Three carriages with the emblem of the Cecil family were driving on the streets of the royal capital. In the leading carriage, the witch Jibri opened the cover on the window, looking at the place with a trace of curiosity but cautiously. city.
She was born and raised in the poor and backward southern region, until she met the "big sister" Amber, her whole world was made up of dark and dirty sewer corners, low and dilapidated poor streets and rotten and smelly garbage in the small town But like most Anzu people, she also had the opportunity to hear stories related to this great royal capital—from bards passing by occasionally, adventurers boasting, cunning and vigilant merchants, She sketched the imaginary appearance of this city, she imagined the tall and majestic city walls, the magnificent church, the extraordinary noble mansion, and the "Silver Fort" covered with silver foil where His Majesty the King lived .
In the days when she was wandering in the gutters and alleys as a liar and a witch, she knew that with her status and ability, it was impossible to visit the capital, not to mention visiting the capital, as long as she dared to step into a larger city, it was possible Will be caught and whipped by the lord, but fate is so wonderful sometimes-this sentence she always used to fool those adventurers when she was wearing a hood and divination deck, but this time she wanted to say To herself—under the wonderful arrangement of fate, she has become a decent person, a person who is loyal to the great nobles, and this royal capital, which used to only exist in imagination, is now in front of her eyes.
It is as majestic and magnificent as bards and adventurers say it is.
But it was old and dirty everywhere.
Jibri frowned, and saw that the streets of the capital were full of filth, and there were dilapidated poor streets and alleys inside the tall city walls. Along the way, she still saw poor people in ragged clothes and "untouchables" driven by soldiers. She felt that her beautiful imagination of the royal capital had collapsed a little bit.
This is indeed a magnificent ancient capital. In terms of its foundation and scale, it is worthy of being the first in Anzu, but Jibri found that she prefers the clean and tidy streets and the orderly urban area of Cecilland, and prefers the vitality there. Prosperous people and law-abiding officials.
But she kept in mind the task she received before leaving, so all the emotional changes were well hidden by her. With an elegant and decent smile, she put down the cover of the carriage and turned her head to look at the The young arcanist opposite him: "Mr. Santis, shall we go directly to the Duke's mansion?"
Santis was a little upset. After hesitating for a moment, he still said, "I want... to go home first."
Immediately afterwards, he quickly added: "Of course, the Duke's mission is more important. If you feel inappropriate, we will go to No. 4 Crown Street first..."
"There is no need to be so restrained, Mr. Santis," the witch Jibri smiled, just like a real mage apprentice who came from a small nobleman or a wealthy merchant family, "according to the Duke's order, you are the leader of this operation , Pierce and I will only provide you with necessary advice and assistance. You only need to act according to the plan you think is reasonable."
"Okay... okay," Santis nodded a little unaccustomed to it, and looked away a little guilty, trying not to be in harmony with the woman with long flaxen hair, wearing a long black dress, and a pretty and charming face. The "witch" looked at each other, "Then let's... go to Cross Street first. By the way, the remaining two carriages can go to No. 4 Crown Street first, and you don't need to follow them together—Cross Street is very narrow."
The tall and thin man sitting next to him interjected: "Mr. Santis, if our carriage can enter Cross Street, then the other two must be able to, I suggest that two accompanying carriages follow-you are returning It’s a gesture to be as high profile as possible when you’re home.”
Santis froze for a moment, then nodded: "Ah, yes, Mr. Pierce."
"Fast Legs" Pierce, who served as the guard, knocked on the wooden board at the front of the carriage, and shouted to the driving guide sitting outside: "Cross Street!"
The three carriages turned a corner on the street and turned towards the civilian area of the capital.
Santis felt his heart "float" during this process, and a feeling of nowhere haunted him. He took a few deep breaths, and a burst of cold air mixed with a strong fishy smell penetrated his nostrils : The carriage is passing Sturgeon Street, where the smell of fish can even overwhelm the stench of defecation at the corner of the street.
Even though it was winter, the stench of decay was sickening because it had soaked every brick in the street.
He couldn't help opening the window cover and looking at the street scene outside.
The familiar street scene came into his eyes.
The low, messy and crowded dwellings are piled up under the city wall like layers of moss. Due to the cold weather, there are only a few scattered vendors on the street, and there are very few pedestrians. A few faces are occasionally seen They are full of numbness, and those numb people are shaking on the street like walking dead. It seems that the cold winter and the malnourished diet have made these people lose all the changes in their expressions, but they also suddenly "live" sometimes ——When the carriage with the emblem of the nobility drove through the street, these numb poor people would almost immediately prostrate on the ground, their foreheads pressed tightly to the ground, and their reactions were so fast, as if this was their life. The instincts that come with it are average.
