"The undulating land you see in your eyes is the Sighing Hills, which is distributed on the western edge of the Sighing Mountains - look, those mountains in the distance with their peaks covered with snow and reaching into the clouds are the Sighing Mountains." Puti on horseback

Lai pointed to the towering mountain peaks in the distance and explained the geography of the Northland to Thales.

Thales raised his head, widened his field of vision, and exhaled a breath of hot breath in the cold environment.

"The Sighing Mountains were once the highest mountain range on earth in the ancient empire. They were connected to the Quegur Glacier in the north, vertically separated the Northland Province and the Eastern Wasteland Province in the northern part of the empire, and gradually extended to the north of the Green Heart Province in the south.

It is now the East Sea Territory of Stars, the fiefdom of Duke Cullen. Sighing that the danger of the mountains and the difficulty of climbing make it prohibitive for travelers, they can only lower their heads and sigh, hence the name." Putilai put down the pipe in his hand,

He also lowered his head and sighed slightly, as if in response to his own words.

"When the ancient empire was still there, this was a famous place of exile and chaos. After the empire fell, the turmoil became even worse. Until a branch of elves moved to the mountains and took root here for nearly three hundred years. They could move freely between the mountains.

, it became a kingdom of its own in its heyday... After the Ending War, the northwest side of the Sighing Mountains belonged to the Western Continent, while the southeastern side of the Sighing Mountains was within the territory of the Hanbul Dynasty in the Eastern Continent."

The elves in the Sighing Mountains? Wait, it seems that it was mentioned in the book "Endgame: Skyfall"?

Speaking of "elf", Thales couldn't help but glance at Ada behind him.

"What's wrong?" Ada noticed Thales's eyes and spread her hands angrily: "I don't know which generation of relatives those are, and I don't learn history well!"

Thales shook his head and turned back to continue listening to Putilai's explanation.

You can't rely on this elf who can't even remember his own name.

Even if it is an extreme situation.

"...the rugged Northwest Sighing Mountains span the eastern part of the Kingdom of Exeter and the Stars. The Reconstruction Tower of the Grand Duke of Trudida and the Lonely Old Tower of the Fores Family of the Kingdom of Stars are located on two peaks, facing each other across a valley.

Both sides are very wary of each other, but both sides are easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"The mountains extend to the north and south, and are the fiefdoms of the Grand Duke of Exeter Elk City and the Guardian Duke of Star Cliff Territory respectively. However, it is precisely because of the steepness of the sighing mountains and the temperature in the north that the Ekes located in them

Te Milu City and the Star Cliff Territory are both faced with the dilemma that their territory is close to the End Sea, but there are only a few ports, and the few ports are located on the edge of the sea cliff..."

Putilai took a puff of his pipe and looked at the mountains in the distance with a look of intoxication.

"In the First and Second Continental Wars, the coalition forces that crossed the Sea of ​​Terminal and invaded from the Eastern Continent all landed from the East Sea Territory or the South Coast Territory of the Stars. This is because both the Cliff Territory of the Stars and the Kingdom of Exeter

The east coast ports all sit on steep and towering natural sea cliffs given by the Sighing Mountains, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack... Until the Third Continental War, the East Army Army pretended to attack the East China Sea ports of the stars, but unexpectedly attacked Exeter's

Along the coastline, we used a small number of troops to attack Sea Cliff, which achieved miraculous results. We finally broke through Elk City and went straight into the heart of Exeter..."

Continental war?

Another question arose in Thales's mind.

"The war started from the conflict between the two continents - such as the end of the whales in the sea. After the end of the war, we found that the eternal oil in their bodies is the best fuel, even more so charcoal," Putilai answered his doubts

:

"Fishing qualifications, quotas, areas and fishing moratoriums have always been the focus of disputes between the countries on both sides of the Taiwan Strait... These have been the main issues in the four continental wars. Of course, after the third continental war, the political situation on both sides of the Taiwan Strait has changed too much.

