Outside the study was a long corridor with a balcony. The stone pillars that supported the ceiling at intervals were covered with moss. The sunlight passed through the shade of the oak trees and left golden spots on the walls and floor. A few sparrows landed on the railings of the balcony. After Brando taught the Roman a good lesson, he opened the door and walked out. The birds immediately fluttered their wings and flew away. He looked at the scene and closed the door with a 'click'. It was as if he subconsciously wanted to say:
"Scarlett, prepare the carriage, we're going to Port Gris."
But just as he opened his mouth, Brando was stunned. In his memory, the girl with a long ponytail always leaned on her spear and leaned against the second stone pillar in the corridor. Sometimes, she would feed the sparrows with bread crumbs. He had seen this scene several times. The girl was quiet, but beautiful like a character in a painting.
But now, the second stone pillar was empty, leaving only the mottled sunlight shining on the moss.
Brando sighed.
He could not help but smile bitterly.
In the distance, at the spiral staircase at the end of the corridor, Amandina, who was holding a stack of parchment documents in the dark, also sighed quietly. She saw her lord standing there with a lost expression and understood. Her knuckles were a little white, and she almost accidentally crumpled the parchment. But those were the most important documents in the territory, and the Lord had not looked at them yet. She was shocked by her own actions and hurriedly let go of the parchment, but she accidentally scattered the rolled up parchment on the ground.
Amandina was stunned. She bit her lower lip, then bent down and picked up the parchment one by one. She touched the necklace in her collar in a daze. It was a necklace that had lost its pendant, but she seemed to feel that the pendant was still in place. She pressed on the empty spot. But when she finally reacted, the girl looked at Brando in the distance with a complicated expression and silently retreated.
Brando stood in front of the study door for a few minutes before he came back to his senses. It seemed that since some time ago, he had been used to the silent mountain girl beside him. He used to tease Scarlett about this, asking her how she would get married in the future. But he did not expect that one day she would really be gone, and he felt a little at a loss. "What's wrong …" Brando could not help but press his temples. "Brando, oh Brando, Scarlett can't be by your side forever. She has her own future."
But when he thought of this, he felt a little depressed. He shook his head and threw this thought out of his mind for the time being.
Veronica and her party stayed in a hostel in Port Gris. It was only half a day's journey from Castle Abies to Port Gris by carriage. Brando understood that the lady did not want to stay in Abies for her own reasons. After all, she was the commander of the Empire's army, and it was not surprising that she could not get too close to a foreign count. Not to mention, the Empire's wanted criminal, Greysword Saint-mephistopheles, was still living in Brando's castle. It was reasonable for her to stay away or at least make a gesture.
But what really puzzled Brando was why Veronica wanted to see him now. It had been more than two weeks since they arrived in Tónigel. Logically speaking, she should have returned to the Empire long ago. Her mission here had also come to an end. Not to mention, she had the Empire's eldest son and the Folded Sword Knight Regiment with her.
He really couldn't figure out what the female legion commander was thinking. He didn't understand why she was so worried and hesitant. The interior of the empire was peaceful. Other than some uneasiness at the border, it didn't seem like anything major was about to happen.
With such doubts in his mind, he walked through the corridor and down the stairs. When he passed through the hall outside, several apprentices of the Shire were arguing about some magic-related issues. Because The Shire's Wizard Tower was built in the castle, his apprentices also lived in the servants' rooms in the castle. Fortunately, the wizard world had strict rules, so these apprentices did not bring too much trouble to the life in the castle. When the apprentices saw Brando, they stood up respectfully and greeted the young Lord. Brando also nodded in response. These people were selected from the children of adventurers or local small nobles. Most of them, or the families behind them, were grateful to the Lord for such an opportunity. Wizards with real heritage were very rare in Wohnde. Most of the Academic Wizards were from the Buga branch, but how could the knowledge of the Silver People be so easy to learn? Even in Cruz, only Miss Scholar Shido was qualified to be favored by the Silver People. It was precisely because of this that wizards with heritage, whether it was in Erouine or Cruz, had a very high social status, far superior to those charlatans.
Charles, on the other hand, was a descendant of the Black Tower Mages. Even if he was only a branch of the Buga Mages, he was still considered to be from a prestigious family. The opportunity to become an apprentice of such a mentor was like a pie falling from the sky for these small nobles in the remote countryside, not to mention those poor adventurers who lived in poverty. Hence, it was not surprising that they had such thoughts.
Amandina also saw this point. She advised Brando to take this as an opportunity to win people's hearts, and allocate the few places to those who were truly loyal to him, such as the daughter of the Copper Dragon Retto – Sue. With such a connection, all the reliable people would be firmly tied to his war chariot of interests.
But Brando himself did not see it that way. In his eyes, this was not just a vanity fair, these young wizard apprentices should be the future of Tónigel. An army without a wizard regiment would always be regarded as a third-rate army in Wohnde, not to mention the coveted floating fleets of Cruz and the Wind Elves, each of which was operated by a wizard. It could even be said that wizards were the high-tech soldiers of Wohnde. Every one of them cost a lot of money to cultivate, but it was absolutely worth it.
