Sword of Dawn

The slave trader nicknamed "Gold-Eyed Pigle" was brought in, a portly but shrewd-eyed man who, like most slave traders of the age, was decked out in kitsch and ruthless adornment. Significance of seal and ribbon——Slave traders are usually very rich, and their wealth can sometimes be compared with that of minor nobles. However, according to the laws of various countries and the traditional concepts of most churches, slave trading will make their souls dirty, so No matter how rich a slave trader is, he is not allowed to have the status of nobility, even if he donates money to become an "empty knight" or "honorary knight", so these guys with full warehouses like to hang a bunch of gorgeous decorations and their own The printed ribbon is designed to show the identity, and at the same time, it is for masturbation.

And "Golden Eye" was brought in with two serfs, a man and a woman. One was the elder brother of the dead serf "Sam", and the other was the younger sister. The three brothers and sisters were sold here together, but they have not yet Before they could have a mouthful of hot soup and rice, their brother died on the pier.

However, on the faces of the two brothers and sisters, the fear and tension completely overwhelmed the grief and grief that should have been there.

It is sad to lose a brother, but what is more horrifying is the punishment that may befall the living—they clearly know and agree with the fact that serfs are not considered human beings in the eyes of the nobles, and a slave exploded on the pier Now, this is an unforgivable loss for the nobleman - he not only lost a slave, but also dirty the ground.

So they were afraid, worried about the anger that was about to fall on them, and they thought that the lord called them here just for punishment. It would be fine if they only asked two people to do the work of three people. What they really worried about was whipping and starvation, both of which could kill a erring slave in this day and age.

And the slave trader named "Golden-eyed Pigle" was also in fear, and his fear was even worse, because he brought the serf who was transformed into a living bomb by magic, with gold and silver hanging all over his body. It doesn't make this fat man feel safe at all. He knows who he is, and he also knows how easy it is for a duke to execute a slave trader when there is a definite reason: in this matter, anyone Will not defend him.

"Gold-eyed Geer?" Gawain opened his mouth, and the moment he opened his mouth, the big fat man who was covered with gold flakes and silver cakes looked like a terracotta warrior trembled in fright, "Did you bring Serf Sam?"

"Yes... yes, my lord," Piegle nodded in fear, "but I have absolutely no malicious intentions, my lord! It is impossible for me to have any connection with any wizard or cultist! I am just an honest businessman. Man, never did anything..."

Knight Philip hit the ground with the sheathed sword in his hand: "Answer whatever you ask me!"

Pigle quickly shut up and looked down at the toes of his shoes, while Gao Wen continued to ask: "Who did the deceased have contact with before he was brought here? What did he eat and what did he use? Is there anything unusual?"

Pittman has tested the slave trader's magical reaction, and found no residual breath of druid spells, and the other party's appearance is unlikely to be a cultist's offline, he is likely to be used as a gun, which is high The text can still be judged.

Piggle wiped his sweat: "Back...Back to my lord, the serfs were locked in the house for a few days before they were brought on board, and they ate and used the same as other people, all the same..."

"You'd better tell the truth," Amber stood behind Gawain, and Tehu chimed in with a feint, and twirled the small dagger in her hand as she said, "We have magicians, druids, and shadow masters here! We Even taking your soul out for interrogation can be done—don't make trouble."

Gawain glanced at the half-elf calmly, but he didn't see through this guy's nonsense. On the other hand, Pigle was already dripping with sweat. They are connected in a straight line: For ordinary people who don't understand magic, they can't tell the difference between extraordinary professions at all, and they don't know what field soul magic is. He is omnipotent, and Amber's casual threats are very effective for him.

"Yes... my lord, I'm telling the truth!" Pigle replied hastily, "Actually... that serf named Sam is a bit special..."

Gao Wen knocked on the table: "Special?"

"Yes, I originally planned to send him to work in Viscount Andrew's castle," Piggle said outright, "but the master knight you sent to the town bought a large number of slaves at a higher price, I don't have many slaves on hand, so... so..."

"So you just brought the serfs who were supposed to be sent to the castle?" Gawain frowned, "Why are the serfs sent to the castle?"

"Sam is a diligent and nimble serf. He can not only do farm work, but also feed horses and clean the barn. Viscount Andrew just needs a new servant..." Piggle broke his fingers sadly, "It's also good for him. The way out—you know, when a serf is in my hands, it can be a serf, a slave laborer, or an indentured slave, but once it is in the hands of the manor owner, it will be a serf forever, but if it can be sent to the castle, then what Maybe it will become a servant..."

