War is bound to be accompanied by sacrifice.

This is the consensus of all mature and rational people.

It's just that the Northland's nearly half-century of peace has made many people instinctively feel a little unfamiliar and slightly alienated from this sudden sacrifice.

Under the slow evolution of the feudal city-state system that has existed in Corell humans for thousands of years, in the subconscious mind of most people, no matter what the purpose of the lord's war, noble or not, the people responded to the call of the knight,

Then it seemed to be a matter of course to fight on the battlefield under the will of the lord.

If a knight or a noble officer dies in battle, the superior lord will pay out a small pension for the sake of dignity and win-win hearts, and then let the heirs of the knight or even the subordinate nobles take over his father's responsibilities and wait for the next step.

A one-time call.

This is the obligation that a knight must bear to enjoy the knight's fief and even be envied by the people at the bottom.

When you reach the civilian level, let alone a pension, it is normal to be drafted and required to bring your own dry food and weapons to the battlefield.

Once it's dead, it's dead, that's all.

Because this is also the obligation they must bear to enjoy the protection of knights.

It is precisely because of this long-term alienation and weak relationship with the nobles that the people at the bottom are full of instinctive resistance to joining the army.

When a person dies, nothing is left.

It is also for this reason that when the people of the North saw the Zelandian warriors who died in the battle, they were placed in the same black coffin without distinction of high or low, and under the gaze of the lord.

Next, under everyone's attention, when the coffin was solemnly carried back to the city by the dragon knights who were supposed to be aloof, the impact on the senses and emotions was indescribable.

'So, can we also be respected and revered in this way?'

'So, can we also become heroes that everyone admires?'

The entire people of Minas Tirith held such complex senses as they watched these fallen heroes being sent to the cemetery at the foot of the Griffin Mountains.

They will be displayed in the Hall of Valor in front of the cemetery for one day to be viewed by the public and await the condolences of the deceased's family members who have been notified.

Some outsiders who were also shocked by this solemn atmosphere, such as the Marquise Lestour Laoim from Miraba, looked thoughtfully at the people who were deeply affected and wanted to join the army now to serve the city-state.

.

I feel that if only using such a sense of ritual can win over people's hearts, Miraba can also learn from it.

Just when she thought about the coffin, which was made entirely of precious mahogany and inlaid with gold rims, she felt that she might lose her studies due to the stinginess of the city lord and councilors.

After hearing that the surrounding civilians were talking in envious and anxious tones about the sky-high pensions and various benefits that the families of those who died in the war would receive in the future, the Marquise became a little dazed on the spot.

According to this outrageous compensation method, wouldn't it mean that if more than 500 of her men were killed in battle, she, the famous Marquise of Miraba, would probably go bankrupt on the spot?

Instinctively, she felt a little disbelief.

In her opinion, the common people at the bottom only need to abide by the law. Occasionally, if you miss a little benefit on your fingertips, those untouchables will be eager to come up and lick your boots to express their loyalty.

Is it worth spending such a high price to win over people's hearts?

Is that city lord a dragon who truly loves money as much as his life?

But as the ceremony ended, just when she was about to redeem her rebellious daughter through relationships, her face was slapped and swollen.

She saw with her own eyes a dragon knight riding a giant lizard knocking on the door of a house.

Then he solemnly handed over a soldier's nameplate still stained with blood, a posthumous medal in the shape of a silver dragon's claw, a small stack of documents and a lambskin pocket to the still dazed lady.

The hostess said something apologetically in a low voice.

The lady seemed to be unable to accept the fact that her husband was also one of the deceased.

When I received something from the Dragon Knight, I accidentally dropped it on the ground.

There was only a jingling sound, and a large handful of platinum coins and a few silver coins that shone dazzlingly in the sun rolled out of the sheepskin pocket.

"hiss"

The Marquise could immediately feel that the eyes of the people around her were dull at that moment, and even their breathing seemed to have stopped.

Even as rich as she is, she still feels a tremor in her heart.

Engraved on it is a dragon head that looks majestic but can't help but feel cute. This is the Silver Dragon coin newly issued after the Silver Dragon Levi's came to power to replace the previous Hogg coins.

In order to prevent counterfeiting, a certain proportion of magic materials are mixed during casting, so in the eyes of the caster, a faint magic wave will emit, and the authenticity can be known at a glance.

