Imperial Crown

(Additional chapter for the enthusiastic [Scholar Swordsman Liufeng])

The climate in the north always changes very quickly. Winter has arrived before summer has even passed.

After taking off summer clothes and putting on winter clothes, the airflow you exhale will turn into puffs of white mist when you walk on the road.

Raven and Lux ​​walked on the path.

The first snow had just fallen, covering the ground with a thin layer, and also covering the red maples on the roadside with a layer of silver crowns.

The footsteps of the two people creaked, thinning the snow. Occasionally, when their shoulders touched branches, fluffy snowflakes would fall, causing Lux to shrink her neck, and Raven would brush off the snow on her shoulders.

It was still early, and the sky was only slightly white. Lux was wrapped in a cotton coat, wearing earmuffs on her head, and her golden hair stuck to her face, which was a little red from the cold. Her sapphire-like eyes became the most beautiful scenery.

Lux admired the scenery on the street, and Raven admired Lux.

Feeling Raven's gaze, Lux lowered her head slightly: "Raven, do you remember the first time we met?"

Raven was slightly stunned, then smiled: "Of course I don't remember, at that time Donald wanted to use you for a ritual, drained half of your blood, I rescued you and put you on the bed."

"Then the first thing you did when you woke up was to chop me with divine magic!"

The redness on Lux's face seemed to be a little more intense, biting her lips lightly: "It's because of that time you, you..."

As she spoke, her hands were already protecting her chest.

"Well, I didn't mean it." Raven coughed a little embarrassedly: "I'm a very decent gentleman!"

Lux rolled her eyes at him, and there was something she wanted to say but didn't say it out loud: Would a decent gentleman rub someone else's feet?

"In fact, for a long time, I didn't know whether I should believe you." Lux said, "Because my memory of Donald is actually very vague, and I have heard rumors about you for a long time."

"For example?"

"Little bee...or Eric said that."

Raven rubbed his nose. He didn't expect that Eric, a rough guy on the surface, also liked gossip: "Then when did you start to trust me?"

"Very early." Lux looked at the snow on the tip of her shoes: "In fact, when you made Angel's Tears, I had a little trust in you, but Angel's Tears alone cannot improve people's livelihood."

"What really made me feel that you are different from the rumors is that the horse thieves attacked Eagle Castle."

Mentioning this, Raven's face was a little red. Looking back now, the handling at that time was not very sophisticated. If he could start over, Raven could think of several more secure ways.

"Over the years, I have met and interacted with many nobles, and I have read many records in books, but you are the only noble who would choose your own castle as the venue for the decisive battle."

"From that time on, I was sure that you were different from ordinary nobles. You cared about the lives of your subjects."

At this point, Lux's smile became even stronger: "The things that happened later made me more certain of this. You distributed land, poultry, and livestock to the subjects. Although you asked for money, I know that you wanted them to cherish it."

Raven was rarely praised so directly, and teased: "Could it be that I fell into the money trap and had to take money from the poor?"

"No." Lux shook his head seriously. Head: "If you were that kind of person, you wouldn't have built this orphanage."

"Raven, do you know that I was once confused about whether I had betrayed the teachings of the Lord of Light."

"From childhood to adulthood, I have always learned that everything is for the Lord of Light. The church is always absolutely just and spreads food, clothing, and kindness to every corner of the continent."

"I firmly believe in this and practice it."

"But later, I slowly discovered that this is not the case. Many believers of the Lord of Light put their own interests above the interests of the church, and put the interests of the church above the interests of believers."

Raven could hear that Lux was talking about Archbishop Thomas's transfer of priests before the Hand of Death caused chaos.

Lux looked up at Raven, her eyes filled with stars: "But everything you do is making your territory better, the people benefit from you, and you save far more people than the church."

"You are the one who practices the path of the Lord of Light."

Looking into Lux's eyes and listening to her words, Raven's heart trembled slightly, and his heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

He knew that with Lux's character, this was the boldest love words she could say.

Raven lowered his head, wanting to taste the warmth.

Lux's neck shrank back slightly, but she also closed her eyes, and her breathing almost stopped.

Just then, a shout sounded not far away.

"Ah!" Lux opened her eyes and jumped back like a frightened deer: "I, I still have to bless the children, I need to prepare!"

After that, she left quickly.

Raven frowned and walked towards the direction of the voice. He wanted to see who was going to pick a fight with him at this time!

There were hundreds of orphans who followed the refugees before, and there were almost the same number of orphans among the people who migrated later, so the scale of the orphanage itself was not small.

And because the orphanage itself also served as a military training ground, it also opened up a large playground that could accommodate thousands of people exercising at the same time.

With all these factors, the entire orphanage covers an area of ​​nearly 130 acres. Facing the gate is the three-story main building, which is built in Gothic style. There is a huge bronze bell on the roof, which looks more magnificent than a church.

A rain corridor extends from the second floor of the main building. Under the rain corridor, there is a three-meter-high oil painting. The content of the oil painting is of course Raven's heroic figure, wearing a baron's crown, long black hair, wearing a black dress, one hand holding the rapier at his waist, and the other hand holding a book, reading with his head down.

