Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 214 The Ball

   On May 1st, it rained with small hailstones in the wasteland.

   This is the first precipitation after the long dry season, heralding the arrival of the rainy season.

  From this day onwards, Herd herdsmen will gradually bring their animals to higher ground, where it is cooler.

  When the dry season comes, they will bring the animals back to the low-lying winter pastures.

   Winters followed the camp in this way.

  The little lion often came to talk to him.

"Speaking of the difference, the difference between our Boya clan and the Jinren clan is even greater than the difference between the Veneta people and the Paratus people. They worship the stone piles, and we worship the ancestors. The deer herders who go further west. The tribe doesn't speak our language."

  The little lion said, "Hey, only people outside the grasslands call all the tribes the Hurd people, and there is no pronunciation of 'Heder' in the words of the tribes."

   Winters sharpened the wooden awl quietly, practice makes perfect, and his control of the knife has become more and more precise.

  After camping, he would hang his knees with pulleys and do simple rehabilitation exercises with the help of Erlen.

   While traveling with the camp in a bullock cart, he kept cutting wood awls.

  There are many grasses and few trees on the wasteland. The people in the camp learned that he was cutting wood, so they took the initiative to collect wood for him.

   Thick, thin, branches, trunks, regardless of merit, are sent to Eerlun.

  The little lion saw that he was cutting wood awls all day, and brought him a set of iron tools.

   Winters started doing some simple carpentry work, and despite the lack of nails, he made a few folding stools.

The little lion seemed to only need an audience. He bit the sweet straw and said casually, "You know what? Most people on the grassland have never seen the sea, not even my brother. I don't even know what to do. describe it to them.”

"Even if they tried their best to imagine, the sea was just a big lake. To everyone, the mountains to the south and north, the snowfields to the west, the Palatine people to the east, and this prairie, was the world. of all."

   "Sometimes I can't help but think that it's absurd and ridiculous that tribes and tribes, tribes and Platonic people, from life to death, fighting each other for such a small place."

   "Sometimes I can't help but think, why do you and I kill each other? For food and clothing? But the grasslands have been in good weather over the years, and everyone can at least eat enough and wear warm clothes."

"For hatred? Palatu arrested the tribes and sold them to slaves beyond the sea. The tribes also arrested the Palatus as 'Tuticia', wearing iron chains, more than the owner of the red pine manor vicious."

"The tribes and the people of Paratus hate each other, but they don't hate each other, because everyone is used to it. My brother also served as a personal guard for the chief of Paratus, don't you know? It was the man who killed my father. After the tribe."

   "The tribes are also attacking and killing each other. We fought with you, and we turned around to prevent the tribes from attacking us."

   "Even outside the grasslands, aren't you 'civilized people' killing each other? The war between you Veneta and the archipelago is more tragic than the war between the tribes and Palato."

   "Or because of greed? I don't know. I can't figure it out, and I don't want to live in the dark. Beyond the grasslands, there is an endless sea!"

  The little lion spit out the grass residue, pretending to be relaxed: "These words, you are the only one who will listen to me on the vast grassland. If you tell others, they are afraid they think I'm crazy."

"That's right, you know? I heard in the song of the Singer that on the west side of the west, across the tundra and snow, and on the west side of the mountains, is another land and sea! Our ancestors came from They migrated here. If I have a chance, I really want to go see it, or we can go together."

   Winters stopped what he was doing. He looked at the little lion and said softly, "You've grown up, and you've grown a lot more than you did on Red Iwo."

   "What do you mean by that?" The little lion pretended to be angry: "Don't you mean that I was a fool when I was in the Red Pine Manor?"

   "I want to see your brother."

"I want him to see you too." The little lion sighed: "He's been busy recently. During the war, Zhu'erqin people looted our old camp. They stripped more than fifty clothes and killed ten A few people, robbed a lot of animal spirits. My brother led the army to conquer the Lord's Qin people. "

   "Aren't you going with me?"

   "I'm guarding the stove." The little lion thought of something again: "By the way, the great shaman wants to see you. To be precise, he wants to see Hestas. Don't worry, he is a very good person."

   "You call me Hestas." Winters didn't look surprised at all: "It's because of the ritual."

The little lion nodded and explained distressedly: "Yes, the Khurshitahi ritual is a... I have a hard time explaining it, but it is a very important ritual. Hestas chose you as his successor - although I don't either I know why, but I now understand a little bit."

