Pitter patter patter, the rain mixed with bits of snow fell, causing the world to become misty.
This was the first rain of the year, and it seemed to be much heavier than in previous years. Fortunately, the northwest region had never lacked rain. Just the accumulated snow and ice melting in winter was enough to provide water, so there was no need to worry about spring rain being as precious as oil.
Along with the spring rain came a rather shocking piece of news.
Located in the middle of the Main Plane, the oldest human country in the world's history, the Eagle Kingdom, was divided.
The eastern part of the Eagle Kingdom belonged to the famous Duke of Griffin. The first Duke of Griffin was a demigod griffin back then. He formed an unbreakable covenant with the God of Eagle and became his most capable subordinate. Later, the God of Eagle challenged the God of Light and died under the God of Light's hammer. The Duke of Griffin was seriously injured by the God of Knights and had to use a secret technique to reincarnate. After reincarnation, he was redeemed and became the God of Country and Diplomacy, also known as the God of Royalty.
This God of Royalty still retained his memories as the Duke of Griffin, abiding by the original oath to protect the Eagle Kingdom. For a long time after that, he, his believers, and the church had always been one of the pillars of the Eagle Kingdom. And the successive Dukes of Griffin who inherited his bloodline were also the most reliable helpers of the Eagle Kingdom. They guarded the eastern part of the kingdom, resisted all kinds of enemies, and built the Duke of Griffin's territory to be exceptionally prosperous. It was said to have one-third of the strength of the entire Griffin Kingdom.
But all this changed 150 years ago. The God of Royalty was killed by a mistress, and his priesthood was taken away. His church and faith, except for the part that collapsed and was lost, became the property of the new God of Aristocracy. The God of Aristocracy did not intend to abide by the covenant between the Duke of Griffin and the God of Eagle. Under his influence, the Duke of Griffin's territory and the Eagle Kingdom quickly became estranged, and soon there were signs of division.
In the Battle of Sun's Death Day last winter, the Eagle Kingdom suffered heavy losses, and it was estimated that it would take 20 to 30 years for them to recover. So the Duke of Griffin's territory, which basically did not suffer any losses in that battle, finally implemented its plan of independence. At the sowing ceremony not long ago, it announced its independence and established the Duchy of Griffin.
It was not only the area that had been part of the Duke of Griffin's territory that had become independent. In the central and eastern part of the Kingdom of Eagle, the two Earls that were close to the Duke of Griffin's territory had also announced that they had joined the Duchy of Griffin. In terms of land area, the new Duchy of Griffon occupied almost 30% of the entire Eagle Kingdom's territory. In other words, at present, the ratio of territory between the Eagle Kingdom and the Duchy of Griffon was roughly two to one.
This ratio was not too outrageous. Considering the difference in prosperity between the two sides, as well as the current predicament of the Eagle Kingdom, it was certain that the Eagle Kingdom would not have the ability to suppress rebellions in the east for a long time to come. In fact, it might never happen again.
Leon, who had received this news, was silent for a long time. In the end, he did not go to his hometown. He thought about it and felt that it was only a matter of time before it happened. Even if he could stop it once, he couldn't stop it forever.
More importantly, even he himself did not have much sense of identity with the Eagle Kingdom.
Time was the most powerful weapon. Thirty years was enough for a former prince to no longer consider himself a member of the kingdom. Even though he still remembered that the blood of the Eagle flowed in his body, that was all.
If one day, the descendants of the Eagle were in danger, he would most likely lend a hand to save them. But the split that had been foreshadowed was not enough for him to lend a hand.
This greatly relieved Kalisa, and she was also very happy. She had been worried whether Leon would rush back after receiving the news and try to use his own force and prestige to stop the split. If that happened, Leon would definitely become a thorn in many people's eyes. He might even encounter other dangers!
As the master of Garth City and the current Earl of Riley, Kalisa's interest in the Eagle Kingdom was only that "it was Leon's hometown" and that "Leon liked to eat hometown food." She was not interested in anything else!
Well, for her, it would be best if the Eagle Kingdom only had those hometown food left. Last time, in order to save the Eagle Kingdom, Leon actually ran to become an enemy of a strong person that even His Majesty the Void Mask was afraid of. It was simply too terrifying!
"The Duke of Griffin is independent."
"I had expected it."
"With the current situation, it would be strange if he was not independent."
Similar sayings were circulating in various countries on the continent. No one was surprised by this. Even the new king of the Eagle Kingdom, after receiving the news, was silent for a long time. Then he sighed deeply and said, "What will come will come. Forget it."
And for the residents of Pyroxene Town, located on the edge of the Ashes Woods in the northwest region, the split of the Eagle Kingdom was only a topic of idle conversation. For them, the most important thing at the moment was the first trial harvest of Mayor Felix's "artificial mineral vein."