Although it is not pure gold, due to its exquisite casting, small circulation and the fact that it is difficult to be damaged by ordinary sharp objects, not only can it be exchanged for several times the same weight of gold, but it has even been speculated at extremely high prices in the black market throughout the North.

Even if it is just a rough estimate, there are at least fifty or sixty!

This is a silver dragon coin with strong value!

Money moves people's hearts.

Seeing the envious and even greedy eyes of the people around him, the dragon knight immediately helped the beautiful widow pick up the heavy gold coins and put them into the sheepskin bag, and then stuffed them into the lady's hands.

Feeling the heavy weight, the lady finally couldn't help holding the child behind her and cried bitterly on the spot.

Looking at this scene, the Dragon Knight seemed to be relieved.

Because only when people have hope can they recall the beautiful past, accept the future with anxiety, and feel compassion.

Instead of wallowing in the helplessness and despair at this moment, becoming numb and sluggish.

After comforting the widow, whose expression finally became more lively, the not-so-tall dragon knight turned to the single men around him who looked like wolves and tigers and said:

"Put away your unrealistic and dangerous ideas. The city lord has ordered martial law. Once anyone is found trying to defraud and rob pensioners by any means, they will be punished with death. No matter how hard they are, they will be beaten to death. If they are not killed on the spot, they will directly deal with Lu Si tomorrow.

Let the war criminals go to the gallows together."

Upon hearing this reprimand, those migrant workers who were eager to try shivered on the spot, like quails that had been doused with a basin of ice water in the harsh winter.

But there were also women who were just as strong as they were without desires, cheering on the sidelines:

"Sir Herbert, are we not interested in wealth but people?"

Herbert?

The Marquise was stunned when she heard this name, it was actually him.

As one of the first batch of Ultramarines to undergo transformation, Herbert, who has been promoted from a low-level civilian to a chapter leader, is also considered one of the celebrities in the North.

Herbert seemed to really think about it seriously. He seemed to have considered Zeelandia's severely imbalanced gender ratio and replied:

"As long as we pursue the trust of the other party with a sincere attitude and assume the responsibility and consciousness of taking care of the other party for the rest of his life, we have no objection in principle."

After hearing Herbert's words, the widow who was still crying suddenly stopped crying and said loudly with red eyes:

"Sir Herbert, I will not remarry. I just want to raise my child to be healthy and develop him into a great man like his father."

Herbert's eyes suddenly showed respect, he bowed and said:

"Don't worry, the Free City of Zeelandia will also work together to supervise and supervise the children as they grow up. Thank you for your selfless dedication and dedication. You are a great mother."

The lady who was crying again solemnly returned the favor, took the still ignorant child back to the room, and slowly closed the door, cutting off everyone's sight.

It was only then that the girls became bold again and said to the Chapter Leader:

"Then Sir Herbert, is it okay for us to take advantage of you? You have been single for so long, do you really not think about it? As long as you nod, we can do it at any time!"

All of a sudden, those ladies of all ages started posing in this winter, making a lot of gentlemen look stiff and sour.

Everything is good in Zeelandia, but it’s hard to find a wife.

Therefore, in recent years, many groups of migrant farmers and workers have been born who work in Minas Tirith and go home to celebrate the New Year during the Midwinter Festival.

If it were Herbert decades ago, he might have been embarrassed by these bold and bold girls, but after nearly half a century of experience, this level of seduction and harassment is now too much for him.

It has long been a common occurrence.

Not only is he not shy, he can even make fun of these girls with a calm expression:

"Hey, you're old and don't have that desire. If you want to get married, you can go find my son Anthony. He's grown up now. He has a stable job and a good salary."

"The arcanist of the Demon Research Institute"

As soon as they heard Anthony's name, the group of hungry girls lost interest.

The Arcanist of Zeelandia is a very strange profession in the hearts of Zeelandia people.

In the eyes of most people, this is a group of magic researchers who have given up ordinary lives in pursuit of knowledge.

Just like Anthony, when he is busy, he may not be home for several months. For a woman, this is no different from being a widow!

The key point is that these arcanists are not strong enough. If you don't hold back and turn them green, God knows you will disappear from the world for no reason, and then become a brain in a jar that can only think and dream.