And this was only the 1940s, the era when the Slate War had not yet begun.
Of course, some of Amandina's statements were also reasonable, and The Shire had mentioned more than once that Sue was quite talented, so Brando also accepted part of it. In fact, he himself was also quite optimistic about the girl who seemed to be only left with healthy wheat-colored skin and a head full of fine braids. The calmness she showed in the battle of Ampere Seale was simply amazing. This was the most basic quality of a wizard, but not many people could do it well. Sue's performance in this aspect was more outstanding than most wizards before she was a wizard. It could be seen that as long as she could feel the Lines of Law, she would have a bright future one day.
And as a bonus of this decision, as Amandina had said, the Copper Dragon Retto was indeed very grateful to him. The veteran who had experienced the November War could remain calm in the face of death, but his daughter was his only weakness. He originally wanted to leave a property for Sue, but he did not expect to encounter the invasion of Madara. Now that Sue had the opportunity to become a wizard, although she would not have a prominent position in the future, at least she would not have to worry about food and clothing. The key was that she would not have to live under someone else's roof, which was especially satisfactory to Retto.
However, there were also some negative effects. Several times, that guy secretly came to inquire about his intentions in a roundabout way, asking if he was interested in his daughter. That guy actually thought that he could not see through his probing. Brando felt that his intelligence was severely underestimated, and there were several times when he angrily chased that guy back to Macsen territory.
In fact, this was not a case. At one time, it was very troublesome for him. For some reason, the probability of women having magical talent in Wohnde seemed to be much higher than that of men. Although it was often easier for male wizards to become true geniuses, like The Shire and Fleetwood, the number of female wizards was greater than that of male wizards. This was an indisputable fact. This directly led to The Shire having more female subordinates than male subordinates. It was like the kind of master would have the same kind of subordinates. At one time, people suspected that this was actually just a way for the Shire to establish a harem.
Especially in this kind of poor and remote place where magic was not flourishing, the rumors were even more outrageous. However, what made him not know whether to laugh or cry was that the small lords and nobles were not tired of it, and kept on stuffing the so-called 'rather beautiful' noble ladies into his territory. As for whether they were truly beautiful, Brando really did not comment on it. In any case, he had already asked The Shire to send all those who did not have magical talent back. However, what made him a little depressed was that this matter had become a laughing stock in his small circle. Metisha and Amandina had used this matter to make fun of him more than once.
This was really a case of the servant running rampant when the master was not in command.
Thinking of this, he could not help but shake his head. As he walked out of the arched door of the hall, he suddenly frowned as he smelled the aroma of barbecued meat. He stopped, turned around and asked, "What's that smell?"
The faces of several of The Shire's apprentices changed, and they all began to stutter.
"The Shire did not teach you the Silence Spell, did they?" Brando had actually guessed a bit, and could not help but ask in a bad mood.
Sure enough, as soon as his voice fell, one of the girls with a small round face and some cute freckles on the tip of her nose, who was said to be the youngest daughter of the city's Silversmith Guild's president, was so scared that her face turned pale. She stuttered and replied, "My … My Lord Count, Mr. Shitah did not let us say it."
Sure enough, Brando shook his head. Even Aloz had been taken away, and this guy was still at large. However, this was a good thing for him. After all, Shitah had signed a contract with him. No matter how ridiculous the contract was, if Shitah was really taken back to the Dragon Clan, then he would have lost a lot.
He waved his hand, indicating that the girls did not have to worry, and then turned around to follow the smell of charcoal with the aroma of meat. He did not know what this guy was roasting, but he could only hope that he did not set the castle on fire. Last time this guy secretly roasted meat at the sawmill, and as a result, half of the sawmill was burned down, causing the little Roman to pay a large sum of money. In the end, the merchant girl was fine, but the housekeeper Amandina was so heartbroken that she could not sleep well for a few days.
He turned around a corner of the castle that was covered with vines, and saw Shitah squatting behind a grape trellis, secretly tending to a bonfire. There was an iron shelf above the bonfire, and on the shelf were a few almost cooked prawns. This foodie was holding bottles and jars and smearing seasoning on them. Needless to say, this set of things must have been stolen from the kitchen. This guy did not have much combat power, but his ability to steal chickens and dogs was first-class. Perhaps even the Master Nightingale of the Halflings would have to admit defeat in front of him.
Come to think of it, this existence that could steal a dozen carriages under the noses of Veronica and Mephistopheles was not a simple character.
Brando walked over and patted Shitah's shoulder, scaring him. He turned around, his round face full of charcoal ash. It was hard to imagine that this was a dragon, because he looked no different from a naughty child. When Shitah saw Brando, his face turned pale with fright, and he hurriedly shouted: "I did not cut the grape trellis for firewood, I did not steal these things from the kitchen, they lent them to me!"
"Very good," Brando sneered. The flowerbed left by Graudin was now Amandina's treasure. Although he had never seen the noble lady in a rage, he knew that the calmer a person was, the scarier they were when they were angry. He could not help but pat Shitah's shoulder in admiration: "You are very brave, Shitah. Do you know that the person in charge of the daily living arrangements in Abies Castle is Miss Amandina?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Shitah was stunned. He did not expect Brando to not be angry, and he suddenly felt a lot more confident.
