The Earls of Green Lake - The Joyce family.
The Joyce family rose up in the Battle of the Icefield more than two hundred years ago. The ancestors of the Joyce family who joined the army at that time beheaded the leader of the barbarian army against the trend, and tried their best to protect the northern part of the Dana Kingdom from being slaughtered, and saved Prince Dana, who was personally conquered by the royal driver.
Because of his military exploits, the ancestor of Joyce was awarded the hereditary viscount. His territory is located in the Green Lake area in the east of Dana, so he is also called the Viscount of the Green Lake.
Over the next hundred years, with the joint efforts of successive generations of the Joyce family, the family title was finally elevated to earl sixty years ago.
But after stepping into the earl, the Joyce family seemed to be exhausted, and there were no more amazing people.
The above are the records about the Joyce family in the information about the nobles of the North that Jose had previously collected.
Just now, after the explanation of Marcus, the second generation ancestor, Jose found that the information he collected was wrong, and it was outrageously wrong.
The Joyce family has never produced any amazing characters. The contemporary Earl of Green Lake is very amazing, but this amazingness needs to be added with quotation marks.
The contemporary Earl of the Green Lake—Berkeley Joyce changed his ancestral military aristocrat's iron-blooded style, and turned to eating, drinking and having fun, and he was especially good at playing, such as masquerade balls, underground manors...
A well-behaved green lake leader was turned into a heaven and earth for Dana's dignitaries by him.
Such a guy is absolutely well-informed and knows a lot of tricks and black materials of those in power, so he became Jose's target.
Huh ~.
The airflow flows under the wings, and the scenery on the ground retreats rapidly.
Half an hour passed, and Jose saw the Green Lake collar from a distance in the sky.
It was a green lake, which looked like an emerald inlaid in the hills from the sky, and there was a castle beside the lake, which was the castle of the Earl of Green Lake.
Not far from the off-white castle, there is also a human settlement with gray-toned buildings. The scale of the settlement is between a large town and a small city. It is the fiefdom of the Joyce family.
At this time, it was around nine o'clock in the morning. It was the time when people were busy after breakfast, and people came and went in the castle and town.
Jose saw soldiers standing at the city towers and city gates to maintain order. These soldiers stood casually, without vigilance at all, and some even chatted and joked with their companions.
It seems that the news of the destruction of Fort Ucardo has not reached here yet.
He thought so.
According to the general information transmission structure of the Northern Kingdom, if the king wants to issue any order, he will immediately transmit the news to the provincial capital city through magic means, and the local governor of the provincial capital city will send Qingqi to notify the surrounding nobles.
"fair enough."
Huge red dragons fly over the city.
In the city, a resident bent over to pick tomatoes felt that he had been shrouded in shadow for a moment. He stood up straight and looked up at the sky, just in time to see a crimson figure falling towards his lord's castle, dumbfounded.
"dragon?!"
"dragon!"
"..."
Riots broke out in this small town in an instant. Residents ran wildly on the streets, shouting in panic while running, and the soldiers on duty rang the alarm.
hold head high!
The passionate dragon chant overwhelmed all other sounds, deafening and disorienting.
But the city's vigilance is actually useless and unnecessary, because the red dragon's goal is only the off-white castle by the lake.
The soldiers on the castle only had time to shoot a round of arrows, José opened his mouth and spewed out dragon flames, which swept around the walls of the castle, leaving behind burning corpses and flaming walls.
bang!
The red dragon that flew back and landed on the top of the castle, and the whole castle trembled.
The servants in the castle screamed in panic and fled from the gate.
Jose didn't care about these fleeing servants, he sprayed a breath of dragon towards the soldiers rushing in the courtyard of the castle, only one knight on horseback reacted quickly, and rolled in time to escape from the range of the dragon's breath, and the rest of the people who dared to charge were turned into flames. ash.
After escaping from the dragon's breath, the mid-level knight roared and ran towards the castle alone.
