In early February, the temperature in Northern Kingdoms recovered slightly, but still hovered around minus ten degrees.
But compared with previous years, it can already be called a mild winter.
What made the people of Northern Kingdoms and even Ravenstern City feel even warmer was the Queen's triumphant return of the army three days ago.
Although the number of troops returning was only half of that when they went out, it was exciting enough.
The Queen completely defeated the barbarian army led by Manslayer. This feat was enough to protect Northern Kingdoms from intrusion for a hundred years.
The three-day carnival is still going on, and the people of Ravenstern City are immersed in joy and walking in the streets cheering as if celebrating Crown Festival.
At this moment, small groups of people were discussing enthusiastically in front of the tavern. They all praised the queen's wisdom and martial prowess, as well as Duke Amara's extraordinary military ability in coordinating the three armies.
However, some inappropriate voices also came from the crowd.
"I heard from my brother-in-law's cousin's third uncle that his cousin participated in this war.
As an armored guard, his cousin revealed a shocking secret - Manslayer was not defeated by our Order of the Falcon, but was killed by a demon hunter named Dick himself.
By the way, this demon hunter was also given the title [Dick of Rivia] by the queen herself."
"How is it possible! How can a demon hunter defeat the God of Death?
Don't talk nonsense here, it must be a rumor."
"But my relative said it very clearly.
Moreover, it is said that there is a sorceress in the army. She turned into an Flames demon and not only burned many Misty Mountains Berserker to death, but many of our own soldiers were also reduced to ashes under her Flames."
"Really?"
People around him cast curious glances, and the frostbite on the tip of this man's nose became brighter and brighter. "Of course it's true. I also heard..."
"Ahem."
A majestic coughing sound was heard. The man quickly turned around and realized that the person coming was actually the captain in charge of patrolling this road. He immediately put on a flattering smile.
"Don't spread rumors casually, otherwise, you will have no choice but to go to the dungeon to celebrate, do you understand?"
"I understand, I understand, I don't dare to do it anymore."
After the patrolling guards left, the group of chatting people dispersed in a hurry.
On the side, a tall, thin man with one eye was leaning against the wall.
He wore a leather hat that looked like a cowboy, and had a steel sword on his waist. When the blade of the sword was slightly exposed, the dazzling sunlight reflected the cold light.
At this moment, with a smile on his lips, he unconsciously threw the object in his hand into the air with his left hand, then caught it steadily, repeating this process.
Look carefully at the object he is playing with, it is a wolf head pendant.
He looked at a few gray blackbirds passing by in the sky, with a smile on his face, but the words he spat out were filled with a bone-chilling chill:
"Interesting. Judging from the reaction of the patrolling soldier, the rumors should be true.
It seems that I made the right choice in taking over this business this time.
Dick?
I wonder how its strength compares to the demon hunters I killed in the past?"
As resident birds, the blackbirds seemed to be attracted by the lively atmosphere here. The three blackbirds flew lower and lower, flying past the people's houses and entering the palace in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, the outer door of a palace room was violently pushed open, and accompanied by crazy male shouts, the blackbirds were frightened and flapped their wings, flying high into the sky again.
"Stop the prince!"
The maid ran wildly down the corridor with her skirt in hand, and the colorful light and shadow cast by the glass window shattered on her face.
The frantic man knocked over the vase, and the flower clusters mixed with snow and water snaked on the carpet like blood.
"I am a prince! I am a prince! I just want to help my sister, why are you doing this to me? Brownie, my son, I want revenge!"
Prince James looked up to the sky and roared, then shivered violently and shrank in front of the finely carved stone pillars in the outer corridor, folded his hands on his chest and closed his eyes tightly.
"Although I can't protect you, you can't always come to me. Every injustice has its owner, and you should go find that damn demon hunter Dick! Don't come here, don't come here!"
Prince James has gone crazy and is deeply in the pain of losing his son. He seems to be haunted and tortured day and night by the ghost of his biological son Brownie.
At this time, several footsteps came closer and closer, becoming increasingly clear.
Queen Meve walked side by side with Barbara and a handsome young man.
The bandage wrapped around sorceress Barbara's throat has faded away, but there is still a shallow scar on her neck.
Behind them, followed a group of armored guards.
"Your Majesty, this is the fifth time today that the Prince has gone crazy."
The maid on the side hurriedly explained, "We were about to feed him, but he suddenly knocked us away."
"No need to explain." The queen waved her hand gently, her voice majestic and soft, "You all go down first."
"Yes." The servants responded and stepped back.
"I'm hungry, I'm so hungry. When I'm hungry, I have to eat. As a prince, I have to eat the most delicious food in the world."
Prince James suddenly curled up like a dog, grabbed the rose petals scattered on the ground, mixed them with melted snow water and stuffed them into his mouth. His gold embroidered nightgown was covered with muddy ice.
Queen Meve sighed softly and waved his arms again. Four soldiers immediately came to Prince James.
One of the soldiers took out a thick rope and tied the prince up despite his wails.
"Barbara, are you sure that my brother is not possessed by a demon, and Brownie has not turned into a wraith?" There was a hint of worry in the queen's tone.
"I'm sure not." Barbara's voice is still a little hoarse, obviously the injury has not healed yet.
"And Geralt has been here before, and he made sure that the devil had not taken advantage of the prince.
Geralt has tested it and found that Brownie had no soul left at the scene of his death.
To form Nightwraith requires resentment tempered by hatred, but when Brownie was beheaded there was only pure fear;
The aura generated by fear is like ashes mixed with sand, unable to form a body at all.
Therefore, we are sure that Prince James became a madman because of the pain of losing his son and being unable to bear the sudden change in circumstances."
"Are you crazy? It's all my fault."
Queen Meve said reproachfully,
"But if I don't imprison him, because of his love for Brownie, he will definitely take revenge on Dick.
But now Dick is becoming more powerful. He was able to defeat Manslayer alone and brought back my grandfather's relics.
And I don't want Northern Kingdoms to have another dispute. Today's Northern Kingdoms can't stand the trouble anymore, otherwise it will cause a greater disaster."
The queen looked at the man next to her again:
"This is the doctor Anson you brought? Can he really cure my brother?"
"He studied under Professor Jack at Oxenfurt University Medical College and is the youngest annotator of "Eight Treatises on Human Anatomy".
He returned to Northern Kingdoms to repay his hometown, otherwise he could have stayed in Oxenfurt University to teach. Therefore, his medical skills are absolutely reliable." Barbara replied respectfully.
"Since magic can't save my brother, I can only try medical skills."
The Queen frowned slightly, "But Anson, I'm not doubting you."
She stared at the leather medical kit on Anson's waist, "Is what you said [Ice Pick Therapy] really not dangerous? After using it, will my brother really be able to calm down in the future?"
"I promise, Her Majesty the Queen." Anson saluted slightly and behaved elegantly.
"This Ice Pick Therapy has been practiced by Oxenfurt University. Although those professors think that this method is dangerous, everything requires risks.
In addition, when they used this method in the past, doctors would roughly mince the frontal lobe with long nails, which could easily cause infection.
And I combined the characteristics of Northern Kingdoms ice to improve the prefrontal lobe separation technique of Oxenfurt University;
With the help of a warlock, a special ice pick is used to accurately block nerve connections. The wound is very small and a natural hemostatic layer will be formed after the ice pick melts, greatly reducing the risk of infection."