It was a very well-made dagger. Although it was not an enchanted weapon, the material was mixed with a small amount of fine gold and purple steel, which made it reflect a unique lavender color under the light. A weapon made of this material It doesn't bring any extraordinary strength bonus, but if you want to deal with enchanted armor and protective gear, it will often have a good effect.
On the handle of the dagger, Gawain found a mark that looked like a brown bear's head, and there was a wreath around the mark.
In this era, many emblems are not allowed to be used indiscriminately. A considerable part of beasts and flowers are regarded as the "private symbols" of nobles. The combination of the head of a beast and flowers means the mark of a certain family in many cases. And civilians using these marks at will will unknowingly violate the rights of nobles. According to the heraldry and Ansu noble laws mastered by Gao Wen, the mark on this dagger is obviously a family mark from its structure.
For seven hundred years, the family imprint of these nobles still follows ancient traditions.
This dagger should be "gifted" by a certain noble. As far as Gao Wen knows, nobles are very strict when bestowing weapons to others: only the king has the right to bestow such weapons as battle axes, war hammers, and halberds. , and will only be given to nobles with military exploits; various types of swords (mainly long swords) are more common gifts, any noble can give others a sword for any reason, but the recipient must also be A nobleman must at least reach the rank of knights; while daggers, knives, short bows and other weapons are considered "not on the table", nobles will give such things to their favorite "common people", and the target is usually A great guardian, squire, or... hawk dog.
"It seems to be the same as I judged. Those mercenaries were 'domesticated' by noble families," Gao Wen picked up the dagger and looked at it carefully. "It's just that they are loyal to one family or several at the same time. Family..."
"Do you recognize the mark on it?" Amber leaned over curiously, "Ah, I just thought this thing looked good from the beginning..."
"I don't know," Gao Wen carefully identified, and finally shook his head, "This family probably didn't show up when I was alive. You go and call Heidi, she should know the nobles in the southern border better."
Soon, Hetty came to Gawain's tent.
After carefully identifying the mark on the dagger, she said with certainty: "This is the emblem of the Kant family."
"The Kant family?" Gawain recalled with a frown, and finally found the source of the name in the recent common sense. "The viscount to the north of the Leslie family?"
"Yes, across the wild mountains and forests in the north of the Baishui River, just further north to the place where you brought back those refugees before you, is the territory of the Kant family," Hetty began to introduce the simple situation of the Kant family, "It was a family in three The family that rose up a hundred years ago was entrusted here because of their military exploits. When the Cecil family had an 'accident', they happened to be loyal to the current royal family, so they escaped the purge of the southern border. They are currently one of the few in this land in the south. One of the family with a history of more than 100 years."
Gao Wen asked casually, "How is their relationship with the Cecil family?"
"It's not far away, nor close," Hetty replied. "They neither helped nor made trouble in the Southern Territory a hundred years ago during the Great Cleansing. They always remained neutral. That is a relatively mysterious family. There is not much communication with the outside world, and family members rarely appear in the upper-level social circle. Although the upper-level social circle on the southern border itself is very loose, the Kant family still appears the least."
"What is their main industry? Fields? Mines? Pastures?"
"Lord Kant mainly produces food, as well as various high-quality herbal medicines, including potions, but there are no mines."
"Then there is a problem, a big problem..." Gao Wen knocked on the table, "A nobleman who does not have a mine and mainly relies on fields, what is he going to do to capture a large group of slaves before winter? And judging from this dagger, This group of mercenaries is dedicated to helping the Kant family, and it is certainly not the first time they have captured slaves in the wilderness. What are these many slaves sent to the Kant Territory for?"
"This..." Hetty also realized the weirdness of the problem, and suddenly remembered another thing, "There is another thing that is very strange, the main output of Kantland has always been food, and herbs and potions are just sidelines , but in recent years, the number of herbs and potions sold there has been increasing year by year, especially potions. Not only has the output doubled, but the quality has also become better and better, faintly surpassing their food output. It has become the main pillar of the Kant family. But from the law of magic power distribution, this situation is difficult to explain... "
Due to the existence of various supernatural powers, the "medicinal plants" in this world are divided into two types. In addition to herbs with general effects, there are also "potions" that can be used in various magical rituals or directly as spell-casting materials. In other words, under normal circumstances, the growth of potions is very limited by the local magic environment, and its output will naturally have an upper limit. If the magic environment is not good, then no matter how intensive cultivation or seed improvement is, it is impossible to increase the production of potions. On the contrary, the quantity may lead to the reduction of the magic power contained in the medicinal materials.
