Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 223 Death
Under the slanting twilight of the evening, the flat and fertile wilderness of the Yatan Plateau was reflected in a warm golden color. A team dressed as adventurers rode tall horses slowly through the knee-high grass, leaving ripples behind them. Like a wake.

The leader, Lucial, stopped his white horse, looked at the villages on the hillside in the distance, and said, "Ahead is the windmill village of Dominola."

"Why is it called Windmill Village?" Marlenia, who left the royal capital for the first time, drove her horse to the position next to him and asked excitedly.

"Dominula is a village under Lunt Town. A large number of windmills have been built in the village to grind the town's grains. Because of their high production efficiency and good grinding effect, every harvest season, even some further villages and towns People will bring grain here for processing, and the mill business will naturally become more and more prosperous - this is how the name of this windmill village spreads."

"This is all basic common sense," Lacard, who had just finished explaining in detail, said jokingly, "If some people, besides being greedy and playful, listen to at least one-tenth of the knowledge explained by the professor, they will not As for asking this kind of question.”

"Oh, so that's it -" Marlenia made a look of realization and said in a long voice, "But if other people have grown up at least ten percent in addition to their little vanity, You can't imagine that others don't care about the answer at all, especially don't want to hear his answer, right?"

Lacard's slightly satisfied smile suddenly froze, and he twitched the corners of his mouth and said, "You are ignorant and incompetent!"

Not to be outdone, Marlenia made a face and retorted, stuck out her tongue and said, "You're so nosy!"

Lani chuckled when she saw this, while Michaela sighed helplessly and said, "Don't you two get annoyed by quarreling like this as soon as you meet?"

Lucia was also not surprised by this, and just smiled and rubbed Marlenia's hair. Latarn seemed to be deeply embarrassed, and without saying anything, he picked up the scabbard and slapped Larcade on the head, which hurt. The latter bared his teeth for a moment.

Thus, a world in which only Larcade was injured was achieved.

In fact, the pattern of getting along with Marlenia in the past three years has been basically the same.

Among the three brothers and sisters, Latane is the one who behaves like the eldest brother. Coupled with his inseparable feelings for his biological father Ladagon and Lucia, he has always had a good relationship with Michaela and Marlenia. .

Not to mention Lani, she was a part of the scarlet corruption when the three gods joined forces to suppress Malenia. Over the years, Malenia often hung out in the Dark Moon Palace, and they were said to be biological sisters. Not an exaggeration.

On the other hand, Racade himself, after getting along with her for many years, even though he harbored an unquenchable hatred for Radagan, he had to agree with Mikayla's wisdom and kindness.When facing the innocent and lovely Marlenia, the hostility originally stemming from her parents has long since turned into a friendship between relatives. As for the occasional quarrels and quarrels, they can only be regarded as the last remaining stubbornness.

"Okay, let's get down to business -" Lucia brought the topic back on track, "We'll stay overnight in the village tonight and continue south along the road tomorrow. We should be able to reach Decodas in the evening."

"Everyone should check their luggage individually, and if you want to prepare anything else, go shopping tonight," Michaela added, "The Decodas Elevator is a military fortress, and no caravan trading venues are allowed within a hundred miles of it. , the next step is to think about supplies, we have to go to the Nangmir area."

"I want to buy delicious food!" Marlenia was the first to say with her hands raised.

When the little fox Shirley heard this, she immediately got out of her cloak and hummed in agreement.

"I also want to add some fresh fodder to Leo." Latarn gently stroked the beloved horse beside him, who raised his head happily and snorted excitedly.

During the conversation, the team was approaching Dominula, and suddenly they saw a convoy of more than ten people slowly driving out from the side of the village.

There are three double-driving carriages in the convoy. The horses pulling the carriages are all Alden horses produced in the north. Although these horses lack explosive power and are difficult to use as war horses, they are good at long endurance, tame and bold, and are often used for long-distance transportation field.

What makes this team even more unique is that the coat color of the six horses is all dark black, the driving surface is also completely painted in black, and even the clothes on the team members are strong and thick black cloaks.

The first and third carts were each seated with four guards carrying long knives. On the cart in the center lay an old man wearing a rough linen shirt, surrounded by an almost-year-old man. A [-]-year-old woman, a young man in his twenties, and a little girl who looked to be in her teens.

The women and young men all wore black clothes with similar colors to the guards. Only the little girl wore a bright red dress, which really stood out among the crowd. However, in stark contrast, the expressions on the faces of others Most of the scene was uneventful, except for the little girl lying on the man's chest, letting out a heartbreaking cry.

"Is it the Guishu guard?" Latan tightened the reins and narrowed his eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, that man is not dead yet, right?"

