The little girl poked her head out of the door, and looked nervously and curiously at the three carriages parked at the door—the large carriages with the emblems of nobles were out of place in this neighborhood, but it was better than parking on Sturgeon Street Many, some people who live in Cross Street have been attracted and watched from a distance, but no one dared to stand too close to the mighty soldiers wearing black steel light armor and dark blue medal robes. Beside the car, the black steel swords with peculiar triggers and runes on their waists are daunting. For the residents of Crossroads, such soldiers must not be provoked.
From inside came the mother's cry, "Pepe! Don't leave the door open! Come back!"
The little girl gave a last reluctant look at the soldier standing near the door of the house. The brave soldier in sharp clothes noticed the little girl's gaze and nodded to her with a kind smile.
The little girl exclaimed in a low voice, then quickly turned around and ran back home.
"The Duke ordered me to return to the capital to recruit a group of mages," Santis explained to his parents the reason for his sudden return home in the main room, "I'm not staying at home, and I'm going to the Duke's mansion on Crown Street."
The middle-aged couple has already figured out what happened, and their moods have calmed down, but they still look at Santis in a finely woven robe in disbelief, as if they can't believe that this energetic young man is their one who went to the dark Shanshan, the son who was supposed to suffer outside, their eyes could not help but focus on the people around Santis, and the mother said, "They are..."
"Hello, ma'am, I'm Jibri, a mage apprentice who is loyal to the Cecil family, and I'm serving as Mr. Santis' assistant according to the Duke's order."
"Pierce, a bodyguard."
The two operators who graduated from the Military Security Intelligence Agency introduced themselves according to their identities and personality settings, but Santis, who was caught in the middle, obviously didn't quite adapt to this atmosphere, and the young arcanist hurriedly broke a little Stiff Situation "Where's Miles?"
Miles is his younger brother and the second child of the family.
"Miles has gone to the tanner," said the father. "There is nothing to do in winter. He has found a job tanning leather for a nobleman."
Santis nodded—although in places other than Cecil Territory, it is almost impossible for civilians to find a job in winter, but this is the capital of the king after all, and the nobles will need some servants to do things for them in winter. Scattered work is a great reward for civilians who are struggling to survive, so even if these jobs can get little pay, everyone is rushing to do them.
It's just that as his gaze swept across the main room at home, the young arcanist frowned slightly.
"Didn't I send money home three times?" He frowned and said, "Even if it's not enough to move to the Filton neighborhood with a better environment, you should repair the doors and windows and expand the stove... Why is it still like this? "
Santis' father was a cook in a noble family, and his mother was a herbalist. This family already belonged to the wealthy class among the common people. The whole family actually had the opportunity to move to a better "upper-class neighborhood" many years ago, just to move Santis was sent to the Mage Association, and the family spent all their savings, so they lost the opportunity to move and "promote", and this is what Santis felt owed the most to his family after failing to attack the third-level mage, so he After Cecil settled down and got a stable income, the first thing he did was to save money and send it home—according to his estimation, with the generosity of Duke Gawain, he only needed two or three years to save enough money to support his family. He moved to Filton Street with better conditions, but now he went home and took a look, but he found that the house still looked dilapidated, his parents still wore patched clothes at home, and his father's only good clothes, I'm afraid it's still the "chef's uniform" that I wore when I went to a noble's house to work.
What about the money sent home
Hearing the son's question, the middle-aged couple looked at each other sadly. After two or three seconds of embarrassing silence, the father said, "The conditions at home were about to improve...but before winter, your brother had an accident. sick."
The mother continued, "Herbal medicine can't cure him, so we took him to the Church of the Holy Light. The pastor of the church said that he was cursed by the heretics. It was because he was not firm in his belief in the Lord that he could not resist those evil forces...
"The pastor performed an exorcism ceremony on him, sprinkled holy water, and finally healed Miles, but because your father believed in the god of business, the pastor of the Holy Light Church said that someone in the family believed in alien gods and was punished by cultists. Cursing is a sin, so you have to pay a 'ransom' to get your brother back.
The father shook his head, as if he was full of guilt because of his "wrong belief" that caused his family to suffer. Take all the belongings in the house, but fortunately, Earl Tout, whom I served, came forward and said a few good words, and you are still registered in the Mages Association, so the church reduced part of the atonement... but originally kept the money to repair the house before winter But it's gone."
Santis' face gradually darkened.
He clenched his fists. He, who never knew how to be angry, felt anger for the first time.
