Serious Witch's Travel Book

Seeing the light on the hill, the coachman, who was starting to feel a little sluggish, immediately cheered up.

"Malpalin, a subsidiary of Colinides, this is the nearest village to Lysonides from Shannan Road, let's go there to spend the night."

The moon has gradually risen. If you look towards the firelight, you can vaguely see a small settlement with only a few dozen houses.

"Palin" roughly means "private land" in the Elvish language. According to the traditional customs of the elves, there are only three types of demilitarized settlements: "Palin", "Ned" and "Sawsan".

The most basic tribal civilization structure of "Palin" and "Ned". A long time ago, "Ned" was usually the core of an elf tribe, meaning "the soil where the holy tree grows", and walked out of the core living area of ​​the tribe Some clans use "Palin" to name the place where the clan lives together.

And if "Tiri" or "Rui" is used, it refers to the "family" under the clan, but even in ancient elf society, such place names are very rare.

A place with Palin as the suffix is ​​roughly equivalent to a village in human society, and if it is a little bigger, it is a town, roughly the same.

So when Gnicia heard the name, her ears immediately perked up.

An elf village?Even though there is a certain degree of mixed living in many areas under the empire, but if it is close to the place where the elves live together, there should be a lot of unique things left.

It's a pity that it was too far away, and she couldn't see it for a while, only a few dim lights.

"..."

Just as she was kneeling on the car deck and looking ahead, the girl next to her suddenly said: "There is someone far behind..."

Her imperial speech was jerky, with a heavy foreign accent, but with the addition of a crisp voice, it still softened the long-awaited Gnicia.

She even had a feeling that "the hard work I have done all day has not been in vain"-this feeling, even though what the girl said had nothing to do with her at all.

"anyone there!"

The girl immediately forgot all her fatigue, and turned to look at the place the girl said. Unfortunately, she saw nothing, only the shadows of trees interspersed on the rolling hills.

Trees are really annoying.

For the first time she found these ancient trees so unpleasant.

At this moment, the boy comforted his younger sister: "It's nothing, just an ordinary passer-by."

Even so, he looked a little nervous.

That's right, on such a dark road, no matter what you see, you will get nervous.

With anticipation, the girl came to Malpalin's door in a carriage.

The elves seem to like "doors" very much. This small village specially erected a large-scale wooden gate that is as tall as two people and can accommodate three cars in parallel. The entire wooden gate is not purely for defense purposes. It was built, with a protruding piece on both sides of its door beam, which was carved into the shape of a cloud, and every inch of the entire door frame was meticulously carved, engraved with wonderful plant and flower patterns, like two statues full of flowers. It is a totem of artistic feelings.

"Wow—!"

This place is not big, so there is no need to worry about getting lost. Gnicia got out of the car at the entrance of the village, and happily stroked the indentation on the door frame, feeling the novelty of this alien culture, which is completely different from the mainstream of the empire.

This village was built directly on the road, and the road happened to pass through the center of the village of Malpalin. The young man drove his horse around and returned to Gnicia, asking her with concern: "Miss, Won't you go into the house? We can look at these tomorrow morning."

"Well, let's go in... I'll wait for a while, and I'll go in right away."

He was too attentive all the way, making Gnicia subtly uncomfortable.

After inquiring to no avail, the boy entered the village helplessly. He saw the carriage parked a little farther away. Considering that the driver should be more familiar with the road, he must know which family would provide board and lodging, so he followed.

Gnicia hadn't left yet, her interest shifted to the light stand by the door.

The entrance of the village is not illuminated by traditional candles or braziers. Instead, there are two strange containers—they are hung on independent wooden stakes like trumpet flowers hanging upside down, and the material is not like glass. , rather like some kind of amber, the translucent lampshade contains some particles flying around, they exude a soft and bright light blue light, which is instantly beautiful at night.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, Gnicia poked the lampshade secretly, but it wasn't hot, but with her movements, the light spots gathered slightly towards the position she touched, and then scattered away.

