rune hunter

Chapter 285 The Up and Down Distance of the Carriage

The original name of Sword Castle was Stuart, and its territory was very inconspicuous among the many provinces of the Kingdom of Auckland, and it could even be ranked last.However, the soil here is fertile and surrounded by mountains. It is the most famous and elegant place in the kingdom, and it is in sharp contrast with the neighboring brown earth hills.

The most famous local specialty in Stewart is the gemstone veins under the mountains, among which rubies are the most famous.It is said that in ancient times, a kingdom of dwarves settled under the mountains. Although that kingdom has disappeared into history and cannot be verified, there are still scattered veins of mineral veins in the underground mines dug out by the dwarves.Although these tailings have lost their mining value for dwarves, they are still more than enough to meet human needs.

Of course, such a rich land will inevitably attract greedy people, but Stuart has been able to maintain peace in the past thousands of years, and it is not without a way to protect himself.This land was bestowed by the founding king of Auckland to his most loyal warrior, Rod Lance, the sword master of the north wind, and he was also the only man in Auckland who could be called the sword master.

The inheritance of Rhodes has been well protected, and many talented sword masters have appeared among his descendants. They have always unswervingly supported the Oakland royal family and are members of the real royal family.During the second expansion of the Auckland Kingdom 300 years ago, that is, during the period of opening up the northern border, a sword master was born here again, so people habitually call Stewart the Sword Castle.

Rod Lance, the sword master of the North Wind, also participated in the war against the demon general Demient, and he contributed to the current landforms of the Brown Earth Hills.Therefore, the first king put his fief here, and it may not have meant that he was responsible for monitoring the devil's seal on the brown earth hills.

But time flies, and now 1000 years have passed, and Demient has become an ancient relic, and even the night watchman has lost his inheritance mission, let alone the sword castle that exists in the mortal world.In the nearly 200 years after the death of the last sword master, Sword Castle has not had a particularly outstanding inheritor, which has caused his political status in the kingdom to decline again and again.The Beifeng family, which was once brilliant with its swordsmanship, has basically left the sight of the kingdom's upper political circle.

Tiana also took this into consideration when she chose this route.Although the Beifeng family has not been well-known in these years, they still belong to the sphere of influence of the royal party, and they should be able to communicate with Earl Kemal of the southern faction.Even if Jianbao's attitude tends to be conservative, if it is just to pass through, it should not be intentionally made things difficult.

After entering the territory of Sword Castle, the number of refugees on the road began to increase. These groups of refugees came from the northern provinces. According to them, the plague has broken out in an all-round way, and the lords of various places were caught off guard. The power of resistance.Only the Sarin province close to Istaron, because the plague there was under control for some unknown reason, and Earl Kemal took precautions in advance, so it became the territory with the longest resistance.

However, according to the latest news, the resistance of Sarin Province has almost reached its limit, and the civilians and even the army under Count Kemal's rule have begun to flee.If they can't withstand the pressure, the entire northern part of the kingdom will fall completely.

Compared with the ranks of exiles from Istaren, these refugees gathered from all directions did not have any guarantee of survival.They had neither enough food nor rest, nor the protection of the army. They just ran around in a daze, not knowing where to escape to survive.

People have come to this point, even if they grab a straw, they will not let go. Many refugees saw the convoy of exiles and immediately surrounded them.Although they were afraid of the swords in the hands of the soldiers, their desire to survive finally overwhelmed their fear. They rushed over regardless, knelt down on the ground, stretched out their hands and tried to exchange for a little mercy with the most humble words.

The exiles in Istaren fell silent. As refugees, they could understand the feelings of these refugees, but at this time, sympathy had become a luxury.Many people subconsciously wanted to share the food on their bodies, but in the end reason overcame their sensibility and they chose to remain silent.

This has nothing to do with the good or evil of human nature, because the exiles themselves are not rich in food reserves.When leaving Lille, Tiana obtained a lot of food from Locke Manor, enough to support the team to reach their destination.But this standard is only for the group of exiles.While they ate their bread, El took his warriors to plan in the fields, eating the gray goblin's hodgepodge of friendship as a staple.

Even the night watchman troops who were later called escorts, but were actually attached temporarily, received the same treatment.When General Hank learned about the specific situation, he didn't say a word of nonsense.As a man, a fighter, this is what they should have.

