Imperial Crown

Boom, boom, boom——

The heavy sound of horse hooves resounded through Eagle Town, and a group of horse thieves rushed forward, trampling the originally paved road into dust and splashing gravel!

The leader, Yorick, had heard the noise a long time ago. He moved the only wooden bed in the house to the door and propped it up. His skinny spine rested on it, and his heart beat loudly.

"Dad, I'm afraid..." Six-year-old Yula, his only daughter, was holding her dirty and shabby clothes in her hands, standing in front of him shivering.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid..." gently holding his daughter in his arms, Yorick listened nervously to the sounds outside the door and cursed in his heart.

Damn horse thieves! !

Since Baron Donald disbanded his private soldiers on a large scale five years ago, every year, every year!

These demons in human skin will come to Eagle Town, burn down houses, rob food, rape women, and kill the people!

Yorick's eldest son and wife both died under the iron hoof of the rogue bandits.

Originally, Yorick's heart was numb. He was almost unable to feed his daughter, and his body was getting weaker and weaker. Maybe death would be a relief.

But since Raven inherited Eagle Town, Eagle Town has gotten better day by day.

Yorick is thirty-three years old this year and also participated in the selection of private soldiers. Although he was not selected, he also received a reward of five kilograms of couscous!

I recently heard from Simon, who is a soldier, that Sir Raven intends to allocate the fields to them for cultivation. Each man has three acres of land and each woman has two acres of land. They will no longer be allocated rations every year, but only need to turn in a quota of grain, and the rest You can keep it to yourself!

Based on this calculation, his family can be allocated five acres of land. As long as he puts in more effort, he can take care of it. Even if he harvests 70% of each acres of land, he can still keep 350 kilograms of wheat a year, which is Three hundred kilograms of semolina.

Moreover, after planting wheat, you can also plant radishes, cassava, and lettuce in the ground. You can keep these for your own consumption without having to hand them over at all!

By then, life will be much more relaxed, and his poor little Yura won't have to cry from hunger during the lean years. Maybe he can also use the extra vegetables to go to Goldshire to get meat!

But the good days haven't really begun yet, and these horse thieves who deserve to go to hell are here again!

Lord of light, don’t you have compassion on the world? Why don't you let us poor people live a better life? ! !

The sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, and Yorick's heart was in his throat. He hugged his daughter tightly with one hand, and held the pitchfork next to the door with the other hand - as long as anyone dared to come in, he would fight with him. He works hard!

Gradually, the sound of horse hooves became farther and farther, and a large amount of cold sweat broke out on Yorick's head, and he slowly slipped and sat on the ground.

It seems that this time I can finally escape.

But he soon realized something was wrong, because the town was too quiet.

There were no screams, no sounds of houses collapsing, and no cruel laughter that could wake people up from nightmares.

Rogue bandits, since when have you become so innocent?

He boldly moved to the window, opened the window and stuck his head out. He saw that the horse thieves were indeed far away, but looking in their direction, it was Eagle Castle!

Their target is Lord Raven! ?

"Great Lord of Light, may you bless kind people." He drew a non-standard holy emblem on his chest with both hands: "May you bless Lord Raven, and hope that he will be safe and sound!"

This is what many Territorial residents are doing.

While he was praying, the horse thieves' team had already arrived in front of the Eagle Castle. At the forefront of the team were six black horses, two meters high at the shoulders, wearing thick chain vests, illuminated by the light of the torches in the riders' hands. , showing a blood-like scarlet color.

This is the specialty of the Bloody Highlands, the first-level magic beast [Blood Eyed War Horse]. Its strength, speed, explosive power and endurance far exceed that of ordinary military horses. It is also the biggest reliance of the bloody Highland bandits who come and go like the wind!

Riding on the leading blood-eyed war horse was a strong man wearing full plate armor. A scimitar hung on his right waist, and a blood-stained nail-headed war hammer on his left. His skin was dark, his face was square, and he had a twisted scar. Split the intact face in half from the left cheek to the right chin, as if a centipede is crawling on it.

"Scarface" Anderson, he is the leader of this band of bandits, a first-order dark warrior, a rising star in the eastern part of the Bloody Highlands!

When the outline of Eagle Castle was reflected in his eyes, a flame called ambition began to burn vigorously.

According to the Slater family, as long as they can drive the baron here out of the Eagle Territory, they will not only receive a huge sum of one thousand gold coins, but also gain the support of the Slater family from now on.

The Slater family, the real owners of the Nord province, the Earl family!

Although the Bloody Highlands is a lawless place, it does not lack opportunities and wealth. Among them, the special products [Shadow Crystal], [Yellow Sand Essence], and other products such as [Psychedelic Fruit] and [Dragon Scale Grass] are all found in the Bloody Highlands. It is not valuable, but once it flows to the Keynes Empire and the Insa Empire, it can be exchanged for huge wealth.

There are powerful forces with names in the entire Bloody Highlands, such as "Crazy Sand" Infic, "Blood Eyes" Monngar, and "Spider Queen" Avilia. Behind them are the shadows of the two empires and even the Church of Light.

