Dragon Gate Swordsman

Chapter 74 Miss, I'm sorry for wronging you

For Natalia Andreyevna Rostova, it was just another morning.

The cool breeze blew on the leaves covered with dew, the soft sunlight began to bring warmth to the earth, and Chernobyl, which had been sleeping in the night for a whole night, gradually woke up, ready to greet another day of hustle and bustle.

The pace of life of the Ursus people is slower than that of the Longmen. After all, their country is still in the pain period of "transformation". Those who are willing to work hard will not get much reward, and those who do not have to work hard naturally do not need to be diligent and get up early.

But please don’t think that the latter have a lot of free time. In fact, those young people of aristocratic origin...whether they are newly emerging capitalists or old-school aristocrats who uphold traditions, are much "busier" than the children of ordinary people.

Especially a girl like Natalia, who is considered to be quite prominent even among the nobles.

"Good morning, Mr. Harkov."

"Good morning, Miss Natalia...Are you going to take etiquette lessons from Madam Margarita today as well?"

"No, I have to meet my father's friends at noon today."

If a Disney princess was standing here at this moment, the word "friend" alone would probably be enough to make the young aristocratic girl dance and sing.

But for some reason, Natalia's expression when she said this seemed a little...

have no choice?

Mr. Harkov, the gardener and rickshaw driver, was not a man who was good at reading people's expressions, so he naturally did not notice this.

But he could notice that Natalia, who was sitting in the pavilion, looked less energetic than usual.

"Miss, what happened?"

"Hmm? No, Mr. Harkov, thank you for your concern."

The girl, who is not even fifteen years old, has lived in a honeypot-like environment since childhood, but she has not developed an arrogant and domineering character... I have to say, this is very rare.

As one of the richest men in Chernobyl, Marquis Rostov was a close friend of Marquis Boris, so his status in the aristocratic circle was naturally extraordinary (Note)

His care and love for his daughter is also well known, as can be seen from the fact that Natalia can even accompany her father to visit the city hall.

However, in return, Natalia also "enjoyed" an extremely fulfilling treatment: in addition to attending aristocratic schools, she had to go to Madam Margarita every weekend and holiday to take private etiquette lessons, and she also had to take time to visit the poet Mr. Sikind of Chernobyl and learn Ursus art under his guidance.

It was well known in the Chernobyl aristocratic circle that Marquis Rostov was very concerned about his reputation, and his extremely high demands on his daughter were partly out of his desire for her to become a successful person and partly out of consideration for the future.

Of course, Natalia couldn't understand all this now... She only knew that she should try her best to do her best so as not to disappoint her father's expectations.

After sitting in the pavilion for a few minutes, the girl sighed imperceptibly, then stood up and returned to her room.

Having to attend a formal event with her father at noon gave her a rare half-day "vacation" during which she could do something she liked.

Don't get me wrong, it's not about reading. Natalia doesn't actually like reading.

As for art, music, poetry, etc., they were not her cup of tea... Even Chernobog, no! All the noble girls in Ursus were working hard to learn these so that they could really look like "nobles".

Apart from Natalia herself, only her mother knew her true hobby.

After looking at the corridor for a few seconds and making sure that no one would disturb her, the girl locked the bedroom door, then ran to her bookcase and took out some strange little gadgets.

It was some kind of delicate mechanical part, or a toy.

Only the most skillful craftsmen with a certain degree of knowledge of mechanical structure can make such things, but Natalia seemed to be very familiar with them and assembled them together in no time.

The final product looks like a small robot with a clockwork mechanism on its back.

By turning the spring a few times, the little robot can walk slowly on the table, stumbling but looking cute.

"Ugh……"

Although she made such a sound, the girl herself actually didn't know what she was sighing about.

At this moment, the voice of Marquis Rostov suddenly came from outside the door.

"Natalia, are you in there?"

The girl jumped up like a frightened beast, hurriedly hid the little robot under the quilt, then ran over and opened the door.

"Father...Father!"

"Well, this afternoon... huh? What are you doing?"

Marquis Rostov had sharp observation skills, or perhaps Natalia's acting skills were not up to par... In any case, the panic on the girl's face was as obvious as ink drops on white paper.

"Nothing...Nothing! Father, I'm...I'm practicing the posture that Madam Margarita taught me."

"Is it?"

A qualified father could naturally tell that his daughter was lying, but after taking a quick look around the bedroom, he did not see anything suspicious, so he did not pursue the issue further.

"Try to dress formally, child... We are going to see Count Yegor at noon today."

……

Count Yegor is not a noble from Chernobog, but the head of a political family in the mobile city of Kildore in the northeast of Ursus.

In that larger moving city, the earl was basically one of the people standing at the pinnacle of power, a big shot who could make the entire moving city tremble with just a stomp of his feet.

He came to Chernobyl this time at the invitation of the Ursus royal family, serving as an "imperial envoy" to visit all the mobile cities in the eastern part of the empire, observe and summarize the implementation of the policies promulgated by Emperor Fedor, and then report to him.

However, Roskopf did not really get involved in politics. The purpose of his banquet for the Count was to get his recommendation. With the large amount of money earned from the development of Chernobyl, he might be able to get the title of Count... Of course, his noble status, which was obtained through dishonorable means, is completely different from that of a real Count.

But Roscoff is a face-saver, isn't he?

Because Count Yegor was "busy", the banquet that was supposed to be held in the evening had to be postponed to noon.

During this period, Roskov, who deliberately wanted to build a relationship, toasted with the Count, just like old friends who had not seen each other for many years. Natalia's mother also interjected a word or two from time to time, showing her "hostliness".

