"Shit! These damned aristocratic pigs! They should all be caught by the knights of justice and hung on the street to be whipped! "
Old John pursed his lips, rolled up his sleeves, and looked at the bloody whip mark on his arm, his face full of anger.
His hair was messy, as if he hadn't washed it for a long time, and it emitted a rancid smell. His skin, red from the sun, was engraved with deep wrinkles. If he didn't say it, no one would even believe that he was less than 35 years old this year.
Limping on the street, he cursed as he walked.
Suddenly, a team of well-equipped knights riding tall steeds swept across the street, scaring Old John so much that he hurriedly rolled to the side in a sorry state.
These knights, who were loyal to the aristocrats, were the most unreasonable. If he couldn't dodge in time, no one would care even if a free person like him died.
Dust flew, choking him and making him cough a lot. His face was covered in dust, and the whip mark on his body seemed to have cracked open even more. He grimaced in pain.
"Shit! It's all shit! "
Old John cursed as he got up.
There was a discomfort under his feet. He looked down and found that he had accidentally lost his shoes when he was dodging just now.
"Where are my shoes?"
Old John was anxious and hurriedly searched.
He only had this pair of shoes left, and he couldn't lose it again.
When he found his other shoe on the side of the road, it was almost trampled to pieces.
It was those knights who did it.
"Shit! It's all shit! "
Old John was even angrier.
He put on the broken shoes, revealing a few toes that seemed to be covered in a layer of mud. He moved a little, and it was barely passable.
"That's it."
Old John sighed and limped toward the church.
He had to find a priest to treat the injuries on his body. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to work for a few days.
Aristocrats were all shameless. He couldn't get back the wages he owed. If he couldn't find another job in a short time, he might starve to death.
In this world, too many refugees like him who fled from the south had starved to death.
To be honest, he now regretted not getting off the ship at Zeloran with those non-believers when he went north.
According to the bards in the tavern, life in the Maple Moon Free Territory was like heaven. Those who migrated there would be properly settled, and those with skills might even be assigned jobs and residences.
It was too enviable.
Recalling what had happened to him over the past year, Old John's expression became more and more gloomy.
However, there was a major prerequisite for migrating to the Maple Moon Free Territory.
That was, they had to give up their original faith and convert to the Goddess of Life.
This was unacceptable to Old John, who had been a devout Eternal believer since he was young.
At least … it used to be.
Old John came to the church of the Church of Eternity with difficulty. Looking at the clean and beautiful building, he hesitated slightly.
Speaking of which … when was the last time he came to the church?
He couldn't remember.
He couldn't remember how long it had been since he last came to the Church of Eternity.
When he first came to this small town in the Northern Territory, he would pray once a week.
At that time, he hadn't used up all his savings.
But now, he was just an unlucky guy who had nothing and had to work hard every day to make a living.
Except for his identity as a freeman.
John Senior looked at his tattered clothes, and then at the well-dressed believers coming and going at the entrance of the church. He looked a little uneasy.
He didn't know if he should step in.
This church, which he had once been accustomed to, now gave him a feeling of being in a different world. It gave him a great deal of pressure.
"What are you afraid of? I'm also a devout Eternal believer! When I was in the Southern Territory, I even donated silver coins to the church! "
Old John encouraged himself and suppressed the inferiority in his heart.
Taking a deep breath, he limped up.
However, before Old John entered the church, he was stopped by the attendant at the door.
"Hey, hey! Stop! What are you doing? "
"Sir, I … I want to find a priest to treat my injuries."
Old John raised his head and looked at the attendant with the sun emblem on his chest with some apprehension. He squeezed out a flattering smile.
The sun emblem was the symbol of the Eternal Church, symbolizing the rising sun, judgment, and power.
These attendants should be the church's newly recruited preparatory knights. Recently, the church seemed to have been recruiting knights. Old John also heard from the tavern that someone had received divine favor and leaped from an ordinary person to a high and mighty silver professional, which made him very envious.
Unfortunately, these knights had to be recommended by nobles or have very strong extraordinary talents. Ordinary people like him had no chance at all.
Looking at Old John's sorry state, the attendants frowned slightly.
"If you want to enter the church, change into decent clothes. Otherwise, it's disrespectful to the gods! In addition, each treatment costs five gold guineas. Are you ready? "
They said expressionlessly.
"Five … five gold pounds?"
Old John's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Wait, sir … Doesn't the church's primary treatment only cost five silver coins? When did it cost five gold pounds? "
He lost his voice.
Five gold pounds was five hundred silver coins. He couldn't earn that much even in a year.
Old John's salary was only one silver coin a day, and this was often deducted by the nobles … After deducting expenses, there was nothing left.