He Anderson, why can't he be next?

"Chief, there's a situation."

The speaker was Anderson's deputy "Mustache" Bailey. This man was obviously a gangster, but he had a sleek mustache, and his eyes seemed to be greased, always dripping and turning.

This sentence made Anderson withdraw his thoughts. He raised his arms and the team behind him stopped in a chaotic scene of people neighing and horses shouting.

The scene in front of him made Anderson raise his eyebrows slightly.

The drawbridge of Eagle Castle fell to the ground, the door of the hall was wide open, and there were several boxes of silk scattered on the ground at the door. Only a few rooms were still lit. It was completely defenseless!

The horse thieves also saw this scene clearly, and they all whispered to each other:

"It seems... the baron named Raven didn't run away before we attacked?"

"It's impossible. He is a baron after all. Besides, this castle is so big and has a moat. It's not so easy to break through."

"That may not be the case. I heard that the baron just inherited the territory not long ago. He was originally a 'gerbil' and his nickname was 'little bee'. How brave can he be?"

This sentence caused a burst of mocking laughter.

"Gerbil" is a slang term used in the Bloody Highlands to refer to those who dare not go out to rob and only dare to cheat in the settlements.

Criminals also have a contempt chain. These fierce bandits who lick blood all day long naturally look down on such cowardly guys.

"Leader, what should we do?" Bailey asked, with a glimmer of greed in his eyes.

He already believed that Raven, who had just inherited the Eagle Castle, must have escaped. Otherwise, why would he leave the castle gate open?

This is a castle, a castle of nobles with a long history.

From the time they passed through Eagle Mountain and Eagle Town to the time they arrived at the castle, it took less than half an hour. Raven had no chance to transfer his property!

In other words, most of his wealth was still in the castle.

At this moment, the Eagle Castle was simply a naked beauty, and no one could resist this temptation!

And this was also the voice of most bandits at this time.

But Anderson, the leader, shook his head slowly: "Raven can make Hyde Slater helpless, he doesn't seem like someone who would easily lose his castle."

"Master leader, you think too highly of them." Bailey said with disdain and sarcasm: "One of them is a gerbil and the other is a delicate flower raised in a greenhouse. What kind of tricks can they have?"

This sentence made Anderson a little moved, but he still felt something was wrong - Raven's reaction was too fast. How could Raven have withdrawn before they arrived?

He glanced around the suspension bridge, trying to find traces of traps. At this moment, a flash of light in the bushes caught his attention.

"Rotten Tooth, go and give me that thing." He ordered.

The bandit called Rotten Tooth turned over and dismounted. Under Anderson's guidance, he found a golden object in the bushes, held it high and handed it to Anderson.

"Chief, your eyes are so sharp!" Bailey's eyes lit up: "Can we go in now!?"

Anderson glanced at him with dissatisfaction, but didn't say much. He threw the thing on the ground and waved his hand and shouted: "Enter the city!!"

The thing fell to the ground and was trampled by the hooves of the horses that followed. It rolled back into the grass on both sides of the road again-it was a badge engraved with an eagle fighting a dragon.

This is the emblem of the Griffith family.

Throwing such a thing away is enough to show how hasty Raven was when he escaped.

And when Anderson rode into the castle, the scene he saw also showed this point.

The two sides of the courtyard should have been training grounds, but at this moment, those cheap spears were twisted and fell on the ground with the weapon racks, with some dirty footprints on them, and leather helmets and leather gloves scattered in the corners.

There were some copper and silver coins scattered on both sides of the road, some of which had been deeply stepped into the ground. Several wooden boxes were overturned at the door, and silk fell out of them. A box of red wine also fell on the ground with it. The wine fell on the ground and soaked the silk.

In the hall, a large area of ​​tables and chairs were overturned, the carpet on the ground was rolled up, and there were dirty footprints extending all the way inward.

"Haha, I knew that the little bee must have been scared!" Bailey smiled and picked up a bottle of red wine that was not broken from the ground, broke the bottle mouth with a knife, raised his head and took a sip, and exclaimed: "Oh my god, this wine is so delicious!?"

The horse thieves poured into the hall, and some of them looked at the red wine in Bailey's hand with expectation and desire in their eyes, but they dared not do anything without Anderson's order.

But their leader's expression did not relax, because the castle was too quiet, a little too quiet, all this made him feel that something seemed wrong.

At this moment, there was a loud bang in the corner, and Anderson looked over: "Who!?"

The one hiding in the corner was none other than Raven's stepbrother, Weston.

This was supposed to be his sleep time, but Raven, damn Raven, deliberately targeted him, saying that the cook was injured, and there was only white bread and broth for dinner, and no big pieces of bacon at all!

He is the noble Master Weston, how can he live without meat, it will not grow taller!

But at the table, before he could protest, Raven gave him a sharp look and held back his words.

