Saint Calendar Year 205. This year's Harvest Snow did not fall at the same time as usual. This was not a good sign. Because if there wasn't a large enough snowfall, it would be impossible to kill the eggs of the horned worms that reproduced in the soil in autumn.
Horn Worms were very troublesome creatures. Although there were all kinds of powerful beasts and even magical creatures in Dawn. Even the most powerful magical creatures could be killed as long as they were dealt with appropriately. Because the more powerful the creature, the fewer its population. This was the nature of the food chain.
Horn Worms were different. They were small creatures that were only half the size of a pinky finger. Once they were bred, their numbers would be uncountable. When the horde of Horn Worms blotted out the sky and covered the earth, any powerful creature would be helpless.
This was because the horde of Horn Worms did not harm humans. To be precise, they were just insects that ate vegetables. But when hundreds of millions or even more horned insects moved together, everywhere they passed would be left barren.
Horn Worms did not harm humans, but they would eat up the food that humans relied on for survival. Even the powerful magical creatures were afraid of the Horn Worms.
Because Horn Worms did not only eat food, they also ate forest leaves. This would destroy the entire food chain from the very bottom.
Therefore, the tiny Horn Worm, which could even be easily crushed by a child, was the most terrifying creature in the world.
If the Harvest Snow did not fall, the kingdom would mobilize all its citizens to eradicate the eggs from the fields. But this might not be useful, because the Horn Worms would lay eggs in areas where humans were not very active.
Those annoying little bugs, an adult could produce at least three thousand eggs a year. Their strong reproductive ability was the key to the survival of these little creatures.
Other than eating, it was mating. This was the best way to describe the Horn Worms.
Areize tightened his clothes. Although there was no snow, the weather was unusually cold. He was an archer and musketeer, and he did not have a field. Therefore, he was not like the ordinary farmers who were worried about the kingdom's emergency summons.
But this did not mean that Areize liked the weather when it did not snow.
Moondew City was the third largest city in Dawn. There were 350,000 people living in this area. The tarmac road was the symbol of this city. Compared to the stone or brick roads that were still used in some cities, the commuting effect of the asphalt road was undoubtedly better.
The asphalt road was laid two hundred years ago, not long after the first year of the Holy Calendar.
It was a story that Aerize had heard too many times. The Holy Mage descended upon the continent and banished the Celestial and Nephilim race, who had once abused the human race. Then, he led mankind out of their slumber and ignorance.
He wanted the humans to understand that the so-called Gods and Demons had nothing to do with the creation of human life. Humans were not created by these races. They were merely parasites that crawled on the bodies of humans.
He was just relying on humans to survive. At the end of the day, the so-called gods and demons, as well as those powerful beings, were merely another form of life.
In essence, they were no different from cats and dogs. They were just much stronger than cats and dogs. Perhaps they could be classified as another type of intelligent magical beast? Ariz felt that his knowledge from the books was not enough. It was hard for him to come to a conclusion.
As a commoner, Areize had only attended six years of compulsory education, and his basic knowledge was only up to the sixth grade of primary school. He did not study the more advanced secondary and university courses.
Only secondary and university courses would teach him the important knowledge of magic. If a primary school graduate was not willing to work in a factory as an assembly line worker or a waiter, then he could only pick up a weapon and become a scout.
Fortunately, Areize's physical condition was rather outstanding, especially when it came to shooting. He was good with both the bow and the gun. This allowed him to gloriously become an archer/musketeer in the Land of Dawn.
"Damn it, it's still not snowing." Areize wore a synthetic leather uniform. He tightened the bow on his back, the short-barreled gun and a short knife on his waist.
Areize was a young man, only 26 years old this year. But this was already his tenth year as a scout.
But due to various reasons, he was still only an acting squad leader. Any position with the prefix 'acting' in front of it was really not worth a fart.
Just like Areize, his subordinates only listened to him because he was older and took care of his brothers in the ten-man squad. But how much did they respect Areize's position as an acting squad leader? Not even a little bit.
They were willing to work for Areize because of him. Who knew that a squad leader would suddenly appear out of nowhere and strip Areize of his authority? It was all possible.
Areize was also a member of the squad. He knew his own affairs, so other than what the squad was supposed to do. If the higher-ups gave him additional tasks, unless there was a specific request. Otherwise, Areize could not be bothered to ask his brothers to do it. He might as well just do it himself.
After all, they could get a little overtime pay for working overtime. Most of the squad members were unwilling to go out in this cold weather. Since Areize had done so much for them, they were grateful for his help. Every now and then, they would bring some sausages and smoked pig's trotters to Areize for a drink or something. Areize felt that this was enough.
For example, what Areize was doing now. The higher-ups of Moondew City assigned him a temporary task. He requested the scouts to add two more check-in points every day.
That was equivalent to an extra two hours of overtime every day. No one would be satisfied with such a task. Therefore, Areize decided to do it himself. After all, he was still single. His parents had passed away when he was 23 years old.
Therefore, when he returned home, it was empty and boring. He might as well take a stroll on the streets. Perhaps the higher-ups would see his hard work and remove the word 'acting' from his title. They would let him be a real squad leader. That way, his monthly salary would increase from 10 pounds and 15 shillings to 14 pounds and 10 shillings.