It is admirable to dare to challenge knowingly that you are invincible, but this is not the reason for Jose to stay.
It took an extra three seconds for Jose to deal with the loyal mid-level knight who protected his lord, and then the dragon claws stabbed fiercely into the castle below, and began to demolish the house with his bare hands.
In his induction, a high-ranking soldier was going down the stairs with all his strength. Judging from the direction, this person did not intend to escape from the main entrance. It is estimated that the castle has an underground tunnel.
Even though Jose was demolishing the house very quickly, it was still one step too late because there were middle-level knights protecting the lord in the front and a solid castle in the back.
The high-level earl fled into the tunnel, restrained his own energy fluctuations, and disappeared into the induction.
Jose frowned slightly, but he was not discouraged, which was not an accident.
Just like how he made many arrangements in his Dragon Lair against powerful enemies, it is strange that a nobleman who has been passed down for more than two hundred years has no means of escape.
He uttered the spell quickly.
The Eye of Mystery!
A light blue eyeball appeared out of thin air, and flew towards the last place where the count disappeared. Through the gap between the collapsed boulders, he saw the scene of the escape tunnel.
"Well, the tunnel door was actually sealed. It seems to be an arrangement for human enemies, but I don't believe how far you can escape."
Jose raised his wings and soared into the sky, observing the surrounding terrain from a high altitude.
The castle of the Joyce family was built by the lake. This side of the lake will definitely not be the direction of the escape route, and there is a high probability that they will not escape to the fiefdom. There are only two general directions left.
He scanned two directions, one was a hilly grassland, the other was a small forest.
Thinking about it differently, if you were a member of the Joyce family, you would definitely place the escape exit in the lush woods, not the hilly grassland without any shelter.
An escape tunnel dug by humans, reaching the sky for a thousand meters.
Thinking of this, Jose flew over the woods, turned on [Data Vision], and distracted himself from time to time to observe the distant hills and grasslands.
Not long after, he saw a fast running figure through the gap between the trees.
Who is Berkeley Joyce, the current Earl of the Green Lake, who is not a high-ranking warrior who escaped.
Glancing at the escape direction of the Earl of Green Lake from a high altitude, Jose found a pasture behind the grove, and estimated that he planned to flee to the pasture, and then escaped on horseback.
Of course, he wouldn't put his chips on the estimate, and quickly uttered the spell in his mouth, while the light blue eyes of the secret law watched in the sky.
Leaving the watchful magic eye behind, Jose falls towards the ruined castle.
The reason for this is that the groves here are real groves, not the towering trees of the Jogol Mountains and Modo Peak Forest.
It is not difficult to kill the Earl of the Green Lake in such a forest with many obstacles, but if the Earl of the Green Lake is to be captured alive, if the Earl of the Green Lake uses the terrain snakeskin to move, it will really bring some difficulties to Jose. Warriors are not weak either.
Therefore, he chose to use the Eye of the Arcane to monitor first, in case the target escaped, while he went to the battlefield to collect spoils.
José landed on the ruins of the castle with the specific aim of excavating the ruins somewhere.
He had sensed that there was a lot of gold here before, and he put down his belongings for the time being just to prevent the target from escaping.
Under the huge force of the dragon, the collapsed huge boulder was thrown aside, and he dug out eight large wooden boxes and three small wooden boxes.
Opening the lid of the box, there are eight large wooden boxes full of gold coins from various countries. Among the three wooden boxes, one wooden box is filled with gemstones of various colors, and the other two wooden boxes are filled with magic items.
He planned to take a look at it after going back, pack everything up calmly, and fly into the sky.
The speed of the high-level fighters is not slow, but the red dragon is faster, so the Earl of the Green Lake did not escape on horseback as Jose thought, but hid in the main house of the ranch.
But what he didn't know was that his actions were all seen by eyes high in the sky.
Jose restrained his breath and flew towards the wooden house where the count was hiding.
