Heart of the Castle

Chapter 381 Attack, the Unlucky Baron Hughes

Li Wei quickly crossed the corner of the corridor. He thought that his movements were fast enough, but as far as he could see, the corridor was empty to the end, only the disturbed dust drifted slowly like smoke .However, the light red spot was still caught in the field of vision of the probing technique, and he had already jumped up the stairs extremely quickly, making a noise no louder than a mouse running past.

Li Wei then followed. The stairs had not been cleaned for several months, and the dust fell when he stepped on them.Levi noticed that the edges of the footprints on the ground were very blurry, as if the person who left the footprints was wearing very light and soft shoes.

Maybe this is the reason why the footsteps are almost non-existent?
Li Wei has spent more than ten years in the Viscount's castle, and is quite familiar with the structure of the main building.Although the area of ​​this fortified building is quite large, for the sake of defense in the early stage of construction, only the right cloister and hall have direct stairs to the upper floors.When Li Wei found that the light red spot missed the stairs leading to the hall in a panic, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

This guy has lost his last chance to escape.

Li Wei slowed down, what he needed now was to be as cautious as possible to guard against the counterattack of that nimble guy.Although the light red color proves that the opponent's combat effectiveness is not very strong, Li Wei has fought many opponents who are as dangerous as blood red or even purple, and he knows that strength does not mean everything.If you are in danger because of your carelessness, it will be too late for people to regret.

The reddish dot quickly discovered his embarrassing situation. After scurrying around in the rooms in front of him for a while, he determined that there was no place to hide.As Li Wei approached, the guy stopped moving in the innermost room, apparently either trying to hide or preparing for the last fight.

Either way, that guy can't escape.

Without a trace of hesitation, Li Wei walked to the room where the light red light spot was hiding. The door was closed tightly, covered with dust and cobwebs, with only slight traces of rubbing.If it weren't for the conclusion in his heart, Li Wei might even ignore this trace, and treat this room as an empty room that no one has visited for a long time.

The sword edge exuding silver light pressed against the door, Li Wei took a light breath, and then exerted force suddenly.The door bounced inward with a loud bang, and the latch shattered into several pieces as if it had exploded, sending dust flying.Before the dust cleared, Li Wei had already rushed in, and the knight sword with silvery white flames pointed straight at the place where the light red light spot was hiding.

That guy didn't make sure that his whereabouts had been discovered long ago, and suddenly let out a hoarse and strange cry, and swooped out of the wooden cabinet where he was hiding.Before his people arrived, the rancid smell like moldy cheese arrived first, which was particularly pungent in the confined space.

Relying on the effect of the probing technique, Li Wei fully anticipated this attack, but just as he was about to raise his sword to meet it, the suffocating smell forced him to back away again and again, and his eyes were stinging with smoke.

Li Wei's movements were not slow, but that guy's movements were faster. He was still in the air, and a lightning-like sword light pierced through the darkness in the room, piercing towards Li Wei's eyebrows.

Seeing that guy was holding a weapon in his hand, Li Wei was a little relieved. He was able to use a weapon, at least he should be an intelligent humanoid creature.

Li Wei's body turned to the side, dodging the sword that pierced his eyebrows, and at the same time, the silver-white sword light rolled back sharply, launching a fierce counterattack.The crisp metal clashing sound rang several times in a row, and each time made the guy take a step back, forcing him back to the wooden cabinet where he was hiding in the blink of an eye.

Facing a desperate situation, that guy resisted extraordinarily crazily, dancing the short sword like crazy, and there seemed to be a faint golden light on the blade.Fighting?However, Li Wei couldn't be sure whether it was his own illusion, and the anti-shock force from the short sword was not very strong.Li Wei judged that the strength of this opponent should be between the high-level knight and the great knight. He was already familiar with the opponent who was as strong as the title knight, and Li Wei felt extremely relaxed.Every strike of the knight sword brought the sound of howling wind, gradually reducing the guy's dodging space.