Now, he only had ten silver coins on him, and this was saved with great difficulty. He originally planned to save twenty silver coins to buy a new set of clothes and shoes.
"Silver coins? He actually said silver coins? "
The two attendants heard this and laughed loudly.
After laughing, they looked at Old John in disdain and said, "What era is this?
The world is so chaotic now. Every day, there are people looking for the priest to treat their illness. The church also needs to recruit knights. How can the priest be so busy? Now, the priest can only perform intermediate treatment, five gold pounds each time! "
"But … But I only need primary treatment."
Old John said nervously.
"Are you teaching us how to do things? Or teaching the priest how to do things? Five gold pounds. If you want to look, then look. If you don't, then don't block the way. There are still many believers who want to enter! "
The attendant said with a frown.
Old John opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but in the end, he fell into silence.
Clenching the few silver coins in his hand, he lowered his head and turned to leave with a limp.
"Pauper, you still want to come to the church to treat your illness? Why don't you take a look at yourself!"
The attendant's sneer came from behind him, piercing into Old John's heart like a steel needle.
He paused slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart.
A gorgeous carriage drove past him and entered the church's courtyard. Old John faintly heard the attendant's voice again.
"Oh, isn't this Lord Baron Herman? Why are you here? Please come in, please come in … The priest has been talking about you for a long time! "
The voice was fawning.
Old John looked back at the arrogant, gorgeously dressed nobles and the fawning church attendants. It was clearly summer, but he inexplicably felt a little cold.
He felt a little stifled in his heart.
He originally wanted to spend three more silver coins to give to the church, then listen to the priest's teachings and pour out his troubles …
But he didn't expect that he couldn't even step into the church's door.
"Heh, the noble pig, and the attendant pig, they all deserve a good beating! They all deserve to be punished by the gods! "
He muttered in a low voice.
His voice was inexplicably hoarse.
The scorching sun hung in the sky, and Old John dragged his injured body and limped to the Black Walnut Tavern.
The tavern was filled with the choking smell of sweat, low-quality wine, and strong perfume mixed together. It was suffocating, but Old John was used to it.
This was the cheapest tavern in the slums of the city, where a large number of drunkards, idlers, refugees, and low-level adventurers gathered.
Although they were called low-level adventurers, they were actually apprentices or trainee warriors who had mastered extraordinary powers. Occasionally, a Dark Iron professional could also be seen.
Such a high and mighty Extraordinaire could never be seen in the Black Walnut Tavern before.
However, since the entire world's magic power had greatly increased, more and more people had awakened extraordinary powers. This kind of former big shot had now become common.
The bard's off-key music rang out in the noisy tavern, drowned out by the noise of the drunkards and adventurers.
Old John looked over and found that many people were playing Gomoku, while the adventurers gathered together to play Gwent, surrounded by many onlookers.
From time to time, cheers could be heard.
Even Old John's interest was piqued. He wanted to go over and see how this game, which was said to have been passed down from the Elven Forest and the Maple Moon Free Territory, was played. But when he thought of business, he finally held back.
"Give me a bundle of high-quality ale."
Old John sat at the bar and took out a silver coin with a heartache.
The bartender looked at him in surprise and joked.
"Old John, are you rich? You're actually willing to drink high-quality ale? "
"Bullsh * t! I want to be rich! I've been working in the mine for half a month, but I didn't even get a single silver coin! "
Old John said gloomily.
As he spoke, he grimaced and opened his sleeve. The weather was too hot, and he was sweating all over. His sleeve had already stuck to the wound.
Looking at the bloody wound, the bartender was stunned.
"How did you get hurt?"
"It's all because of those damned nobles! We weren't the ones who destroyed the mine, so they're venting their anger on us! "
Old John said bitterly.
"It was destroyed?"
The bartender was stunned.
As if he thought of something, he leaned in front of Old John and asked curiously,
"So … the rumor is true? A dragon came to the gold mine? It took over all the gold and the newly discovered Magic Stone mine? "
"Of course it's true, I saw it with my own eyes! That dragon … was as big as a mountain … It was fierce! "
Old John gestured.
It seemed that he had pulled on his wound, and the pain made him grimace again.
"Your injury is a little serious. Don't you want to see a priest or herbalist?"
The bartender frowned.
Hearing his words, a hint of sadness flashed in Old John's eyes. He chuckled and said self-deprecatingly,
"I want to … but I can't even enter the door of the church."
"Why?"
"I don't have money."
Old John spread out his hands.
The bartender was speechless. He looked at Old John's tattered clothes and sighed.
He also heard that the church's treatment fees were getting higher and higher in the past few years.
"Here, your ale."
"Thank you …"
Old John took the ale and opened the lid.
