I Am Louis XIV

   The Veil of the World in Chapter 109 (2)

After leaving the ship, they stepped on a barren sandy ground. The white stone brick city wall has been extending from an unreachable distance into the sea. Except for ghosts, they could not see anything moving, not even clouds and seawater. It seems to be solidified, and the corridor is full of shrill screams - from ghosts, the footsteps of the corpse and the unknown liquid dripping on the ground, Louis remembers seventy-seven steps, wizards like magic. Numbers, his body is weak, but he can still support - although he really wants to help a wall, but when he thinks that those cornerstones are mixed with the ashes of the burned wizards, he can't lift his hands.

Infernal corpses and ghosts peeped at them, their eyes—transparent and cloudy, condensed on every living being who passed through here, and black stains did remain on the gray-white stone bricks, and Louis passed through them calmly. , The corpse is like frozen carrion, and the ghost is like a cold wind blowing from the swamp. Fortunately, he has the fur cloak prepared by Mary, and it does not feel too cold.

The light came suddenly, and along with the darkness came the cold. A burst of warmth caused Louis to shiver slightly. His arm was immediately supported by a person. It was Milady, and Louis looked around. , accidentally discovered that this is the other side of the city wall, the reason why it is said to be the other side-he saw a mountain range that may have stretched for hundreds of miles.

Mary and Vesalius came out later than Milady and Louis, which surprised Mary, because Louis was a mortal who was only temporarily disguised as a wizard, and Milady, she was a teacher without a mentor. The outsider who guides, Vesalius is not surprised. The passage of the wizards tests the willpower of the comers, because they are always proud of their reason and strength relative to mortals, but even mortals, there will always be one. A man of unshakable will.

   Of course, without the blood of Colonna, if the person who came was just a mortal, even if he had a firm will, his breath would still be sniffed by those corpses and ghosts, and then they would swarm up and tear him apart.

Just as Mary was about to say something, they heard a melodious flute sound, and Louis turned to look, a slight stunned look appeared under the hood, because the sound was clearly from a monster, it was The wizard on Zhenghe slowly approached them, and this was the manticore that Marie mentioned. It has a male human face, round ears protruding from the fluffy golden red mane, and a pair of eyes as blue as sea water are looking at them curiously, just looking at them like this, the emotions expressed in the eyes are all Stronger than some unqualified theatrical actor, and the wizard sitting on it, as soon as his eyes fell on Mary's face, a kind smile appeared.

   "Well," he said, "I am astonished, Miss Mancini, have you come back from the world of watches?"

"Oh, yes," Mary said calmly, seeing the male wizard jump off the manticore and raise her hand for a kiss, "I thought you weren't going back to the inner world any time soon." Because The Mancini family has decided to find a noble marriage for their sisters in the watch world, which is no longer a secret among the noble factions.

   "It's true," Mary said. "It's just that I'm going to be the introducer for the Duke of Colonna," she said, then turning to Louis and the others: "This is the youngest son of the Dante family, and I... a friend from my childhood."

As soon as the young Dante family heard the name of the Duke of Colonna, his expression immediately became serious, "I've heard it for a long time, Your Highness." young men wear wide-brimmed hats embellished with feathers, but with pointed hats or pull up the hood attached to their robes, so they rarely take off their hats when they salute, but only open first and then cross their hands on their chests. , Louis guessed it was to show that they didn't have the "weapons" of the wizards in their hands, which is the herbal or mineral powder he saw Mary used, "Hello, Mr. Dante," he said softly. Nodding, even if it is the real Duke of Colonna, it is the first time he has come to the inner world, and he will not salute like a wizard, and given what he has seen, in the inner world, a duke may not need to tell most people. Make a humble gesture.

His idea was correct. The Dante family was not angry because Louis did not return the salute. His status was lower than that of Mary, and he had no title. "Sorry," he said, "although it is you, but Your Highness, Do you have a coat of arms?"

Louis let him see the coat of arms hidden under the cloak. The dazzling gold and blue coat of arms dazzled Mr. Dante, and then Milady and Vesalius also took out their coat of arms, the Colonna family. The attached coat of arms, followed by Mary, was completely in accordance with the regulations, that is, after checking the coat of arms, the young wizard guard whispered if they needed to summon the Pegasus carriage, and Mary shook her head: "The Colonna family's carriage Coming soon."

Those utilitarian eyes suddenly dimmed, but Marie just turned away without looking at it, and Mr. Dante's eyes shifted to Louis. Obviously, compared to Marie, this distinguished outsider may be more It was easy to cling to, but unfortunately, before he could speak, he heard a violent whistling sound.

The manticore fluffed its entire body furiously. Although it has a human face, when it opens its big mouth, it can be found that there are three rows of sharp triangular teeth in it, just like a shark with a Undercut, Mr. Dante scolded a few times, but it still arched its back and made a threatening gesture. Milady walked slowly between the king and the manticore, raised his eyebrows and smiled at Mr. Dante, and used a very A menacing look pressed him.

