After two days of travel, Sylutia and his party arrived at Colin City, the former Royal Capital.
The city is built on a mountain. The back mountain was once the royal garden, but now it is an animal breeding forest under the official jurisdiction, used to cultivate and observe rare animals.
"The city wall is very high." Sylutia looked at the majestic city through the car window. The high gray walls looked like standing rocks in the sun.
"Because it is the former Royal Capital, successive royal families have reinforced it and valued it very much." Brie explained simply.
A few minutes later, a group of people entered the city. Sylutia also got off the carriage and walked around the wide streets with Brie.
The roads here are clean, and there are street trees with wide shade on the roadside. Even if you walk on the street at noon, you will not feel too hot.
Local residents prefer a looser robe, and the products on the streets are also quite abundant, but slightly inferior to Perika Main District.
But what impressed Sylutia the most was the young cavalry that can be seen everywhere here. Most of them are under 18 years old.
Around the age of 18, he is quite energetic and energetic. He wears a turban on his head and holds a gun made of pine wood. He will form a team to patrol the city to maintain law and order. Occasionally, he will also serve as a courier and escort to complete some work and missions.
Is it the youth cavalry? Sylutia reminds me of the youth cavalry system that has been carried forward from the Tirayang grassland.
Hearing Xilu Tia's question, Brie thought about it and then answered.
"Tirayang grassland? I've heard of it. It seems to be related to it."
"Bellflower Plains has always had a strong Knight culture, because the local area is very suitable for raising horses and it is easy to train cavalry. As Master Hedra said, in the past, the royal family would hold a Knight selection contest every two years, and the winner would be awarded honors and rewards."
"The story of Pine-Branch Knight also describes a lot of Knight, because it is really popular in the local area, and many people have the goal of becoming Knight."
As they spoke, the two walked into a local shop, which sold a variety of honey, beeswax, olive oil, and some candied jams, etc.
[Hundred Flowers Honey--80 copper coins/bottle]
[Chrysanthemum honey--2 silver coins/bottle]
[Windbell Honey-5 Silver Coins/Bottle]
[Beeswax--1 silver coin/box]
[Olive oil-90 copper coins/pot]
"You two ladies, what do you need to buy?" The shopkeeper, an aunt, came over enthusiastically.
Sylutia looked at it and chose a bottle of clearer bellflower honey."
"Okay, I'll wrap it up for you." After saying that, the aunt took down the bottle of honey, wiped the bottle with a cloth, then tied the bottle with a linen rope and put it in the bag.
Judging from her skillful appearance, she must have packed a lot. This kind of packaging is also liked by some distinguished guests.
After buying local honey, Xilu Tia asked some questions.
"Where do you get all this honey?"
"These parts are purchased from beekeepers in villages and towns, and then we filter and refine them again, so the quality will be better. As for the bottle of bellflower honey you bought, it is produced by Duran Estate, where there are specially grown bellflowers, and this honey is actually a by-product of bellflowers."
"Oh, is there a great gardener there?" Sylutia became curious.
"Yes, the owner of that manor is Mrs. Adeline. She is the wife of the late Earl of Duran. She has lived there for twenty or thirty years since her husband passed away.
"Twenty or thirty years, what is her current age?"
" Mrs. Adeline must be in her seventies, but according to people, she doesn't look very old. She just wears black clothes and is always worried."
"Originally, she had several children, but unfortunately they are all gone now.
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"Why is this?"
"The eldest son is said to have been very talented and healthy. He became a second-level apprentice of Knight at the age of 17, before Mage Alliance took over the place. He was very popular among girls in the aristocratic circles at that time. I saw him from a distance when I was young. He was very handsome."
"Unfortunately, when he was participating in the Knight competition when he was 18 years old, he had an accident and was shot off his horse. He was not rescued and died on the spot. This caused a great blow to Count Duran and his wife."
"As for the second son, he is not as talented as his elder brother. He originally followed the path of a scholar. He has a somewhat weak character and is relatively shy. In his early years, it is said that he was not liked by Mrs. Adeline, who often compared him with his elder brother."
"After the death of her eldest son, Mrs. Adeline had to shift her attention and energy to her second son, hoping that he could also pick up a gun and become the brave Knight, because the rule of Bellflower Plains is that if you want to inherit the title, you must fight on horseback, so that the soldiers under your command will be convinced. Otherwise, they will feel that it is a shame to be loyal to a coward who can only hide behind his back."
"Unfortunately, the second son did not adapt to this change and wanted to give up several times, but Mrs. Adeline pressured him every time and forced him to participate in Knight training. However, the second son was not in good health before and his foundation was not strong enough."
"This resulted in him being often defeated by his peers during training and subject to all kinds of ridicule and ridicule. In the end, the second son could not bear the heavy pressure and committed suicide alone in his room."