That guy lasted a few more chops. His short sword was of good quality, but it was not as good as the knight sword produced by Castle Heart, and the two weapons were not of the same weight class.With an especially ear-piercing chirping sound, the dagger shattered, and the flying fragments grazed the guy's body, bringing some eye-catching scarlet.

For that guy, the shattering of the dagger meant failure. "You lost, surrender." Li Wei pointed his sword at his neck and announced loudly, but he didn't get any meaningful answer.That guy didn't seem to understand Li Wei's words at all, and he couldn't see Jianfeng who was close at hand. Instead, he sat down slowly with his hands on his stomach, mumbling something vaguely in his mouth.

"Lord of Glory, what is this smell?" Babrupa's scream sounded from outside the door, "There is also goblin chowder here? No, this smell is even more terrible than goblin chowder!" Then his round He poked his head in, "Master Li Wei, what did you grab?"

"It should be a person." Li Wei replied uncertainly, "Maybe a barbarian who ran over from the extreme arctic ice sheet." The knight sword in his hand never left the guy's neck for a moment, even the guy Now he looked weak and trembling, and he didn't let the young lord relax his vigilance-the quick pounce just now really impressed Li Wei.

Now I can look at that guy more carefully. Li Wei's judgment is correct. That guy really looks like a barbarian from a certain tribe on the extreme arctic ice field. It is unclear whether it originally belonged to a bear or a long-haired sheep.The clothes inside were so dirty that they couldn't see their true colors, the cuffs and trousers were torn to pieces, and then they were sloppily mended with twine.However, judging from the style, it turned out to be an aristocratic dress, making one wonder which unfortunate guy he took it from.

"Hey, gods, can he understand us?" Seeing that the barbarian had lost his threat, Babrupa walked over waddlingly, looking curiously at the face with messy beard and hair. , "Master Li Wei, did I see something wrong? I seem to have seen this face somewhere before."

"Pious Mr. Babrupa, did you even leave the footprints of your mission in the extreme arctic ice field?" Levi sneered a little in disbelief, and then carefully looked at the barbarian's face. He didn't recognize it at first, but After being told by Babrupa, Li Wei found that if he gave the barbarian a good bath, his face could even be said to be quite handsome... If he removes the messy beard...

"Father God bless, you are... Baron Hughes?" Li Wei's cry was like a bolt of lightning hitting the barbarian's head. He trembled violently a few times, then let go of his hands holding his head, and looked at him with unfocused eyes. Looking back, it seemed as if he had just woken up from a nightmare.

"I'm... Hughes? Baron... what, I'm so thirsty, do you have anything to drink?"

His voice was hoarse and broken, and he spoke incoherently, as if he hadn't talked to anyone for a long time, and he had already forgotten how to speak.Li Wei only understood his last words, so he untied a sheepskin wine bag from his waist and handed it to the downcast castle owner.

Baron Hughes almost snatched the wine bag, and impatiently moved it to his mouth, almost forgetting to unscrew the cork.With the sound of gurgling, his throat also bulged, and the strong wine inside burned his throat and stomach like a liquid flame, but he didn't care about anything until he drank the sheepskin wine sac dry in one breath, Only then did he let go.

"I let you see how embarrassed I am, Baron Levy." The shochu seemed to have magical powers, and Baron Hughes recovered his voice, "Your mood is very happy when your former opponent has become like this, right? Isn't it?" The corners of his mouth twitched, and his tone was angry and vicious.

"Not at all." Levi squatted down and looked at Baron Hughes, "Your Excellency Baron Hughes, how did you become like this? I saw many corpses of your guards outside your castle, those people How did you die?"

Baron Hughes did not answer immediately, but looked at Levi with suspicious eyes, and Levi looked at him with calm and frank eyes, without any panic inside.The suspicion and resentment in the Baron's eyes faded away bit by bit, and then he suddenly covered his face with his hands. Levi didn't hear the cry, but Baron Hughes's fingertips overflowed with clear liquid, and before it dripped down his cheeks, Turned into a cloudy brown-black.

