In the royal capital of Horleta, the sky is clear, and stability and prosperity envelope this ancient city in a mild climate zone as always. Proud royal guards stand on the towering city walls, and the business district is filled with bustling crowds, nobles and
The carriages and horses of big merchants came and went on the wide stone roads in the Garden District and Plantagenet District, maintaining the interests of the kingdom's upper class. This huge city is like an incredibly complex machine, which is built within its own thick walls.
Roaring loudly, countless people form countless parts, allowing this machine to continuously create the flames of human civilization.
Three years have passed since the incident with Parish Beinz. Even the incredible incident in which the "foreigners" came to help remove the "sore of the planet" was old news more than two years ago. Some scholars and priests used "
"Planet's Sore" is used to tell the public about the Firstborn Organization that was uprooted from the depths of the earth. This theory is very popular among ordinary people who don't know much about the inside story.
Three years is just a blink of an eye for an ancient kingdom, but for busy ordinary people, it is enough to erase many things, turning the major events of the year into "stories" that are only mentioned after dinner. Collapse
The Dragon's Back Mountains, the Beinz Blood Lake that turned into a crystal mine, the Beinz Diocese that became a gathering place for scholars and adventurers, the Pope who died as a martyr, many people and things gradually faded out of the sight of civilians, and instead
It has become a new source of stories for bards. After the passage of time and the forgetfulness of the people, there are not many things left that can be remembered by many people, or that can still cause many topics, including the one who was loved by all bards.
The much-talked-about legendary heroic female mercenary Betsy also includes the mysterious and powerful "foreigner" who is said to be sent by the goddess to save her people, as well as the tower that is still suspended on the west side of the kingdom.
Nowadays, there is a prestigious air fortress on the continent, Hodice.
Ordinary people will not know the meaning behind these things. For them, things like legendary mercenaries, foreigners, and air fortresses are out of reach. They are things that only appear in poems and books, especially
It's that fortress, which has been exaggerated by bards again and again and turned into a magnificent "Fortress of Gods". It is said to be a treasure given by the goddess to the devout Guardian Kingdom Horleta. Is there any Huo behind such remarks?
The shadow of the Erleta royal family is unknown.
The edge of the royal city is a lively but slightly old city. The buildings here are low and dense. The streets are always filled with the smell of various inferior spices, seafood, and leather. The tinkling sounds of blacksmith shops can be heard from the corners of the streets.
Outside, the noise of the street tavern will continue until late at night. This is where traveling merchants and broken knights who come to the royal capital to try their luck gather. Some of the various imported goods from the Western Gulf and the Northern Empire will also be turned over here.
At the same time, elite adventurers from all over the kingdom will choose to start a new life here after accumulating a fortune and considerable fame. Some become "military guards" of the princes and nobles, and some successfully join the Royal Knights and embark on a journey of success.
On the way to the upper class society by personal force, some people left sadly after spending a few years and returned to a small place to be ordinary adventurers. These people from different religions gathered together to make this land known as "Black
The city of "Steel Street" is bustling all the time, with countless reliable and unreliable news and stories circulating here. Bards have become the most popular profession on the streets. The number of street pubs is almost three times that of the inner city. They are municipal
Officials brought a huge amount of extra wealth, and also provided irreplaceable leisure and entertainment for the idle people gathered here with nothing to do.
In a prosperous street tavern, a slightly famous bard was invited by the owner of the tavern to play the ebony harp next to the counter and describe a rather interesting story with long and short verses called "Gwa narrative poems".
There is a popular story. The long dark tables in the tavern are filled with drinkers who come to spend time. Near the door, there are three strangers wearing the attire of the citizens of the royal capital, but they look like foreigners.
I was also paying attention to the bard's performance. Although the performance was not outstanding, the singer's self-composed narrative poem was the reason why the bard was so popular.
"...The sunshine that day turned into a spear, and the goddess threw it from the clouds. The earth was torn apart, and the rocks melted quickly...
"The female marshal rushed into the enemy formation with a long sword in her hand. Her armor was shining, the blade was bright and flamboyant, and the tassels were flying up and down...
"The demon underground has awakened, its body is twisted and rotting, its tentacles are bleeding with venom, and it is shrouded in infinite magic.
"...The power of the gods shuttled through the clouds, throwing boulders and burning fire bombs. The Dragon's Back Mountains collapsed, and the blood lake instantly evaporated.
"That legendary mercenary, she had no fear. She charged into the army of foreigners and killed countless monsters. Finally, she came to the heart of the devil. A ball of filthy flesh and blood beat in front of her eyes. The dark magic made her
Severe pain in hands and feet...