In the distance came the yelling of the coachman.

Realizing that she had been delayed for a long time, Gnicia hurriedly lifted her skirt and entered the door, identifying the positions of the other people.At this time, there was a clear sound of horseshoes behind her. The girl stopped and stepped to the side of the road. By the way, she looked up at the elf's house.

The difference from humans is not that big, but the house she saw has a round outer wall, and the roof is a beautiful small gray tile spire, which looks like a low tower. She also saw that the surrounding eaves are separated by Every few tiles will have a small hole in the tile, and some small wooden carving decorations are hung on it with strings. When the wind blows, they will shake a few times with the wind.

Wait for the day to take a closer look.

Gnicia made up her mind, she was going to wait for the riders entering the village to pass first, and then go to the coachman.

The two riders quickly approached the door, and strangely, they didn't go in directly, but slowed down slowly in front of Gnicia.

They were getting closer and closer—Gnesia recognized the two as the imperial soldiers she had seen in the tavern in Sawdust Village yesterday. According to the coachman, they were the "gendarmes" of the Imperial Court.

She wondered if she should say hello to these tolerances or something, but when the two began to approach her slowly, Gnicia instinctively felt a little uneasy.

A very uncomfortable, very obvious sense of oppression... These two people came with hostility. Although she didn't see any abnormal expressions on the two of them, their eyes were always locked on Gnicia. The look in their eyes betrayed their intentions.

How on earth did she provoke these people?

This unexpected incident made Gnicia fall into an ice cave, and she still hasn't been able to escape from the terrible things that happened a month ago, although she no longer frequently recalls the tense and terrifying period of being chased and killed by imperial soldiers However, if a scary and hostile guy came so close, the girl would still feel cold hands and feet, unable to control herself.

"Is it her?"

One of them drove his horse in front of Gnicia and winked at the other.

"I saw what she looked like yesterday, and it must be true."

After getting an affirmative answer, the rider reached for his waist and took out a coiled rope.

"I've been looking for it for a long time. It still looks like a noble... Forget it, let's tie it up first."

Gnicia took two steps back, and she realized that she was standing in the wrong position - there was a residential house behind her, and two cavalrymen blocked her from left to right, and she had nowhere to go.

"I'm sorry, it doesn't matter which family you are, you are not older than the chief executive. Miss, I am sorry to announce to you that you are now arrested, and in the name of the chief justice and the Senate, you will be escorted Go to the inspector's office for interrogation, I hope you don't resist, we will try our best to ensure your safety..."

"Why do I?"

While terrified, Gnicia was also at a loss.

Did she do anything illegal?

Since she jumped off the cliff, she hasn't even had contact with any Imperials, right?

It was difficult for her to accept this kind of muddle-headed arrest, at least they should... have a reason.

Section 97 013. Arrest and Resisting Arrest

"It's very simple. Someone reported you for hiding jade. We suspect that you have contact with some unclean guys."

"Of course, this may not be your intention." Another rider pointed around, he didn't even care about some elves watching them from the window. "Because of the assassination of Governor Beljika, the chief officer has ordered the arrest of all 'Red Hood' members in the empire. Most of these rebels are elves...well, some particularly evil and vexatious elves."

The first person picked up the words again: "So unless you can prove your innocence immediately..."

He stretched out his hand in front of Gnicia, and twisted his gloved index finger and thumb twice, but Gnicia didn't understand what he meant.

"...Otherwise, we will escort you to Bruyères and be interrogated by special inspectors. You cannot leave until you are free from suspicion."

"I don't understand what you mean..." Gnicia looked at the two gendarmes blankly: "What evidence do you have to, uh... accuse... me?"

"Please cooperate."

A gendarme got off his horse, and he said to Gnicia as kindly as possible: "Can you hand over your belongings to me for inspection?"

Gnicia took out the money bag and handed it to him.

The gendarme untied the rope and looked through it casually, and squeezed out a green gemstone from it.