"Oh----"
"What about the other children?"
"In the end, there was only one daughter left. After witnessing the deaths of two brothers one after another, the relationship between the daughter and Mrs. Adeline gradually deteriorated. Mrs. Adeline became strong again after her grief. In order to pass on the title of the Duran Family, she had to recruit a son-in-law with good talent and a decent background, which made her shift her energy to cultivating her daughter."
"Mrs. Adeline is a person who refuses to admit defeat. She firmly believes that hard work will be rewarded and that being strong is the best virtue. Then she also works hard to teach her daughter this, hoping that she can complete the family's mission and continue the glory of House Duran."
"In order to achieve her goal, she spent a lot of money to hire famous teachers from the kingdom at that time to teach her daughter, including etiquette, secret history, dance, dressing, and gardening, which she was good at."
"In this way, the youngest daughter grew up day by day, and she turned out to be extremely beautiful indeed, with a ladylike temperament, dignified manners, and could also arrange flowers, raise flowers and plants, etc."
"Mrs. Adeline took her as a matter of pride and said that this was the result of her teachings. She also attracted the envy of many aristocratic ladies, and more and more people proposed marriage. Even the royal family considered it at the time. However, Mrs. Adeline thought that if her daughter married into the royal family, House Duran would no longer exist, so she declined the royal marriage."
"Originally, at that time, Mrs. Adeline had already taken a fancy to several young people from big families and was preparing to discuss marriage. But suddenly one day, the youngest daughter also disappeared, leaving only a letter saying that she did not like her mother and everything about her."
"Mrs. Adeline was so angry that she ordered her daughter to be captured. Unfortunately, many years passed and no one caught her daughter. Later, Count Duran passed away, leaving only Mrs. Adeline in the family."
"More later, Mage Alliance took over the country. The original nobles lost their titles and moved to other places after receiving a large sum of compensation. Nowadays, few people pay attention to those former noble families."
After listening to this story, Sylutia was silent for a while, and then thanked her aunt for telling her these past events.
"By the way, can you finally tell Duran Estate how to get there?" She wanted to meet Mrs. Adeline.
"Well, the easiest way is to go to the guild and find a driver to lead the way. They travel to various places nearby and know the road conditions and locations very well."
"Okay, thank you." Sylutia thought for a while, took out another gold coin from his arms and put it on the table.
"Please accept it and consider it as my personal thanks." Then before the aunt could say any kind words, Sylutia took Brie out of the store.
Seeing that Sylutia looked a little silent at this moment, Brie realized that something was wrong in the atmosphere, so he didn't dare to ask more questions and just walked with the girl on the street.
After a while, Sylutia stopped, then looked at Brie beside him, showing a reassuring smile.
"Are you curious why I was silent for so long?"
"This is because Mrs. Adeline's story reminds me of something from a long time ago." She looked at the sky in the distance and shook her head slightly.
It's a pity that this is no longer the earth. No matter how many thoughts, emotions, and thoughts there are, there is no one to vent and talk to.
"Let's go, let's walk around the city first, and then go to Duran Estate in two days." It's not easy to come here, so it's better to have a good sightseeing before leaving.
That night, upon hearing that Sylutia had arrived, the guard of Colin City, Mage, warmly invited the girl to attend a grand dinner specially prepared for her. Because of the other party's sincere invitation, Sylutia thought about it, but did not refuse, and attended the dinner together with Brie.
The venue is Mage Guild in the city, but there is a more appropriate name here, that is, the former royal palace. In the splendid hall, you can still see those ancient noble murals and decorations.
Wearing a black dress, her long satin-like hair was embellished with Seven-Gradient Flower Hairpin. The gems shone under the light, which was particularly dazzling. When Sylutia stepped into the hall that night, the sound of the entire venue lowered. The guests and attendants at the scene couldn't help but focus on this girl, as if she was the only light in the night. At the center of the whirlpool, every slight movement made people fascinated.
With Sylutia entering the venue as the dividing point, the entire banquet entered the second half. The orchestra changed the music. Local ladies and gentlemen came forward one after another, trying to talk to the girl and getting close to her, and surrounded her in the center of the crowd. This scene gradually separated until Colin City's guard Mage arrived.
"Let Miss Hedra laugh." The other party raised his glass and toasted apologetically.
"It's okay. In fact, I'm getting used to it now."
Silutiya recalled that it was the same after she served as the guardian mage in Mihir District. As long as she attended a banquet, she would be surrounded by people, and it was difficult to have quiet time to herself. Therefore, every time she attended such a banquet, she would not stay too long. When she was done, she would leave early. Later, the upper echelons of Mihir District knew about her habit.
