Knight and Wand

Chapter 118 Avalon Castle
On the dirt slope outside Longka Village, two militiamen squatted on the ground with spears in their arms, swinging the wooden sticks in their hands with crackling sounds, concentrating on gambling for small change, and the winners laughed out loud from time to time.

On top of the wooden lookout tower nearby, the archer sat against the fence, rubbed his palms, drank ale, and looked around boredly into the distance.

Winter is coming to an end and the temperature is rising. He no longer has to wear a thick cloak and feel the cold wind all the time. Standing guard is much more bearable than before.

The archer was on duty in this area with boring atmosphere. Suddenly, he couldn't help but put down his wine glass, stood up, squinted his eyes, and looked to the end of his vision.

It was not towards the ominous Nightmare Forest in the south, but in the hilly woods in the west. A large group of moving figures were rushing towards Longka's location.

"Damn gods!" The archer was startled. He grabbed his bow and leaned over to shout at the militiamen under the observation tower: "Stop playing around! There are probably dozens or even hundreds of people coming from the west. They might be bandits! Go back and inform the villagers!"

The militiamen under the observation tower were startled and immediately dropped the wooden signs in their hands and turned around to rush down the hillside.

The archer also climbed down the ladder in panic, with no intention of staying at his post. No matter if the people coming were robbers or not, he couldn't scare so many people with just a bow, no matter how good he was at shooting.

The three of them ran back to Longka as fast as they could, while issuing warnings to every patrolling archer and militiaman they saw.

Soon, the village officials and elders who received the news arranged for people to blow the horns and mobilize all the men to gather from house to house.

A villager mounted his horse and quickly ran towards Selva to inform the lord.

In Longka village, every remaining man who could fight took out various weapons such as spears and daggers from his home. Some of them even had simple armor, while others carried simple shields made of broken wooden boards. They joined the team and prepared to defend their homes and property.

Women grabbed pitchforks, rakes and sickles, took their children and hid in their homes, locking the doors and windows.

The village official, wearing an iron helmet and chain mail, rode a pack horse, led the archer squad stationed in Longka and more than 70 men of all ages armed with weapons in the village, lined up in formation, rushed to the western slope, and occupied the high ground in advance.

The huge array of spears and forks looked intimidating.

In particular, the first ten skilled archers wearing cotton armor and carrying swords had already drawn their arrows and lightly nocked them, ready to pull the bowstrings and shoot any uninvited guests who came into range.

But the tense atmosphere gradually relaxed as the crowd got closer.

The archers at the front with excellent eyesight had already seen clearly that although there were young and strong men holding simple weapons in the crowd, they were in a hurry and not only did they not form a queue, but each of them seemed to have a family with them, and there were a large number of women and children around them.

They don't look like bandits, but more like a group of refugees fleeing famine.

Although the village official realized that the threat posed by the newcomer was not as great as he had imagined, he still did not let down his guard.

After all, there is often only a fine line between refugees turning into bandits.

Fortunately, Longka is now on guard against monsters in the forest day and night, and the lord also led the villagers to practice how to resist attacks.

Now facing the group of unarmored refugees, the archers only need a few rounds of shooting to disperse the crowd, and the tight formation of the militia can easily defeat the enemy.

However, the contact between the two teams did not happen after all.

From afar, they saw archers nodding their arrows on the hillside and three rows of militiamen standing in a menacing formation. The refugees, with their families, stopped in fear from a distance.

From afar came the faint sobbing cries of women and children.

A middle-aged leader with empty hands waved his arms to indicate that there was no threat, and ran up the slope quickly.

"Old Jon! Jon! It's me! Polly from Aiken! We have no ill intentions, we just want to beg for help!" The middle-aged man shouted sadly to the Longka village official on the slope.

The Longka village official named Jon took a closer look and recognized it.

They were villagers from the "Aiken Village" in the west. They used to pass through Longka to go to the market in Pletton to sell spices and game specialties such as truffles, so they were considered half-acquaintances.

Moreover, Aiken and Longka were originally very close to each other. The two villages traded leather products and spices, and there had been many in-laws visiting over the years, so they were not strangers.

