Under the uneven light of the torch, the dark blue ice layer formed an arched cavity. The low temperature caused the water to form a thin mist, as if it had frozen the sound.
"Brando." Veronica's voice carried a buzzing echo. The lady turned her head, her emerald eyes reflected the flickering light of the torch. "How long do you think it will take for Arreck to reach the center of the temple?"
"Half a day, or forever. It depends on how well Arreck knows this place." Brando understood Veronica's question. He looked into the depths of the ice cavern with the light of the torch. His eyes were silent. "However, Arreck's cunning has been proven by the poet's ballads. He rules the highlands with an iron fist. Would such a person seek his own death?"
"His fanatical belief in the Unification of All Things may cause him to do so, but it does not mean that he is stupid. I have dealt with those guys before. I know them very well." Veronica looked at him and replied.
"So we have half a day?"
"That is the worst case scenario. Maybe more, but it is not worth counting on." Brando replied.
"Can we make it before that?"
Brando did not answer the question. He looked back and stared at a certain person — no, a certain dragon. Shitah, who was stared at by him, was unhappy. The little fatty wiped the honey from the corner of his mouth and muttered with a frown, "Don't look at me like that. This road will be faster. I swear —"
"What do you swear on?" Brando asked carefully. "For example, the third golden scale under Bahamut's neck?"
"Ah, you bastard!" Shitah yelled. In the second war with the Dusk, the Midgardian Serpent Jormungard bit Bahamut's neck. The third golden scale fell off and was lost as a result. It was like a warrior's scar was a badge. Perhaps out of the same mentality, the dragons saw the lost scale as a symbol of eternal courage and honor.
The oaths made with this golden scale were the most sacred oaths of the Dragon Clan. Even for someone as cynical as Shitah, he did not dare to disobey.
"Do you know what you're saying? You actually want me to make a sacred oath!?" Little Fatty shouted in exasperation.
"But what's even more unfortunate is that you work for me, but I have to make my employees swear an oath before I can believe your words. Is there any boss in the world who is more unfortunate than me? Martha watched everything that happened in the mortal world from the sky, but there was nothing more absurd than this. Shitah, someone told me not to trust you so easily. You should know why — "Brando glanced at the little female dragon before answering slowly.
Shitah opened his mouth and then replied, "That's to the enemy, that's not lying …"
"Since it's not a lie, swearing doesn't hurt anyone's honor, does it?" Brando smiled faintly. Shido and Scarlet, who were standing beside him, felt that at this moment, the Earl's smile truly resembled that of a noble, a lord.
Confidence, hidden cunningness — —
"Okay, okay," Shitah replied dejectedly in front of everyone, "I swear by the third scale of the Dragon God that all of this is true. This road will definitely be the fastest shortcut. I bet we'll be ahead of that old human man, as long as — —"
"As long as?"
"As long as we don't go the wrong way …" Shitah muttered in a low voice.
"You won't lead us the wrong way on purpose, will you?" Brando looked at him.
"Enough, I know!" Little Fatty almost became a little neurotic because of Brando and couldn't help but scream angrily.
Brando turned to Veronica, meaning that this was the answer to the question. The lady looked at him with some reproach. In her opinion, it was a little too much to offend a dragon for such a small matter.
Although this dragon was still very young and its behavior was a little strange.
"We must stop Arreck." She replied, and this sentence made Shido and Laurenna behind her nod.
But Brando thought of a question. He raised his head and looked at Shido, "Miss Scholar, what prompted you to use the Magic Moonstone to activate those liquid monsters?"
Shido was startled by Brando's gaze. Her slender eyebrows trembled slightly, like moth feathers, but she quickly calmed down, "I, I really just wanted to try to activate them."
"Count Tónigel," At this time, the eldest prince who had been silent all this time spoke up. Lenarette glanced at Brando and reminded him faintly, "Miss Shido is a descendant of the Thun family. Would you like me to remind you of what we Cruz use to defend our honor?"
Brando turned around, "It used to be iron and blood, and now it's pride and prejudice?"
"Okay, stop arguing." Shido called softly, interrupting the two, "Mr. Count?"
Brando shook his head, "I'm not suspecting you of anything, Miss Shido. My question is, why did you suddenly think of using the Magic Moonstone to activate them?"
Shido's eyes lit up slightly, and the spark of memory within her flashed away. She looked up, "Yes, it's like this, I found something."
"Something?"
"Some … very strange discoveries, you must want to see," Shido paused, "I'm sorry, I was too nervous before and forgot to mention it for a moment."
"It's okay." As expected, Brando turned his head. He frowned, and his gaze followed the direction of the torchlight spreading along the ice wall into the darkness.
