Heart of the Castle

Chapter 424 Dragon and Griffon, Second Meeting

The audience hall of King Arthur's Palace is very spacious. After all, there are at least hundreds of nobles who are qualified to participate in the court meeting among the wealthy families of the king's capital Fermeyer, and the number of noble lords from various territories is even greater. .The east and west sides of the hall are juxtaposed with narrow high windows, which are inlaid with colorful glass collages. The content tells the great achievements of successive King Arthurs since the founding of Arthur I, and there are many exaggerations and beauty in them.After the sunlight passed through the glass, it cast grotesque color spots on the floor of the hall, and also decorated the ashen knights who stood like statues under the high windows like colored puppets in a farce.

His Majesty's Grand Throne, at the highest end of the hall, was as ancient as the Citadel of Ashes.Two iron guard knights stood at the bottom of the steps leading to the throne with their sword hilts in their hands, their stern eyes swept over everyone in the audience hall from time to time.They all swore to the gods that they would not marry wives, have no children, and would not accept any land or money rewards. They swore to the death to defend the safety of His Majesty the King, and they were ready to go through fire and water for His Majesty at any time.In their hearts, neither the family nor the motto of the knights is worth mentioning, and the only object of allegiance is Arthur XII——

The Throne was made of every metal mentioned in the canons: black steel and gleaming gold, shiny bronze and heavy lead, adamantium, mithril, tin and silver.Garnets, amethysts and black pearls adorn the back of the throne, and emeralds and rubies adorn the armrests.Contrary to the noble meaning and gorgeous image it represents, this chair is definitely not comfortable. The shiny gemstones are polished as sharp as an awl, making people afraid to lean on it casually, and the precious metal that makes up the throne is even harder Incomparable, and with sharp edges and corners, just looking at it feels like a dull pain in the buttocks.

"No wonder His Majesty the King doesn't like to hold court meetings. No one can bear to sit on such a metal bump for hours..." Grunwalm complained in a low voice, causing several young nobles around to snicker.

"As a king, don't be greedy for pleasure and indulge in extravagance." An elderly knight said to Glenn Worm seriously, "This is the famous saying of the first King Arthur I, so he This is why someone built this throne, in order to be vigilant at all times, and to warn future generations.” His eyes swept over the knight badge on Grunwalm’s chest like a falcon, and he asked strangely, “Young man? Man, your appearance is very strange to me, why don't you wear your own family badge?"

"I am..." Grunwalm was about to answer, when the high-pitched voice of the palace attendant sounded again, attracting everyone's attention, including the old jazz.

"Congratulations to the ruler of the Kingdom of Arthur, the guardian of the whole land, the victor of the North Orla Demon War, the dragon king, the great King Arthur XII!"

Following the loud announcement of the palace servants, four iron guard knights in gray armor walked in first. The Sir Magellan and Sir Chibe that Li Wei had seen before were located on the left and right respectively. They were tall, burly and thin. The comparison seems a bit ridiculous.The middle-aged man walking behind them was wearing a set of extraordinarily gorgeous and solemn ceremonial armor, the whole body was golden yellow, and every dragon scale was carved meticulously; on the helmet imitating the shape of a giant dragon, two huge ruby ​​dragon eyes sparkled The knee pads, iron gloves and combat boots are all covered with complicated and gorgeous magic runes, and the strong magic aura is flickering on the runes; a simple golden epee is worn in the middle Around the waist of the young man, the scabbard was wrapped with lifelike patterns of ivy, and the golden gemstone on the hilt was as bright as the morning sun.

The middle-aged man has a majestic and upright face, with a big mustache that has been carefully trimmed and cared for, each beard is shining golden in the morning light; in the deeply sunken eye sockets, there are two sapphire-like pupils The majestic radiance added to the indescribable aura of majesty on the middle-aged man.

Even so, Li Wei still had the urge to laugh faintly.

He had seen the unkempt and lazy funny expression on the same face. The image of the down-and-out middle-aged adventurer in the Castle Black Hotel overlapped with the image of the incomparably noble King in front of him. The sense of astonishment brought about made him almost unable to help laughing, and he could only bite the tip of his tongue sometimes, and sometimes put his tongue against the roof of his mouth to suppress his smile.

"Praise the Kingdom of Arthur, praise the great King Arthur XII, your subjects wish you health! May you live a long life! Be our king forever!" With these words, all the nobles in the hall bowed to the middle-aged man together, and their thick or thin voices converged into a loud shout that seemed like the roof would be lifted.