We were completely at odds with Exeter, and Suye fell into a struggle with Hamble for the Eastern Continent. Finally, under the new policy of the wise king Mindis III, we formed an alliance with Suye, while Exeter became close to Hamble..."

"This turned the Fourth Continental War, which began in 468 AD, into a veritable world war. The war was no longer limited to one side's entangled forces and invading the other across the sea, but spread to every corner of the world."

Thales thought of the smiling middle-aged king holding a staff among the Three Kings of the Stars in the Mindis Hall, his head engraved on the silver coins, and the burn scars on his chest. Then he thought of the vampire sisters in Corleone and the so-called

"Starry Night Alliance".

Thales shook his head and drove these things out of his head.

"Don't you agree with Mindis's foreign policy?" the traveler asked curiously.

"That's not the case," Putilai shook his head: "The alliance with Suye is the general trend - the ancient Far Eastern proverb also says, befriend distant allies and attack nearby enemies."

"Although the Fourth Continental War was huge in scale and costly," Putilai pondered and said slowly, "but in my opinion, the new political situation also strengthened the connection and connection between the two continents, leading to the outbreak of a world war.

The conditions have been eliminated in increasingly complex interlocking situations, such as the conflict between us and Exeter on the Western Continent - from the Fourth Continental War to the present, we have not had a cross-continental war for two centuries, and have enjoyed more than two hundred years of

Peace... In almost every century before that, we had a continental war after the conflicts between the two continents reached their extreme."

Thales frowned - he always felt that with such a country's productivity and political system, there was something strange about the so-called continental war.

A cross-sea expedition to the mainland... How much mobilization and logistical supplies does this require? Can the price paid by the countries really be compensated by a little Eternal Oil?

They moved forward with the gazes of soldiers on both sides of the road, and not long after, a village appeared in front of them.

Thales raised his eyes and found that the trees outside the village were tied with ropes. Many of them were tied with food, such as dried meat, bread, etc., and even deer, foxes, snow hares and other prey.

Is this a custom in the North?

"My soldiers have confirmed the safety of this village." At this moment, the Viscount of Cambida, a subordinate of the Grand Duke of Lombard, followed from behind. He passed the crowd, rode into the village, dismounted, and handed the reins to

A soldier said, "We will disband some of the levies whose hometowns are nearby. You can take a break and have lunch at a tavern inside."

With Rolf's help, Thales got off his mount and breathed a sigh of relief at being able to get rid of the horse temporarily. Then he raised his head with interest and observed the village next to Leman Pass.

This was supposed to be a quiet little village without walls, but now it was filled with strong, heavily armed men. Although most of the escorting troops were stationed and resting outside the village, Thales

As far as I could see, under the eaves of the bungalows built with bricks, wood, earth and stone, there were still bustling Northland soldiers coming and going.

But the strange thing is that these soldiers did not seem to disturb the purity of the village. They mingled with the men and women in the village dressed in linen and coarse coats, especially the square in the village. At this moment, it was already filled with soldiers and villagers, drinking glasses of wine going back and forth, laughing.

The sound shook the sky.

"I'm going to kill you this time, Crondon!" There were two people sitting at a large wooden table that seemed to be used to sell commercial goods. A man who looked like a villager vigorously smashed the table full of wine glasses and looked at the person opposite.

Not to be outdone, the soldier shouted: "I can drink ten cups in one minute!"

"We'll know right away if you're bragging," the soldier dropped his axe, took off his breastplate, and hit the table with the same annoyance, "The winner will get Arosha's wreath!"

The onlookers who formed a circle cheered enthusiastically, and a young girl carrying a flower basket laughed heartily.

"What the hell!" She put down the flower basket, lifted her skirt boldly, sat down, and joined the drinking party at the round table: "Only those who can drink better than me can get my wreath!"

Thales couldn't help but chuckle. At that moment, he even forgot that it was this group of Exeter soldiers who risked their lives against his guards and killed each other on the battlefield.