"When you left, you took everything you could, and even tore down the gate of the castle." Baron Hughes didn't have much accusation in his tone, but just narrated a fact. "At the beginning, my whole body was trembling with anger, and I wished I could bring my guards to catch up with you. But Earl Enix persuaded me to calm down, because the things you took away belonged to you according to the kingdom's law. His Majesty King Arthur's order only I was given the territory and the castle, not including the original wealth in the castle."

Li Wei's face was slightly hot, because he knew very well that he did not do anything wrong in terms of the kingdom's law, but ordinary nobles would not leave nothing behind when they handed over the castle.

"Anyway, I was a little bit ecstatic at the time. Because from that day on, I was a baron with real power holding the territory. Earl Enix also tried his best to leave some wealth and food for me before he left. " Baron Hughes continued, with a faint light in his eyes, "Most of the tenants in the territory have also left, which is not entirely a bad thing for me, because Earl Enix left There is not much food, if these tenants stay, I don't know how to get through this most difficult winter."

Li Wei nodded in agreement. The evil disaster caused the entire Viscount of Lane to have no crops. If there were no wheat seeds with the power of the earth produced by the heart of the castle, he could rush to plant them before the snowfall, and the pressure he would have to bear now would only be greater. .The fact that the Kingdom Mission was actually carrying food showed that Earl Enix was clearly prepared and wanted to support Baron Hughes to gain a firm foothold in Northern County.

"Since you were prepared, why did you become like this?" Li Wei asked a little strangely, "Earl Enix should have promised follow-up support, right?"

"That old fox promised a lot." Baron Hughes said bitterly, "He said that in half a month at most someone would send a large amount of supplies, including food, fine wine, jewelry and women, enough for me to hire a few more Hundreds of adventurers. I have waited for a whole month, and those adventurers have also waited for the same amount of time, but let alone supplies, I have never even seen a single messenger..." He clenched his fists and beat the ground, "If it wasn't for getting enough rewards, who would follow me to this bitter cold place? After a month, the adventurers began to leave. They took everything that could be taken away. Before the end of the month, only There are more than 30 people."

"Is it the people who died outside?" Li Wei remembered the massacre in the square.

"That's right, I thought they were the last ones who remained loyal, and they went to various manor farms many times to collect taxes from the people for me." When Baron Hughes talked about those people, his eyes were still burning with hatred "Unexpectedly, they used swords and fire to expropriate, and burned all the farms on the territory. The people either fled or were trampled under the horseshoes."

"These guys are all damned!" Li Wei raised his eyebrows and said angrily.

"That's right, so they are all dead. I killed them myself." Baron Hughes replied.

Li Wei was silent. He could feel that Baron Hughes was not an evil lord, but because he was completely ignorant of government affairs, let alone people, he could only bring disaster to the people in the territory.

"And you stayed here forever?"

"Yes, stay here, otherwise where can I go?" Baron Hughes raised his head, his face was full of confusion, "I have never left the capital of Fermeyer, the entire northern county, except you Apart from this neighbor, I don’t know any other lords. I have a broken castle to keep out the wind and cold when I stay here, and I can’t even tell the direction when I leave here..."

Li Wei looked sympathetically at the baron who had fallen to the extreme, thinking that two months ago, he looked like a well-dressed and chic noble young master. His handsome appearance was enough to make little girls who didn't know the world scream.And now it is also possible to make those people scream, but it should not be excitement but disgust, right?Even tramps and beggars seldom get mixed up in such a messy look. It seems that the baron can neither mend and wash, nor gather firewood for cooking, but how he survives these days.

"Your Excellency Baron Hughes, although I have no position to say this, I still sympathize with your situation. I can't help you much, at least I can give you some money and food..." As he spoke, Levi said He touched his body, then turned his head and asked Babrupa, "Babrupa, how much money do you have with you?"

