, and he fell backwards.

The hostess hugged her husband's body and covered his neck, trying to stop the blood from flowing out, but it was no avail. Her husband stopped breathing and even his skin was turning purple at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The two young children were already frightened by the sudden situation and their mother's screams.

"I'm going to fight you!" The hostess ran to the stove, grabbed a sickle and was ready to fight the traveler.

The traveler just looked at the hostess with a smile, as if he was watching a dying insect.

At this time, the male owner, who had obviously stopped breathing, stood up with an extremely strange and twisted movement. His neck was even tilted back, revealing his dark airway.

The hostess was so frightened that she stopped and the sickle in her hand trembled slightly.

The male owner, who was not sure whether he could still be called a human being, suddenly showed extremely agile movements. He grabbed his son and daughter by the neck with each hand and pressed them to the ground. There was a piece of white bone growing out of each of his wrists, pressing against the throats of the two children.

"Ah..." The hostess's sickle fell to the ground.

"If you don't want your child to die, kill those two chickens quickly and serve them to me," said the traveler.

Two young hens were killed, boiled in water and salt, and served. For a traveler who was used to a life of luxury, it was not delicious, but edible. He tore off some bread and threw it into the soup, then ate it with a slurp.

The hostess sat on the ground, staring at the traveler blankly, shaking all over, as if she was looking at a demon.

After finishing the chicken and drinking most of the soup, the traveler finally recovered some strength. He stood up, twisted his neck and stretched.

The little girl who was pinched by her father and pressed to the ground seemed to have some kind of ominous premonition and suddenly burst into tears: "I don't want to die, Dad, Dad, I don't want to die, I'm so scared..."

The traveler snapped his fingers.

The bone spur on the man's wrist suddenly extended and pierced the throats of the two children.

The crying stopped suddenly.

A massacre spread in the small fishing village.

The traveler did not stay in the village to admire the slaughter he had created. Instead, he walked around the village and found a cemetery shared by nearby villagers.

"Damn the Inquisition!"

"Damned dervish!"

"Damn knight!"

"Damn Viscount Lanwan!"

"You forced me to do this! You asked for this! I told you I would make you regret this, damn knight!"

The traveler stood in the center of the cemetery, his hands raised high, his expression ferocious, cursing non-stop, and four green wings behind him shining brightly.

The ground first shook slightly, then a mound of earth rose up, and then one by one, remains, some rotten and some with only bones left, broke out of the ground.

PS: Thanks to "Stupid Tiger" for the reward, and thanks to everyone for the tickets and blades. QQ group ①⑥ Bar ②①7七伊六

Volume 35: Chapter 32 Chapter Necromancer (II)

"And you, damned Cleon."

Regba Dando came from Fife, the richest city-state on the Sokya Peninsula. Not long ago, he was a wealthy lord from a prominent family, a scholar with a wealth of knowledge, a well-known orator who served as the elder of the city-state many times, and enjoyed a wealthy life and a large number of followers.

Until that day, the inquisitor of the Inquisition kicked open the door of his house.

Looking back, Legba Dando realized that it was his favorite student, Cleon, who secretly sold the secret that he was a necromancer to the Inquisition.

Legba Dando trusted that disciple so much that he not only taught him carefully, but also funded his awakening ceremony and even married his daughter to him. However, what he got in return was betrayal.

No wonder Creon was unwilling to follow the same path of the Undead faction as himself.

Legba Dando was furious, and after escaping, his first thought was to seek revenge on his disciples and expose Cleon's hypocritical face in public. However, he had no chance at all, as the dervish followed him relentlessly like a jackal smelling blood, and chased him all the way from Eto to Ambrato.

In order to survive, Regba Dando abandoned his gorgeous clothes and almost all his belongings, and mixed in with the dirty and smelly mercenary team. When he saw the border of the Orlan Empire was right in front of him, Regba Dando thought he was going to escape, but in the end - "It's none of your business, it's none of my business" appeared.

Looking at the awakened corpses gathering and slowly moving eastward, Regba Dando felt happy. He swore that if he could catch the annoying knight after crushing the Viscount Lanwan's territory, he would peel off all the flesh on his body except his mouth and make him into a corpse puppet that could only say "It's none of your business, it's none of my business".