Only Natalia herself felt quite uneasy... Although she was well-developed and looked like an adult, she was actually still a little girl in junior high school and had no idea how to deal with such situations.

Fortunately, Roskopf noticed his daughter's condition, and then he let her leave first on the pretext that she had not recovered from a cold, and let her go home with Hakov.

"Huh... I finally got out..."

"Ms. Natalia doesn't like being in there?"

"Not at all. I don't know what to say at all."

Natalia rubbed her hair in frustration, "I really don't understand why my father had to bring me here."

"Bringing your family will make this visit more like a meeting between ordinary friends, and it will also show that the Marquis is very sincere."

"Sincerity? What sincerity?"

"This is difficult to explain to you, young lady. Anyway, please try to understand the Marquis. He is not trying to make things difficult for you."

Of course I knew my father didn't mean it, but I really didn't like Count Yegor...his smile looked so fake.

The young Miss Natalia naturally could not understand the ins and outs of the adult world, and simply felt that these had nothing to do with her.

However, soon, misfortune that changed her life came.

The cart stopped suddenly, causing Natalia, who was lost in thought, to almost fall forward... Logically speaking, with Rothskov's financial resources, all kinds of luxury cars would be no problem at all, but he was willing to imitate the nobles of Victoria and use exquisite and gorgeous carts to travel in the city.

"Mr. Harkov?"

"It's okay, miss. There was a car that was not behaving properly. I just asked them to move out of the way."

Natalia stuck her head out and did see a pickup truck stopped in the middle of the road, but she didn't pay much attention to it.

Hakov has been with his father for more than 20 years. When he was his father's assistant, he was able to handle all kinds of things in an orderly manner, and the same is true now that he has retired.

However, this time, the situation was beyond his ability to handle...

Natalia in the cart suddenly heard a strange sound, like a suppressed groan of pain, and then the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground. But before she could get off to see what was happening, the door was suddenly opened!

“Ah!! Who are you!?”

"Shut up! Unless you want to die here!"

The strange man showed the dagger in his hand, causing the terrified Natalia to freeze in place instantly.

The fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl had never seen such a scene before, and was tied up tightly with ropes by the criminals, and then carried out of the cart... This also allowed Natalia to see Hakov lying in a pool of blood, his life or death unknown.

She bit her lips tightly and tried hard to suppress her trembling body, because she was afraid that if she shouted, the dagger would stab directly into her heart.

Just like that, Natalia was thrown into the toolbox under the back seat of the pickup, unable to see or hear anything.

Until the sudden brakes caused her head to hit the front and she lost consciousness...

……

Looking at the shivering Natalia, Chongxiao kept repeating the two most essential words of Yan Guoyu in his mind.

What the hell!

Look at my luck. I just hijacked a car on the street and it turned out to be the kidnappers' tool to transport hostages?

A tool is a tool... but I have met this girl before! ?

What's going on? This is it!

Chongxiao really wanted to pose as if he was asking questions to the heavens in silence, but unfortunately all he saw was the roof of the car.

He now understood why the Chernobyl military and police blocked the checkpoint so quickly. It was probably because the girl was kidnapped, and then he and Red ran directly into trouble.

This is really like yellow mud falling into the crotch...it's going to shit anyway.

Chongxiao had just been thinking about leaving the hostages here and going back himself, but with a little thought he knew that with Natalia's noble status and the strength of the blockade by the Chernobyl military and police, they would definitely catch up and deal with him and Red... unless Natalia said nothing.

How can such a good thing happen?

The girl had just been kidnapped. Was there any reason for him and Red to cover up for her?

In desperation, Chongxiao had to try to explain.

"Um... the situation is like this, Miss Natalia, we..."

After talking for a long time, Chongxiao found that the girl still had her tearful eyes open, as if she was begging for something and didn't listen to what he said at all.

At the critical moment, Red, who was still learning to drive by imitating others, turned around and said something that made him suddenly enlightened, like seeing the sun through the clouds: "I say, shouldn't you help the man untie the rope first?"

gan...

Embarrassed and guilty, Chongxiao quickly cut the ropes that tied Natalia, and then helped her stiff body to her seat.

After all these operations, the girl was blushing. If she didn't think she was still in danger, it would have been a beautiful sight.

"No... don't kill me... I... my father has money..."

"We are not kidnappers."

Chongxiao was very troubled, and he also understood that in this situation, it would not be easy for Natalia to resolve the misunderstanding because she was trapped in the box and could not see anything.

"Look, we weren't the ones who attacked you, right? In fact, I just dealt with those two bastards, but I didn't expect you to be locked up here."

"Then...then can you let me...go?"

"Well... Sorry, not at the moment."

His words made Natalia pout and she almost cried.

Well, it seems that ordinary methods will not work.

Chongxiao glanced back at Red who was in the driver's seat... This guy was already familiar with the basic driving skills of the car. At least he had no problem driving in a straight line in the vast wilderness. He was looking straight ahead, as if he had made up his mind to leave the matter to Chongxiao.

What a disloyal thing!

After cursing inwardly, Chongxiao once again looked at Natalia, who was curled up in the back seat, looking pitiful.

The girl was still wearing a rather formal Ursus women's dress. Although it was not a sexy style due to her age, it was difficult to keep warm in the wilderness where the temperature was even lower.

In other words, her trembling appearance was not entirely caused by fear.

After realizing this, Chongxiao took off his coat without saying a word and handed it over.

"Put it on."

There was some hesitation in Natalia's eyes, but the cool breeze blowing in from the gap in the car window seemed to remind her, so she huddled over and took the coat and wrapped it around herself.

This was undoubtedly a good signal, at least it reduced the girl's fear a little.

"Sir, you really...really are not..."

"It's not true, I swear to God."