"You are not only inheriting the name and title of Hestas, but Hestas and every previous generation of Hestas. Their spirits are inherited by you. They accompany you and protect you." Little Lion Continues: "So to us, you are Hestas, our bridge to ancestors and spirits - although you don't look like you now."

   "Why me?" Winters pursed his lips.

   "I want to know too." The little lion smiled bitterly: "If you are really Hestas, you should be able to ask the previous generation of Hestas yourself. Or wait for the big shaman to come and let him explain it for you."

   said, the little lion picked up two wooden cones from Winters' lap.

Under the side-by-side comparison, he couldn't help taking a deep breath: "I originally thought that you were cutting wooden sticks for entertainment, after all, it is too short for barbecues. But I can see now that they are all the same, exactly the same! Haha, you It is also a unique skill.”

   Winters was noncommittal, and continued to sharpen the wooden awl.

   "Someone came to see you! Winters." Ellen happily led a person in.

   "Good luck, Champion of Palatine, is your injury better?" The visitor entered the tent and respectfully offered a small package of gifts: "My lord sent me to visit you."

  The visitor is also fluent in Common Language. There were only three people in this camp who could speak Common Language before: Winters, Ellen and Little Lion.

   When did the fourth one come?

   Winters was expressionless and did not accept the gift, he remembered who this man was.

  The little lion raised his eyebrows high: "Who are you?"

  The visitor lowered his eyebrows and replied, "I am the interpreter of the fire roaster."

   The little lion snorted, took the gift, opened it and said, "Pepper?"

   "It's pepper." The old interpreter's attitude became more and more respectful: "I was afraid that this adult would not be used to the grassland diet, so I brought some spices."

   "What are you doing here?"

   "Please allow me to talk to this lord alone. The old servant is weak and weak, and this lord can kill me with the touch of a finger, please rest assured."

   Little Lion wanted to refuse directly, but he still asked Winters with his eyes.

   Winters nodded slightly, the little lion glanced at the old interpreter, and walked out of the felt tent with Erlun.

   Winters did not speak, nor did the old interpreter speak, the two sides just stared at each other quietly for a while.

   "How is your injury?" The old interpreter broke the silence and asked with a smile, "Is there anything we can do?"

   Winters said nothing, and told the other party with his eyes: "Speak straight."

   The old interpreter coughed lightly, changed color suddenly, and asked like a surprise: "Where is the golden man?!"

  Winters was unmoved: "It's divided, let the monkey's **** face do it by itself."

"You're lying!" The old interpreter stared at Winters' eyes, face and fingertips with sharp eyes, not letting go of the slightest movement: "We didn't find any fragments of the golden man at all! The prisoners didn't have them, and neither did the camp. No! No one knows where!"

   "Very well, that's your business."

  The old interpreter suddenly grabbed Winters' wrist: "Where is the golden man?!"

   Winters was half-smiling, his pulse steady like a drip.

   The next moment, the old translator vaguely saw the shadow of the fist appear in front of him.

   was followed by the crisp sound of broken bones, and he was beaten to the ground, with tears, nosebleeds, and saliva flowing.

   "Don't court death." Winters' voice was cold and clear: "Monkey **** face wants to sacrifice to the golden man? Let him save money, maybe he can make a trumpet."

   The old interpreter was about to have a seizure, when the little lion and Erlun outside the tent had already heard the sound and broke in.

   "What's the matter?" The little lion put his hand on the handle of the knife and stared at the old translator with a bad expression.

  The old interpreter held on to the bridge of his nose and pulled it straight. He got up from the ground, saluted several people, and walked away with a gloomy face.

   "What's the matter?" the little lion asked Winters again with concern.

  Winters let go of his wrist: "It's a mischief."

   "This old servant has some skills." The little lion scratched his hair and said, "It doesn't even hurt, I fixed the bridge of my nose and left."

   "You don't necessarily win against him." Winters recalled the touch of the old translator's palm: "The callus on that guy's hand... is thicker than mine."

   Winters' thoughts returned to the north bank of the Confluence River: "Unfortunately, I didn't see it at that time, and I didn't kill him with a sword on the battlefield. Now, even if I want to kill it, I can't kill him."

  Eerlun threw away the bag of peppers brought by the old interpreter in fear: "We don't want this. What if he is poisoned?"

"Don't worry." Winters leaned on the blanket and said slowly: "The monkey's **** face is the most concerned about my life right now. I think the sheep is slaughtered today, shall we make haggis soup? Like Iwo Island, with a little crushed pepper."