"Praise be to the great King Arthur XII! I wish you a long life!"

King Arthur XII stepped up to the magnificent throne located in the deepest part of the audience hall, and then turned around to look around the hall. When he saw Li Weiston in the crowd, his Majesty showed an imperceptible smile, slowly Slowly sat on the cold and hard throne.

Several important ministers of the kingdom then took their seats. Their seats are located on the steps on both sides of the throne. There are twelve high-backed chairs inlaid with gold and silver, and the same number of discussion tables. However, only half of the owners of the seats participated in this meeting. Chaohui.In addition to Count Gregor Clemennon and Duke Reinhard Bamilian, who Li Wei had met once, there were four other faces that were very unfamiliar to him.

Knight Hyde has been standing by Li Wei's side since he entered the hall. Seeing the slightly puzzled expression on the face of the Griffin Lord, he immediately leaned over and introduced in a low voice: "Master Li Wei, please attend this meeting There are only half of the important ministers of the kingdom at the court meeting, because the other half are responsible for the important responsibilities of the sheriff, such as the sheriff of the northern county, and the sword dancer Ricardo Feng Earl of Ansair is one of them." He turned to Gray who was sitting at the bottom of the discussion table Earl Guo pouted lightly, "The Earl of Magic Mountain once ruled a county, but he was really not a good lord. During his administration, riots occurred frequently, and several vassal families were forced to rebel. Then he unexpectedly Slaughtered all these families. His atrocities even angered the knight-errant heart of His Majesty the King. If it weren't for his outstanding military exploits, Lord Reeves would almost have his head chopped off. But in the end, the Earl of the Magic Mountain was also deprived After resigning from the position of Sheriff in Nanfang County, the current territory is only Iron Rock City and dozens of villages and towns nearby, "

Li Wei's heart sank slightly, the hatred in the mouth of the sniper hunter Sir Grace came from another person's mouth, and it was more tragic than imagined, although Knight Hyde's descriptive tone carried a kind of irrelevant It's an understatement, but the strong bloody atmosphere contained in it still makes Li Wei feel depressed.

"The one in black iron armor is the Marquis of Reeves, the famous Marquis of Skinning, the former law enforcer of the kingdom; the one in the red robe and the triple crown on his head is the Archbishop of the Glorious Cathedral, Ino the Pious Kesabasta is also the Cardinal of the Church of Light in charge of the Diocese of Firmeyer; the one next to the Bishop is Leonardo Stilwell, the leader of the Lightning Knights, and the Sir Sam you defeated the night before is his Brother." Knight Hyde introduced them one by one, although the tone could not be said to be contemptuous, but it could not be said to have much respect.However, when he introduced the old man sitting upright at the front seat on the left, his voice finally had a sense of awe for the first time.

"The old man sitting first on the left side is Grand Magister Jono Ann Merister, the most powerful magician in Philmeyer, the leader of King Arthur's mages, and the vice president of the Mages Guild." Knight Hyde's voice was full of In awe, "my father often said that although the Merister family is a relatively low-key one of the nine-pillar family, the power in the hands of the fire magician is far from what other families can match."

"The power of magic?" Li Wei muttered to himself, and then turned his gaze to the awe-inspiring old man.He has a stern and rigid face. There are not many wrinkles on his face, but each one goes deep into the skin, and the brows are tightly knit together.This look seems to be thinking about some difficult magic problems at any time, and it seems to hate the troubles and miscellaneous things in this world, which prevents him from studying in the magic world with peace of mind.

Li Wei noticed that all the hair on the face of the fire magician—whether it was beard, hair or eyebrows—showed a faint red color, and even in a calm and windless room, they still danced gently like flames.This color is obviously not natural, but the erosion effect caused by excessive exposure to the fire element.When the young griffin lord was thinking, the old man turned his head as if sensing his gaze. Under the two light red eyebrows, there seemed to be dark will-o'-the-wisps burning in the deeply sunken eye sockets.

Li Wei hurriedly looked away, but he could still feel the burning sensation of being watched by the fire magician. The burning sensation subsided after a few breaths, but Li Wei felt a burst of surprise and trembling in his heart.His keen intuition made him feel an extremely slight hostility... No, maybe this cannot be called hostility, but a kind of jealousy, a kind of snatching, a greedy desire to explore the secrets hidden deep in Li Wei's heart!
"Why does this great magister, Juno Ann Merister, give me this feeling? Could it be that he..." Li Wei thought nervously, so that he almost didn't hear the next words.

