Not a Witch

This thought was fleeting, and then she stepped into the golden Vanity Fair and greeted her with the words she knew by heart.

Under the golden glass chandelier, the people at the banquet were immersed in the wonderful music and enjoyment, and gradually forgot the fear and anxiety of the past few months, and gradually regained the elegance and pride of the nobility in the past.

Isn't this the way the world is, no matter how it changes, they are still masters with power and wealth.

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In the imperial Zishan province, the rolling hills are covered with lush green trees. These tall and straight yew trees spread all over the mountains and plains in the province, and they are an important wealth of the local nobles.They would use the wood to make furniture and make bows and arrows, which they would sell across the empire.

It's just that such huge profits will not fall on the civilians who do heavy labor, and most of them go into the pockets of the local nobles.

They own land, lumberyards, furniture factories, and bow and arrow preparation factories. The main road in the forest is also their guard gate, controlling the channels of outward circulation. All profits and income are controlled by the nobles, and the stingy income is full of dust. warehouse.

Tonight, with few stars, a man riding a horse was running on the mountain road at night, taking advantage of the darkness to advance. His short wine-red hair was like black ink in the dark night, which could not be seen clearly, and was mixed with his figure as a black shadow.

When he reached a hill, he gradually stopped and looked at the dark green mountains.

Here again, I don't know what news those 'old friends' will bring. Recently, he heard that pamphlets from the West have become popular in this mountain and wild, promoting ideas that are very inconsistent with the empire.

Chapter 41 Former Rivals

In the forest shrouded in darkness, the man with short wine red hair led a horse through the forest in the mountains.There is no road here, he simply judges the general direction based on the stars in the night sky, and then proceeds according to the feeling of the past.

Although it is easy to get lost, this method also avoids the checkpoint of the handle on the main road, and can enter the south-central province of the empire.

After browsing for more than ten miles on the rugged mountain road, the man gradually found a familiar feeling, and the surrounding scenery gradually matched his memory.

It should be there soon.

A thought flashed in his mind, and then he jumped away suddenly, avoiding the arrows that were shot out hidden in the twilight.

That's right, there was still a secret whistle. He was not angry in the face of the attack, but was a little relieved. Then he jumped up, shuttled quickly among the tree crowns, and instantly found the figure hidden in the distance.

The secret whistle on duty was about to draw out his dagger when he was subdued by this man.

"Shh, don't be nervous, it's me." He pulled off the black cloth on his face.

"Uh, Mr. Rock." The secret whistle under him made a young voice.

After that, the two stood up slowly and started talking.

"Why are you back, teacher?" The young man in his early twenties moved his sore arms and looked at the figure in the night with a little surprise.

"I received a letter from an old friend, so I came back to have a look." Rock walked ahead, scanning the hidden layout in the mountains, nodding from time to time.

"Very good, great progress."

"Thank you teacher for your compliment, hehe." The young man followed with small steps and led the way for Roque.

"You come with me."

The two walked towards the depths of the forest. After passing through the dense bushes, a shaded door opened, and then the two entered the passage leading to the interior of the mountain.

The passage was dug well, and there were reinforced structures around it. After the two walked through the winding stairs, they gradually saw a warm yellow orange light in front of them, and some noisy voices came immediately.

The guard in the passage saw the two nodded, and then opened the door to let the two enter.Suddenly, a wide underground hall appeared in the field of vision, where many people gathered, and everyone was listening to the preaching of the person standing on the high platform.

"Why are we fighting!" He looked at the hundreds of people below, holding a thick book, his voice was deafening.

"In order to survive, to eat clean bread and drink clean water, there is a warm house in winter, and there is a year's worth of food in the cellar. You can play with your children on weekdays without worrying about those things. Violent guards suddenly broke into our home."

"Isn't such a life worth looking forward to? Isn't it impossible to realize it?"

"Look at your own hands, how many calluses, scars, and strangle marks are on them! Over the years, how many days, how many days and nights you have been busy, and how many days and nights you have paid so much, why can they take away the things you created without saying a word? wealth!"

"Those comfortable wood, good-looking furniture, excellent bows and arrows, I don't know how much bread I can eat outside, how much warm cotton, how much sweet honey. And they don't leave you a cent!"