This time, without the desperate guards of knights and soldiers, and without a strong castle, Jose did not give him a chance to escape into the woods.
A minute later, next to the ruins of the wooden house, the current Earl of Green Lake was crushed under Jose's claws, his face was ashen, and the ancestral magic sword also fell into the hands of the red dragon.
On the other side, Jose was also a little surprised.
He originally thought that the contemporary Earl of the Green Lake was a wimp hollowed out by wine and sex, but he didn't expect that he was a hard-headed person who dared to go all out.
It's just that although the earl has a tenacious will to resist, his strength is too weak compared to the red dragon, so he was finally captured alive.
"Berkeley Joyce, the ninth Earl of the Green Lake, tell me what I want, and I may consider sparing your life."
"Your Excellency Dragon, please also swear to the Mother of Dragons, I..."
Before he could finish speaking, Jose pressed hard, making him breathless.
"I'm not negotiating with you! You are not qualified to raise conditions!"
However, the Earl of Green Lake's worries were not completely unreasonable. Jose did intend to kill him immediately after asking the news.
After all, the Earl of Green Lake is not a second-generation ancestor like Fatty. He is not lacking in strength and character.
Seeing that the target was about to suffocate, he let go of the dragon claw.
Berkeley Joyce gasped for fresh air.
"Your Excellency Dragon, you want to hear some news from me, this is my bargaining chip!"
Panting heavily, he said intermittently: "Although I don't know what you want from me, I assure you that I will not let you down!"
"You, surprise me."
Jose took a deep look at the Earl of the Green Lake, judging from his performance at the critical moment of life and death.
Fatty, the second ancestor, was deceived by the appearance of this guy in front of him, or most of the dignitaries in Dana were deceived by him. This guy is not a corrupt person addicted to wine and sex at all, but a cunning fox in a corrupt coat. And tough as a lone wolf.
The Earl of the Green Lake hides so deeply, why
Jose doesn't care, he just wants to get what he wants.
He pointed his fingertips at the Earl of Green Lake's throat: "Little bug, do you think you are my only option?!"
"Don't try to piss me off!" The voice suddenly rose, "Otherwise I will teach you what cruelty is!"
The Earl of the Green Lake stared stubbornly at the Red Dragon.
Jose put further pressure: "By the way, if I remember correctly, you have a daughter who is married in the low hill next door, and you have a son who is studying at the Dana Royal Academy."
"If your answer doesn't satisfy me, then I swear, I will completely wipe Joyce's blood from this world!"
"Trust me, I have this ability!"
The Earl of Green Lake was stiff and his face flickered. He didn't think that the red dragon was joking.
It didn't take long before he realized the reality. The gap between the Joyce family and the Red Dragon was too great to be bridged by personal efforts. He sighed resignedly: "Your Excellency Dragon, do you want to what do you know?"
"The scandal of Dana's upper class, as well as the situation of domestic evil organizations, such as the church of evil gods, demon believers, necromancers, etc. Also, don't try to deceive me, otherwise you will not be able to bear the consequences."
The Earl of Green Lake thought for a moment, and then said: "I have a lot of scandals in the upper echelons of the kingdom. Necromancers and demon believers don't know about it, but I have heard some rumors about the Church of the Evil God."
"Then let's start with the Church of the Evil God."
"Ten years ago..."
After hearing it, Jose felt a little disappointed. The news was at least three years ago, and the news was not accurate, so it could be called a guesswork.
If you really search for these news, it will take a lot of time, and it is very likely that you will not get anything.
However, this situation is also very normal.
If the cult is so easily exposed, then it is not enough to become an opponent of the church.
"Then what about the black material on the upper level of Dana?"
"I have collected a lot in this regard, and I can't finish it in a day and a night."
"Then pick the point."
"..."
Now, Jose felt that the trip was worthwhile, and he had harvested some great news from the big and middle nobles of Dana, the kind that would peel off a layer of skin even if they didn't die.