The wall of the orphanage is based on large pieces of bluestone, more than one meter high, and above it is a nearly two-meter-high steel fence.

Raven followed the sound to the fence and saw three children punching and kicking a child.

Judging from their ages, they were all around eight or nine, no more than eleven or twelve, all wearing blue and white clothes customized by the orphanage, but they kept cursing:

"Little bastard, do you want to hand it in or not, do you want to hand it in or not!"

"You are really a born bastard, don't you feel uncomfortable if I don't beat you?"

"Don't think that you are superior to others just because the teacher praises you a few times!"

The child surrounded on the ground held his head with one hand and protected his chest with the other hand, his body was already covered with mud and shoe prints: "Stop hitting, stop hitting!"

"I... I was wrong, I will see you walking with your heads down next time, I, I will recognize you as the boss!"

The three children looked at each other after hearing this. The tallest one with a slightly deformed left ear sneered: "You want to join our Banks gang?"

"But that's fine. If you hand over the money, we will allow you to join."

Hearing this, the besieged child shrank his body: "Can I... change the condition? I will give you bread for every meal in the future!"

The face of the one with the deformed ear changed: "Don't you understand what I'm saying? Who wants your broken white bread!"

He then kicked the besieged child in the back.

This was too sudden. The child on the ground was already a little exhausted. After being kicked, his body unconsciously bent forward, and the purse in his arms fell to the ground with a snap.

The child on the ground reached out to take it back, but his wrist was firmly stepped on by a foot.

The deformed ear bent down, took the purse in his hand, weighed it and opened it, revealing a look of surprise: "Wow, you pretend to be poor all day, but I didn't expect you to be so rich. Did you find a godfather?"

There were more than a dozen silver coins and dozens of copper coins in it.

"Give it back to me!" The child on the ground screamed, struggling even though his wrist was bleeding from being rubbed on the ground:

"That's the money my mother left for me to go to school--"

"Don't you have a school now?" The deformed ear sneered, kicked the child's hand away with a strong kick, and swung the purse: "Hehe, today is a good day, brothers, let's go!"

The child on the ground stood up to chase, but was kicked in the chest by a back kick, and fell on his back again.

Tears flowed from the corners of his eyes, and he sat on the ground, crying softly.

Raven, who witnessed the whole process, climbed over the wall, walked to him, and whispered, "What's your name?"

The child trembled, opened his eyes and saw Raven. Because he was wearing heavy clothes, he did not recognize Raven's identity, but still wiped his tears: "My name... My name is Hoyaz, sir."

Raven said, "It's a good name. Your mother must hope that you can grow up healthily."

When mentioning his mother, Hoyaz couldn't help but shed tears again: "But... But the things my mother left for me have been taken away by others!"

"Don't cry, a man, how can you cry easily?" Raven said.

Hoyaz's eyes gleamed with hope: "Then, can you help me get my things back?"

Raven shook his head: "This is your own business, I won't interfere."

"But the Banks gang is very powerful, with more than a dozen people." Hoyaz lowered his head: "I can't beat them..."

"The difference between humans and animals is that they can use wisdom." Raven stretched out his hand and tapped his forehead: "Little guy, I can teach you a way to get back what belongs to you."

Hoyaz hurriedly asked: "What method?"

"Drive the tiger to swallow the wolf." Raven lowered his voice: "Next you need..."

The details were explained one by one, and Hoyaz's eyes became brighter and brighter as he listened: "This method will definitely work!"

Then he lowered his head again: "But sir, I don't have anything to repay you..."

"What do you mean by repaying or not repaying." Raven laughed: "If you cause trouble, remember not to tell anyone about me."

Hoyaz nodded heavily: "Yes!"

Raven left, and Hoyaz began to implement the plan Raven gave him.

In the orphanage, the Banks Gang is not the only underground organization. There is also a larger and more powerful gang called the "Rhino Gang".

Their leader, nicknamed "Rhino", is the oldest of the orphans. He is already fourteen years old and comes from a wealthy family. He is physically strong and has learned some martial arts. Many people have been bullied by him.

At this time, Rhino was sitting in the corner of the classroom, listening to the flattery of a group of gang members.

Hoyaz took a deep breath, went over the prepared speech in his mind, and walked in front of Rhino: "Rhino Boss!"

"Hey, isn't this Hoyaz?" Rhino pretended to be mature: "What are you doing here? Are you looking for a fight again?"

"I know I was wrong last time. From now on, I will give you bread for every meal!"

"Actually, I knew after the last time that I needed to find a backer, so I always wanted to join you!" Hoyaz took a deep breath: "I have already made up my mind to dedicate my mother's legacy to you in order to forgive my sins. But somehow, the boss of the Banks gang, ‘Bad Ear’ Banks, found out!”

"Then they took away the thirteen silver coins I prepared to give to you."

Rhino's pupils shrank: "How much did you say?"

"Thirteen silver coins and thirty-one copper coins." Hoyaz lowered his head and said.

For these orphans, this is a huge sum of money!

