Charles thought for a moment, then nodded again: "I understand. Your Excellency, I want to apologize to you again. You are right, really... Although you are very young and Mr. Manello is very old, I still feel that you Views are more…”
Hearing a certain name suddenly, Boris was startled: "Manello?"
"Oh, it's the history teacher I mentioned just now," said Charles. "He was a temple knight when he was young, and he became a teacher after he retired when he was old. Teacher Manello is very hostile to spellcasters, especially necromancers. Sometimes even My father also thinks he is too stubborn, and he thinks the knights of my father's domain lack faith... "
"Manello..." Boris repeated the name softly, "Manello, the Knight of the Temple? He is an Ord, right? The place where he serves is the parish of the Temple of Otarot in the north of the mainland. The place of the city…”
"You also know Mr. Manello?" Charles was a little surprised.
Burris sighed: "No, of course I don't know him... my mentor mentioned him. Now he should be... maybe eighty years old?"
Charles shook his head: "Teacher Manello passed away three years ago. Although some of his thoughts are extreme, overall, he is a very profound and responsible teacher."
Burris was in a trance. He was afraid that the young man would see something, so he urged him to go back and take care of his sister. The young man was too absorbed in the conversation just now, and he didn't think of his sister until he was reminded. He immediately bowed and said goodbye to Burris, and trot along the garden path.
According to the schedule, the banquet should have already started, but now the door of the banquet hall is closed, and it is said that the dining table is not yet fully prepared. Apparently, there were some small incidents in the palace, which delayed the arranged process. The guests wandered around in the rest area and garden corridor, spreading various versions of gossip to each other.
On the way back, Boris was in a daze. The mage Hedda led him in silence, without asking him about Tarina or Sir Shire. After fulfilling his duty of leading the way, Haidado glanced at Burris, and finally couldn't help but say: "Your Excellency, forgive me. Your conversation with Sir Charles... I heard a small part."
"There's nothing to apologize for. We didn't talk about any confidential matters." Burris shook his head.
Haida smiled: "You are worthy of being Lord Burris's apprentice. The words you said... are very similar to his old man."
"That's exactly what he taught me," Burris replied awkwardly.
After Hedda left, Burris sat in a daze on the stone bench in the corridor until someone poked him on the back from behind. He turned his head, and Lotte squatted in the perfume rose bush, looking at him expectantly.
The two stalemate for a while, and Boris couldn't help asking: "What are you waiting for?"
"I thought I could scare you..." Lott was a little disappointed.
"Oh..." Boris turned around slowly, "It's so scary..."
Lott got out of the flowers and sat on the stone bench in the corridor: "You are too perfunctory, if you are not scared, you can say that you are not scared... By the way, you have heard that your good apprentice caught a group of assassins who assassinated the prince. !"
"Esther caught it?"
"Of course she's not the only one. I just returned to the palace, and I heard the guards at the sentry talking about the whole thing... The prince found a quiet place to personally interrogate the fruit farmers and businessmen who sent durians. Originally, these people should not have entered Palace, and the prince's guards brought them in..."
"Then, the merchant is an assassin pretending to be?"
"Yes!" Lot looked excited, "You are so smart, you are indeed a mage. The real fruit farmers and caravans left the capital after delivering supplies, and a group of assassins were trying to sneak into the palace. At this time, Talin The news that Na was stunned by the durian spread to the whole city, and the group of assassins immediately thought that the prince would definitely not let the durian delivery person go, and they took this opportunity to pretend to be those businessmen, waiting to be interrogated by the prince. The princess went to check the durians, and she met these 'fruit farmers' who were about to be interrogated."
Boris thought for a while: "Esther is quite powerful, but she can't deal with so many people alone... and she has to be careful not to be discovered as a mage at all times."
"Of course it wasn't the assassin she caught with her own hands." Lott glanced at the far corner of the garden, "Did you see those people in black sacrificial robes?"
"Otarot Temple Knight?"
"Yes, they are all from Sir Naylor. The thing is like this. One of the assassins disguised himself as a soldier. After he left his post without authorization, his captain was looking for him everywhere. This abnormal situation aroused Sir Naylor. He asked the captain about the situation, and found out that the prince was going to interrogate the fruit farmer. Maybe he has more combat experience or something, he thought it was suspicious, so he took the temple knights to search around, and then with the help of the princess The assassins were caught. The prince's bodyguard and clerk were wounded, but the prince himself was fine."
"Why did they kill the prince?" Boris asked, "and why didn't they do it in the north, and came to the capital to do it specifically? When the prince's family lived on the road and when they were in the suburban palace, the security was worse. It should be a good opportunity to assassinate them. Why do you have to enter the palace with the prince?"
Lott shrugged: "I don't know. They must be interrogating the assassin now. I guess the assassin hasn't confessed yet... I really want to see it! Burris, you know the princess so well, can you let me watch the interrogation The process? I really want to see it!"
"The princess doesn't care about the interrogation." Boris looked at him in disbelief. "Besides, why are you watching that? It's not a circus performance, and it has no viewing value."