As for whether he could crush the Viscount Lanwan, Regba Dando was not worried at all. Because the merchants who had been to the Viscount Lanwan said that there was not a single griffin in the Viscount Lanwan, and the strongest knight only had two wings, while he, Regba Dando, was a four-winged necromancer.

Isn’t it common sense that two wings cannot defeat four wings?

A day later than Charlotte and the others, Knight Jack Moore, who had gone to Quaker Forest, also returned with letters from Earl Philips, the Countess and Charlotte's future sister-in-law Monica.

Earl Philips expressed his understanding of Charlotte's closure of the trade route, and he didn't care much. First, the timber from the Quick Forest was first supplied to the Green Plains Principality and the Orlan Empire, and then sold to the outside world; second, the Quick Forest also had a sea trade route leading to the Sokya Peninsula, although that sea trade route could only trade with several city-states on the east coast of the Sokya Peninsula, and the city-states on the west coast were too far away.

Theoretically, due to its special geographical location, Ambratu also enjoys the Lan Bay coastline and can build a dock on the east coast, but the problem is that their route out of Lan Bay is blocked by the Lesser Sassiani, and this section of the Lan Bay coastline cannot be effectively utilized at all, so Ambratu can currently be regarded as a west coast city-state.

From Earl Philip's perspective, it didn't matter who he sold it to. The Fuso in the West Coast city-state was not more valuable than the Fuso in the East Coast city-state. Therefore, he didn't care that Charlotte had blocked some of his customers.

Countess Simone directly rejected Charlotte's request to buy wood. She wrote in the letter that if Charlotte needed wood, she could just tell her directly and she could give it to Charlotte for free.

Madame Simone kept her word.

Jack Moore came back riding the giant eagle of the Earl of Quaker Forest. According to him, there was another carriage on the road behind him. The Countess loaded most of the carriage with mahogany and a small part of golden peacock wood.

Mahogany is a very high-end furniture wood. Whether in the imperial palace or in the duke's castle, mahogany furniture is an indispensable decoration.

Golden peacock wood is even rarer. It is said that when this wood is cut, it will show golden red lines like the tail feathers of a golden peacock, hence the name. Because it is too beautiful and the output is not high, the price of golden peacock wood is expensive. It is generally only used to make the hilt of the noble sword or the jewelry box of the noble lady.

Charlotte could not help but sigh at the Count of Quickforest's wealth when such precious wood was given away for free. So, she replied directly that she needed a large amount of pine and beech wood for building a house. In order to show that she was not willing to get it for free, Charlotte asked Mrs. Simone to keep an account in the letter and she would pay it back when she was well-off in the future.

Finally, there was Monica's letter. The Countess stuffed a painting in the envelope. It was a landscape painting of the Viscountry of Lanwan that she drew based on Charlotte's description and her own imagination. The romantic and beautiful scenery in the painting had nothing to do with the impoverished and dilapidated Viscountry that Charlotte had to face every day.

However, Charlotte was still a little surprised by her cousin's solid painting skills.

In the letter, Monica also suggested that Charlotte replant roses around the castle, which she thought would be very beautiful.

Charlotte replied that she would seriously consider Monica's suggestion, and also planned to praise her cousin's paintings in the letter.

However, while Charlotte was writing a letter, Renee hurried into the study.

"Miss, Knight Hermann Green has something urgent to report to you." Renee said.

"Hermann? Let him in," said Charlotte.

"Your Excellency," Hermann knelt on one knee in a standard knight's salute after entering the door. Without any extra greetings, he said directly, "Two patrol teams have discovered a large group of walking corpses in the southwest of the territory! The number may exceed 5,000."

There were two knights following behind Herman. Charlotte still remembered them. One was Adams Bell and the other was Eric Scamario's brother, Costa Scamario. When they saw Herman Green kneeling down to salute, they also knelt down.

"A walking corpse?" Charlotte immediately thought of The Walking Dead. Was this going to be a doomsday scenario? But soon, she shook off this weird idea and guessed a more realistic possibility, "Necromancer?"