"It's nothing," Brando chuckled: "For example, the kitchen did not prepare a dinner or a main meal. In fact, it is a matter of course. After all, there are too many people, and it is possible for there to be occasional negligence. Not to mention occasional, even if it happened for three or four days, it is not a big deal. "
Shitah's mouth was wide open, and his expression changed. The little fatty stared at Brando with wide eyes, his face alternating between red and white, and his forehead was covered in sweat. It was as if he had never seen the dark side of society before.
"In fact, this is not the worst. It is said that there are people who mistakenly ate something they should not eat and died. You know that this place is close to the Black Forest, and there are all kinds of materials in the castle's warehouse. There are a few that are particularly effective for dragons."
Shitah was almost scared to tears. The little fatty suddenly felt that this was completely possible. Besides, in his opinion, Amandina was gloomy and ignored everyone. Maybe she already disliked him and wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. He almost trembled, and reluctantly picked up a grilled shrimp from the charcoal fire. He said to Brando with snot and tears: "My lord, please don't expose me. I will treat you to a shrimp, and after eating, we will be in the same boat."
"Damn, you don't have to be so obvious about dragging me into the water." Brando thought in annoyance. But when he saw the shrimp covered with mustard on the putty claws of the young frost dragon, he felt that it looked familiar. He could not help but ask: "Where did you get this shrimp?"
"The kitchen."
"No, your first sentence can't be the truth," Brando analyzed with experience: "Have you been to Hipamira's room?"
The little fatty rolled his eyes and shook his head like a rattle-drum.
Brando was so angry that he laughed. The shrimps in Hipamira's room were the favorite of the priest girl. Although he did not know why she liked to raise shrimps, as long as he saw her carefully carrying the water tank out to change the water every day, he knew how important this thing was to her. Now, these shrimps had become Shitah's meal, and Hipamira did not need to get up early every day to change the water.
It was just that someone or a dragon would have to pay a heavy price for this.
He looked at Shitah with pity and turned to leave. What a joke, who knows what kind of trouble he would cause if he stayed with this jinx. Unexpectedly, Shitah was very perceptive. He seemed to have seen his tragic fate from the expression on Brando's face. He hurriedly wrapped all the shrimps in oil paper and chased after Brando without saying a word. It was as if he wanted to follow Brando to the ends of the earth.
"What are you doing?" Brando asked in annoyance.
Shitah stuffed a grilled prawn into his mouth and sucked on his chubby fingers as he replied in a muffled voice, "My Lord, are you going out?"
"You're quite smart," Brando sneered: "You know how to escape?"
"No, Sir Lord, didn't I sign a contract with you? Now I have to fulfill the contract and protect you." Shitah thought seriously for a moment and smacked his greasy lips: "It's dangerous outside the castle."
"Dangerous my ass!" Brando thought to himself. If it was half a year ago, it would not be safe outside the city, but now Tónigel's security could be said to be the best in the Southern Territory. There were patrolling cavalry on the road and cavemen in the forest. There was no room for monsters and bandits. What's more, how could ordinary monsters and bandits do anything to him? This guy was obviously lying through his teeth.
But Brendel was too lazy to care about him, and the two of them walked towards the stable. When they passed by the short rose bushes that Madam Camille was taking care of, Brendel suddenly thought of something and turned back to ask, "Speaking of which, why didn't the Dragon Clan send someone to capture you, you scourge?"
He thought that Shitah would be proud of himself when he mentioned this question. After all, even Aloz could not escape from the clutches of the demon, but he could continue to be free. This was a very glorious thing. And without the little female dragon's restraint, he could obviously be more lawless. But he did not expect Shitah to blink and look a little disappointed.
"What's wrong?" Brando was slightly startled.
"That's because Aloz is willing to go back with them. In fact, we rarely attack each other. If she wants to stay here wholeheartedly, they won't force her." Shitah pretended to be a little careless and replied: "But Sister Aloz still admits that she is one of them, so she has to abide by this rule."
Brando keenly caught the key point in this sentence: "You're not really completely expelled from the dragon race, are you?"
"Tch, what's so good about staying there? They only know how to collect some inexplicable things." Shitah replied with some pride: "They don't understand that food is the most important thing in this world. Collecting food is a biological instinct. Gold, silver, resplendent diamonds, no matter how precious they are, they still need food to fill their stomachs."
"Damn, that's a pretty simple theory of yours." Brando looked at the little fat dragon with some amusement. It was obvious that the little fat dragon was very unwilling to give up, but still pretended to be indifferent: "But for a dragon, being passionate about collecting food is a bit too … well, too strange. In our legends, dragons should be breathing flames and standing on top of mountains piled with treasures, burning to death those adventurers who came to covet their treasures. Dragons are creatures that coexist with beauty and danger in our impression. "
"But if this legendary dragon is lying on a mountain of rice, just imagine, then the ornamental value will be greatly reduced."
"This is prejudice!" Shitah could not help but jump up and down.
PS: Wait a minute, there's another chapter.
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