"Father God!" Babrupa took a step back, with a vigilant expression on his face, "Master Li Wei, the money on my body cannot be moved, those are donations from poor believers to the gods, I just It is kept in place of the gods."

"Your appearance is indeed very pious, but it's better to show it to others." Li Wei said angrily and funny, "I'm not taking it and not returning it, I just borrowed some from you, and you can return it when you return to the team. for you."

"Since this is the case, Master Li Wei, don't let me down the trust I have in you." Babrupa hesitated for a moment. It was obvious that the image Li Wei had always portrayed was honest and credible, so he gritted his teeth, feeling very heartbroken. He took off the boot on his left foot, and took out a few gold coins from the inside of the boot, which exuded a sour smell that was almost as strong as that of Baron Hughes. "This is all my property, Master Li Wei, you must return it to me..."

The gold coins in Babrupa's hands are veritable stinky money, and Li Wei hardly knows whether to take them directly or wrap them in something.Fortunately, Baron Hughes quickly made him no need to continue to worry.The baron took a deep breath, then suddenly got up and dropped to one knee.

"Baron Leviston...Your Excellency, I don't want your money, because there are no people living here for more than ten miles, so there is no way to spend it." Baron Hughes said in a harsh tone, "I don't know much, I have never learned how to deal with government affairs, and I don’t know how to lead troops to fight, and most of the nobles I know in the capital are swingers, but at least they are good at swordsmanship, can you accept my allegiance?”

"Accept your allegiance?" Li Wei was taken aback, "Your Excellency, Baron Hughes, have you made a mistake? I am the same baron of the kingdom as you, and we are both real power lords with equal status. How can I accept you?" What about his allegiance?"

"The real power lord?" Baron Hughes's tone was full of self-deprecating, he shook the tattered animal skin on his body, and the smell of sourness immediately became stronger. "Is this kind of real power lord? Then it's not appropriate."

"But the kingdom's laws stipulate..."

"Go to his kingdom's law!" Baron Hughes yelled, "The kingdom's law stipulates that duels between nobles, the loser should pay the ransom to the winner, right?" He pointed at the short sword that was swung aside by Li Wei , "It was me who lost just now, I now have nothing but this bear skin, so I will pay you this territory as a ransom - Baron Leviston, now I have lost my territory, I am no longer the Baron of the Kingdom, Will you accept my allegiance?"

Levi didn't see any hesitation in the eyes of Baron Hughes. In the field of vision of the probing technique, the light red light that meant hostility on the person in front of him had also turned into a yellow-green color that meant limited loyalty. "In that case, Babrupa, you bear witness as a clergyman." Li Wei ordered, and then placed the knight sword in his hand on the shoulder of Baron Hughes.

"Reinhardt Hughes, are you willing to swear before the gods, obey the motto of the knights, obey the orders of the prince and the king, and be loyal to me. No matter how difficult the future is, you will always be loyal to your duties and never be afraid? "Li Wei's voice was very solemn and loud, echoing endlessly in the room.

"I am willing. I will swear allegiance and protect your interests with the sword in my hand until death." Baron Hughes replied without hesitation.

The young lord switched his sword to the other shoulder of Baron Hughes, "When you kneel down, you are still the baron of the kingdom, and when you stand up, you are my vassal knight, Reinhard Hughes, do you regret it?"

"I only regret leaving the capital." Hughes muttered, then raised his voice and said, "But I will never regret being loyal to you, Your Excellency the Baron."

"Well, I accept your allegiance in the name of Baron Levi Stone, the guardian of the northern border of the Kingdom of Arthur, the only legal lord of Greencastle and the territory north of the Sealand River." After Levi finished speaking, he took off his The adventurer's robe, draped over Hughes' body, slightly concealed some of the rancid smell on his body.

"Is there any hot water here?" asked the young lord. "You really ought to take a good bath, or they might think I made a barbarian a knight."

(End of this chapter)