I saw the youngest son of the Dante family and Milady stared at each other for a few seconds before backing away helplessly and angrily. With just a click of his finger, the manticore could no longer make a sound. , even the tail full of poisonous thorns slowly drooped down, no longer terrifyingly open, as if it was going to be launched at any time.

   "What a disgusting fellow," Milady said softly.

Since this wizard knows the Duke of Colonna, he should also know that he is entering the inner world for the first time, so he deliberately indulges his mount. Whether the Duke of Colonna is afraid or curious, he has a direct relationship with Louis. opportunity for dialogue.

Maybe it was because she was used to seeing manticores that Mary realized what was going on. She looked sullen, but at this time the Pegasus carriage of the Colonna family was already circling down, and it was eight beautiful black horses. The gold-inlaid four-wheeled carriage dragged by the Pegasus fell to the ground, ran a few steps briskly, and stopped exactly in front of Louis. A middle-aged man also dressed in a robe jumped from the back seat of the carriage, With a very happy smile on his face, he bowed deeply to Louis: "I am your chief here," he said: "You may call me Luca."

   "I am His Highness's valet and doctor," Vesalius said.

   "I am His Highness's maid," Milady said.

Luca's eyes only stayed on them for a short moment, and then he saluted Marie Mancini. They were quickly welcomed into the carriage. The space in the carriage was bigger than it looked. To be precise, It's like a fancy bedroom, because the seats are like couches, piled with fur, and Louis can lie down comfortably, and he really needs it.

   When the Lucca manager was about to retire, Louis stopped him: "Luca," he said: "There is someone outside who has angered me."

   "I see, Your Highness," said Luca.

It might only be a few seconds before they heard the wailing of the beast and the neighing of the horses, and then suddenly fell into an inexplicable silence, followed by the conversation between Luca and the Mr. Dante, who was clearly suppressing his anger. , Luca was smiling and relaxed.

   "Excuse me, Your Highness." When Luca returned to the carriage again, "it took a little time."

"Well?"

"Our Pegasus, Your Highness, one of them suddenly loosened its bridle, so it ran out and killed Mr. Dante's mount," Luca seemed to look back: "Oh, maybe it ate a little. "

   "Mr. Dante isn't hurt."

   "No, just a little frightened," Luca said, "I'll give him some compensation."

   "Very well, Luca," said Louis.

They set off after the suddenly "unbridled" Pegasus was recalled, and the Pegasus carriage was smoother and smoother than any vehicle Louis had been through, now or in the past, and they galloped across the ground. Only the sound of Dada's hooves indicated that they were moving forward, and when they fluttered and took off, the carriage only trembled slightly, and then there was a moment of weightlessness. A few minutes later, Milady saw out the glass window. Only the gauze-like clouds and the blue sky of the lake.

   "What kind of horse is that?" Louis asked.

"It's a nightmare," Marie said. In fact, even the Mancini family only had a carriage pulled by four nightmares. The Colonna family shouldn't have prepared such a complete set for their youngest son here, after all. The young wizard is not ready to enter the inner world, so it can only be prepared by Mr. Bishop for the king.

   "The devil?"

"No," Vesalius said, "Wizards don't have that much power. This kind of monster is only made by them using alchemy. It's just not easy and requires a lot of precious materials." He looked out the car window. : "They are very expensive, even in the inner world, but they can drag a carriage like a Pegasus, hunt like a hound or guard their masters, and they are beautiful, so every noble family will be equipped with a nightmare. carriage."

   "They eat meat?" Milady asked with interest.

"I said they were like wolfhounds," Vesalius said, but he didn't say he'd seen them chasing fishermen or pirates who had accidentally intruded into the nearby waters—for mortals, it was tantamount to the arrival of demons, Nightmare Pegasus, which can fly and are not afraid of ordinary swords, can land on any ship or on the sea at will, they will lift the deck, open the hatch, grab the prey and drag it to the reef to tear it apart. Lose.

   People in the world often say that the so-called ghost ship is caused by this.

Although Milady could not hear what Vesalius had in mind, he also guessed that those horse-like monsters were extremely cruel creatures. Teeth, huge claws, and a thorny tail like a scorpion, but against the Nightmare Pegasus, not even the enemy of unity, she smiled and didn't ask any more questions, there are too many secrets in the world, they There is more to explore.

  ———

Louis took a nap in the Pegasus carriage. It might have been only ten minutes before he heard Milady's soft whisper. He got up and leaned against the car window to look down at the scenery below. The green mountains were gradually receding, and the ground appeared. Rolling hills and ribbon-like roads, followed by neatly divided fields and villages, this scene lasted for about an hour before slowly turning into denser towns, and finally a few connections. Huge castle together.

The reason why    is connected is because the castles are connected by city walls, and inside the city walls is an extremely wide site. Unlike the castles, the buildings inside are much lower and more tidy, and there are several circular squares.