However, the production of potions in Kantland is increasing year by year.
In this era of lack of statistics on everything, except for businessmen who specialize in business, nobles are rarely aware of the fluctuations in crop output in surrounding territories (in fact, they may not even know the crop output in their own territory, which is It is something that the consultant and the manager pay attention to), but as a magician, Hetty is also a magician who is in the middle of nowhere, so she usually pays close attention to the changes in the surrounding potion market, so she is keen to discover this abnormal phenomenon.
Amber was just listening in boredly, but at this moment, her sharp ears trembled suddenly, and her face was full of horror: "Oh my god! Could it be that the Kant family used living people as fertilizer to grow medicinal materials? !"
"...Although I think they can really think of such a thing with the moral views of certain nobles, it is still impossible to actually do it." Gao Wen twitched his eyes and waved his hand, "The fields for growing potions are usually not hidden. Outsiders can see it at a glance, and living people can't increase the concentration of magic power in the environment... What kind of black magic is this?"
While Gawain was talking, suddenly Betty's voice came from outside the tent: "Master! Master! Pittman is here to find you!"
Gawain was startled, recalling the task he had given to the Druid just now, he couldn't help but smile: "It seems that his 'special medicine' has already worked."
Because it had been expected that ordinary torture would not have any effect on those mercenaries, Gawain asked Pittman to find a way to deal with the two captured "captives" from the very beginning.
Druids are not a profession that is good at "torturing" information. Their spells are far inferior to those of blood god believers or those necromancers who specialize in torture and pain. But as long as you change your mind, obtaining information is not necessary There is only one method of "torture".
At least in Gawain Cecil's memory, there were many methods of using druid potions and rituals to extract information from the enemy. These methods are still effective even after seven hundred years.
In a hut that was temporarily used as a prison, Gawain saw two captured mercenaries who had been poured with potions, smeared with ointment on their foreheads, and ritually incensed for an entire hour.
The two of them were already unconscious at this time.
Pittman also stood by and showed off: "Let me tell you, my potions and rituals are very effective, especially this incense, no matter how strong a person is, he will lose himself in its magic power..."
Indeed, as the little old man said, at this moment the whole room was filled with a strong and almost nauseating smell of incense. Even after Pittman's ceremony was over, the incense no longer had the magical power to interfere with the mind, Gawain still Frowning because of the smell, even Amber next to him yelled, "Wow old man, are you making bacon?"
"According to your fumigation method, most people will be recruited even if you don't need to pour potion." Gao Wen had to add a breath protection effect to himself before he dared to stand still in the room. "I even suspect that your ceremony is It just stuns people, it has nothing to do with magic..."
Pittman smiled and nodded next to him: "You really got the point. In fact, many years ago, I thought about improving this spell. I think that even without potion, directly smoking the dung on the target will work. It's a pity that I just came up with this idea back then. I was beaten up by my mentor and had to give up. But you reminded me this time, maybe... "
"Do you dare to try it out?!" Gawain immediately glared at the little old man when he heard this, "You really smoked these two people for an hour, even if they were willing to recruit me, I wouldn't ask!"
Pittman immediately shrank his neck, looked carefully at Gawain's tendons, and preliminarily judged that the unearthed legend in front of him could beat at least twenty of his mentors, so he decided to abandon his bold "improvement ceremony" plan.
Gao Wen frowned and looked at the two confused mercenary prisoners in front of him. They stared at the ground in front of them with dull eyes. The power of magic potions, ointments and incense had already Drag them into a state between reality and dream. In this state, they can no longer tell whether they are answering questions in reality or reading their memories in dreams. Before the magic power fades from their bodies, they will Almost all questions will be answered.
"It's the one from the Kant family..." Gao Wenfa asked, but he suddenly forgot the name of the current ruler of the Kant family when he opened his mouth, so he turned his head a little embarrassed, "Heidi, who is in power in the Kant family now?"
Hetty turned her head slightly: "Victor Kant, Viscount, is an elderly Viscount."
"Yes, Victor Kant," Gawain turned to the two mercenaries, "he sent you to capture the slaves?"
The mage among the two mercenaries seemed to have some resistance, but the mercenary leader spoke first: "Yes... Viscount Victor Kant sent us to capture refugees in the wilderness for him...but not as slaves. "
"Not as a slave?" Gawain frowned, "What is that for?"
"Help him..." The mercenary leader replied with dull eyes at the beginning, but suddenly raised his head in the second half of the sentence, staring at Gawain with a strange smile on his face, "Dream, Sir Gawain Cecil." 8)