In this case, I can save enough money to redeem Penny from the Blazing Phoenix as soon as possible. Areize looked at the dry winter. There was no snow, but it was gloomy. He couldn't help but sigh. Firstly, it was for himself and Penny. Secondly, he was really worried that the Snow of Harvest would not fall.
In fact, the Snow of Harvest had fallen very late in the past two years. This caused rumors to spread throughout Dawn. The main rumor was about the Holy Mages.
The Holy Mages had banished the Gods and Nephilim and established the Land of Dawn. After that, they had carried out a profound transformation of the entire world.
This included tax reform, medical reform, compulsory education, industrialization and magical reform, and so on. However, when the Land of Dawn was thriving, the Holy Mages told his subjects that he was leaving.
The Holy Mages had predicted that he would return after 150 years of the Holy Calendar. Unfortunately, in 150 years of the Holy Calendar, the Holy Mages did not return.
This disappointed his long-awaited subjects, including the King. At that time, all kinds of rumors had spread.
Whether it was the Holy Mages dying of old age or the Holy Mages being destroyed by the Gods and Nephilim, there were endless rumors. One of the most widely spread rumors was that the Holy Mages were actually Demons from another world.
He had only come to the Land of Dawn to fight for the authority of the Gods and Demons. Everything he had done was a lie and a trap. All he had done was to kill the local Gods and Demons.
The humans had merely fallen into his trap. If they wanted to be saved, they would need the glory of the old Gods.
Areize scoffed at this rumor. Without the Holy Mages, humans would still be slaves to the old Gods.
However, there were always idiots in this world. This rumor actually became popular after some people spread it. Hence, 30 years ago, a great purge began in the Land of Dawn.
The cults that once again worshipped the old Gods and Demons were wiped out by the Kingdom. The heads of the lunatics who called themselves Popes were hung on the outer walls of the city as a warning to the people.
This caused the Kingdom of Dawn to be quiet for many years. However, in recent years, the Snow of Harvest had been abnormal, causing these rumors to rise again. The reason why Areize had to work overtime to patrol was that some idiots in Moondew City had started a secret meeting.
The higher-ups wanted to catch these idiots and sent more patrols to increase the patrol time.
Areize walked on the asphalt road and looked at the street lamps that were lit up at night. It was a type of kerosene gas lamp. It was about 2.5 meters tall and was made of black cast iron.
There was an oil storage room inside. One refueling could last a kerosene lamp for three days. It would be lit up every night at six o 'clock. It would be closed at six o 'clock in the morning. It would be managed by the municipal gardening department.
"It would be great if I could catch one or two idiots from the cults!" Areize noted down the time at the last patrol checkpoint. (The time could be seen from the tallest building in the city center, the Moondew Bell. As this building was tall enough, it could be seen from the entire Moondew City.)
Areize said indignantly, "Isn't it because you didn't attend a four-year high school? If you don't learn the basics of magic, it will be difficult to advance unless you win the annual tournament at the end of the year. But what's the use of learning the basics of magic in four years? Those who come out will still be shot to death by an arrow! "
"What's really useful is the six years of advanced magic knowledge in university. But how many people in the entire Kingdom can get into university? The Royal City University only accepts less than 2,000 students a year! The college entrance examination is as difficult as an army crossing a single-plank bridge. "Areize felt indignant.
His archery and firearm skills were very good, but they only took up 30% of the points in the year-end martial arts tournament.
Another 35% of the points were for the written exam, and the remaining 35% were for close combat.
The written exam was fine. Although Areize didn't attend high school, he could still pass it. But close combat was out of the question. His swordsmanship was sloppy. It was fine against ordinary people without training, but it was only average against people of the same profession. It was too difficult to make a name for oneself with martial arts.
Thinking of this, Areize's eyes sharpened. He couldn't wait to find any idiots from the cults on the streets and capture them as his resources to advance.
But it was difficult to find such people. Others had searched for so long and still couldn't find them. You think I can find one just like this … Found it!
Areize's eyes suddenly lit up. He felt that there was a suspicious figure loitering in front of the tavern. He was wearing a fitted grey hooded outfit. Areize didn't know how to describe this outfit, but he felt that it was very cool. (If Areize played Assassin's Creed, he should be able to recognize the assassin.)
This outfit was very different from other people in Dawn. Could it be a spy from the God and Nephilim race? Without a second thought, Ariz pulled out his short-barreled musket and walked up to Kieran.
He put one hand on the shoulder of the man in grey and pressed the muzzle against the man's waist. "Don't move, turn around!"
The man in grey seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said in a mocking voice, "Ah, sir, do you want me to not move, or do you want me to turn around? Your words are very confusing. "
PS: Congratulations to the second cute author of this book, Student Shun Yuchen. Congratulations! Thank you, fellow readers, for your support and love for this book. I thank you all here.
Also, I have something to tell you. I will be moving from Shanghai to my hometown on the 29th of this month, which is Saturday. So I have been busy packing and the updates have not been very stable.
There will be a lot of things to deal with when I return home. The updates will not stop, but the occasional updates will not be possible. I hope everyone can understand.
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