"Your Majesty has ordered that the robbery of the Kingdom's mission in the Dusk Forest will be publicly heard at today's court meeting!" Iron Knight Sir Magellan stepped forward and announced loudly, and then he turned to the seat of important ministers, "Count Gregor Clemennon, please Leave your seat and accept the inquiry!"

The exceptionally tall Count Gregor twitched the corner of his mouth, revealing a ferocious smile. "Damn the gods, I can finally get rid of this uncomfortable chair." He slowly stood up with a gloomy face. If his hair hadn't been loosened to cover his eyes, the fierce light inside would have made people shudder.

Seeing that Count Gregor was already standing under the steps, Sir Magellan announced again, "Count Square Enix, please step forward and accept the inquiry!"

There was a commotion in the crowd not far from Li Wei's side, and then an old nobleman and two young knights walked out slowly. All three wore feather badges of the Phoenix family on their chests.To the astonishment of the young Griffin Lord, in just two or three months, the calm, elegant, and vigorous Earl Enix who had seen in the northern border became extremely old, with sagging skin on his face, and even Even moving steps is very laborious, completely relying on the support of the two young knights on the left and right.

The three of them walked to the other side opposite Earl Gregor, bowed to His Majesty the King on the throne, and then saluted all the important ministers of the kingdom.After the important ministers returned their salutes, Earl Enix's old and tired voice resounded through the audience hall, bringing everyone's thoughts back to the Dusk Forest a few months ago, where they experienced the thrilling fight together.

Earl Enix's eloquence was quite good, he described the battle vividly, especially praised the bravery of the King's Guard Knights, and the fearless fighting and even sacrifice of the two great knights.The ferocity and brutality of the enemy was described in detail by him. When it came to those people who cut off the heads of every dead and injured and counted the numbers, a buzzing sound of discussion immediately sounded from the nobles' spectator seats, full of The entire audience hall.

"Quiet, everyone, please be quiet! Let us look forward to the wise judgment of His Majesty the King and all the important ministers!" Several iron guard knights shouted in unison, and then suppressed the discussion, and then everyone focused on the throne. direction.

"Lord Earl Enix, how do you determine who are not ordinary robbers?" After listening to Earl Enix's narration, Bamilian, the head of the palace, asked softly. It seemed that he was the only one among the important ministers who still cared about this matter. things.Beside him, Earl Stilwell tapped his hands on the table impatiently, Marquis Reeves rested his chin in his hands and meditated, Bishop Sebasta clasped his hands together and silently recited hymns, and the fire magician Then simply close your eyes and start meditating.

"Bandits? It's true to say that, but they are not ordinary robbers. Lord Bamilian, the Magic Mountain family is a den of robbers and bandits." Earl Enix's voice was low and full of resentment.

"Be more careful when you speak, Earl Enix, the robbers and bandits you speak of are one of the nine-pillar families in the kingdom." Bamili Yang reminded him with a sigh. "Did you see the Earl of the Magic Mountain himself, or the black triangle badge and the sickle banner of the Death Knights?"

"The Earl of the Devil's Mountain is not so stupid." Earl Enix suppressed his anger and said, "Of course he didn't do it himself. The guy who led those robbers was Thomas the Lord of the Eyes, the first branch of the Death Knights. Long! Grand Knight Commander Wilde died under his sword!"

This named accusation set off a wave of whispering and uneasy commotion in the audience hall. Those who were eligible to attend the court meeting were all wealthy nobles in the royal capital. Of course, they understood what Earl Enix’s accusation would mean once it was confirmed. occur.

The Magic Mountain family is one of the Nine Pillars families in the Kingdom, and they are in charge of the most lethal Knights of Death among the Four Knights in the Kingdom. They have always been domineering.Although the Enix family is also an old noble family, their strength cannot be compared with the Magic Mountain family. Whether it is a duel or coercion, they are unable to retaliate, so they can only publicly complain at the court meeting.

However, in this way, turmoil would inevitably occur in the upper echelons of the kingdom.

Li Wei was also thinking about it. He agreed with Earl Enix's accusation from the bottom of his heart. The robbers ambushing in the dusk forest were not like ordinary robbers, but rather fearsome warriors without fear of life and death.However, Li Wei did not see the lord with eyes that Earl Enix mentioned. Although the bandit leader is a powerful titled knight, he does not have a pair of golden eyes like the legendary scythe of death. .

