It was a dagger of exquisite craftsmanship. While it was not an enchanted weapon, its material was mixed with a small amount of adamantium and purple steel, allowing it to reflect a unique pale-purple luster under light. Weapons made of such materials did not provide any bonus to Extraordinary power, but it was often effective against enchanted armor.
On the handle of the dagger, Gwen found a mark like the head of a brown bear, which was decorated with a wreath around it.
In this era, many emblems could not be used at will. A considerable number of beasts and flowers were regarded as the "private symbols" of the nobles. The combination of the head of a beast and flowers in many cases meant the mark of a certain family, and the use of these marks by the commoners would unwittingly violate the rights of the nobles. According to Gwen's heraldry and Ansu's aristocratic law, the mark on the dagger was obviously the mark of a certain family.
For 700 years, the family mark of these nobles still followed the ancient tradition.
The dagger should be a "gift" from a certain noble. As far as Gwen knew, the nobles had very strict rules when giving weapons to others. Only the king had the right to bestow weapons such as battle-axes, warhammers, halberds, and the like, and would only be bestowed to nobles with military exploits. Various models of swords, mainly longswords, were more common gifts. Any noble could bestow a sword to others for any reason, but the recipient must also be a noble, at least of the rank of a Knight. Weapons such as daggers, knives, and short bows were regarded as "unpresentable". The nobles would bestow such things to the "commoners" they liked, and the targets were usually outstanding guards, attendants, or … lackeys.
"It seems that it is as I have guessed. Those mercenaries were 'domesticated' by the noble families." Gwen picked up the dagger and looked at it carefully. "But I don't know if they are loyal to one family or several families at the same time …"
"Do you know the mark on it?" Amber came over curiously. "Ah, I thought it looked good from the beginning …"
"No, I don't." Gwen looked at it carefully and finally shook his head. "When I was alive, this family had not yet appeared. Go and call Heti over. She should know more about the nobles in the Southern Territory. "
Soon, Heti arrived at Gwen's tent.
After carefully identifying the mark on the dagger, she said with certainty, "This is the emblem of the Kant family."
"Kant family?" Gwen frowned as he tried to recall. Finally, he found the origin of this name in the contemporary common sense that he had been cramming recently. "The viscount in the north of the Leslie Family?"
"Yes, across the wilderness and mountains north of the White Water River, just north of the place where you brought the refugees back, is the territory of the Kant Family." Heti began to give a brief introduction of the Kant Family. "It's a family that rose three hundred years ago and was enfeoffed here because of their military exploits. When the Cecil family was in trouble, they happened to be loyal to the current royal family, so they escaped the purge in the Southern Territory. They are now one of the few families in the southern land with more than a hundred years of history."
Gwen asked casually, "How is their relationship with the Cecil family?"
"Not far, not close," Heti replied. "A hundred years ago, during the purge in the Southern Territory, they neither helped nor added insult to injury. They always remained neutral. It's a relatively mysterious family. They don't communicate much with the outside world, and their family members rarely appear in the upper social circle. Although the upper social circle in the Southern Territory is very loose, the Kant Family still appears the least. "
"What's their main industry? Field? Mine? Or ranch? "
"The Kant Hill mainly produces food and various high-quality herbs, including magic potions, but there is no mine."
"Then there's a problem, a big problem..." Gwen knocked on the table. "A noble without a mine and mainly relying on farmland, what's the purpose of kidnapping a large group of slaves before winter? And judging from this dagger, this group of mercenaries is dedicated to working for the Kant Family. It's definitely not the first time they've captured slaves in the wilderness. Why are so many slaves sent to the Kant Hill? "
"Well..." Heti also realized the strangeness of the problem and suddenly remembered another thing. "There's another strange thing. The main output of the Kant Hill has always been food, and herbs and magic potions are just side businesses. But in recent years, the number of herbs and magic potions sold to the outside world has been increasing year by year, especially the magic potions. Not only has the output doubled, but the quality is also getting better and better. It has faintly surpassed their food output and become the main pillar of the Kant Family. But from the law of magic distribution, this situation is very difficult to explain... "
Due to the existence of various supernatural forces, the "medicinal plants" in this world were divided into two types. In addition to herbs with general effects, there were also "magic potions" that could be used in various magic rituals or directly as spellcasting materials. Under normal circumstances, the growth of magic potions was limited by the local magic environment, and there was a natural upper limit to its output. If the magic environment was not good, then no matter how careful the cultivation or the improvement of the seeds, it would be impossible to increase the output of magic potions. Simply increasing the number of potions could lead to the decrease of the magic contained in the herbs.