Originally, he had decided to endure it for one night, but unfortunately, he couldn't sleep at all when he was hot and hungry, so he had to go to the kitchen to find food at the risk of being scolded by Raven.

Normally, even at night, the warehouse and kitchen, which are key guard targets, would be guarded by at least two private soldiers, but today there was no one!

At first he felt lucky. He walked into the kitchen and ate a small half of a smoked lamb leg with the still warm broth left over from the night.

But when he wanted to go back to the room through the hall, he saw a scene that frightened him - a group of vicious bandits wearing chain armor appeared in the hall!

Although I haven’t actually seen it, I’ve heard of it!

Each of those people was at least 1.75 meters tall, wearing heavy chain armor, and the weapons they carried even had blood stains that had not yet dried up!

He finally understood why the castle was so quiet tonight.

Damn Raven! He must have known that the bandits would arrive tonight, but he took his private soldiers and ran away without notifying anyone else!

He wanted to escape quickly while these people were not paying attention, but in panic, he knocked over the vase placed in the corner!

With a loud bang, Vesdon's instinct exploded like never before, and he took big strides with his legs. At this moment, he felt that his speed was almost as fast as that of a galloping horse!

But before he could take two steps, he felt his throat tightening. After a moment of spinning, the ceiling inexplicably appeared in front of him, followed immediately by a looming face with a mustache!

He really didn't expect that this man who looked like rat poison would have such great strength. Dragging him by the back of his neck was as easy as dragging a rabbit.

"Ah——" The broken porcelain pierced the clothes and sank into the flesh, and opened a larger gash under the friction. It was even more painful than when Raven cut off his scalp!

The mustache said coldly: "Shut up, or I will kill you now!"

Vesdon quickly covered his mouth tightly, rolling his eyes in pain and not daring to say a word.

Looking at the fat pig-like Vesdon, a trace of disgust flashed in Anderson's eyes: "Are you Raven?"

"No! No, I am Vesdon!" Vesdon shouted aggrievedly: "My lord, if you have a grudge against Raven, then we are on the same side!"

"Raven, he is a scumbag, a villain, a bastard, and a pervert!!"

Even before Anderson could ask questions, he told everything he knew about Raven, including the "truth" he knew - Raven abandoned the castle and ran away with his private soldiers!

"Haha, it's just a useless little bee." After listening to Vesdon's story, Anderson felt relieved. He said with a hint of disdain: "What a baron, but he is allowed to run it like this. You don’t even dare to defend your own castle, what a waste!”

Feeling the eager eyes of his subordinates around him, Anderson ordered: "Search for me! The old rule is, women don't matter, all other wealth, send it to me! The discoverer can get 30% of the benefits, and others will share it. Two percent!”

The bandits' eyes glowed with fiery light: "Yes!"

Why was Anderson able to rise to prominence so quickly and be able to command seventeen murderous gangsters with just one level of strength?

In addition to his strong personal strength, it is because he knows how to make profits so that everyone who follows him can get enough benefits!

The bandits dispersed one after another, and not long after, screams, curses, and screams began to be heard in the castle!

Vesdon's face became paler because he could hear that there were many familiar voices mixed in, including the old Oujin who had driven for him!

Anderson sat in the hall, waiting for the reports from his men; Bailey did not take action for some reason, but looked at Vesdon up and down with interest: "Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk tsk, this thin skin and tender meat, use It would be great to have a drink.”

Vesdon felt that his mind was frozen, and he swallowed: "You...what are you doing!?"

"Of course I'll kill you and eat you." With a sound, Bailey pulled out the enchanted sword from his waist and started gesturing at Vesdon: "You know, people like you are the most delicious and easiest to eat. Especially the thighs, which are fat and tender, much better than pork legs and beef legs, and not far behind the fattest mutton.”

"Don't eat me, don't kill me..." Vesdon was so frightened that he burst into tears: "I... I'm still young, I don't taste good! I still have money, I can, I can give you a lot of money!"

"Haha, the whole castle belongs to us now. Do you think we are short of your money?" Bailey's sword tip slapped his plump face: "Cry, cry a little longer, and then you will have more flesh on your body." tasty."

As he said that, he turned to look at Anderson: "Is it okay for me to handle it this way, Mr. Chief?"

The latter didn't even raise his head: "You can dispose of this useless waste as you please without asking me."

This sentence instantly awakened Vesdon: "It's useful! I'm useful!"

"I know the secret code for withdrawing money from Federo Business, and I know where my mother Denise lives!"

"Your mother?" Bailey's eyes suddenly lit up with flames: "Is she beautiful?"

"Beautiful, extremely beautiful, you have never seen such a beautiful woman!" Vesdon nodded crazily: "And she has not been touched by anyone for more than ten years. I am willing, I am willing to dedicate her to you, Please let me go!"

"Really?" Bailey licked her lips: "Where is she?"

A few minutes later, Bailey came to Denise's door and kicked the door into pieces!

Bailey dodged a thrown bottle and walked through the door with a horrified scream.

Tear--

"Tsk, madam, you are wearing too much."

…