"But Knight Byron gave four more silver coins, so you dragged Sam back to the slave ship," Gawain interrupted Pigle, and turned to look at Sam's two siblings, "You look up , don’t be nervous—was there anything unusual about your brother before you came here?”

The older brother of the two seemed to be more courageous, and answered first: "Yes, Sam has been saying that he is sleepy these days, and he often stops talking halfway through, and sometimes falls asleep standing up suddenly."

Gawain looked up at Pittman, who really had a thoughtful expression on his face, and then the old druid said, "Since when did this happen?"

The sallow-faced and emaciated serf sister said, "Seven days...or it was eight days ago, anyway, no more than ten days ago."

They cannot be expected to remember specific times.

Gao Wen asked Hetty who was standing on the other side of him: "When did Byron announce the slave purchase news in Tanzania Town?"

Hetty's face was serious, and she had already thought of some possibilities: "Four days ago."

"That is to say, the serf Sam had abnormalities before Byron arrived in Tanzania Town, and he was probably controlled by magic at that time, and he was originally going to be sent to Viscount Andrew's castle..." Gao As Wen said, he looked around slowly, "It was just an accident that he was sent here."

Hetty took a deep breath: "I'm afraid our neighbors are going to be in trouble."

"His troubles will soon become our troubles," Gawain said slowly, "The death of all things originated from druids, and their sorcery evolved from the spells of the faction of life and natural forces. The living people are not only their spell materials, but also the carrier of many evil magic plagues. The population of Tanzania Town is too large, and it is too close to us... and no matter what, Byron Knight still stays in Tanzania Town. We haven't heard anything so far, we can't just leave him alone."

Hetty looked worriedly at the only druid in the territory: "Pittman, do you think they will spread the plague in Tanzania Town? Sending the infected into the castle is more like dealing with the lord..."

"It's hard to say, the brain structure of cultists is different from that of normal people. The main components of their brains are rotten meat sauce and mud from the gutter," Pittman said with a serious face, "We must prepare for the worst."

"We can't wait for the Kingdom's support here, so we can only do it ourselves," Gawain stood up, "We must solve the source before things get out of control. But now we have no way to determine how many and how strong our enemies are."

Pittman said: "I can roughly estimate this aspect. Sam was converted into a living bomb by the sorcerer'Summon to Death'. Judging from the power at the time and the remaining breath afterwards, the caster did not exceed the middle level. It is very likely They have just reached the level of the fifth-level dark druids, and the number of them will not be large-the death of all things will rarely organize particularly large-scale operations, especially when destroying towns, they will send out one or two elite members , relying on cunning cunning and uncanny sorcery to wreak extraordinary havoc."

Gao Wen pondered: "So what we have to face may only be one or two warlocks of level five or below. The number is not a problem. What we really need to worry about is the weird spells of the dark druids. The worst case scenario Now, Viscount Andrew may even be controlled by magic, and controlling living things is also a specialty of those dark druids."

After a short silence, Gawain first waved his hand to the dehydrated "Golden Eyed Geer" who was already sweating and said, "You can go, but I suggest you stay away from Tanzan Town in the near future. Go further north."

The slave trader left tremblingly, leaving a pair of serf brothers and sisters standing on the ground with their heads bowed. They were so nervous that they were about to faint.

However, Gao Wen actually didn't know what they were thinking: even if he had inherited memories, even if he stayed in this era for a few months, he still couldn't fully substitute and understand the thoughts of people in this world. The brothers and sisters were worried about being punished, so they just comforted them according to their own thoughts: "Your brother is dead, and people cannot be resurrected. Sorry. I have ordered Sam's...remains to be buried. He will be buried in the forest In the cemetery next to it, you live a good life on this land and work hard to be free, and the Cecil family will protect your safety."

The brother and sister raised their heads in astonishment and looked at Gao Wen, as if they couldn't believe what they heard.

Although in Gawain's mind, what he said and did was following the simplest logic.

The two serf brothers and sisters left in confusion. After they left, Amber couldn't help but say, "I thought you would just make them free citizens, as compensation for the death of the brothers."

Gawain looked at each other with a funny face: "Why would I do this?"

"Because you are so kind," Amber said with a look of reason, "I know you are a good person, so isn't it normal for you to be so kind?"