   "Okay, I'll cook the sheep's head for you to eat." Hearing the name of the monkey's **** face, Eerlun's willow-leaf eyes smiled and walked out of the felt tent with pepper.

  Pepper mash and sieve.

   Wash and shred lamb tripe, lamb intestines, lamb heart, and lamb lungs, blanch them in water first, then put them in a pot and roll them into a white soup.

  The mutton soup is sprinkled with pepper and a little sauce made from wild leek flowers from the grassland.

   Take a big sip, and expect the spring chill to disappear without a trace.

   Finally, Erlun served the secretly prepared noodles.

   This was the warmest meal Winters had on the Great Wilderness.

  …

   Winters ate well, but some people were annoyed.

   After the old interpreter left the camp, he rushed south without stopping.

   In a col, sixty kilometers away, the fire roaster was waiting for him.

  If the little lion saw this scene, he would be furious.

  Telltown's pastures are south of the Great River, closer to the Golden Summit Mountains to the south.

  The pastures of the Chihe part are north of the Dahe, and closer to the shaded mountains to the north.

  The "big river" in the mouths of the Hurd tribes is the Jhinliu River in the Palatu population, and the torrent river in the Veneta and the United Provinces.

   The river flows from west to east, and it is almost divided into two by the middle of the two mountains.

   Even the Styx River will eventually join the Great River, so the Great River is called the river of all rivers and the father of all rivers by the Hed people.

   However, before the confluence with the Styx, the upstream river is not more than the Styx.

   Not long after the Battle of the Styx, the fire roaster separated from the white lion, and led the troops of the Teldun troops back to the "Henan Grassland".

   But not only did he not leave, but he also led five hundred elite cavalry to hide in the mountains near the Chihe camp.

   This is a serious provocation, and it is only separated by a layer of paper.

   "How is it?" Seeing the old interpreter coming back, the fire roaster asked impatiently, "What did that guy say?"

   "The calm is like wood, and the cold is like stone." The old translator said with a sullen face: "Last time I saw him, he was as shallow as a pool of water. This time, I can't see through him."

   The fire roaster was at a loss: "What's the matter? Erchige, do you still want to rob people?"

   Not to mention the people from the Chihe Division, even the lower-level members of the Teltown Division would be startled when they heard the leader call the translation "Echige".

  Echig, which means "father" in Hedd.

   Considering that the previous leader of the Teltown Ministry did not hang the old translator from a tree and shoot arrows to death, the meaning of the fire roaster should be "sub-father".

   Fire roaster's quiverers are accustomed to this. Obviously, this so-called "translation" is not just as simple as translation.

  The old interpreter pondered and said, "There is another possibility that the kid really doesn't know anything. That's why I can't see through him."

   "Then what should we do?" The fire roaster panicked: "If he doesn't know either, where do we go to find the golden man?"

"The worst possibility is that the golden man was taken away by the rebel party." The old interpreter sorted out his thoughts: "The golden man's head was cut off, and it is very likely that other parts will also be dismantled. If it is broken into pieces, it will not be taken away. Difficult. Another possibility is that it was dismantled and buried, or even submerged in water.”

   "What if I'm really taken away by two-legged people?!" The fire roaster was so anxious that he broke the sound.

"What are you panicking about?" The old interpreter scolded with a stern face: "The golden man can neither produce horses nor kill people, he is a lump of gold! We got 1,500 armors in this battle, and the weapons are innumerable. As long as we can recover Vitality, even if we don't have the Golden Man, who can get us? If we are weak, the Golden Man will be taken away."

   "Then what to do? Are you still robbing people?"

"No, now we are dead with the Chihe Department. According to the value of that kid, we won't risk a war with the Chihe Department. It's better to let the white lion make friends by himself, and be careful not to let the white lion go to war. The lion knows the rumors of the golden man offering sacrifices to heaven."

   "Okay." The fire roaster nodded again and again.

"The rebels are so resolute in their retreat, I'm not sure if they will leave with gold." The old interpreter slapped his leg: "Go! Go to the Styx! Send someone to find out the route of the rebels' retreat. I I can't believe that I can't find any clues."

   The five hundred elite cavalry of the fire roaster moved quickly. They packed up their bags, took their horses, and galloped towards the bank of the River Styx.

  …

   At the same time, on the outskirts of Hailan City, Navarre Manor.

  Catherine happily walked into Anna's room. Seeing her sister sitting haggardly in front of the dresser, flipping through stacks of letterheads one by one, she couldn't help feeling a little annoyed.

