The temperature in the royal capital dropped sharply in the last few days of December, and the snow fell heavier and heavier.
In the early morning, the west gate of the city wall was covered up to a quarter by heavy snow overnight, and the road surface was covered tightly, making the gate completely inaccessible.
Early in the morning, all the carriages and horses that wanted to enter the city were blocked at the gate.
The soldiers of the city guards were holding whips and sticks, driving the thinly clothed slaves to clean the road. The soldiers were too cold to even whip them, and the slaves looked like they were about to die of the cold.
Not far from the door, there was a team of two carriages and five trucks. These carriages were solidly made and of novel style. The trucks also had roofs to protect against wind and rain, which made them look very sophisticated. In the team, the drivers of each car were dressed very warmly, forming a sharp contrast with their shivering counterparts in the surrounding cars. There were also many fully armed warriors beside the drivers and in the shed behind them. Most of them wore uniform plate armor and cloaks.
The strength of this fleet is undoubtedly among the best among the vehicles in the queue, which inevitably attracted the attention and envy of the vehicles in front and behind.
Anyone with a bit of vision could tell that this was a team from a powerful family. Someone noticed that the emblem on the carriage was a round emblem with a red background and gold edges and a ribbon and wheat ears, but even though these managers and drivers had traveled a lot and were knowledgeable, no one recognized this emblem.
"This is the caravan of the Black Mountain Mage." Finally, a driver from the northwest revealed the answer. "Have you never heard of glass and porcelain? You must have heard of the Black Mountain Sword and Black Mountain Armor, right? Look, those guards are wearing the best Black Mountain Armor. Among ordinary armors without enchantments, Black Mountain Armor is the thickest."
"I know that the liquor they produce is popular throughout the northern part of the kingdom. The nobles are scrambling for it. It's a good thing. One sip will warm you up. It's okay to take off your clothes and go out into the snow." said another coachman.
His words caused everyone to burst into laughter.
"You know nothing." A manager-like man said, "These are the products that were available two months ago. The most popular things among adults now are Chinese paper and Chinese pens."
“What kind of country is China?”
"These wizards in Black Mountain came from China, they call themselves Chinese. Their castle can fly through space... Hey, you won't understand even if I tell you, anyway, they are from a very powerful family. Their paper and pens are much better than the parchment scrolls and quill pens that everyone usually uses. Now our young lady uses them to write poems, otherwise she would be embarrassed to exchange with other young ladies." The steward said proudly.
"I wonder how much the things in these five trucks are worth." someone said enviously.
"Anyway, it's not worth selling our remaining cars, including the people and cars," said the manager.
"How come there are no bandits coveting such a fat sheep? They managed to get to the capital safely."
"Why not?" the first driver from the northwest retorted, "A few months ago, Cadiz, the king of horse thieves in our area, recruited thousands of horse thieves to target them. Guess what?"
"Nonsense, of course the mages won." said the steward.
"Yes, but their losses must have been huge, with thousands of bandits. This has never happened before. If the bandits really go crazy, I'm afraid the Earl's castle won't be able to withstand it, right?"
"Let me tell you, those bandits went to attack the castle of the Black Mountain Wizard, but they were wiped out by just a few magic spells. Even Kadis, who was known as a high-level warrior, was smashed into a meat pie by a meteorite that fell from the sky."
"Can those wizards summon meteorites?" Most of the coachmen around were excited. In the middle of winter, when stuck in traffic, there was no better way to kill time than listening to such nonsense stories.
"Of course, since then, anyone who wants to attack them has to think twice. However, there are still some who are blind. Does the War God Temple know?"
“Hush, that’s the name of a false god. You ignorant things like you dare to discuss the affairs of God.” The steward said nervously.
"If you don't dare to listen, then go away." The driver said unhappily, "Where can the priests of the temple be found here? They are enjoying themselves in the temple full of flowers."
"That's right, only poor people like us can be born like this." Another guard echoed.
The manager curled his lips, but was reluctant to go far away. He stepped back two steps, still listening to the driver's nonsense with his ears perked up.
"Those under the false god naturally coveted the wealth of these wizards. They secretly sent people to set fire to the wizard's castle, hoping to take advantage of the chaos to steal the money! But the Black Mountain wizard is not that easy to deal with. The idiot who sneaked into the castle was hanged before he could do anything. Those teams that were preparing to rob were also blocked by the wizards and were all wiped out by them. The wizards were afraid that others didn't know, so they specially spread the word that anyone who wanted to target them like these horse thieves and false god believers would be arrested. Not only them, but also their families would be found by the wizards and hanged on the way into the city."
"They hanged the followers of the false god as well?"
"Of course. I've been there to transport goods. There's a section of road leading into their city where there are dead bodies hanging everywhere. Most people would be scared to the point of wanting to pee when passing by there, but I'm a brave man, so I walked in with my head held high." The driver said proudly.
The people around him snickered, obviously not believing the driver's big talk.
The driver didn't care at all. He waved his hand and said, "Hey, don't tell me, this method is very useful. Now no one dares to target the Chinese anymore. We who run goods in the northwest are all grateful to them. It makes our life outside much safer."
"No wonder we heard that in the royal capital, the Black Mountain Mage has a very good relationship with the new high priest of the royal capital, Lord Roland. Lord Roland even went to their newly opened shop in person. It turns out that they have contributed to the God of Nature's victory over the false god before. This is much better than those mages who don't care about the glory of God." The steward turned out to be a very devout believer.
Everyone was still discussing the anecdotes of the Black Mountain Wizard, when they unexpectedly heard a loud bang at the city gate.
When everyone looked back, they found that the snow on the city wall had melted after the sun rose. The ice and snow on the spire slid down, bringing with it the snow on the battlements. The pile of snow just buried the two slaves who were carrying tools under the city wall.
"Oh! These two guys are so unlucky. They are probably doomed by being crushed and frozen." The coachman who was telling the story sighed.
"That's right. In this weather, the slaves are lucky if they can return alive without freezing to death or getting sick. These two are just going ahead. By the end of this journey, several weak ones will probably die." The drivers had some sympathy for the slaves.
However, the soldiers who were guarding the slaves were completely indifferent. They drove away several slaves who wanted to rescue people and forced them to continue cleaning the road.
Just as everyone was lamenting, the door of the second carriage of the Black Mountain team opened and two women wrapped in furs walked out.