Now that he met the local guard Mage, Sylutia was also curious to inquire about Colin City's past and how Mage Alliance took over this place at that time.
"This matter----" the other party thought about it for a while, then invited Sylutia to sit down at the small table on the second floor of the banquet hall and slowly told the story.
"I happened to be involved in it at the time and followed the teacher in handling many matters."
"Bellflower Plains was originally ruled by Colin Duchy. This was a small country, and its ruler was Grand Duke Colin. His title "Castle" and "Aspect Power" were no more than Fifth Order."
"Although he is already a very powerful figure locally, it doesn't matter to the Alliance."
"Bellflower Plains has no extraordinary resources or materials that Mage needs except animal husbandry and agriculture, so the Alliance has not had much involvement in the local area in the past. This situation lasted until twenty years ago."
"Alliance Council issued a series of instructions at that time, requiring some countries that had loose jurisdiction in the past to gradually be included in the Alliance's system, that is, to change countries into regions." Colin Duchy is on this list."
"At that time, five powerful Fifth Order Mage led a team to set off and led a group of elite Mage to arrive at Colin Duchy. My teacher was one of them. At that time, I was only at the fourth level and was also a member of the team."
"After arriving at Colin Duchy, the teacher and others entered Colin Royal City with a strong attitude, which is the palace where we are now."
"At that time, Archduke Colin was very dissatisfied after learning of Alliance Council's order. He even said that Colin Duchy and thousands of Knight were on standby at any time, waiting to fight."
"But this tone only lasted less than an hour."
"In the palace, the First Knight of the principality was killed by the Mage who led the team, and the forty-two Knight who were guarding the palace were beheaded. Such a tragic situation instantly frightened Grand Duke Colin. He quickly knelt down and expressed his willingness to accept all instructions."
"In this way, the handover process of the principality began. For the sake of reputation, the Alliance gave these nobles who handed over their territories and power a large sum of money as compensation, but the requirement is that they stay away from this place in the future, and for fifty years, the descendants of the family are not allowed to come back to live for a long time."
"If Miss Hedra is interested in the history of Colin Duchy, I can take you to visit the collection in the palace. There are many things from the past royal family here."
"Thank you then."
The next day, Sylutia was invited to visit the treasures in the palace. There were crowns and portraits of the Grand Duke Colin of all generations, as well as Champion Knight's armor, lances, swords handed down from the country, etc.
While touring these collections, Sylutia stopped in front of a glass exhibition stand. There was a pine branch stored here. It looked ordinary, except that the end was stained with some dark brown blood, and it also exuded a faint smell of "Winter Slumber".
"This is the prototype of the local legend Pine-Branch Knight", the pine branch used by the unknown Knight." Guard Mage introduced it to Sylutia.
"Is Pine-Branch Knight really a person?" the girl was curious.
"Yes, after we took over this place, some scholars were curious and came to investigate the history. They studied the collections and records of local nobles and found that Pine-Branch Knight did exist, and the legendary pine branches were preserved deep in the palace." He introduced this history.
"This happened probably more than five hundred years ago, when Hour brought disaster, and the winter Calamity Beast appeared in Bellflower Plains. Wherever it went, vegetation withered, frost spread, many people died from hunger and cold, and some noble families were cut off."
"The one who solved the problem of Calamity Beast in winter was a passing Knight. According to scholars studying the scent left on the pine branches, the Winter Beast's strength should be higher than that of Sixth Order, and with the protection of Hour, its strength is only slightly weaker than Dragon of the same level. To be able to defeat such Calamity Beast, that Knight is indeed very powerful."
"But this also leaves a doubt, because most of Knight belongs to the Royal Authority School" system, even if there are others who rely on other methods to advance, such as Mosend, the founder of Iron Knight" E gained recognition by expelling Dusk Beast, but those who advance in these two ways will not be unknown. They either have the support of territory and fiefdom, or they have great achievements and are respected and recognized by everyone."
"But the origin of Knight is still unknown. Scholars later speculated that that person may not be Knight", but just a powerful warrior on horseback. Bellflower Plains has a culture of worshiping Knight since ancient times, so it was beautified as a model Knight"."
"If that's the truth, then a lot of things make sense."
"For a warrior, the local throne, fief, territory, and power cannot directly enhance his strength. In that era, not only Bellflower Plains, but also Calamity Beast were raging all over the continent. Many warrior professions had rituals to advance by defeating powerful opponents, and could even absorb part of the power of the defeated. In that era, such a powerful warrior would definitely not be willing to stay in such a country for too long, and it would be very normal for him to leave later."
After listening to the other party's explanation, the lingering fog of the legend gradually dissipated, and a clear and unexpected historical truth gradually emerged in front of Sylutia.