She lay down on Anna's bed, looked at the embroidered patterns on the top curtain, and teased her sister: "Tsk tsk tsk, are you still thinking about your lover? You are singing a bitter drama here, maybe people have forgotten you completely, and who are you dating? Latu Xiao Sao hoof mixes oil with honey!"

   Here are the two major taboos for Anna:

   First, lying on her bed without permission—of course, she never allowed it;

  Second, malicious attacks on the mysterious Mr. W.M - there are no innocent attacks either.

   Every time Katherine wanted to provoke her sister, she would resort to these two tricks, which proved to be unsatisfactory.

   But today Anna doesn't know what's going on. It's only one o'clock in the past, but today she doesn't move at all.

   She was still sitting in front of the dresser, looking at the letter.

  Catherine almost went crazy with anger.

   She jumped out of bed, snatched the letterhead from Anna's hand, and taught her sister angrily: "Isn't it the first love? What's the big deal! Is it worth it for you to be so sad?"

   "Okay." Anna's voice was tired: "Don't make trouble, give it back to me."

   "Look at me burning them all!"

  Anna stopped talking, lying on the dressing table, sobbing softly.

"The more you give, the more you get hurt." Catherine said the more and more angry: "Only if you don't give your sincerity, you will never be hurt. Do you really think you, me and Olivia can marry for love? Are you a five-year-old child? We are the heiress of the Navarre family, and our marriage must be carefully considered. A little carelessness is an abyss. My mother also said that you are more mature than me, but how can you see everyone Throw it away. God! How can you be so innocent!"

  Anna's cries got louder and louder, and Catherine became sad too.

She sat beside Anna and hugged her sister's shoulders: "Okay, okay, don't cry. It's all my fault, I'm an evil witch, you are a pure princess. Do you want to dance with me, Your Royal Highness? Mrs. Moluc just sent someone with invitations, and wants us both to go."

Catherine brushed Anna's unkempt hair and stuck it to her sister, coquettishly said: "Let's dress up today, we must beat the three stupid girls from the Moluc family. The big deal is I'll be more restrained today and let you be the most showy, okay? I retire for a day and let you be the most dazzling lady in Hailan. Meet another handsome guy at the dance, and soon you can forget about Mr. M."

   "I'm not going!" Anna cried and kicked the dresser.

Catherine also had no choice, she was helpless: "Well, it's all my fault. You are a good person, Mr. M is also a good person, and only I am a bad person. Mr. M must be thinking about you day and night. Every day, he wants to fly. Come back to you. And he is loyal, even if more than a dozen little saucy hoofs of Palatine dance beside him, he will not be disturbed, and he will not die."

   "You are really annoying!" Anna burst into tears: "Where did you learn Xiao... Xiao Sao... Where did you learn this kind of thing?!"

   "That's what men say." Catherine snorted softly: "What kind of good people do you think they are?"

"These letters were written by Mr. M in Taniglia." Anna is still shy when she mentions her lover's name, so she has used Mr. M instead: "He was taken to Palatu before he could give it to me. "

   "Really?" Catherine's fox eyes smiled: "Then I have to appreciate it."

   Anna blushed and hurriedly reached out to grab the letterhead, but Catherine refused to give it.

  The two grabbed the bed from the dresser.

   "Oh, it's nice to have Mr. M." Catherine sighed like blue, she attached to Anna's ear, and bit her sister's earlobe lightly: "Before you met him, I thought you liked women!"

  Anna screamed and threw her fists and hammers, pushing her out of the bed.

   Katherine cried out in a low voice, and although she tried her best to grab the bed cover, she was pushed out of the bed.

   In the next second, she relentlessly climbed up again, laughing and pounced on her sister: "Let me see, who is so innocent?"

  The two sisters fought for a while, but they reconciled as before.

   "Moluc's dance, are you going?" Catherine pressed her elbow against her sister's waist.

   "Don't go."

   "Go, go, go..." Catherine hugged her sister and began to rub hard.

  Anna shook her head gently: "I'm not in the mood."

   "Oh, that's good." Catherine gave up completely, she sighed: "I'm not going either."

   "Why don't you go?"

   "If you don't go, I don't want to either." Catherine said with a stern face: "There must be a little space for other ladies to express themselves."

  Suddenly, a series of footsteps came from the corridor.

   The owner of the footsteps stumbled and contained great sadness and urgency.

  Anna and Catherine looked at each other and hurriedly got up from the bed.

   Elizabeth slammed into the door, holding a stack of blood-stained letterheads in her hand, and almost lost her footing.