Different from the rule-based philistine society with clear class status that Thales came into contact with in Yongxing City, the rhythm of this rural village in Exeter seems wild and brisk, the atmosphere is warm and relaxed, and the villagers are basically tall and strong

A northerner with a rough appearance and a hearty smile.

"Hey, Tuleha, how long are we going to stay here?" A bearded soldier who looked like a mid-level officer, holding a warhammer in one hand and a wooden wine glass in the other, shouted to them: "Please, please tell me I can spend the night!"

"We'll set off in the afternoon," Tuleha shouted back in dissatisfaction: "Before then, tighten your pants for me, Tietou Quoke!"

"What a pity," the bearded officer took a sip of wine with a disappointed look on his face. The wine flowed down his beard and murmured: "I remember there was a beautiful cook at the Hero Tavern..."

Thales didn't care about the pointing, disdainful and malicious looks from the soldiers and villagers on the roadside. He followed Kambida and Tuleha all the way forward, followed by everyone in the mission.

"The way you confirm safety is to let the soldiers enter the village and drink with the villagers?" Looking at the Northland soldiers walking by, hugging the villagers, and laughing heartily, the prince's young attendant, Wyatt...

Ka Suo pressed the sword on his waist vigilantly and said with disapproval: "If I were an assassin, I would blend in with these villagers."

"Don't be too nervous, this is not a star, this is Exeter!" Viscount Cambida laughed loudly: "Almost all of this village are retired veterans, they are trustworthy... In fact, out of honor and dignity, in

Among them, the prince who is a guest will only be safer."

Wyatt shrugged and curled his lips to express his doubts.

"Don't worry," Thales nodded to his attendant: "The soldiers have infiltrated into the village. Even the assassins have to consider the possibility and cost of a sudden assassination."

"This is Pass Village, isn't it?" Putilai looked around nostalgically: "I remember there was a tavern here, and the owner inside was very famous..."

"Hero Tavern, a tavern opened by a retired soldier twenty years ago," Tuleha on the side said calmly: "And the rye alcohol inside is famous far and wide."

Thales, who looked around curiously, followed Cambida and Tuleha towards a larger stone house. A huge wine glass sign hung on the door of the stone house. The Fire Knight opened the two doors and walked in.

The bustling Hero Tavern.

Thales stepped into the warm stone house, leaving the cold air behind him. He saw that the tavern full of guests suddenly became quiet. Many people turned their attention to them. Thales recognized that many of the guests were Northland soldiers.

, apparently just arrived here not long ago.

But after a few seconds, the tavern returned to a lively atmosphere, as if just a few ordinary people came in.

"You didn't clear the tavern," Huaiya frowned and said, "Then His Highness's..."

A rough and old voice sounded like an explosion:

"Boy, this is my tavern," a thick, silver-haired old man with a frown on his face said with a look of disdain on his elbows on the wooden bar:

"Whether it's a king, a priest, a foreigner, or even a god, no one can drive away my guests here!"

Huaiya frowned.

The old man then squinted his eyes and lowered his head to look at Thales with a strange look on his face: "There are too many of you... I only entertain guests who pay for drinks."

Thales smiled at him.

The traveler couldn't help but notice that although the vicissitudes of the old man in front of him was a bit old, at least over sixty, his arm muscles were still well developed, his waist was thick and straight, and his eyes were direct and fierce.

"Kaslan! Don't worry about the number of people and the price of drinks!" Cambida laughed, sat down at the bar unceremoniously, and took out a money bag, "What we have here are small golden discs with Nikaru's face...

By the way, Grand Duke Heisha asked me to say hello to you!"

Thales' eyes flashed: How could a retired veteran and an ordinary tavern owner allow the Grand Duke of Black Sand to personally intervene?

But Cambida obviously didn't get the response he deserved.

"Each cup of rye is six Exeter coppers, and the price for nobles is sixty." The owner of the tavern, old man Kaslan, glanced at the money bag with a cold expression, then pushed it back and snorted coldly.

: "Also, I don't accept gold coins."
To be continued...