"You two should get up," Charlotte frowned slightly, and then said to Renee, "Go and call Lilith."

"Yes." Leni replied and left.

Not long after, Lilith appeared in the study room, probably because her research was interrupted, and she looked impatient: "What's the matter?"

"There may be a necromancer in my territory." Charlotte briefly explained the situation, and then asked Hermann and the other two, "Who saw those walking corpses with their own eyes? Describe the situation at that time."

Herman looked at the two southern knights behind him, Costa and Adams looked at each other, and finally Adams stood up and recounted the strange and terrifying scenes they saw during their daily patrols.

When she heard the green light in the zombies' eyes, Lilith nodded and said, "This is indeed the ability of the Undead faction, and it is the ability of a high-level necromancer, called the March of the Dead."

After getting Lilith's confirmation, Charlotte immediately said to Jack Moore, who had been waiting nearby to deliver another letter, "Go and notify all the knights in the territory to gather at the castle immediately, and remind them to bring their full armor and weapons."

"Yes." Jack Moore immediately went to carry out the order.

After giving the order, Charlotte continued to ask Lilith: "Lilith, how much do you know about the Undead faction?"

Lilith thought for a moment and said, "The undead factions have been severely suppressed by the church, and their heritage is very scattered. The farther the regions are from each other, the greater the differences between the undead factions. However, as far as I know, there should be only two undead factions that are most likely to appear in Viscount Lanwan's territory."

Lilith pointed to the map of Viscount Lanwan's territory that Charlotte hung on the wall of the study and said, "One is the Lavyu Undead faction from the Kingdom of Lesare in the west, and the other is the Metro Undead faction that is more common in the Sokya city-state."

"If it's the Lavyu Necromancer faction, then the situation is a little trickier, because in this faction, the March of the Dead is an ability of the Five-Winged Warlocks. This means that the opponent is at least Five-Winged."

"In the Metro Undead faction, the March of the Dead is an ability that is awakened when one reaches the fourth wing. If the opponent belongs to the Metro Undead faction, then it is barely good news. We can look forward to it. The opponent is a novice who has just been promoted to the fourth wing."

Lilith paused, and Herman Gran stared at the map and said, "If they were necromancers from the Kingdom of Lesare, the direction in which their bodies appeared should be more to the north, but now they are in the south-southwest position. If this is not a cunning conspirator using fraud to deceive us, then he is most likely a city-state smuggler who sneaked in from the Lanwan Sea."

"Otherwise, this is inexplicable." Herman drew a long line on the map from the western border of Viscount Lanwan's territory to the location where the zombies were found. "There are obviously many villages and cemeteries in the west, but the necromancer had to travel so far to use the ability of the march of the dead."

"Metro Necromancer faction? That's easy, I'm quite familiar with this faction," Lilith nodded and said, "This Necromancer faction has an ability called corpse control that can be awakened in one wing. This ability can finely control corpses, not only allowing them to move freely, but also allowing them to grow all kinds of extra parts and develop some strange uses. For Necromancers, it's a very practical skill in both combat and life."

"When they reach the second wing, they can awaken an ability called peeping. This ability allows the necromancer to peek into the memories of the deceased. The fresher the corpse, the more memories they can see. This allows the necromancer to obtain a considerable number of secrets that cannot be seen in the light, which is also a major reason why the Metro necromancer faction is popular in the city-state."

"When it comes to the three wings, there are two main possibilities for the Metro Undead faction. The first is called Corpse Stitching, and the second is called Death Miasma. Both of these abilities are very lethal. The former can stitch multiple corpses together to create a huge monster, and the latter can release poisonous gas over a large area."

"When there are four wings, it is the March of the Dead that I just mentioned. The March of the Dead can awaken a large number of corpses at the same time, and make them move at the same time like an army. The combat effectiveness of a single corpse is affected by the physical fitness of the deceased when he was alive, the completeness of the corpse, and the strength of the necromancer himself. Generally speaking, the corpses of ordinary people awakened will be more agile than the deceased when he was alive..."