I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 321 Before the Great War (3)

Hood was one of the first wizards to follow Louis XIV, and although he was only employed at the time, serving a mortal king for the sake of shining gold, Dunkirk was able to become so quickly. He and his companions contributed greatly to the military center and the great port that the king expected. Ever since Louis XIV established what he called the "Special Royal Guard", he has rightfully been the leader of the young wizards, on a par with Pierre D'Artagnan's cousin in the Musketeers.

A man so trusted by Louis, who had even served as His Majesty's **** from Flanders to Holland, certainly could not have stayed in Paris - after Camnico had settled down, along with the King's Musketeers were dispatched There are also wizards' ravens and other birds, soaring through the air, looking for signs of the Ottoman Turks, so that General Vauban and his supporters know which paths to take to block, clear and migrate residents of which cities.

But from the beginning, Louis knew that this approach might not last long - this time he came to Kamnic, to meet the kings, and was not so surprised to find that these important people were surrounded by a few strange faces (the king There are not many people who are willing to believe - their favorite courtiers will send portraits like their wives and spies), and wizards and wizards know each other as soon as they see each other, hear each other, or even observe the magic traces left by each other. Which family does it come from.

Louis is the initiator, of course he won't do anything stupid, that is, Ballas' face is very ugly, maybe he is regretting that he should not have chosen to abandon the French royal family and come to Rome to do such an embarrassing and embarrassing act. Bishop, not to mention Gayola's wizard or former student Elarius, even wizards like Varo Vesalius and Hood are more popular with the king than him.

However, what this lord is best at is not to care about empty honors and false names. When he was brought to Camnico by Louis XIV, he was keenly aware that this majesty did not have any good feelings for him, and now it is not his grievances and hesitations. It's time--to hesitate any longer, if, he means, by the time the war begins, they meet the forces of the Ottoman Turks world, or some other genius with ulterior motives, and he and his friars will surely be swept away by Louis XIV. Sent out hesitantly.

The cardinal chief ordered Barras, not others, to come to Paris, vaguely with the intention of dealing with Barras, a villain who sees the wind, yes, even if Barras wisely abandoned the mad Clay Mang X, put himself under his command, but the leader of the cardinal, like Clement X, would never trust such a short-sighted guy who can use him to show his sincerity and eliminate the people around him. The hidden dangers, it is really a cost-effective deal.

There are less than fifty monks around Barras, and he is also his last family, but at this time, let alone these monks, even he has to walk out of a posture of doing his best - Varo Vesari's room Right next to Hood, Barras' room was at the other end of the corridor, but he was only one step behind Vesalius.

Here Vesalius just poured the potion into Hood's throat, and Barras rushed in like a black whirlwind. Vesalius almost smashed the defensive potion bottle when he rushed in, but Barras immediately knelt down beside Hood, he put his hands on Hood's face, pressed his eyes destroyed by the curse attached to the crystal shard, and quickly recited the scriptures: "...they come In a place called Bethsaida, there was an invisible man who asked **** to touch him... **** touched his eyes and said, what do you see, the man said, seeing people like trees, so **** pressed his eyes again, and he saw again..."

Vesalius knelt beside Hood, and his robes were covered with Hood's blood. His eyes were a very important and sensitive organ not only for mortals, but also for wizards. Ottoman Turkish priests, the descendants of wizards, rarely appeared in Istanbul. It also makes it difficult for other wizards to understand them, and now it seems that they are not inferior to the talents of any place, from England, France or the Roman Church, even more dangerous, because they not only destroyed Hood's crystal ball , and also hurt the caster himself through the crystal ball.

His potions can even regenerate new organs in people who have lost their eyeballs, but for the curses above, Vesalius expected them to be less manageable even before he had time to examine them - but Ballas's... spells, let's just say Let's just say, it's clearly targeted.

  Hood's breathing and heartbeat suddenly stabilized, he relaxed and leaned back, no longer twitching in pain.

Vesalius wondered if it was because the priests of the Ottoman Turks had something in common with the priests of the Roman Church—they both succeeded in combining their innate abilities with their devout beliefs and became mortal. People's swords are then aimed at their own kind, and the idea that they think their power is bestowed by God or the true God is not groundless, because after such a change, their spells are indeed quite different from the magic of wizards.

   But he still has to thank Ballas.

After Louis heard about this, he sent his servants to reward Barras with a small box of gold coins, which disappointed Barras. After all, everyone now knows that the king rewards those who trust him with shoulder straps and diamonds. It would be even better if it was a diamond pin that was taken from oneself - of course, to this day, Viscount Turenne and Marshal Schumberg do not know that they received such a reward, purely because of the then The king was shy.

Barras was very down in Rome, but his family's accumulation in Gilead and the reward he received in Paris were not enough to make him happy for this windfall. He sighed and used the reward to bribe him back. The king's first valet, Bang Tang, hoped to see the king as soon as possible.

"Will he ask to go back to Paris or Rome?" Louis said, and Bontang smiled, "Would you like to make a bet with me?" Louis said affectionately to the Marquis of Lois beside him: "Paris, or Rome?"

   "I bet Kocevi or another city in Slovenia." The Marquis of Lois bowed slightly and said.