With these black materials, he can threaten those nobles to do things for him, and the action of penetrating the Dana Kingdom will be much smoother.
The goal of attacking the Green Lake Territory was achieved.
Jose glanced at the Earl of the Green Lake, feeling a little entangled, whether he should kill him to avoid future troubles.
After thinking about it, he decided to ask first: "You guy, what is the purpose of collecting so many violent information about other nobles?"
"emmm..." The Earl of Green Lake hesitated, but still told the truth.
"Twenty years ago, my father realized that the earl was already the ceiling of our family, and we were not reconciled, so we came up with future plans..."
After listening, Jose suddenly understood what the Joyce family did.
In a small kingdom like the Kingdom of Dana, the earl can still be promoted by accumulating military merits, but the road above the earl is much narrower. The Joyce family hopes to find another way, and hopes to stabilize their position by collecting black information from major nobles. Help yourself to be in the top position.
The red dragon withdrew its claws, flapped its wings and flew into the sky under the surprised eyes of the Earl of the Green Lake.
The reason why the Earl of the Green Lake was let go was because Jose had figured out that the Joyce family was not his opponent at the same level.
The Joyce family has gone to great lengths just to make further progress under the aristocratic framework of the Dana Kingdom. This will require the joint efforts of several generations, and it is still unclear whether the goal can be achieved.
But Jose is thinking about how to kill the Dana royal family and destroy the Dana kingdom, and he is very confident about this, thinking that he will achieve his goal sooner or later.
This is the gap between the two sides!
Because of this gap, Jose was able to hold down the Joyce family, so he was naturally not afraid of his backlash against him.
Moreover, the Earl of Green Lake had betrayed so much black information about the powerful Dana, as long as Jose leaked the news, those Dana powerful would drive the Joyce family out of the way first.
…
Jose followed the list and attacked for most of the day.
I collected a lot of gold coins and black materials, but I didn't get much news about the cult, they were all rumors.
On the other hand, the Kingdom of Dana also discovered the evil dragon looting everywhere, and issued relevant warnings to the nobles, and many nobles hid in advance.
"There is one last family, and we'll call it a day," Jose muttered in the air as he flew towards the Jogol Mountains.
At the foot of the Jogor Mountains lay the last goal of his plan.
For this goal, he actually didn't take it very seriously, because the object was only a baron, and the territory was not big or rich.
It's just that this baron is extremely greedy, so greedy that the fat man's second ancestor even remembered his name.
With the idea of going along the way, eliminating harm for the people, and robbing the rich to make himself richer, Jose reluctantly put him on the visit list.
Maybe it's because the title is too low, or maybe it's because the popularity is not very good, but the little baron didn't hear the news that the red dragon was loitering and taking advantage of the fire, and he was still sleeping at home.
After tearing down the little baron's broken castle, Jose collected the spoils and pinched the little baron in the dragon's claws for routine interrogation.
"Say! You know those cult news?!"
"Your Excellency Zhenlong, I... I don't know anything!"
"I don't know, I'll crush you to death!"
"Wait! Your Excellency Zhenlong, I remembered..."
After listening to the little baron's narration, Jose frowned.
What a blind cat bumped into a dead mouse!
It wasn't that there was news of a cult, but the little baron revealed that not far from his territory, there was a small valley on the edge of the Jogor Mountains, and mysterious people often appeared in the valley.
He once reported the news, but he was warned not to interfere and not to be curious.
The little baron was obedient, uninvolved, and uncurious.
Some time ago, an army of tens of thousands of people entered the valley. The arrival of tens of thousands of troops was such a big movement. Naturally, he, the lord, would not have been unaware of it, but he consciously pretended not to see it.
The little baron didn't know where the army was going or what it was doing, but José did.
Thank you for the reward of 10,000 coins that I don’t want my account to be stolen again, thank you for the reward of 100 coins that can’t find my way, thank you Yayla for the reward of 150 coins, and thank the Garden of Light for the reward of 300 coins.
(end of this chapter)