"I've always been very interested in the human culture of torture."
"Violence cannot be called 'culture'. And beating people is very inefficient. As far as I know, Sago's intelligence agencies can not beat people if they don't. They will first talk to the prisoner with sincerity of cooperation. Once we chat, if we really can’t come up with any information, we’ll take Veritaserum.”
"Vitaserum?"
"Yes. It's not the hallucinogen that makes people stupid. It's a magic potion that allows people to answer questions accurately."
Lot raised his eyebrows: "I guess, it must be made by your factory again."
Burris nodded: "Yes. And it's only for Sago, not for export."
Lott sighed: "It's amazing, although there is no torture to extract a confession, but I want to watch it even more..."
“There really isn't much to see...”
Just as he was speaking, the door of the banquet hall opened. The moving string music floated out, and the waiters lined up began to invite the guests to enter. The royal family members showed up very late, and among them, little Talina was the only one who could smile naturally. The rest of the royal family members were as sullen as Estee. Only when they were talking with people, the Pasias could barely force a smile, while Prince Lanto sat on the side lifelessly, not even eating much food.
The queen made a short speech, and then the nobles took turns offering her blessings and gifts. When it was Burris' turn, he presented the Queen with a gift from "Mage Burris Gershaw" - a sunstone necklace with protective magic - as "Apprentice Kref". It can protect the wearer from miasma and poison, and not be hurt by extreme cold and heat. It can also establish the balance of the body's magnetic field, maintain the skin and delay aging, eliminate fatigue and help sleep...
The Pacias had received many presents from Burris, and each of them was very pleasing to them. The Queen put on the necklace and allowed "Apprentice Kreve" to kiss the back of her hand.
After Burris returned to his seat, Lott came over and asked in a low voice: "I understand the first few magic effects of your necklace, what happened to the last ones? Establish the body's magnetic field balance, maintain the skin to delay aging, eliminate fatigue and help sleep …”
"Of course it's fake." Burris smiled.
"Can't she feel that it's fake?"
"I have also experienced her age, and I know what ordinary people of this age are pursuing."
"What about you?" Lott asked, "Didn't you pursue health and beauty back then?"
"No pursuit."
"No wonder you have age spots on your face and no hair at all." Lot patted the mage on the shoulder, and pitifully pinched a strand of flaxen hair.
While Boris was chatting nonsense with Lot, King Pacia and Prince Lanto were watching him from a distance, discussing something in a low voice.
When "Apprentice Kolev" presented a gift just now, King Parcia saw the carnelian ring on his hand. The king had been friends with the old mage for many years, and he knew that Boris would not lend the ring to others easily.
========================
The cold winter of more than sixty years ago.
After entering the smog forest from the plain, Boris has been keeping an eye on his surroundings, for fear that a monster would suddenly appear. His worries were not superfluous. After the death of Instructor Yriel, many strange monsters were out of control. The knights had already cleaned up the strange monsters in the tower, but there were still several experimental sites in the plains and forests. The monsters are likely to be dormant in the misty wind and snow.
He told this concern to the knight walking beside the prison cart. It was a young boy with a childish face, the badge on his chest was different from other knights, probably he was just an apprentice priest.
The boy ran to the front of the team and relayed Burris' words to the leading knight. After returning, the boy's face was more nervous than Burris: "Master Kanter said that we may have been followed by something... It's okay, we are all prepared, and the other party is just testing, he should not dare to approach us easily. It will be fine after passing through the woods, and the field of vision will be much wider.”
A few hours earlier, Boris had felt someone following the knights at the end of the procession, but now the figure was gone. He didn't know if the stalker mentioned by the young knight was that person, if not, then who is following them now...or what is it
"Sir, may I cast a spell?" Burris asked.
The boy looked at him in horror: "Of course not!"
"With your permission, I can cast a spell to detect whether there is any danger around, so that you can prepare in advance."
"No, this is absolutely not possible," while talking to Burris, the young knight looked at the leader of the detachment in front, "Don't even think about casting spells. The moment you start chanting, we have to stick our spears into the prison cart .Okay, don't look at me like that, if you don't want to be escorted with broken fingers, forget about casting spells."
Boris lowered his head in frustration, and the young knight lowered his voice and said, "This is for your own good. As long as you behave obediently and don't use any spells on the way, all of us can give testimony in your favor to the temple in the future... Yes I think your name is Burris Gershaw?"
Burris nodded listlessly. The boy said again: "My name is Manero, and I am from Ord. You must have noticed that I am much shorter than the average Northwesterner."
"You'll grow taller," Burris said, "the Urds have over six feet too, I've seen them." … Saw them in the dungeons of the Tower. He didn't dare to say the last sentence.
"I hope I can still grow taller." The young knight smiled, as if he was happy to let the mage in the prison car relax, "I don't think you are a local, where is your home?"
Burris shook his head. He didn't know where his hometown was. As long as he could remember, he followed several adults to serve Yriel, until Yriel discovered his talent and turned him from a servant into an apprentice.
His "home" is only the tall tower on the snow field... I don't know if it is still burning at this time.