But the output of magic potions in the Kant Hill was increasing year by year.
In this era where there was a lack of statistics, except for merchants who specialized in business, the nobles rarely noticed the fluctuation of crop output in the surrounding territories. In fact, they might not even know the crop output in their own territories. This was something that the advisors and managers paid attention to. But Heti, as a sorcerer, and a sorcerer whose family had declined, naturally paid attention to the changes in the surrounding magic potion market. So, she was keenly aware of this abnormal phenomenon.
Amber was just listening to the conversation, but at this time, her pointed ears suddenly trembled, and her face was full of horror. "Oh my god! Don't tell me the Kant Family is using living people as fertilizer to grow herbs? "
"... Although I think with the morals of some nobles, they can really think of this kind of thing, but it's not really possible to actually do it." Gwen's eyes twitched as he waved his hand. "The fields where magic potions are grown can't be hidden. Outsiders can see it at a glance. And using living people as fertilizer can't increase the concentration of magic in the environment... What kind of black magic is this?"
While Gwen was talking, suddenly Betty's voice came from outside the tent. "Master! Master! Pitman is here to see you! "
Gwen was startled. Thinking of the task he had just given to Druil, he could not help but smile. "It seems that his' special medicine 'has worked."
Gwen had already expected that ordinary interrogation would not work on the mercenaries, so from the beginning, he had asked Pitman to think of a way to deal with the two "captives".
Druids were not a profession that was good at "torturing" information. Their spells were not as good as the followers of the Blood God or the necromancers who specialized in torture and pain. However, as long as they thought about it from another perspective, "torturing" was not the only way to obtain information.
At least in Gwen Cecil's memory, there were many ways to get information from the enemy with the help of Druil's potions and rituals. Even after 700 years, these methods were still effective.
In a small hut that was temporarily used as a prison, Gwen saw the two captive mercenaries who had been forced to drink potions, smeared with ointment on their foreheads, and smoked with ritual incense for a whole hour.
Both of them were already unconscious at this time.
Pitman was still standing by the side, showing off. "I told you, my potions and rituals are very effective, especially this incense. No matter how strong a person is, they will lose themselves in its magic..."
Indeed, as the little old man said, the whole hut was now filled with a nauseating smell of incense. Even though Pitman's ritual was over, and the incense no longer had the power to interfere with the mind, Gwen was still frowning. Even Amber who was next to him shouted, "Wow, old man, are you going to make bacon?"
"According to your method of smoking, most people will probably confess even without the potion." Gwen had to cast a protective aura on himself before he dared to stand in the hut. "Now I even suspect that your ritual is just to knock people out directly. What does it have to do with magic..."
Pitman nodded with a smile. "You really hit the nail on the head. In fact, many years ago, I thought about improving this spell. I thought that even without the use of potions, directly smoking the target's feces would work. Unfortunately, I was beaten up by my own teacher when I just came up with this idea. In the end, I had to give up. But this time, you reminded me, maybe... "
"You dare to try it?!" Gwen immediately glared at the little old man. "If you really smoke their feces for an hour, even if they are willing to confess, I won't ask!"
Pitman immediately shrank his neck and looked carefully at Gwen's muscles. He preliminarily judged that this unearthed legend could beat at least twenty of his teacher, so he decided to give up his bold plan of 'improving the ritual'.
Gwen, on the other hand, frowned at the two mercenary captives in front of him who were already bewitched. They stared at the ground in front of them with dull eyes. The power of the magic potion, ointment, and incense had dragged them into a state between reality and dream. In this state, they could no longer tell whether they were answering questions in reality or reading their memories in dreams. Before the magic power faded from their bodies, they would almost answer all questions.
"The one from the Kant Clan …" Gao Wenfa asked. However, the moment he opened his mouth, he suddenly forgot the name of the current ruler of the Kant Clan. Therefore, he turned his head slightly embarrassedly and asked, "Hedi, who's in charge of the Kant Clan now?"
Heti tilted her head slightly. "Viscount Viktor Kant, an old viscount."
"Yes, Viktor Kant." Gwen turned to the two mercenaries. "Did he send you to capture the slaves?"
The two mages seemed to have some resistance, but the mercenary leader spoke first. "Yes... Viscount Viktor Kant sent us to capture the refugees in the wilderness for him... but not as slaves."
"Not as slaves?" Gwen frowned. "Then what is it?"
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