"Let me tell you, don't be afraid of those noble lords. Yes, they are very strong, and there are many extraordinary people, but! We can also accumulate strength, we have more brothers and friends, and we have the anger of the ocean! "

"They are human beings. They need to eat and drink all day long. How can they have unlimited energy? Burn their food, destroy their houses, harass them when they sleep, make them exhausted, make them regret their past, make them cry Runny."

"How did the Klancians come here? Don't they have two hands, two eyes, and no extra arm? Why can they do it, but we can't?"

"It doesn't matter if we can't win for the time being. We will develop quietly and let more brothers and sisters join us. When this country is full of our comrades, what else can't be done?"

"We are small, insignificant, and weak, but! We are also glorious, proud, and great."

"A few years from now, when your descendants look back on the present, they will definitely not feel inferior because of their status. Instead, they will proudly say loudly, "Look, this is my ancestor, so brave and wise. With the life we ​​have now."

The inspiring speech echoed in the hall in the mountain, and pairs of piercing pupils appeared on the face illuminated by the fire, which reflected hope and excitement, like ignited flames.

Amazing, Rock looked at the scene in front of him, even he was a little moved by this speech, let alone the local mountain people below.

Recalling the Crancia uprising, it seems that it also started from the mines in the mountains, where a large number of miners gathered.

After the speech was over and the crowd gradually dispersed, the man on the high platform drank a few sips of water, nodded after being told by others, and then walked slowly.

"Long time no see, Rock."

"Long time no see, Tokolin." The two walked side by side into a small room beside them.

Rather than calling it a room, it is actually a small cavity dug out of the body, and the surrounding walls are all yellowed and compacted loess.

An oil lamp was lit on the table, and the two sat by the table.Rock looked at the gray-haired man, and saw that his face was full of weather marks, and he felt a bit of vicissitudes.

Both of them came from Ike County in the western mountainous area of ​​the empire. Tokolin's father was once a viscount of the empire, but when he was young, his father was seized and executed for fighting, and he also had a difficult time in his youth .

In order to obtain the qualification to go to Emenas, Roque once competed with Tokolin in the general election in Ayk County, and the result was that Roque was familiar with Tokolin's tricks and won.Since then, the two have left a deep impression on each other.

Compared with Roque, who entered Emenas to study, Tokolin's experience was much more bumpy. In the next year's competition, he still did not get a letter of recommendation from Emenas, because new talents emerged in the local area.

Desperate, he set off for the southern part of the empire to join the army directly.However, having lost his noble status, he did not receive preferential treatment. In the army, he was neither liked by noble officers nor was he approached by those low-level soldiers.

Being isolated and excluded, he spent a long time like this. It was not until the emperor launched an expedition that the time came. With his extraordinary strength, he became a logistics officer and slowly promoted.

Years of blows and ups and downs have smoothed the edges and corners of his former arrogance, and he has become silent and low-key, and his heart has gradually become numb.

All this until entering Crancia, ushered in a new change.

"War is really a cruel mirror, exposing the ugliest and true part of the human heart." Recalling those years, he later said with emotion to Roque.

"In an enemy country without legal and moral constraints, you will not be accused of doing bad things, and any attack and abuse will be covered with a sacred cloak. Because we are conducting a 'great' expedition." He said self-deprecatingly With the situation at that time.

Unlike ordinary soldiers, he was born noble, received a good education, and had seen the life of the upper class.And in the formative years, he was thrown into the dust again, to survive in the dirt and mud.

"I hate this disgusting country."

Years later, when the two met by chance on the street, they went to the bar to drink together, Tokolin told Roque drunk.

"Actually, I often dreamed that if I won that day and then went to Emenas, what a wonderful future it would be. For this reason, I have hated you for a long time."

"This situation didn't change until I went to the South to join the army."

"Do you know who were the people who went to join the army before the Great Crusade?" Tokolin said that day with his arms around Rock's shoulders.

"There are all kinds of people, haha. Some are thieves, thieves, those who have committed crimes, those who can't survive, those who are about to starve to death, and those who were tricked into coming in. Anyway, the officers don't care what your origin is. After entering, you will be trained according to the rules of death. , Disobedient? Just beat him to death, anyway, people often die in the barracks, no one will care."