"The entire lower body was crushed by a minecart. He was probably a miner in the Yatan Tunnel. The golden tree priest in the village helped him to hang up his life and barely survived until now. The dying person contacted the Guishu guards in advance and went to the public cemetery. Greeting death has long been commonplace in the Yatan area."

Lucia just glanced at it and gave a definite conclusion.

"The living retreat!" The guards of Guishu who had already approached shouted a common slogan.More than a thousand years ago, the death ritual birds and death priests used spiritual fire to burn the remains of the deceased and lead them to the kingdom of death. Now this responsibility falls to the Guishu guards under the Golden Tree, and they are going to The direction is no longer the soul world that exists in nothingness, but the huge root system of the golden tree that spreads across the border.

Latarn frowned slightly, and just as he was about to drive his horse forward, Lucia grabbed his reins and shook his head slightly.

The group of people avoided a path that was large enough for the convoy to pass, waiting for the other party to pass. In the cool evening air, the girl's cry seemed alienated and distant, as if it came from another world.

"Ahem. Please, please wait a moment." On the vehicle in the center, the dying man coughed out a mouthful of blood and grabbed his daughter's wrist with his pale palm.

The convoy swayed and stopped in front of everyone. The leader, a Guishu guard, jumped out of the carriage, came to the man, and said in a deep voice: "What's the matter?"

"Sir, please help me ask the mercenaries over there if they can sell me a jug of wine?" the man said intermittently.

"Drink?" The guard glanced at the man and the surrounding family members doubtfully, "But you are already dying."

"Yes, dear," the woman grabbed the man's other arm and said worriedly, "The priest said that people who live to be baptized by the golden tree will receive more blessings. We'd better rush to the cemetery as soon as possible. Bar?"

The young man said nothing, but his expression was full of approval.

"Forgive me." The man coughed twice with difficulty and said breathlessly, "This is my last wish."

"I'll go." The girl jumped out of the carriage without saying a word with red eyes, rushed to Lucia, mustered up the courage to give a deep salute and said: "Mercenary, my father is about to die, if you have any extra As for drinks, can you sell us a jug to fulfill his last wish?”

Under the influence of Michaela's illusion, outsiders' perceptions of Lucia and others' appearance were tampered with within the "reasonable" category. Therefore, even if they only made basic disguises, in the eyes of outsiders, they were the most ordinary, ordinary mercenaries. The most normal look.

For a peasant girl from a rural background, daring to rush in front of a fierce mercenary who didn't know his background and make a request was already worth spending her whole life's courage.

Lucia stared at her for two seconds, then quickly dismounted and took out a cowhide wine bag from her luggage. However, she did not hand it to the girl directly. Instead, under the scrutiny of the guards, she walked to the center of the convoy and stopped in front of the dying man. in front of the man.

His entire lower body was covered by a blanket, and there were wisps of prayer light surrounding him, but it could not hide the rich smell of blood. The man's face was as pale as paper, and there was no fear of death in his cloudy pupils. , no matter how he looked, he could only see a tranquility as quiet as dead water.

"Hey, let me tell you -" Lucia imitated the tone of a mercenary and said casually, "Are you really ready to die?"

He glanced around at the women and young people who were as dull as puppets, and then looked back at the little girl with red and swollen eyes. He raised his chin and said, "At least your daughter doesn't seem to want you to die like this. Maybe she will meet you." Is there any passing high-ranking priest who can really save you?"

"Haha, I'm sorry for your concern -" the man showed a relieved smile and said, "It's just that you may have misunderstood my wife and son. They love me no less than my daughter. It's just that Eleonora is really You are too young to be able to calmly welcome parting under the gaze of God."

"As for me, I can safely accept the call of the gods and bathe in the baptism of the golden tree to welcome new life. Is there any better ending than this?"

"Eleonora——" Lucia unscrewed the stopper of the wine bag, handed it to the man's lips and said, "It's a nice name."

"Thank you for your compliment, sir." The man tremblingly took the wine bag, and with the help of his wife, he propped up his upper body and took a sip of strong wine. A blush appeared on his pale face, and he sighed, "Unfortunately, my My daughter just celebrated her tenth birthday yesterday, and I can no longer accompany her in the coming days."

He raised his head and drank the strong wine in his bag. His calm eyes bloomed with a kind of brilliant brilliance, but the brilliance only lasted for a few breaths before finally returning to death.

The man's arms hung down weakly, and his vitality was like a candle burning to the end, quietly extinguished in the wind.

"There's no need to pay for the drinks. It's our parting gift."

Lucia took one last look at the numb woman and young man, turned around, jumped on the horse, and galloped into the distance.

(End of this chapter)