Santis frowned slightly, and at this moment the carriage had driven through the short Sturgeon Street and entered the slightly better "Cross Street District".
Cross Street is the place where middle-class "citizens" live. People with a little status and wealth will live here. Compared with Sturgeon Street, which belongs to the poor neighborhood, the houses here are obviously taller, and those who walk on the road are also obviously Be more spiritual.
When they see a noble carriage, they don't have to crawl to the ground immediately, but they must immediately hide on both sides of the street, and bend their waists to be absolutely lower than the height of the carriage window - civilians must do this, this is to prevent them from using dirty The gaze of the aristocrat might be looking out from the car window.
Only in the more advanced neighborhoods where baptized wealthy citizens live together, those "respectable people" who have received the blessing of the church do not need to do this. They only need to stand on both sides of the street and bow down to pay respects.
In the royal capital, there are naturally more rules than in those wild places on the border.
Santis, who was born in Cross Street and promoted to a second-level arcanist, is the "most promising kid" in this block. His mage level is also the highest achievement that people living in this area can achieve so far. In the past, even No matter how unsatisfactory Santis was in the mage society, no matter how he was excluded, he returned to the block with pride, but now, seeing those neighbors who bowed their heads deeply on both sides of the street, his heart But only bouts of boredom.
Nothing has changed here, just as it was when he left.
The Shizijie was like this last year, the Shizijie was like this ten years ago, and the Shizijie was like this a hundred years ago!
But in Cecilland, one year is enough to build a city, enough for a group of illiterate children to learn to write the names of themselves and their parents and family members, enough to beat back those monsters from the wasteland of Gondor twice!
Santis thought dully, and then suddenly saw a little girl staring blankly at the corner of the street.
The little girl was wearing a neat but old dress with only one patch on it. She had two neat ponytails, her face was flushed red in the cold wind, and she was holding a bulging cloth bag in her hands.
She seemed to have just walked out of a certain street corner, so she didn't have time to bow and salute to the noble carriage, but looked at this side a little unresponsively.
Santis froze for a moment, then shouted: "Pepe!"
However, the little girl ran away suddenly before he spoke, as if she didn't hear what he said next.
"Who is that?" Jibril, who was sitting opposite, asked curiously.
"My sister," Santis said in a strange tone, "why did she run?"
The little girl quickly ran across the street, ran to a house that looked a little newer than the surrounding buildings, hurriedly opened the door and ran in, a middle-aged man in an old cotton coat and an old apron was grinding herbs in the middle of the house The young woman raised her head when she heard the movement, and looked at her little daughter in surprise: "Pepe? Why did you come back so soon? Did you give the herbs to Mr. Wayne?"
Then she saw the cloth bag in the little girl's hand, and she couldn't help frowning, but before she could reprimand, the little girl stammered out of nervousness: "Mom... Mom! Three big cars came outside. It’s a carriage! It’s a nobleman’s! Hanging on the carriage… is the coat of arms, just like the one drawn on the letter paper when my brother sent a letter back last time!”
The middle-aged woman was stunned for a moment, then suddenly her hands trembled, and the mallet used for grinding herbs fell to the ground.
She didn't care to pick it up, so she stood up immediately and stared into her little daughter's eyes: "Did you see it clearly? Is it really that emblem? The emblem of the sword and the plow?"
The little girl grabbed the cloth bag in her hand, a little nervous and scared: "See clearly..."
"That's the emblem of the Cecil family... It's someone sent by Duke Cecil... Do you see anything else on the carriage? Is there a death chrysanthemum on the driver's hat or clothes? A strip of cloth with white petals?"
The little girl seemed to be frightened by her mother, she was so nervous that she couldn't speak for a while, but the door to the inner room opened at this moment, and the male owner of the house heard the movement and came out: "What's wrong? I heard a lot of noise outside."
"My dear, Duke Cecil's people, here are three carriages..." The mistress of the house wrung her hands vigorously, "Is something wrong with Santis? I told him earlier that the Dark Mountain is a very dangerous place." Place, let him be careful, but he always said in the letter... "
"Calm down," said the middle-aged man, "Santis is only a second-level arcanist, it is impossible for the Duke to send three carriages to notify..."
At this moment, there was a knock on the door suddenly.
The man and the woman straightened their bodies almost immediately, they stopped breathing for a moment, and stared in the direction of the door, while the little girl standing closest to the door almost jumped up.
The knock on the door was still ringing, the little girl froze for a moment in a daze, then subconsciously walked towards the door.
"Wait a minute, I'll drive."
While talking, the middle-aged man passed his wife and daughter to the door.
He opened the door, and the cold wind was blowing in his face, and a tall and thin figure stood there.
The little girl stood behind her father and shouted happily: "It's brother!"