Pierce and Jibri, standing behind him, exchanged glances calmly.
The two operators silently recorded everything they saw and heard in their hearts, then Jibri took a step forward and whispered in Santis' ear, "Don't forget the purpose of our coming here, Mr. Santis— Your Excellency the Duke will remember everything that happened here for you."
Santis took a deep breath and looked at his parents firmly, "I'm here to pick you up to Cecil Territory."
"To the Dark Mountains?" Mother was taken aback.
"It's Cecil Land," Santis corrected earnestly, "The Dark Mountain Range is just a place, and Cecil Land is a piece of paradise there. Father, mother, don't believe those superstitious rumors about the Dark Mountain Range. It is indeed desolate, but Duke Cecil has built it into a safe, rich, and stable home. The houses there are stronger and warmer than the king's capital. Every inch of land there is watered with druid potions. The fertile and Holy Spirit Plains Like the best land, Cecil's powerful army makes the whole territory extremely safe - you will definitely have a better life there than in the capital."
"We've read your description in the letter, and it's all true?" Mother looked into Santis' eyes in disbelief, and then said, "But the king's capital..."
"This city is not worthy of nostalgia, it has never regarded its people as its people," Santis felt his tongue suddenly become easy to use, "We have no land here, even if there is a house, the church is always You can find a reason to take it away. Why don’t the whole family go to Cecil with me. I’m already an advisor to the lord, and the lord also let me teach in the academy he established. Mother, you can go to the alchemy factory after you go, There is a need for a herbalist who can identify various herbal ingredients. Father, you can go to the lord's mansion, where a chef is needed. A wise master craftsman to learn how to make machines... Our whole family can live a decent life there."
The couple look at me and I look at you. It is obviously a very difficult decision for them to make up their minds to leave the place where they have lived for half their lives, but Santis’ words still have something to tempt them. Santis saw this , Immediately went on to say, "I am coming back this time to recruit a group of scholars to build the territory according to the order of the lord. In addition, I also want to take over the family members of the craftsmen who went to Cecil together - those craftsmen have already made plans I decided to take my family with me, so I am not the only one who made this decision."
"...I want to say goodbye to Earl Taut first," Santis' father finally nodded and said, "I can't just leave like this."
Santis' mother gave her husband a slightly surprised look. "Jon?"
"My son is right, we should try to live elsewhere," said the father through gritted teeth. "Last week...the Mackintosh family's field and barn outside the city were taken away because they believed in the Night Goddess and didn't want to Be converted. My dear, I have an uneasy feeling that the atmosphere in town is changing, and we'd better take this opportunity to get out of here."
The mother who had been used to obeying her husband's arrangement all her life bowed her head, "...Okay, I'll listen to you."
An hour later, after waiting for his younger brother to return home and informing the family of the arrangements, Santis returned to the carriage with the Cecil family emblem hanging on it. He turned a corner and headed towards Crown Street in the central area of Wangdu.
"Where should we start?" Jibri, who has never been to the capital, asked Santis's opinion modestly. Decided to listen to the experience of the "local snake".
"I'll write to a friend I know who is more qualified. The 'Handyman's Association' can hire messengers who can deliver letters anywhere in San-Sunil within a day. And send another later. The messenger goes to the Mage Association and uses the Lord Duke's badge as a voucher to announce the recruitment of mages. Miss Jibri, I would also like to trouble you to go to the 'Scholar's Hall' next to the Silver Castle with the Duke's proof documents. An organization of scholars in the Royal Capital, where you can post information to recruit scholars, maybe they will be interested in the Gondor relics unearthed in Cecil Territory and the rare animals and plants in the Dark Mountains... "
Santis assigned tasks one by one, and finally he paused, then turned to "Fast Legs" Pierce "Mr. Pierce, please go to the Artisan Association, there is no need for any documents, you can spend an ansu silver shield Release a message about recruiting craftsmen, mainly to recruit rune craftsmen and skilled mechanics, and post the news according to the salary of the "magic technician" in the territory. In addition, it should be explained that the recruited craftsmen will receive training in Cecil , but even during the apprenticeship period, they can still get two-thirds of the salary. I believe that the income of Cecil's magician is enough to make many people tempted."
Jibri looked seriously at Santis, who was calm and orderly, and suddenly couldn't help laughing, "Mr. Santis, you seem to have changed."
"Is there?" Santis was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Maybe I finally understand the meaning of the Duke's sending me here..."
.