"What a cunning man you are, my good monsieur," said Louis, nodding to Bontang, who knew that the king had given permission to Bishop Barras, and turned away, and the Marquis of Lois and the king exchanged a Eyes: "It seems that you agree with me," Louis said a few minutes before Barras' arrival: "This figure like a 'hyacinth chicken' (Note 1), after all, was once the grand trial of the Paris Inquisition. Sir, Elaho told me that although he has a despicable temperament, he is not inferior to any monk or knight in terms of magic and fighting ability.”

"Although he doesn't want to follow you here, his hands are already immersed in the hot boiling water, and he has to scoop up something so as not to lose money," said the Marquis of Lois, and then he coughed softly, Because he found that the wording just now was really a bit vulgar, Louis laughed: "It's nothing, sir, I have heard this sentence, from Colbert, you have worked with him for so long, and it is understandable that you are influenced by him, and this sentence Maybe less subtle, but very relevant.”

"The other thing is," said the Marquis of Lois. "When he was in Rome, he may have heard about Paris and Versailles, but some things are not immersive or incomplete. Ballas is arrogant. Man, he left Paris only thinking that the Bishop of Mazarin and you couldn't give him what he deserved, and in Rome he even wanted to take the place of the Scarlet Prince, and now he came back and saw Elarius, a former student, He has actually put on the robe of a bishop, and he has three dioceses, so he can't help but feel jealous. You must know, Your Majesty, although he is a bishop, he does not have his own cathedral and is not respected by those who know him. This position was simply dismissed from him by Clement X."

   "So what do you mean?"

   "I mean, Your Majesty, he also has a little hope that if he can show his abilities in front of you, you may also give him a place in your court, or even replace Era's."

  Louis showed an inexplicable look, and the Marquis of Lois blinked, "There are many people in this world who don't know how to measure, Your Majesty. Are you gambling?"

   "One gold louis." Louis bets.

   "A golden louis," said the Marquis of Lois, and when he finished speaking, Barras strode in.

Outwardly, Barras is more believable than Elarius. He is tall and broad-shouldered. Although his temples are gray, he has an elegant classical beauty, like a statue from Greece or Rome BC. The marble statue of him is dressed in a black robe, tied with a purple belt, and has a large gold cross hanging on his chest. .

Unlike ordinary bishops, he also had hooks on his belt for hanging swords and musket holsters, but all those who came to see the king, unless the king authorized, had to disarm outside the room, so Barras only holding a box. When he saw the Marquis of Lois, he was stunned for a moment, as if he was surprised that there were other people beside him when the king met him.

   "Your Majesty, good afternoon." He pressed the question to his heart, stepped forward and bowed deeply, then kissed the king's ring.

   "Sit down and talk," said Louis. "I think you must have something very important to tell me, Mr. Bishop."

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is very important," said Ballas, and he sat down in the chair brought by the squire - although Louis did not like this man, but he never deliberately humiliated people in these places, and Bontang brought Tea and cheese - Slovenian cheese is the only local food recognized by the king's chefs, Kamniko is on the edge of the highlands, the June sun has brought a tinge of harshness, but in this old castle, the windows are cramped , even if there are carpets and drapes, the coldness of the stone bricks cannot be completely concealed, so the tea brought by Bontang is still hot, and there is even a piece of fur on the knee of the Marquis of Lois.

   "I'm from Mr. Varo Vesalius, Your Majesty," said Ballas.

   "How about Hood's eyes?"

   "There is no big problem, but the Ottomans have already sensed the tricks of the wizards, and it may not be possible to continue." Ballas said.

   "Are you sure you're an Ottoman?" Louis asked.

There was an unnoticeable smile on Balas' face, "Your Majesty, after all, I am the chief judge of the Inquisition, even if it was only once, when I was in Rome, I met those pagan priests more than once. I've dealt with it," he paused, "my monks found a raven, would you like to see it?"

  Louis's eyes fell on the box, "Show me." He was someone passing through the battlefield, could he still be scared by a dead raven?

Barras opened the box. This box may have been used to contain spices. The raven had been torn apart, but there was no unpleasant smell. Barras fiddled with it and showed the king and the Marquis of Lois. A pair of eyeballs, those of a raven, rolled like two dyed pebbles among scattered feathers. "Raven's eyes are not blue," he said. "It's a spell. , can make voyeurs blind, and so can wizards around you, but only those heretics whose spells turn the eyes of people or animals affected by the spell blue."

"Can their spells affect so many ravens?" Louis asked. He brought hundreds of wizards this time, and presumably other countries would not go anywhere. Hood and several other wizards drove the crossing. Crows have also clashed with other wizards' bird servants when they spy on enemy troops.

"Those heretics, I have to say, Your Majesty, they colluded with the devil, they just opened the gates of purgatory and walked in, and sometimes they can really bring great danger." Ballas said: "So here I am See you and want your permission..."

"allow?"

"Allow you to let me and my companions go to meet those abominable devils for a while, Your Majesty, my subordinates and I can trace the traces of any werewolf or vampire, and human beings can't escape our eyes, I will bring you good news, which will give you an unquestioned victory before any monarch."

  Note 1: On the roofs of some residents there is often a shiny metal rooster - a hyacinth chicken, which is a kind of weather vane, used to indicate the direction of the wind, and has the same meaning as the modern arrow-shaped weather vane. In the past, the hyacinth chicken was considered by residents to ward off evil spirits. Later, people painted the sides of the chicken with gold and black to distinguish the direction of the wind. Also known as the wind direction chicken.

   (end of this chapter)