Devil's Journey

Chapter 264 Land of Despair
"Is it all justice?" Selena chewed on the words left by Julian in a daze, and a wave of thoughts surged in her heart.

After a long time, Selena woke up and looked down at the cold steak. With the idea of ​​not wasting it, Selena continued to move the knife and fork.

However, because of lack of appetite, Selena only ate seven steaks, three desserts, and two salads tonight, which made the chef feel uneasy and the maid feel distressed. The Duke of Camelot's mansion could not sleep at night.

Julian didn't stay longer in Visa City, and after impressing Princess Selina enough, Julian decided to leave. Otherwise, his lustful nature would be exposed, wouldn't the almost martyr personality be It collapsed.

Before leaving, Princess Selina made an exception and granted Julian the title of Viscount. This title was in the name of the Duke of Camelot, which also meant that Julian was truly certified as the princess.

When the new Lord Viscount, Your Excellency Julian, left Visa City, it was no longer a few knights and their followers, but a whole team.

Thousands of mercenaries and adventurers, as well as tens of thousands of newly arrived refugees formed a slightly chaotic team, and at the same time, the goods delivered by the trading companies in advance also left together.

Because there were too many people, a certain nobleman who was secretly planning to attack also flinched a little. Finally, after thinking twice, he temporarily stopped his actions and prepared to call more people.

Just when Julian led the elated mercenaries back to the territory, the situation in the north of the Griffon Kingdom was very pessimistic, because the years of war, high taxes and corvee made the serfs unbearable.

The increasingly gloomy climate has caused a large reduction in grain production this year, but the king's taxes have not been reduced at all, and the nobles will certainly not want their own interests to be damaged, so the taxes will naturally be passed on to the bottom.

In the past few years, a large number of self-cultivating farmers have disappeared and become serfs, but now even the serfs can't survive. Compared with the central part of the kingdom, which has better climate and water conservancy, the northern part of the kingdom has reached the critical point of tolerance.

Last year, those nobles who were more greedy than vampires took away all the food except rations and seeds. Many people didn't even have enough, so they could only press their fingerprints on the IOUs written by the nobles, although they didn't have any food at all. I can't read those IOUs full of cursive characters.

But this year it was even more extreme. Those knights who used to be self-proclaimed upright took all the food in the serf's house with their attendants and guards, including the next year's rations and seeds.

When the weeping serf fell to his knees in front of the wheel, crying about how his family would live in the next year, the knight masters just responded with a whip, knocking down the untouchable who dared to question the master regardless of his superiority.

"Hmph, if there is no food, you can hunt in the mountains, catch fish in the water, or dig wild vegetables. Can't you untouchables live by eating soil? Oh, yes, remember to pay [-]% of the hunting and fishing, otherwise it is stealing The lord's personal property."

The heavy taxes of the kingdom need to be paid in full, but the nobles have to pay their own taxes, and some more greedy nobles have to take the opportunity to extort another sum from the already poor and soul-stirring serfs, which makes a large number of serfs breathless. I can't do it anymore.

Although it is everyone's responsibility to resist the devil, this responsibility cannot only fall on the serfs, self-cultivating farmers, and small businessmen. With the deterioration of the kingdom system, nobles from all over the world even set up their own secrets on the grounds that they could not pay taxes. Checkpoints, blocking roads to collect taxes, and even direct robbery.

Although he didn't dare to go too far for those powerful big trading houses, but for those small and medium-sized trading houses, he bit them like a pack of greedy wild dogs.

Most of the nine counties in the northern part of the kingdom are undercurrents, but most of the nobles and wealthy merchants seem to be unable to see the growing hatred and grief beyond the castles and mansions.

If the southern part of the kingdom is a waste of time, then the central part of the kingdom can barely take a breath in the dead, but the northern part of the kingdom is a scene of the end of the year.

Even in the city, only the affluent districts can still sing and dance in dim lights, and other places seem to be dying. Families that were considered wealthy a few years ago can't even afford a bundle of firewood. The three meals became two meals of porridge, and the children in the family became thin and thin, and even their hair turned yellow.

The small businessmen couldn't do it anymore, and they sold or abandoned their shops one after another, but they also lost their livelihoods, and they couldn't even find a decent job. In the end, they couldn't even find a job as a helper.

Outside the city, except for the castles and manors of the nobles, there are starved corpses everywhere, and even serfs whose families committed suicide in despair. In the thatched hut, there are souls of grief, indignation and hatred.

It has been several months since Leila and Liya were ordered to come here. They did not intervene, but silently watched all this happen, silently savoring the growing despair.

This is a land that has fallen into death, a pile of dry firewood that is only short of sparks, and a barrel of gunpowder that may explode at any time.

When Julian sent them here, he didn't expect that the north had reached this point. He even taught them how to do things and how to turn small conflicts into big ones, but in fact, there was no need for them.

Leila, who had been promoted to the legendary realm, twitched her nose lightly. She seemed to smell death in the air. Although Liya hadn't been promoted yet, she was already on the verge of legend. She could also sense the silence before the outbreak.

When the night was about to fall, the village that was supposed to be filled with smoke was completely silent. Riding into this simple village, Leila and Liya, who were dressed in dark purple and dark red plate armor, looked like messengers from the underworld. .

The ferocious demon warhorse is like a beast, leading two witches to harvest the dead souls, but such souls are still lingering in the dead bodies, waiting to be summoned.

A thin figure in the corner staggered out of the door, stared blankly at the tall demon warhorse, and bit a thin little hand foolishly.

The figure is skinny and bony, and the ribs are directly outlined on his body. His arms and legs are as thin as skin and bones, but his belly is unbelievably round. Dropped some food.
Liya glanced sideways at the half-fallen door. The darkness of the night could not block Liya's sight. As for the adult, a young and mutilated corpse seemed to have disappeared. Maybe it had died outside, or it hadn't. return.

Liya and Leila have long been used to the tragic scene, and they are only slightly touched at this moment.

The cold magic flames ignited in the pupils, and Leila, wearing a mask like a dragon, felt the boundless power of death surging, raised the magic gun in her hand, and pointed at the thin figure.

"Want something to eat? Then come with me."

There were not too many words, but when Leila and Liya rode past, the thin figure staggered to keep up.

After walking out of the village, there were dozens of figures following Leila and Liama, stumbling, like walking dead, leaving this desperate land.

(End of this chapter)