  Anna's heart felt like it was being tightened by vines.

   "Don't say..." She stepped back in horror, waved her hands again and again, and said in a crying voice: "Don't..."

   Elizabeth hugged Anna and cried bitterly: "My brother, he's gone..."

  Ana's eyes darkened, she fainted, and fell heavily to the ground.

   A similar scene is being staged all over Hailan.

  The sad news was sent back by Pegasus, the chief advisor of Veneta in the castles, and quickly spread through the channels of the military members.

  Everyone is eager to know how their children are doing.

   The unfortunate family cries loudly, and the lucky family also has sympathy.

   Kesha fell into Mother Marita's arms, sobbing.

  Antonio is still in the archipelago and does not know the bad news yet.

   Mother Marita, who has taken care of the Da Granasi family for three generations, patted Kesha on the back like a baby.

   "The hard-working young master." Mammy's tears couldn't stop flowing: "The hard-working young lady."

  …

  The castles of the kings have just experienced a bloodbath, and the smell of blood on the street has not yet dissipated.

The starting point of the    carnage was an accidental assassination.

The reason    was an accident was because no one thought about killing Arpad on the spot.

  In the beginning, they just wanted to wipe out Arpad and the Blue Bloods leadership—with arrest.

  The public weapon of the state has its own better means of killing, so why should it be assassinated?

   But things got out of hand and three people died, including [Alpad Klein Heisler]. And the real target [Arpad Duyoom] escaped.

   Starting with this failed assassination, the violence quickly escalated beyond control.

The    Blue Blood faction's counterattack was extremely fierce. Before the king castle factions could arrest them, they had already come to the door with swords and private soldiers.

  The hatred that has been accumulated for 30 years exploded, and the destructive power released far exceeded the most terrifying imagination of the originator.

  The Great Hall was almost turned into a slaughterhouse, and the two factions that killed the red eye hunted each other in the city, going from house to house looking for "rebels".

   There are those who are afraid that the world will not be chaotic to fish in troubled waters;

  The castles of the kings were shrouded in thick smoke, but the fire brigade did not dare to go out to put out the fire.

  Innocent citizens hid in their homes and shivered, desperately praying for this to end soon.

   It was thanks to Sackler's decisive action that he led the garrison to suppress the riots, and enforced martial law and military control in the castles, and the situation gradually subsided.

   But in this melee, Army Headquarters was firmly on the side of the Blue Bloods.

   To the officer class, Sackler's actions amounted to betraying the Army to the Great Council.

   Most of the officers of the Army Headquarters and the remnants of the Blue Blood faction counterattacked out of the city and went to join General Arpad.

  The officers left behind are a mixed bag, each with their own reasons.

   Or they have always been at odds with the Blue Bloods, or they are ambitious, or because they are loyal to Sackler, and some are simply because they are all in the castles.

   And at the Shuangqiao Camp, Arpad, who shouted "We have been betrayed", rode his horse into the gate and regained command of the army in an instant.

   The "special envoy of the Great Council" was immediately executed in public, and Arpad sent the envoy's head and a letter.

   That is a gauntlet.

  …

   In addition to the death notice of Veneta's young officer, Veneta's chief advisor to the castles [Turagno] has just received even worse news.

   Ignoring the guards' obstruction, Turanio stormed into the speaker's office angrily, and slapped an official document on the table.

   "What does this mean?" The chief advisor suppressed his anger: "Mr. Grove!"

   The previous speaker, Arpad Klein Heisler, had died, and the new speaker [Grove Magnus] turned around and replied with a smile: "It literally means."

   "I asked exactly what you meant!" Turanio shouted: "What do you mean by not paying it back? Do you want to provoke Veneta at this time?"

"The Great Council has declared the financial bankruptcy of the Republic, and the existing assets will be given priority to repay domestic debts, and Veneta's debts will be restructured. The illegal loans signed by the previous Great Council will not be recognized by the current Great Council. "Grove restrained his smile little by little, stared into the chief advisor's eyes, and replied word by word, "If you don't pay it back, you just won't pay it back!"

   Thank you for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, reward and comment, thank you all.

   Katherine is an absolute realist and can see through half the compromisers. But she really cared about her sister, and there was family love and a bit of jealousy in it.

   When Catherine attacked Mr. M hard, how could she know that she was not envious?

   [Currently I owe two chapters, if mortgage is allowed, today this chapter is 6800+, which means I still owe a chapter and a half Orz]

   (end of this chapter)