Gao Wen shook his head: "It's okay to show kindness, but not indiscriminately. I can't let them think that sacrificing a relative can buy them a piece of freedom, especially I can't let other serfs who don't know the inside story think like this. Freedom It must be won with both hands, I have established a system in this regard, so even I must follow the system, only in this way can there be order.”

Amber looked at Gao Wen with a little surprise: "That's why you insisted on allowing those slaves to have a two-month 'buffer' here in the territory, and let them continue to work in the territory as serfs first. Instead of directly announcing the emancipation of all slaves?"

"...Actually, your understanding has many problems, but it is generally not bad," Gao Wen laughed. "I really need to let them realize that freedom is hard-won-but maybe one day, I will directly Declare the abolition of slavery, rather than one-by-one, small-scale changes like it is now."

Amber was dumbfounded: "You still have this idea?! Then... when will it be?"

"When people generally realize that the sons of serfs and slave laborers can also kill the king with a big fireball," Gao Wen said casually, "but now, let's discuss the issue of Tanzania Town."

Chapter 0123 Crystallized Grenade

There was no hesitation in the action against Tanzania from the start.

All the signs showed that the minions of the Doom Society had indeed entered the town, and Gao Wen, who had known this dark sect for a long time, could not have any naive idea of ​​"because he didn't burn to this side, so he can rest easy". He understood The idea of ​​this dark sect is that all things will die, regardless of any race or anything, there will be a day of perishing, and the so-called vitality and vitality are just roads and lights used to lead to perdition, they use distorted theories to explain The original druids had a natural philosophy and regarded death as the ultimate goal of life. At this point, they were even more extreme and crazy than those notorious undead schools.

They believe that the undead is also "alive", and that even the undead should "return to death", and even the gods of death worshiped by the necromancy school should "return to death". Extreme thinking can scare other cultists.

No one knows why the druid sect, which originally advocated life and nature, split and degenerated into such a dark organization, but there is no doubt that once the death of all things activates, it will inevitably cause unimaginable panic and death.

Tanzania Town is too close to New Cecil Territory. If those lunatics really intend to create a plague in the town and use Tanzania Town as a "spell material" to hold evil rituals, then as long as you have a little hesitation, it is located in The New Cecil Territory on the lower reaches of the Whitewater River would be the second victim.

But the current Cecil leader is not yet able to directly send an army to Tanzan Town to solve the problem-in fact, Gao Wen himself does not intend to do so. When the situation is unclear, he decided to lead three or two good soldiers first. To explore the way.

It was not a wise plan for the lord to go deep into the dangerous situation himself, but there was no other way. Gawain had too little high-end combat power at hand, and since there might be mid-level cultists in Tanzan Town, he had to go out himself.

The explosion that happened at the pier was blocked by Gao Wen in time and did not spread throughout the camp. Everything in the territory was operating as usual. The steel factory was smelting ingots, the brick kiln was firing bricks and tiles, and the kiln area was producing explosive crystals. In their new tents the new serfs and slave laborers relieved the weariness of their journey, and learned with wonder and bewilderment the new order and new laws of the land which had been communicated to them.

Gao Wen was ready to go to Tanzan Town.

He brought Philip Knight, Amber, and Pittman, who was more familiar with druid spells, while the territory was handed over to Hetty and Rebecca to take care of it—although the territory has expanded a lot, and now a large number of foreign population has increased, But a third-level magician, a third-level fireball launcher, and a hundred combat soldiers are enough to control and protect the rear. Even if there is an emergency, there is an iron ball star here who can help.

Don't look at Nicholas Dan's personality is a bit timid, but the actual combat power is good. As long as there is enough metal around him, he can perform a thousand swords on the spot. If there is nothing wrong with him, he can still fly up to give justice to the invading enemy, so Gao Wen is very relieved about his hometown.

On the banks of the Baishui River, Gao Wen and his party were checking their belongings and the condition of their horses: they were going to ride fast horses to Tanzan Town, which was faster than going upstream by boat, and they could use the forest along the way as cover in case of situations , in order to prevent the heretics from being alarmed.

Hetty saw them off on the bank of the river. She seemed a little worried: "Ancestor, please be sure to be safe. The cultists are acting strangely and ruthlessly. You must not be harmed by their tricks."

Knight Philip next to Gawain slapped his breastplate immediately, his whole body brimming with fighting spirit: "Don't worry! I will swear on the honor of the knight, and I will defend the Duke's safety to the death!"