"The climate in Beijing County is bitter and cold, and there are poor and remote villages everywhere. Even the mud legs in the countryside have been honed to a tough bone. The remnants of the refugees and rebels who resisted the king's army are still there, so the robbers and bandits are stronger. What a strange thing." Count Gregor showed a shark-like smile, with murderous intent hidden in his tone, "On the contrary, you, Count Enix, can save a life from those robbers. Cherish it well. Have you considered the consequences of causing trouble for the Magic Mountain family?"

"Earl Gregor, please be careful!" Marquis Reeves interrupted coldly, as long as the authority he was in charge of was violated, the skinning Marquis would not hesitate to show his majesty, "Threats in the audience hall A nobleman, even if you are an important minister, the laws of the kingdom will never allow it!"

Count Gregor returned sullen eyes, but to be the head of the Magic Mountain family and firmly occupy this position for more than ten years, Count Gregor would certainly not be a complete rough.He didn't pay much attention to Earl Enix, the enemy, but if he casually offended another important minister of the kingdom who was in the Jiuzhu family because of a little tongue, it would not be worth the candle.

"Marquis Reeves, what I said is completely well-founded." Count Gregor slowed down rarely, but his voice still sounded like thunder, "If this matter is done by my Death Knights Yes, then this old hairless bird will definitely not be able to keep the head on his neck!"

This contemptuous remark caused a burst of low laughter among the nobles watching. The two knights beside Count Enix blushed with anger, their hands were on the hilt of their swords, and their hair stood up.But Count Enix then raised his hand to stop their impulse.

"Don't fall for his tricks." Count Enix's eyes flashed calmly, and his voice was hoarse and calm, "If you draw your sword in the audience hall, you will give him the right to defend himself, then you and my There is no way to save your life.”

Seeing the two young knights calm down, Count Gregor clicked his tongue in regret, and then bowed his head towards the throne. "Your Majesty, on behalf of the Magic Mountain family, I sternly deny Earl Enix's accusation. No one in the Magic Mountain family has returned to their old business, let alone robbed and killed the Kingdom mission. As for the robber the old count encountered Who... I think His Majesty should send someone to the Northern County to consult with the Sheriff, Earl Ansair!"

"Earl Gregor, may I ask a question?" Bamilian, the head of the court, stopped the quill he had been copying, and said softly to the Earl of the Magic Mountain, "Since you said so, can you tell us, the Kingdom Mission Where were you and your subordinates when you were robbed and killed?"

Count Grego gave Bamily Yang a cold look, "Court Steward, you are asking such a strange question." His bearded jaw moved a few times, as if he wanted to chew something, "I am It’s not the minister of intelligence, and my subordinates don’t have sleepless eyes. If you don’t tell me when exactly what happened to the Kingdom Mission, how should I answer your question?”

"That's right, I was negligent." Bamilian bowed his head slightly, then stood up, rolled up the parchment that had just recorded the verbal confrontation between the two sides, and presented it to His Majesty the king on the throne.

Arthur XII just glanced at it briefly and put the parchment aside. "Those robbers are not from the Magic Mountain, because I have encountered them in the northern border." He said, looking at Count Gregor with piercing eyes, as if he wanted to find panic from his face. "The bandit leader is strong, and he has the skills of a titled knight, which made me very happy to play. If there are a few more reckless titled knights in the kingdom, I will be even more excited."

Count Gregor maintained a steely and stern face from beginning to end, without even blinking his eyes, which made Arthur XII feel a little bored.He waved his hand down, and Sir Magellan, Knight of the Iron Guard immediately took two steps forward, and made a gesture of "please come back" to Earl Enix.

This action made Earl Enix's body tremble violently a few times, and his appearance suddenly became more aging. He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but what he uttered was a series of heart-piercing coughing sounds .Sir Magellan repeated the action just now. This time, Earl Enix barely suppressed his cough and hurriedly saluted in the direction of the throne. With the support of two young knights, he left the audience hall depressed.

Count Gregor looked at Count Enix's back, a grin flashed across his face, and then strode back to his seat.

Sir Magellan did not return to the bottom of the steps, but continued to announce loudly, "The king has an order, the guardian of the northern border, the hero who ended the disaster, the griffin lord Baron Leviston, please come forward and accept the inquiry!"

The commotion in the noble crowd was not much smaller than when Earl Enix appeared. Levi cast glances at Knight Hyde and Glenn Worm, then took a deep breath and squeezed out of the crowd.

"Liveston, Baron of the Kingdom, meet His Majesty the King!"

(End of this chapter)