"It's jade."

He showed it to another accomplice.

"Can you cooperate with us now?"

"Wait, even if it's jade, what's wrong with it? It's just a beautiful stone."

Gnicia could not confirm that this was jade before, and she had only read about various gemstones and metal minerals in coloring books.

She also understood what the two gendarmes meant, and she probably insisted that this piece of jade had something to do with the so-called elf rebellion in northern Gaul... Maybe it was indeed related, because it belonged to Adria, not only It was related, even belonging to their leader, but she couldn't honestly admit this connection.

"Perhaps you are not clear, in Gaul, only elves have access to jade."

The gendarmes seemed to regard Gnicia as some sort of pretentious rich kid, maybe they were trying to maintain their demeanor for the girl's high-quality appearance. In short, the two were not in a hurry to tie her up directly, but tried to persuade her to cooperate.

"These evil stones are used by them to perform weird witchcraft. Its existence itself is irreverent and unclean. The empire once respected the ancient elf kings and allowed their descendants to continue playing with these evil things. That doesn't mean that wizards will continue to use it to persecute noble citizens of the Empire - obviously, those red hoods are now outlawed."

At this time, another person picked up the rope and approached Gnicia: "Now all the suspected Romans and elves will be investigated, and you have to explain its origin in front of the inspector. It's best that it's just you Search for the stolen goods bought by the corpse in some battlefield, otherwise you will be in trouble, okay?"

"It really is..."

Hearing that the military police seemed to be reminding herself intentionally, Gnicia shuddered and immediately wanted to explain to them, but unfortunately her defense was rejected halfway: "Sorry, arbitration is not something we can do, you can only do it yourself Explain the situation to the inspector, of course, if you need to send a letter to your family, we can also do it for you, just a little errand fee..."

Got it - money?

She has been reminded twice already.

"I want to bail for myself—is that what you said? It doesn't matter how much money you want, and you can still use it..." The girl wanted to give up this jade in exchange for safety, but when she thought that it belonged to Adlia, she couldn't help it. Hesitated.

"I'm sorry, the bail money you can pay now is not enough, we still have to take you back to Bruyères, don't worry, the imperial gendarmes are people who understand the rules, you can trust us."

The military police took the rope and wrapped it around her waist, together with her arms, Gnicia gave up struggling. It was impossible for her to compete with these two strong guys. Now she anxiously looked at her several Companion, I don't know if those who are more familiar with the ways of mortal society can help her.

In fact, almost no time after the two gendarmes entered the village gate, they were noticed by the coachman who was haggling with an elf whose house had a vacant house.

I thought it was just professional soldiers passing by here, but unexpectedly they stopped their horses and began to pester their passengers.

He has a good impression of this young girl. This ignorant and young girl can easily remind him of his daughters at home. The flowers blooming in the spring, even the most incomprehensible people, will feel a little caring when they see them.

What's more, he is still an old father who has a family and a career, and thinks he is somewhat responsible?

So although he didn't want any interaction between the imperial soldiers at all, he still got a little angry when he saw Gnicia being entangled inexplicably.

The coachman calmly picked up the short sword hanging from the horse's buttocks and hid it behind his waist. He shook his arms and walked towards the two soldiers.

Those who rush to seek a living in this troubled world are somewhat courageous men, not to mention that before he retired because of an arrow injury on his knee, he also worked his life with Earl Iron Heart in the Black Forest.

If it weren't for those sneaky cat people... he might still be in the military now.

"You two military masters, what happened here?"

Of course, even if he rushed over aggressively, the other party was doing things for the governor anyway, so as long as they could talk, there was no need for conflict.

A gendarme didn't take it seriously when he saw that it was a civilian dressed as a farmer who came to disturb him, "It's none of your business." He waved his hand casually to dismiss the visitor.

And the other one was a little more polite. He grabbed a small copper emblem pinned to his collar, showed it to the driver under the light at the door, and said: "Gendarmerie, in the name of the court and the Executive Yuan, citizens , please keep your distance."