"I also looked down on those people at first, and felt that it was an insult to be comrades-in-arms with such people."

"But later, I don't think so." Tokolin put down his glass and said slowly.

"As long as those people have a good way out and a warm home, how about going on this road of unknown life and death?"

"There is no way. Apart from farming, running errands, and working for those nobles, you can hardly find a decent job."

"The fields belong to them, the mountains belong to them, the river belongs to them, and there are big bosses behind the shops and workshops. If you want to get involved, how can it be possible? But they are extremely stingy with the money they give, and often withhold and delay."

"They don't care, because some people are people, and there are too many people in the empire...you don't do it, some people do it, it's all like this."

"The world seems to be born sad, and the bottom layer of all beautiful paints is gray and pitch black." Tokolin sighed, drinking glass after glass of wine.

"Thinking about it this way, I'm pretty lucky. Although my family is in the middle of nowhere, I still have some savings, and I can still ask a few uncles and relatives I know to help. I won't be completely on the same path as them."

"But there is a pressure in my heart. I can't figure out why the world is like this."

"In this way, I joined the expeditionary army in a daze, and kept heading west. Finally, I saw the new country in the West..."

"Crancia is an unfamiliar word. Many people in the empire didn't know this country existed before. If we say West Wind, they may still have some reflections."

"But when those soldiers lined up straight in front of the formation, with blades like a forest, I felt a kind of shock and momentum for the first time."

"It turns out that there are really people living in the country I dreamed of and dreamed of."

"They are so fearless and strong-willed. Although they are far outnumbered by us, they can often gain the upper hand in battle."

"It was also from then on that I became interested in everything about this country. Why did they face death so calmly? Is it because of fanatical belief? Is it because of ignorance? Or because of some noble ideals?"

"Finally, I also found the answer I was looking for."

"In World War I, I captured an officer in the mountains. Of course, I didn't kill him, but I helped him treat his wounds and asked him many questions."

"Finally, before leaving, he gave me a pamphlet and told me that many things and things cannot be conveyed in words. If I want to know and learn more, I will visit Clancia after the war. Bar."

"Why are you so sure that Crancia will exist after the war. I asked him then."

"He smiled, pointed to his heart, then turned around and left."

"So, since then, have you started to promote these ideas in the empire?" Rock asked him at the time.

"Yeah, I want more people to know about it, and I want more people to join in."

"However, such behavior is dangerous. And I am worried about whether it will succeed." Rock drank his wine and said his opinion.

He is no longer the boy who dreamed of being a hero in the past. This world is not so simple, and fairness and justice are also a rather vague concept, and there is no unified standard recognized by everyone.Moreover, he also has a trace of doubt and caution about human nature.

After graduating, he met many classmates, who changed from being smug back then to secular and interested.Even Prince Edron, who has too ambitious goals, now cares more and more about power, and gradually deviates from his original ideas.

"There's always someone to do it, right? Then why can't it be me."

The scene from a few years ago resurfaced in Rock's mind again. He compared the past and present Tokolin. Although the appearance was a bit vicissitudes, the pupils of his eyes were more energetic.He seems to be very down-to-earth and determined to walk on the path of his hope.

Feeling guilty about taking opportunities from Tokolin in the past, Rock promised to help him, and then helped Tokolin train a group of people.These people are proficient in scouting and investigation, and they are perfect for intelligence work.

At first, he didn't expect that his youthful opponent would go so far on this road. In just two years, he developed in Zishan Province in a decent way.Maybe this time he just missed it.

The memories of the past were briefly passed through in consciousness, and Roque and Tokolin sat at the table and talked about recent events.

"Since the death of His Majesty the Emperor, the interior of the empire has become more and more unstable. The south has rebelled, and the nobles with real power in various places have gradually become self-reliant. The other grand dukes have also been ambiguous and have not expressed their views." Rock told Tokolin to the outside world. some situations.

"If this is the case, I feel that the opportunity is coming." There seemed to be a flame of excitement burning in Tokolin's eyes.

"Don't be so anxious, the great nobles still have great strength, and you can't defeat them." Rock shook his head.

"I know, I will wait until they both lose."

"But it's not enough, Tokolin. Zishan Province is still too small to cause a big storm. Any one of the three dukes can mobilize an army of nearly a million, and there are many elites among them." .”