"...The spear of light from the sky pierced the evil rune, and the devil's heart finally stopped beating. Its dying curse dissipated in the radiance of the goddess and turned into a halo over the blood lake... The legendary female mercenary
Return to the ground and cheer for victory with the crowd...
The bard's singing gradually became lower, and people at several tables near the counter were already making noises. At the long table next to the door, Hao Ren smiled and touched Lily's arm: "Listen, this is the third version.
Already."
"Why is there a version that doesn't have 'the silver-white holy beast standing on the earth'?" Lily puffed out her cheeks, "I heard that there was a version that specifically boasted... to praise me. I was quite active that day, and
I'm older than you all..."
"What's the point of being big? There weren't many big things on the battlefield that day," Vivian curled her lips contemptuously, "By the way, I quite like this version. Basically all the characters who should appear have appeared. There are no mistakes or omissions.
There are not as many as other versions. If you think about the magically modified version of the ancient magic emperor we heard in the square before, they were resurrected one by one, and the bragging was simply endless."
"No matter which version, Betsy seems to have a lot of scenes," Hao Ren chuckled. "It seems that the Horleta royal family really spared no effort to drag her out as a typical publicity."
Vivian nodded: "There is no way, there must be at least a trace of the Horleta people in this epic event, otherwise how can we deal with the dignity of the nation. And Betsy was indeed quite active at the beginning."
"Okay, I've heard enough stories and seen the changes here in the past two years. It's time to go find Betsy." Hao Ren stood up and patted Lily, who was still reluctant to get up. "Let's
I haven't told her that I'm coming today, so I can give her a surprise."
Betsy's manor is located not far outside the city. Originally, she was eligible to get a mansion allocated by the royal family in the inner city or even the aristocratic area. However, this free-spirited female mercenary really couldn't stand being surrounded by the upper class.
days, so he finally chose to continue living in the manor outside the city. Hao Ren and his party arrived at the manor in the evening of that day. The servants and housekeepers of the manor obviously still remembered these mysterious and respected "foreigners", and immediately
He opened the door, but Hao Ren was told that Betsy was not here.
"Betsy isn't here?" Lily was surprised. "It's almost dark. Where can she go?"
"The mistress went to the Dark Mountains with a royal knights a few days ago," the manor's butler explained respectfully. He knew that these people in front of him had a close relationship with his master and were among those "legendary characters."
Therefore, nothing was concealed. "She is now a high-ranking officer of the Royal Knights and has the title of earl, so she accepted the royal order."
"Has she joined the Royal Knights?" Hao Ren raised his eyebrows. He was not surprised by Betsy's earldom. He knew about it. After all, the female mercenary also had an incident in the Beinz incident that day.
She has made great achievements, and was later established as a typical hero. It is normal for the royal family to give her a prestigious status. Anyway, she is just a "honored noble" without a fiefdom. It was just that she kept saying that she would "retire home" after making a lot of money.
It's a bit surprising that Betsy, who was just playing counting money, actually joined the Royal Knights and went on field trips.
"The mistress has been in the army for many years and was not adapted to the aristocratic life later on," the housekeeper said solemnly, "so under the recommendation of Marshal Ofra, she joined the Royal Knights. However, I don't know the details. It's too much to pry into the master's private affairs.
It is not the duty of a servant."
As soon as Hao Ren heard the other party mention the words "under the recommendation of Marshal Ofra", he said there was no need to go into details. The matter itself was a detail...
In fact, even without the influence of Marshal Ofra, Hao Ren still thinks that it is normal for Betsy to join the Knights or go back to work as a mercenary. After all, she is a master who is used to running around. How can he be quiet?
When I came down, I was very confident that I wanted to live an elegant and decent aristocratic life, but I guess Betsy could no longer stand the kind of days when she opened her eyes every day and did nothing but accompanied the aristocratic ladies to brag...
"Then when will she come back?" Hao Ren asked, "Or you can tell me where she is."
At the same time, he was still silently thinking that if he really couldn't find Betsy, he might as well go directly to Marshal Ofra first. It wouldn't be a delay to get down to business by finishing the "Sunset Red Homecoming Relative Visiting Group" project first.
The housekeeper bowed slightly: "The mistress is only performing an escort mission and will not stay in the Dark Mountains forever. She should be back tomorrow."
"That's okay. We can just stay here and wait for her to come back. Is that okay?"
"Of course," the butler replied, "the mistress has long-term reserved rooms in the manor for several distinguished guests. Please come with me..." (To be continued.)