The coachman originally thought that these were just two passers-by—now that the empire’s control over professional soldiers is becoming more and more loose, wanton riots in the market, collection of protection fees, and even robbery are everywhere, and he is not afraid of that kind of bullying. What a coward—but the other party claimed to be a gendarme, and he suddenly became a little frightened.

The military police is not a character to mess with. Although he has never dealt with the military police in his life, and he is not very clear about their specific responsibilities, but when he was young, he also watched many execution grounds and was responsible for reading out the crimes in the city. The work of escorting prisoners is usually done by these people. According to the understanding of ordinary people, this is a guy who is similar to an executioner, and he is somewhat evil.

He wanted to give up, after all, we met by chance, and he didn't owe the girl anything, but seeing Gnicia's pitiful appearance behind the two gendarmes, the coachman still felt a little compassion.

The two gendarmes were obviously not very friendly to him, they dismissed them casually and began to tie Gnicia. The coachman took a few steps back, his hand touched the back of the belt, put it down again, and lifted it up again. He touched the hilt of the sword, and put it down again—finally he slowly reached into the inner pocket of his coat, sighed, and pulled out a shriveled money bag from it.

It's a waste of money... But maybe you can ask this lady's relatives to come back?

"The two military masters..."

He wanted to go forward again, but at this moment he heard a mess of horseshoes - a rider dressed exactly like a military police appeared in the sight of several people.

When the two gendarmes saw the person coming, they immediately put down what they were doing and straightened their backs:

"Sir!" "Hi sir!"

Riding on the horse was a middle-aged man with a slightly thin face. He had two long mustaches on his mouth, and he was wearing a tall and pointed helmet. A golden ring was drawn in the middle of the armor breastplate on his body. , the inside is a horseshoe of the same color, which looks eighty percent similar to the "Ω" emblem that symbolizes the empire.

The visitor obviously had some status. He coughed, and a gendarme immediately stepped forward to help him off his horse, but he didn't accept it. , but his movements are steady and not exaggerated. The coachman knows how to ride and also knows a little bit about imperial martial arts. He immediately knew that he had encountered a problem.

It seemed that he didn't need to think about violence. The opponent was either a court swordsman, or a real veteran... He couldn't beat him anyway.

The middle-aged man who got off the horse also saw the driver standing aside, he tugged on his belt twice carelessly, pinched his feet and asked emphatically, "What are you doing?"

"Sir, there was some misunderstanding..."

The coachman still didn't want to give up, but his intention to go forward to explain was stopped by the nearby military police who raised his hand, and then he squeezed the money bag and stuffed it into the military police's hand, but the other party put on a straight face and stretched out his hand to push, Throw the purse on the ground.

"Misunderstanding? There is no misunderstanding in the empire." "Executive" wiped his nose. His nose bridge is high, but the nose is pointed and curved, like the beak of a parrot or an eagle, with a pair of slender eyes and the edge of the helmet beside the ears. The long black hair that came out was like entangled water plants, which made people feel a little gloomy.

"In the name of His Royal Highness Praxitia, no matter who the son or daughter is, follow the procedures. You..." He looked at his subordinates, narrowing his eyes, as if to indicate something. "Do you understand the rules?"

"Yes yes yes—! For the glory of Augustus!"

The two gendarmes were frightened. They hurriedly clenched their fists and pressed the sockets of their left shoulders, giving a very formal military salute.

The officer looked at the coachman again, this time his eyes narrowed even more, his pupils could hardly be seen, and because this action involved his slightly slack skin, it made him look as if he was smiling—in fact, he was not. .

"As for you, citizen, take your money and don't try to challenge the laws of the empire. I don't know and don't bother to find out what your relationship with this lady is, but some things are not for people like you, understand? "

That cold gaze shone on the coachman, like a ray of cold wind blowing towards his face, although the night was not yet cold, his legs trembled a few times disobediently.

"Yes Yes……"