Although the attitude of the exiles towards the soldiers is still indifferent, it is only an understandable psychological obstacle.How can he be worthy of protecting his brother if he distributes the precious food in his hands to these strange refugees just because of uneasy conscience?
A skinny little girl in ragged clothes knelt down in front of the carriage, shedding tears and snot, while stretching out her little hand and begging pitifully: "I beg you, please give me some food..."

She just wanted to beg for a morsel of food, but she was young and didn't know how to win the sympathy of others, and her voice was as weak as a mosquito, and she couldn't hear clearly. She just repeated the words of other people's begging in vain.

Sitting in the carriage in front of her was a girl about her age. Although both of them were refugees, the clothes on the girl sitting in the carriage had been patched, and there was still a fist-sized fist tightly clenched in her hand. black bread.

Although there is only such a little difference between the two people, it is this little difference that determines the fate of the two people.Although the girl sitting in the carriage can't get enough to eat, at least she can sleep peacefully in her mother's arms.And the girl kneeling on the ground might not even be able to make it through the night.

The girl sitting in the carriage looked at the black bread in her hand, bit her lip and hesitated, as if she had made a decision in her heart.But just as she was about to reach out, she was pulled back abruptly.

"What are you thinking? If you don't want to eat, give it to me!" The boy sitting next to her grabbed the girl's wrist and said viciously.

"But...brother, she's really going to die." The girl blinked and whispered aggrievedly.

"Whether she dies or not is none of your business?" The young man glanced at the girl under the carriage, and said in a cold voice, "Don't forget that uncles are still eating bugs. If you dare to waste food, I will beat you to death." ass."

"By the way, can't we exchange bread and uncles for earthworms?" The girl suddenly smiled and her eyes lit up.

"Are you an idiot?" The young man flicked a thump on the girl's forehead: "We've already left that ghostly place, where are we going to dig such fat earthworms, do you think..."

Halfway through the boy's words, he suddenly froze.He suddenly realized that even in a ghostly place like the brown earth hills, everyone can dig three feet to find something to eat. Isn't it easy to find something to eat now that he is back in the familiar countryside?

The girl kneeling under the carriage suddenly shuddered, and when she raised her head, she saw the strange gaze of the young man looking at her.She subconsciously tightened her clothes and was about to shrink back. Unexpectedly, the boy jumped out of the carriage and came to her, grabbed her wrist, and asked excitedly, "Are you a local? Are you familiar?"

The girl shrank her neck timidly and shook her head, which disappointed the boy.In his opinion, this little girl must not be able to run very far alone, so she should be a local.However, he immediately thought that her parents might have died on the way to escape, and it was possible to leave her here alone.

Shaking his head, the boy took out the black bread in his hand and said to the girl, "Want some bread? I can give it to you, but you have to do one thing for me..."

When the little girl saw the bread, her eyes finally recovered. She didn't care about whether the boy had bad intentions, so she nodded and agreed.The boy patted her on the head and put the bread in her hand, but before he could continue speaking, a big black hand came from the side and snatched the bread from the girl's hand.

It turned out that there was another homeless man hiding next to the girl, listening to the movement with his ears up all the time. Although he didn't dare to harass the huge convoy in front of him, there would be no harm in snatching a piece of bread from two children. psychological burden.He snatched the bread quickly, swallowed it into his mouth without saying a word, and then scrambled to escape.

The girl stared blankly at her palm, and burst into tears, while the boy's expression changed the moment the bread was taken away.With a loud cry, he grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it at the homeless man's head.The stone hit the tramp's skull, knocking him back.The homeless man ate a piece of bread, and his stomach was filled with confidence. Suddenly, he turned his head and cursed: "You little bastard that no one cares about, so what if I just robbed you!"

The boy didn't answer, he raised his hand with a sullen face, and the younger sister sitting in the carriage behind him picked up a sharpened wooden stick on the carriage and threw it into his hand with a tacit understanding.

The young man grabbed the wooden stick, put his hand in his mouth, and blew a loud whistle vigorously. A dozen or so boys of similar age stood up in several carriages before and after him, and jumped out of the carriage with a clatter.

The tramp knew it was not good when he saw this posture. He could still bully one or two children, but it would be troublesome if so many little ghosts rushed forward.Without saying a word, he held his head and continued to run away.

"Catch him! Beat him to death!" The boy pointed at the wooden stick and shouted loudly.

(End of this chapter)