"Don't make trouble, you can't beat me," Gao Wen glanced at the young man who was always on the verge of getting hot, "And when you deal with cultists, you are afraid of your single-minded temper. Honest people are the easiest to be fooled. Don't you know?"

Knight Philip thought for a while: "Your Excellency is right, I still have shortcomings, and I still need to practice."

Gao Wen felt that this young man didn't understand at all...

At this moment, Hetty frowned and turned to look in the direction of the camp: "By the way, why hasn't Rebecca come?"

Amber, who was leaning on the horse and fiddling with the dagger boredly, raised her head when she heard the words: "She said that she has prepared something for us and asked us to wait, but after a while, the cultists may have settled down in Tanzan Town."

There was a lot of resentment in her tone, but the main resentment was because she was dragged to confront the cultists, which made the half-elf lady who was always cowardly and nonsense quite dissatisfied.

Although Gao Wen has said several times, the mission just now is reserved for himself, Hu Po and others only need assistance...

And not long after Amber's voice fell, Rebecca's voice sounded from a distance: "Master Ancestor! Lord Ancestor! I'm coming! I'm coming!"

Gawain followed the prestige and saw a third-level fireball launcher galloping all the way from a distance. Rebecca was holding her iron staff in one hand, and a heavy-looking one in the other. The bag was bouncing and bouncing all the way.

She ran up to Gao Wen in one breath, panting heavily: "Yes... I'm sorry... I kept you waiting..."

"Wait a little while and those cultists will all have babies in Tanzania Town!" Hu Po stared with her arms crossed, "What the hell are you tossing about?"

"I have prepared things for you that may be used," Rebecca managed to breathe, and then opened the big bag in her hand, and took out the contents, "I was going to report the results to the ancestors, But I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen, just to test it in actual combat..."

The pocket was opened, and several curious eyes fell on the things Rebecca took out: they were surprisingly neat metal boxes of uniform size.

They are made of the most common cast iron, and the shape is very regular. The size is slightly larger than the cigarette case in Gao Wen's impression. On the side of the box, you can see a protruding metal object, which seems to be an iron bar inserted into the box. , and on the top of the box, there is a raised structure that seems to be pressed down.

Gao Wen seemed to have thought of something, but he was still not quite sure: "This is..."

"Didn't you ask me to think about how to delay the detonation of the rune trigger?" Rebecca Barabara said, "Actually, I have already designed it, but the structure is very delicate and it is not easy to process. Mass production, but now with help..."

Gawain realized what she was going to say before the other party finished speaking: "Is this processed by Nicholas Egg?"

"Yeah, it was made by Eggy!" Rebecca nodded vigorously, "I gave him the design, and he processed it in a short while. In fact, if he had more time, he could make a big one." Heap."

Blueprints...a lot...

Gawain looked at the metal object in his hand, it was so perfect and regular, its neat lines and flat surface even had the unique beauty of industrial products on the earth, and every size and shape was exactly the same. Blacksmiths and even rune craftsmen can get it, how long will it take them to process these things?

That iron ball star is really a jerk.

Their race is indeed a bunch of gangsters.

As long as the basic drawing design is completed and the basic raw material supply is available, the original drawing can be converted into a product at the speed of light. If he is given two hundred iron ball stars, he will also have a hairy industrial foundation-directly jump into space How are the times?

However, Gao Wen quickly suppressed the urge to complain wildly, and asked Rebecca curiously: "How did you get the delay?"

"Gears, springs, and connecting rods." Rebecca seemed to have expected that Gawain would ask, so she specially prepared an unassembled delay device. "Look, this is it, it's very simple."

Gao Wen looked down and was dumbfounded: the stable and reliable reduction gear and escapement...

So this silly roe deer is actually time-traveling, right?

Hetty's expression was strange: "How can there be such things in your mind?"

"The mechanical structure on the magic energy engine designed by the ancestor, and when he taught me various mechanical principles before, I have studied it seriously!" Rebecca blinked her eyes with a simple face, "And I used to I like these mechanical structures very much, it’s not like you don’t know, aunt.”

That's right, because she couldn't learn other spells, she worked hard to study various magic mechanisms and tried to use machinery to make up for her regrets in spells. Hetty still clearly remembers that when her peers were busy drawing castles on paper, , flowers, knights and princes, how Rebecca drew a wall of levers and transmission wheels on her bedroom wall - and how she was chased all over the castle after that.

At this time, Gao Wen didn't have time to study the circuit in the brain of the stupid roe deer...but asked the most critical question: "How about the reliability?"