He seemed to have gotten the answer he wanted.
… …
On the other side of the ice cave-
The young lord's gaze swept over the skeletons half immersed in the darkness. The skeleton was a little more than five feet tall, and the others were no more than six feet tall. This was obviously not the body of a Frost Giant.
He lowered the torch a little, and the flickering light rippled along the ice like water ripples, reflecting the full appearance of the skeletons. The first skeleton was wearing a robe, and the robe was frozen on the ground like a piece of paper. Brando squatted down beside it and tore off a piece with his hand. The fabric was a little strange, it didn't look like cotton.
"This is Lonsha linen." It was Shido's voice. She had obviously already examined the remains, "The slanted texture is their most prominent feature —"
"Are you familiar with it?" Brando asked without looking back.
"No, Mr. Count, the development of the textile industry and clothing is not within the scope of my knowledge, it's just that …"
"It's just that it's very famous." Brando finished her sentence with confidence.
Shido looked at the Count with some surprise.
"These dead are human?" Veronica suddenly asked.
"But why would humans appear here?" Laurenna asked, a little puzzled.
"Maybe they're explorers," Filas confidently put forward his own opinion, "These people are very famous in all parts of the world. The mysterious unknown lost in the ancient ruins attracts them like moths to a flame like a deadly poison. I've read a lot of stories like this."
"This is not a story." Laurenna bluntly shattered his fantasy.
"But …"
"Miss Laurenna is right. It's wealth that attracts explorers. It's greed, not dreams, that makes these people fall one after another." Metisha's voice replied faintly. She smiled as always, "In our time, there were many explorers who were actually no different from tomb raiders. They didn't have a good reputation."
"It's the same now." Laurenna rolled her eyes at her fiancé.
Filas pursed his lips and shrugged helplessly.
"These people aren't explorers, are they?" Veronica didn't have to participate in the young people's argument. She came to Brando's side and asked in a low voice.
"Doesn't the same style of armor on their bodies say it all?" Brando turned back and looked at Veronica with some amusement, "I don't believe you can't see that, my lady?"
"They're soldiers, but which side? Erouine people or Highland Knight? "
"Neither."
"Neither?"
"Do you see this?" Brando picked up the scrap of cloth in his hand and shook it.
"Linen?" Veronica frowned. The Legion Commander seemed to be thinking, but a piece of linen seemed to be difficult to make any associations. It could only trap her in a maze of thoughts.
Fortunately, Brando didn't intend to waste any more time. He just kept her in suspense and answered, "Luensa linen is only grown north of the Silver Bay. The cloth it makes is no longer mainstream today, but it is indeed a very famous plant."
He put the piece of cloth on the page that Shido was holding in both hands. "Miss Shido, you answer."
"I … Luensa linen is famous because the Miirnas once planted it extensively. The cloth made from it was once the main material of the clothing of the Miirnas." Shido froze for a moment, but immediately answered.
"Miirnas?" Veronica raised her head in disbelief, "Brendel, you're saying that these people are from the Miirna Empire?"
"The Miirnas were originally humans. Modern humans are their descendants. Whether it's the Cruz, Erouine, or the mountain people, in fact, in terms of appearance and height, they are no different from the Miirnas — if they all become skeletons." Brando replied.
"You mean the Miirnas have been here before, and the legend that they crossed the glacier is true?"
"Who knows …"
Brando's mind suddenly recalled the dream from before. The huge canyon repeatedly appeared in his mind, so clear that it seemed to be within reach. The Miirnas wearing black linen robes were dancing a strange dance on the edge of the canyon, and then a team of priests came up carrying a golden box.
They were chanting something loudly, but their voices couldn't penetrate the dream. In the end, those people shouted in unison and threw the box down the canyon.
Brando shook his head, dispelling the illusion from his mind.
He instinctively felt that these Miirnas who died here might have some mysterious connection with everything he saw in his dream. But he didn't want to think too much about it. After a moment of silence, he turned back and asked, "Shido, what else did you find on these people?"
"I found that their armor and weapons have lost their magic, and this …" The scholar walked over and took a small pouch from each corpse. Those things should be their money pouches. Shido opened the money pouches one by one and poured out the contents.
There were many small diamonds, but they were dim and looked more like glass.
"The Miirnas use magic crystals as currency, but the magic in these crystals has long dissipated." Brando glanced at these diamonds and understood what Shido meant. He replied, "No, these magic should have been absorbed, so you suspect —"
He raised his head and glanced at the puddles of silver liquid in the middle and west of the ice cave.
Shido nodded.
… … (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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