On the Seven Towers

The temperature in the capital dropped sharply in the last few days of December, and the snow was getting heavier.

In the early morning, the west gate of the city wall was covered by heavy snow overnight to a quarter of the ground, and the road was covered tightly, making the gate completely inaccessible.

The carriages and horses that wanted to enter the city early in the morning were blocked at the gate.

The soldiers of the city guards held whips and sticks in their hands, driving the thinly dressed slaves to clean the road. The soldiers were too cold to even whip, and the slaves looked like they were about to die of cold.

Not far from the gate, there was a team of two carriages and five trucks. These carriages were solidly made and novel in style. The trucks also had a roof to block wind and rain, which looked very sophisticated. In the team, the driver of each car was dressed very thickly, which formed a sharp contrast with his colleagues who were shivering in the surrounding vehicles. There were many fully armed warriors beside the drivers and in the carriage shed behind them. Most of them wore uniform plate armor and cloaks.

The strength of this team was undoubtedly one of the best among the vehicles in the queue, which inevitably attracted the attention and envy of the vehicles in front and behind.

Anyone with a little vision could see that this was a team from a powerful family. Someone found that the emblem on the carriage was a round emblem with a red background and gold edges and a ribbon and wheat ears, but even though these managers and drivers had traveled far and wide and were knowledgeable, no one recognized this emblem.

"This is the Black Mountain Mage's convoy." Finally, a driver from the northwest revealed the answer. "Have you never heard of glass and porcelain? You must have heard of the Black Mountain Sword and Black Mountain Armor, right? Look, those guards are wearing the best Black Mountain Armor. Among ordinary armors without enchantments, Black Mountain Armor is the thickest."

"I know that the white wine they produce is popular in the entire northern part of the kingdom. The nobles are scrambling for it. It's a good thing. A sip of it will make you warm. You can take off your clothes and go out in the snow." Another driver said.

His words caused everyone to laugh.

"You know nothing." A man who looked like a steward said, "These are all the stuff that came out two months ago. Now the most popular among adults are Chinese paper and Chinese pens."

"What country is China?"

"These wizards in Black Mountain are from China. They call themselves Chinese. Their castle can fly through space... Hey, you won't understand even if I tell you. Anyway, they are from a very powerful family. Their paper and pens are much better than the sheepskin rolls and quill pens that everyone usually uses. Now my young lady uses them to write poems, otherwise she would be embarrassed to exchange with other young ladies." The steward said proudly.

"Then I wonder how much the things in these five big cars are worth." Someone said enviously.

"Anyway, it's not worth selling our remaining cars, including the people and cars." The steward said.

"How come there are no bandits eyeing such a fat sheep, and they have safely come to the capital."

"Why not?" The first coachman from the northwest retorted, "A few months ago, the king of bandits in our area, Kadis, recruited thousands of bandits to attack them. Guess what?"

"Nonsense, of course the mages won." The steward said.

"That's right, but they must have suffered a lot of losses, thousands of bandits, there has never been such a thing before. If the bandits really go crazy, I'm afraid the Earl's castle can't stand it, right?"

"Let me tell you, those bandits went to attack the castle of the Black Mountain Mage, and they were wiped out by a few magics. Even Kadis, who was known as a high-level warrior, was smashed into a meat pie by a meteorite falling from the sky."

"Those mages can also summon meteorites?" Most of the coachmen around were excited. In the winter, there was no better way to kill time than to listen to such nonsense stories when they were stuck on the road.

"Of course, since then, anyone who wants to take advantage of them has to think twice. However, there are still some people who are blind, does the War God Temple know?"

"Hush, that's the name of a false god, you ignorant people, dare to discuss the affairs of God." The steward said nervously.

"If you don't dare to listen, go away." The driver said unhappily, "Where can there be a priest of the temple here? They are now enjoying themselves in the temple full of flowers."

"That's right, only we poor people like this come from the sky." Another guard echoed.

The steward curled his lips, but was reluctant to walk away. He stepped back two steps to the side, still listening to the driver's nonsense.

"Those under the false god are naturally jealous of the wealth of these wizards. They secretly sent people to set fire to the wizard's castle, hoping to take away the money in the chaos! But the Black Mountain wizard is not so easy to deal with? The idiots who sneaked into the castle were hanged before they could do anything. Those teams that were preparing to rob were also blocked by the wizards and were all wiped out by them. The wizards were afraid that others didn't know, so they specially spread the word that anyone who wanted to target them like these horse thieves and false god believers would be arrested. Not only them, but also their families would be found by the wizards and hanged on the way into the city."

"Did they hang the false god believers too?"

"Of course, I went there to transport goods, and there was a section of the road leading to their city where dead people were hanged. Most people would be scared to pee when passing by there, but I was brave and walked in with my head held high." The driver said proudly.

The people around him snickered, obviously not believing the driver's big talk.

The driver didn't care at all. He waved his hand and said, "Hey, don't tell me, this method is very useful. Now no one dares to attack the Chinese. We are running goods in the northwest. Everyone is grateful to them. It makes our life outside much safer."

"No wonder I heard that in the capital, the Black Mountain Mage has a good relationship with the new chief priest of the capital, Lord Roland. Lord Roland even went to their newly opened shop in person. It turns out that they have contributed to the victory of the God of Nature over the false gods before. This is much better than those mages who don't care about the glory of God." The steward turned out to be a very devout believer.

Everyone was still discussing the anecdotes of the Black Mountain Mage, but they didn't expect a rumble to be heard at the gate of the city.

Everyone looked back and found that after the sun rose, the snow on the tower melted, and the ice and snow on the spire slid down, and the snow on the battlements rolled down together. The pile of snow just buried the two slaves who were carrying tools under the tower.

"Oh! These two guys are so unlucky. They are probably doomed by this pressure and freezing." The driver who was telling the story sighed.

"That's right. In this weather, the slaves are lucky to be able to return alive without freezing to death or getting sick. These two are just going ahead. After finishing this road, several weak ones will probably die." The drivers had some sympathy for the slaves.

However, the soldiers who were guarding the slaves were completely indifferent. They drove away several slaves who wanted to save people and forced them to continue cleaning the road.

Just as everyone was lamenting, the door of the second carriage of the Black Mountain team opened, and two women wrapped in furs walked out from it.