Their monthly pocket money is only five copper coins. They won't be able to save so much money until they leave the orphanage!

Although Rhino likes money, he is also a little hesitant.

After all, today is a big day, and it is said that important people will come to inspect. It is somewhat unwise to cause trouble at this time.

"They not only robbed me of my money, but also laughed at us!" Hoyaz brought out the final trump card: "They said that the rhinos just look fierce, but in fact they don't dare to fight with people at all. The Rhino Gang is just bluffing people." !”

"They also said that with this money, they will buy short sticks and daggers to give you a good look!"

Banks certainly didn't say these words, but Rhino didn't have time to confirm it.

As the boss of the Rhino Gang, he enjoys the feeling of being surrounded by stars, and is able to "take a commission" from his gang members every month, and can also collect protection fees from ordinary orphans.

If today had passed and that money had been converted into fighting power, his status would have been threatened by the Banks gang.

"Let's go!" Rhino jumped down from the table and clenched his fists: "I have long disliked them, but considering the friendship between classmates, I don't want to fight with them, but now that they dare to do such a thing, don't blame me. Fall out!"

"Rhino Gang, let's go!"

With that said, he led more than twenty people into the classroom where the Banks gang was.

Banks was showing off his money bag to his gang. When he saw this, he frowned and asked, "Rhinoceros, what do you want to do?"

Before Rhino could reply, Hoyaz had already grabbed a stool and threw it towards Banks!

Hoyaz was already a member of the Rhinoceros Gang in name. As soon as he made a move, Rhinoceros couldn't lose its momentum and immediately shouted: "Brothers, come on!!"

Tables, chairs and benches were flying everywhere, and the classroom was in chaos.

To say that there is an advantage in having more people, Rhino's strength was not in vain, and he quickly defeated the Banks gang.

Hoyaz blended into the crowd and began to take revenge with punches and kicks. Seeing those who besieged him fall to the ground crying for their fathers and mothers, a sense of joy began to grow in his heart.

However, he did not forget his real goal and was always observing Banks' movements. When Banks was punched by the rhinoceros and fell to the ground, he immediately rushed forward and held his money bag in his hands!

"Well done!" Rhino hooked his fingers at Hoyaz: "Give it to me!"

Hoyaz shook his head vigorously: "No, this was originally mine!"

"You dare to play tricks on me?" Rhino picked up a stool: "You have never been beaten by me. You should know that I can be much more ruthless than Banks!"

Looking at Banks with blood on his face on the ground, Hoyaz was shocked, and finally shook his head: "No!"

"Okay, then just lie down with them...!"

Bang--

The door was suddenly pushed open and slammed against the wall, and the correctional mother walked in with a pale face: "What are you doing?!"

Hoyaz was the first to shout:

"They bullied me! They wanted to steal the inheritance my mother left me, and they started fighting with each other!"

Rhino couldn't believe what he heard: "He lied, he -"

"Shut up!" the correctional mother gritted her teeth: "You can make trouble no matter what you want, but today, on this big day, you have done something like this to me. Everyone is in solitary confinement!"

Then, guards rushed in and took these people away separately.

Hoyaz was no exception and was kept alone in a room.

About half an hour later, the correctional aunt came in and said, "I've already asked Lennon and Banks."

Lennon is Rhino's real name.

"We can understand your motives, but this method is definitely not something that a child like you can come up with. Who gave you the idea?"

"No one told me!" Hoyaz bit his lip: "They just want to steal my money!"

The face of the correctional mother became more and more gloomy: "You have to know that this matter is not trivial. If you don't hand over the person behind it, you will probably be expelled from the orphanage."

"You are only eleven years old. How can you survive alone outside? Do you live up to your mother's expectations?"

Hoyaz still shook his head: "...No, it means no. I came up with this idea!"

The correctional mother pulled her handkerchief and glared at him angrily: "Okay, remember what you said."

After saying that, she turned and left.

Hoyaz sat in the room anxiously, already starting to plan how to live alone outside.

He held the money bag tightly in his hand.

As long as it is there, it still has a home.

After an unknown amount of time passed, the aunt in charge opened the door and said, "You are lucky today. The Baron has ordered that past events be forgotten."

"The Baron is going to talk next. Go and change your clothes. You are so dirty!"

After washing and changing clothes, until he walked into the auditorium, Hojaz still couldn't believe that he had succeeded!

Not only did he keep the inheritance left by his mother, but he could also continue to stay in the orphanage!

Along the way, other orphans always pointed at him. Banks and Rhino both looked at him with hatred, but there was a hint of fear in the hatred.

From a few words, Hojaz heard that they gave him a nickname, which seemed to be... "Two-headed Snake".

Hojaz had a glimmer of enlightenment in his heart. It is much better to be feared than to be despised!

For the first time, he walked into the team with his head held high.

Then Hojaz saw a scene that stunned him.

On the high platform, wasn't Baron Raven in a dress the one who taught him to drive away tigers and devour wolves before?

Raven winked at Hojaz, and his voice echoed in the auditorium.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Raven, Raven Ota Griffith."

...