The aroma of the wine assailed his nose. He smelled it as if he was intoxicated and smacked his lips.
It was the first time he bought this kind of high-quality ale. A bundle of ale cost a silver coin.
One had to know that if it were to be replaced with inferior quality ale, he would be able to buy ten bunches of it!
Of course, although it was said to be a high-quality ale, it was still worlds apart from genuine ale.
However, ale was originally a drink for commoners. Nobles simply disdained to drink it.
They would usually drink grape wine, fruit wine from the Elven Forest, and white wine.
What was it called … Erguotou?
That was what the bards said.
However, Old John didn't order the ale to drink it.
Under the bartender's surprised gaze, he carefully poured out the ale and sprinkled it on his wound.
"Hey, Old John, what are you doing? Are you crazy?! Give it to me if you don't want to drink it. I haven't had much high-quality ale! "
"Hey, what do you know? I'm disinfecting it! Otherwise, with such a deep wound and such a hot day, it'll be bad if it worsens. "
"Disinfecting? What kind of nonsense is this … "
"You don't know this, right? Ale can disinfect. It's said that it can … can kill the small animals in the wound. Hmm … Some small animals that we can't see. It's those small animals that worsen the wound. "
"Nonsense. Who told you that?"
"The bards on the streets."
"You believe the bards' words?"
"He said he came from the Maple Moon Free Territory. This is the method the elves told him."
"Elves …"
Hearing Old John's words, the bartender raised his eyebrows and was speechless for a moment.
In recent years, the name of the elves had become more and more well-known. Everyone in any city on the continent knew about the rise of the Elven Forest.
Not only that, the elves seemed to know a lot of lost skills and knowledge. It was said that some of the content shocked the legendary masters of the Mage Tower and was extremely sought after …
Thinking of this, the bartender also secretly remembered this method and planned to find an opportunity to try it in the future.
"I don't know if it'll be better tomorrow after I pour the wine. The mine is gone. I have to find a new place to work tomorrow …"
Looking at the deep wound, Old John sighed.
"Mine? It's fine not to go to that cursed place. I heard that a lot of people who went to mine got sick. Look at you. It's only been a year and you look like you've aged more than 20 years. "
The bartender shook his head.
"What can I do then? I don't have any skills. I used to be a farmer. I fled here and have nothing. "
Old John sighed numbly.
Hearing his words, the bartender was also sad for a moment.
In the past few years, there had been more and more refugees fleeing. People who starved to death could be seen on the roadside every day.
There were wars everywhere. There was the invasion of demons and the outbreak of beast tides. Even the weather was strange. This year, there was a drought in the entire Fertile Plains. The harvest of grain was not good, but the tax had risen again …
"The Maple Moon Free Territory is still the best … I don't know when these chaotic days will end."
Old John sighed.
"That's the credit of the Church of Life. Did you know? It's said that in the Maple Moon Free Territory, the priest personally used divine spells to rain."
The bartender shook his head.
"Divine spells to rain?"
Old John's eyes widened.
"Yes, that's the Goddess of Life and Nature. Do you understand? Not to mention rain, it's said that some divine spells can directly make crops mature within a day! Since the Maple Moon Free Territory believed in the Church of Life, no one in the entire territory has gone hungry! "
The bartender said.
"The Goddess of Life …"
Old John's expression was a little complicated.
In recent years, the name of the Goddess of Life had become more and more famous, or rather, more famous than the name of the elves.
Even the bards on the streets often told stories of the Goddess of Life, which often attracted a lot of audiences …
Fighting against evil gods, protecting believers, spreading knowledge, and sending down divine spells …
It was because of her existence, because of the existence of the Church of Life, that the Maple Moon Free Territory could recover quickly after the war and become more and more prosperous.
It was a sharp contrast to the Empire.
There was no harm without comparison. Thinking of his experience in front of the Church of Eternity, Old John's heart became more and more uncomfortable, sad, and disappointed.
"However, the most beautiful place should be the Elven Forest, right? I heard from the merchants in the caravan that the elven city there is as beautiful as a palace, and the life there is rich, like heaven … However, only elves and half-elves with elven bloodline can settle there. "
The bartender said with emotion.
"Elves … I've never seen an elf before, but I've seen half-elves once in the southern border territory. It was at the auction house."
Old John said.
"Auction house? That should be many years ago, right? "
The bartender raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, it's been many years."
Old John nodded.
The two of them chatted casually to pass the time.
Wine was poured on the wound. Except for the initial discomfort, Old John gradually got used to it.
At this moment, the door of the tavern was suddenly pushed open again.
A few tall and slender figures in luxurious equipment walked in.
The bartender looked over and was slightly startled.
The entire tavern gradually fell into silence.
"Elves?"
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