But the nightmare carriage did not land in the castle complex, it hovered slowly in the afterglow of the setting sun, and then slowly landed in a secluded courtyard, where the spell was released in a targeted manner, and the whistling wind and icy air were blocked. Outside, a lovely little open-top carriage—not a carriage, to be exact, but a unicorn, because pulling the one-person carriage was a unicorn gleaming with silver light. The beast, Louis couldn't help but put his hand on it, it blinked softly, and did not only allow virgins to touch as in the legend,

Although Louis was a man, he couldn't help but be attracted by the silky satin-like fur. He stroked it with restraint, and then stepped into the car. The unicorn didn't need anyone else to drive it. The gray-black basilica building.

The architectural style of Basilica comes from ancient Rome. It is a building with a flat plane like a rectangle. It was later used by churches to build monasteries and churches. It is not surprising to see it in the world, because when the wizards migrated, it was It was the fifth or sixth century AD, the Byzantine style was still a child, and the Gothic had not even a prototype. On both sides of the path that the unicorn passed, there were flowers like peony in full bloom. Louis could not be sure, because it was not at this time. The flowering period of peony, but whether it is or not, this kind of flower that is bigger than the palm of a human and droops heavily from the branches is really lovely, not to mention the leprechaun who is alerted when the unicorn passes by. Yawning and flying out with star-like pollen.

The shadow of Prince Van Gogh, the blue-gray kitten with its head sticking out of Louis' coat, grabbed it when a leprechaun almost threw himself in the king's face out of curiosity, so Louis heard a series of small With screams and complaints, the goblin fled quickly, but also had half a wing left, and when Louis pinched it, it shattered in the king's fingers.

  The cat lowered its head, licked its pollen-stained paws, and whined a few times as if complaining.

  Louis bent over to pick up the kitten and stuffed it back into his coat.

Since it is a Basilica-style building, the main entrance is on the longer side. There is a magnificent colonnade on the outside. There are four servants in front of the colonnade. They prepared a sedan chair for Louis, and then led him into the entrance, solemn and solemn. After the gray entrance is an empty atrium. In the middle of the atrium is the overflow pool. In the overflow pool is a statue of a Roman warrior. The moment Louis stepped into the atrium, the marble statue bent down on one knee and drooped. With a snow-white head, the so-called mythical figures in the reliefs on the inner colonnade wall also bowed their knees to Louis, and several gorgeous birds hovered above the atrium, singing clear and sweet.

The side porch is an open room with some games, books and studios that Louis was familiar with, but they were slowly closed after Louis passed by - obviously they were open for the owner to watch, according to the style of basilica architecture, At the rear is the main room, but here the main room is clearly used as a hall for hospitality.

In fact, the ancient Roman residence was a kind of courtyard called Domus, like the Basilica, with atriums and colonnades, but a multi-story building surrounded by dense forests and flowers - it is in this Basilica The rear of the card building is exquisite and gorgeous. Compared with the previous hall, there is a large mosaic from the road connecting the two places. The fish on it will swim, the birds will fly from here to there, and there are servants on the roadside. Holding the lamp, the lamp does not know what fuel it is used for, it is bright and soft.

There are countless palm-sized pink-and-white roses climbing on the foyer wall here. As soon as Louis came in, they vibrated and scatter petals on him. They just gathered around the roses and murmured, laughing in a low voice.

The overflow pool in the atrium is... sterling silver, which Louis can be sure of. The brilliance of silver and gold cannot be disguised by any metal. As for why he knows that it is not a silver-plated product, it is because it is melted or constantly flowing. , just like the water that has been removed from its attachments, it falls softly to the ground from mid-air, and then rises from the ground to its original place against gravity. Under the soft light, the silver overflow pool covered by the clear water is like some kind of existence of life.

And supporting the colonnade has also changed from Ionic columns to female statues. They cast gentle gazes at Louis. Although they are carved from stone, the tulle on their bodies seems to fall softly at any time. .

   As for the hot spring water that can automatically overflow the bathtub, a variety of delicious food and a comfortable bed that can sing and rock, needless to say.

   Every servant here is a very good wizard, which is not surprising to Louis. After all, he knows from Varo Vesalius that the population of the inner world has indeed shown a state that is about to burst.

   They were honored to work here with Louis, who, as Duke of Colonna, was an outsider, but they could eat and live here—a separate room and delicious fresh food were enough to satisfy them.

   "Are they all alien wizards?" Louis asked Mary in a low voice after a session.

  Mary shook his head: "No, they are all collaterals of each family."

  Louis's surprise was no disguise: "What about foreign wizards?" He asked: "Are you ploughing the fields and raising sheep?"

  Marie's answer exceeded Louis' expectations, because she said, "No, this is not what wizards should do. I don't know what foreign wizards are doing, but the people who tend the fields are mortals."

   More achieved.

   (end of this chapter)