Wearing thick protective clothing, Lai Fu and three equally cautious excavators used sickles to cut off the upper half of the gray and black mushrooms that grew at the bottom of the first tunnel. They were then put into a special sealed box.
This kind of mushroom could continue to grow as long as the lower half was kept. The negative energy it absorbed would be condensed in the part of the canopy, so it was quite easy to harvest. All that was needed was enough protection and enough care.
The heavy protective clothing made the originally easy harvesting work a lot more troublesome. Everyone's movements were a little clumsy, and the sickles cut their hands more than once. Fortunately, the protection was particularly thick and reinforced from the forearms to the hands, and the sickles were not sharp. There was no pain, let alone injury.
After working hard for an entire afternoon, they finally finished harvesting the first batch of mushrooms, filling up six big boxes. These boxes were moved out by other workers and transported to the magic school. They would be extracted in a special extraction room and turned into valuable negative energy essence, as well as residues that could be used as mushroom fertilizer.
Lai Fu, who had finished his work, walked out of the tunnel and stood in the purification circle for five minutes according to the rules. Then, when he left the circle, he hurriedly took off the hot protective clothing.
The raindrops mixed with tiny snowflakes fell on his body, cold and cool. For him, who was so hot that he was sweating all over, it couldn't be more comfortable!
But the young mage in charge of supervising immediately shouted and ordered him to go back to the lounge immediately and change into warm clothes so that he wouldn't catch a cold.
"Are you in such a hurry to die after sweating all over from strenuous exercise and drenching yourself in cold water?" The old man in charge of the duty room, Parker, said rudely. "You're only thirty, right? You don't even have a wife or kids. It's not easy for you to live a stable life, why do you want to die so badly?"
Lai Fu smiled bitterly. He really wanted to tell the man that he actually had a wife and kids.
At least, he did …
But he didn't say it in the end. All his memories and thoughts turned into a silent sigh.
How good would it have been if I had met a good man like Mayor Felix back then …
Lai Fu didn't stay depressed for long. When the last digger came out of the tunnel and was purified, he took off his protective clothing and came to the newly built lounge next to the duty room. The young mage took out a transmission staff, and the voice of his teacher, Mayor Felix, came from it.
"Everyone has worked hard recently. The mushroom production is not bad, and the quality is not bad. The first phase of the artificial mineral vein can be said to be a great success. I would like to thank everyone for your hard work. "
The diggers smiled. Although they weren't cultured and didn't have much experience in battles of wits, they could at least tell that these words of gratitude weren't just for show.
Mayor Felix continued, "Everyone will be given three days off, and your wages will be calculated according to the usual standard. Then, there will be a bonus! "
Hearing this, the diggers cheered. For poor people like them, a paid holiday was already very good, and a bonus was even better. Mayor Felix had never been stingy. Since she said that there would be a bonus, she definitely wouldn't just give them a few copper coins as a token of goodwill like the previous mine owners.
"How much will there be?" an impatient person couldn't help but ask.
The young mage shook his head. He didn't know either.
"It's definitely a lot!" another more mature person said with a smile.
"Yes! Maybe there will be five silver coins, maybe even seven, no, eight silver coins … "This was a guess.
Lai Fu smiled and used a dry cloth to wipe the sweat and rain off his body. He picked up his cup from the wooden rack in the lounge, and filled it with steaming wheat tea from a large wooden barrel.
The wheat tea today was a little spicy and a little sweet. It must be the herbs that could prevent illness from catching a cold.
How nice!
He sat on the bench and listened to the excited discussions of his workmates. He drank the hot tea that warmed his throat to his stomach, and then his entire body. Looking at the pattering spring rain outside, he couldn't help but smile.
This kind of life was really comfortable!
After a while, a patrolling soldier rushed over in the rain and distributed the "bonus" that the mayor had mentioned to everyone.
Different from what they had guessed, it wasn't seven, eight, or five per person, but one per person — a gold coin!
Looking at the shining gold coins, the miners were all stunned.
Although in theory, ten silver coins could be exchanged for one gold coin, in reality, for most poor commoners, they might not even be able to save one gold coin in a year. In fact … before Mayor Felix came, most of the people here hadn't even had the chance to touch a gold coin.
Life was so difficult that they had to do their best just to "survive." Save money? Gold coins? In a dream?
More than one of the miners looked at the shining gold coin over and over again. They were flustered, trying to find a place to put it away, but they didn't know where to put it. It was extremely awkward.
Lai Fu's right hand was still holding the teacup firmly. He opened his left hand, and the shining gold treasure lay quietly in his palm, reflecting a reassuring light.
He clenched his left hand tightly, feeling the hard feeling in his palm. He raised his head and drank the hot tea in one gulp, his eyes full of hope and confidence.
"Our days will definitely get better and better!"
His soliloquy drew a chorus of agreement from everyone else.
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