"It has been tested for several rounds. In various environments, including high temperature, immersion in water, and falling to the ground, it will not affect it, at least it will not explode in advance - the iron bar next to it is a safety lock, and it can only be used after being pulled out. Then press the little bump on the top, and the inside will start ticking, and it will explode in five seconds. Without pulling out the safety lock, unless you throw it from a height of tens of meters, and The angle of the fall is just right, otherwise it will never explode, because the rune trigger will be stuck on the safety lock, and it will not be able to touch the detonation circle inside the shell at all."

Facing Rebecca like this, Gawain could only twitch the corner of his mouth: "...I will praise you when I come back."

With the "Crystal Grenade", a verification weapon that has just completed trial production and has not yet undergone battlefield testing, Gao Wen and his party left the White Water River, and disappeared from the sight of Hetty and Rebecca on fast horses.

And it wasn't until the few of them disappeared that Rebecca carefully glanced at Heidi: "Auntie, wasn't what the ancestor said just now was ironic?"

"Why is it ironic?" Hetty didn't respond immediately.

Rebecca scratched her hair: "Didn't you always tell me 'I'll teach you a lesson when I get home'?"

Hetty was stunned, and couldn't help but rubbed Rebecca's hair with a smile: "Of course it's not an irony. We used to be too narrow-minded to see your talent."

"... Isn't that irony?"

"of course not."

Chapter 0124 A Child

The town of Tanzania is only a day's ride away from the Whitewater River wharf in New Cecil Territory.

At the last part of the journey, Gao Wen and his party bypassed the main road and arrived near the stone bridge in front of Tanzan Town under the cover of trees. Then they lurked on the south side of the stone bridge and watched the Tanzan Gate on the opposite side of the bridge.

"Have you noticed? The town seems to be under martial law," Pittman muttered in a low voice, looking at the gate from a distance, "There are no pedestrians on the bridge, and the number of soldiers at the gate is unusually large. There are many The boats seem to have been detained there."

The shadow under the nearby bushes twisted for a while, and Amber's figure poked out from the shadow: "I just looked at the main road for a long time, but I didn't see any caravans or travelers passing by. The martial law in the town should last at least two days... ..."

"It seems that right after Golden Eye Pigle's ship left here, the town restricted access," Gao Wen analyzed, "According to the plan, Byron will stay in Tanzania Town to continue recruiting serfs. It’s hard to get out, no wonder no news came back.”

Amber Crow mouthed a bit: "Could something have happened?"

Gao Wen shook his head: "Looking at the situation at the gate, the town only restricts entry and exit, and the order inside is still normal. Byron is a mercenary, and he is very cunning, so he won't stumble in this environment."

"Ahem, the question is how do we get in," Pittman coughed dryly, "Tanzan Town is surrounded by rivers and mountains on the back, and the only entrance is a stone bridge and a gate in front of the town, all of which are under the noses of the soldiers—swaggering Are you going in?"

An upright person like Knight Philip couldn't help shaking his head: "I don't know the situation in the town now. If the cultists have already controlled Viscount Andrew, our appearance will definitely arouse the vigilance of those criminals."

It turns out that the young knight is just stiff and blunt, he's not stupid...

Gao Wen narrowed his eyes slightly, and a high-definition satellite imaging image immediately took shape in his mind.

"There is a road in Tanzania Mine, which can go around from the east side of the town to the back of the town, and it can be directly close to the castle area," Gawain opened his eyes, "but crossing the river is still a problem. This bridge is... who?!"

Gao Wen suddenly sensed a weak and sneaky aura swaying nearby, so he immediately turned his head in that direction and asked, and after he made a sound, Amber realized "incongruity" from the fluctuations in the surrounding shadows belatedly. shadow", immediately pulled out two daggers and spun in front of him: "Come out! We have found you!"

The dense forest was as quiet as death, but after a while, the bush under a certain tree suddenly shook twice, and then a dirty and messy little head emerged from behind the bush. It was a little boy with a head on his head. Withered and messy hair that has not been trimmed for several years, and wearing short clothes and shorts made of burlap that are full of patches and holes, this is a typical poor man. Years of malnutrition have made him yellow and emaciated and stunted in growth. But there is only one pair of eyes, a pair of bright eyes on his face, with the kind of agility and light that adults of his class don't have in the eyes.

But at this moment, those big eyes were covered with a layer of faint mist, which was full of panic. He stood up from the bushes in a daze, his body trembling slightly, and he even seemed to have forgotten to run away.