"But he is an arcanist. If he is away from home all day long, can you, the father, do it for him?"

A girl blinked at Herbert with her big eyes full of curiosity.

Faced with such a brutal question, even a man as strong as Herbert was choked and retreated in embarrassment.

As soon as he squeezed out of the crowd, he saw Anthony standing on the street panting with a half-load of oranges, looking at him with a complicated face.

Apparently, he heard the news about the triumph and ran all the way from the Demon Research Institute in Zelandia.

Originally, I wanted to give my father an affectionate hug, but then I saw that my father was surrounded by a group of women who looked like wolves and tigers. They even asked such ridiculous questions in an attempt to flatter him. I was dumbfounded on the spot.

So the father and son, who met by chance, looked at each other awkwardly on the street.

After a while, they hugged each other heavily.

"Dad, welcome home!"

"Um."

"Peel an orange for you. I just bought it from the store. It's very sweet."

"Not sweet."

Looking at the father and son embracing each other in the snowflakes, the group of girls who were still unscrupulous pursed their lips and dispersed knowingly.

It seems that he is also aware of his own arrogance. On such a special day, it is a potential humiliation for the father and son who have not reunited for a long time.

But what should be complained about had to be complained. The lady who was originally a little curious about Anthony suddenly lost all her thoughts when she saw the silver-haired old man who looked like Herbert's father.

As expected, arcane magic is expensive.

If the scene of the reunion between Herbert and his son is as tender as water, the scene with the hammer can be said to be a raging fire.

Maybe Tie Chui had gone through a lot of life and death wandering on Yueying Island, and he always felt a little uncomfortable just taking a large bounty back and handing it to his wife. If he let her taste the sweetness, he would rush him whenever there was a war.

What should I do if this retired veteran driver goes to the battlefield?

So with his leg still wrapped in plaster, he borrowed a set of standard plate armor from Kike, put it on himself, and found a pair of crutches and tied them under his feet to form a high seesaw, pretending to be an ordinary Zelandian human.

The soldier limped back to his tavern.

Through the white foggy display window, I can still see my wife busy making toppings for the dishes, seemingly absent-mindedly.

Surprisingly, my son Medni was also at home today, and it suddenly dawned on me that on the day of Zelandia’s triumph, most likely the institute would also have a holiday.

In fact, by the time we got here, Iron Hammer had already regretted it. After all, it was okay to scare his wife as a joke, but it would have been a bit embarrassing if his son was present.

But just when Tie Shui was about to turn around and leave to change clothes, the wife of the cook raised her head as if aware. When she saw the figure outside the door, it was not the familiar dwarf, but a tall man.

When I entered the Dragon Knights, I thought of the rumors outside, and I felt a bad feeling on the spot.

He even forgot to put down the iron pot in his hand, and walked forward in a daze:

"Excuse me, who is your Excellency?"

Iron Hammer had no choice but to bite the bullet and stuff his nameplate and a bag of gold coins into it.

The female dwarf looked at the nameplate engraved with Hammer and Bronzebeard, and then at the heavy 'pension', and then she fell to the ground and cried:

"Hammer! My hammer! My hard-working hammer. I told you not to remove it."

But as soon as he started this deadly howl, he saw the knight in front of him take off his helmet, revealing his husband's honest and somewhat worried face:

"Surp sun color?"

The expression on the female dwarf's face suddenly changed from the original sadness and despair, to shock, to disbelief, and suddenly she realized that she was full of anger!

"Tease r to touch the Faker!!!"

Immediately, he jumped three feet high, brandished the black iron pot in his hand and slammed it on Iron Hammer's confused face.

I saw Iron Hammer and the gray dwarf flew straight out of the store, across the street, and his entire upper body was embedded in the wall of the store opposite. His legs were still raised in the air, and he twitched intermittently from time to time.

"dad!!!"

The confused Madni chased out with a look of collapse.

On this day, Iron Hammer, with his head bandaged and a sad look on his face, made the headlines of the Minas Tirith afternoon newspaper:

But things took a turn for the worse at night.

Iron Hammer was criticized and educated on the street for being suspected of spreading false news of death in battle, and was fined twenty-five gold.
Chapter completed!