Village official Jon dismounted and asked Polly, who was running up breathlessly, "What's going on? Why are you all here in Longka? Is there a disaster in the village?"

"It's so terrible, please be kind and help us, Jon. Goblins ran out of the forest and attacked the village. We were powerless to resist and all ran away. We finally escaped and now we can't go back to the village. We are in urgent need of food to survive!" Polly begged with a sad face.

Jon's expression became serious: "Ghosts? Do you mean those half-dead beasts?
But now you are the subjects of the Lord Gunnar in the west, why don't you go to Wolfenhall City for help?"

Polly said helplessly with a bitter face: "We want to, too, but several guys rushed to Woffenhall to report the news, and they have been gone for four days, and there is still no news.

We had no choice but to flee to the village in the north, but they said they had no extra food, or they were unwilling to help us. The villagers fled without any property, and they couldn't exchange for food. Some people couldn't stand it without food. I could only take everyone to the east to try to find a way to survive."

Jon felt sympathy when he heard this, but he had to harden his heart and sighed, "It's not that I don't want to help you, but after the taxation last year, Longka also has little grain now, and it's still early for the harvest. You know that the grain in the warehouse now belongs to the lord.

There is really no other way. Why don’t you wait? For such a big matter as opening warehouses for relief, we can only make a decision after the Lord comes.”

"My lord? The master of the Farolis family? How long will it take? Some people have already fainted from hunger." Polly, a grown man, was so anxious that he almost cried.

"Don't worry, you don't have to wait too long. Longka now belongs to a new lord. Lord Lohak doesn't live far away. If he's fast, he can get here before dark at the latest."

Looking at the past relationship between the two villages, Old Jon had no choice but to comfort them: "But you can't enter the village. You must stay so far away like you are now. Stay and wait obediently. Sigh. I will try to go back to the village to find some food for you to use in an emergency."

Instead of disbanding the conscription team, the village officials continued to have the militia and archers on the slopes guard against and monitor the Aiken villagers who were fleeing from afar.

He returned to the village and got some food to bring to Polly, but that was all he could do.

As for whether or not to keep these refugees, he had no right to make a decision on his own and could only wait patiently for the messenger to notify the three knights.

Nightmare forest.

City in the woods.

On the sentry tower on the city wall, the vanguard troops of the Thorn Flower Family, who had been stationed in the fortress for many days, saw the flag of Faroris and hurriedly ordered the soldiers below to open the city gate and welcome the baron into the city.

A team of nearly a thousand people marched through the city wall and into the streets of the fortress.

The neat and beautiful buildings opened the eyes of Farolis' soldiers, civilians and craftsmen. They realized that their lord had not lied to them. There really was a beautiful town in the Nightmare Forest.

Exquisite buildings stood one after another, and at each intersection there were reservoirs connected to the canal bridges, as well as beautiful lampposts that could only be seen in big cities, and manhole covers that looked like sewage facilities. All of them made Baron Elliver feel as if he had arrived in the royal capital "Orlandon".

The Thorn Flower Vanguard who came to support, led the large force to officially enter the city and stationed in the city after they had roughly figured it out.

Judging from the layout of this ownerless fortress, it was originally built for military purposes and there was a ready-made barracks, so there was no need to change anything.

Water sources, sanitation, living quarters, defense and alert, as well as all kinds of strange facilities whose uses are unknown, are all available. As long as there is sufficient food and grass, an army of a thousand people can easily stay here forever.

The army separated from the guards, and Leon followed Elifer to the northeast of the fortress, which was a blockhouse building with towers on the four corners.

This may be the administrative agency that managed the town in ancient times. It can be seen that the Farolis soldiers who arrived in advance have not yet sorted out a large number of ancient files in the building, which seem to have traveled through time and space. The strange time and space characteristics of the spirit-like field have relatively intactly preserved these documents from thousands of years ago.

Leon glanced at the various messy documents on the table.

Now, except Miss Lola in the Mage Tower, I am afraid no one can understand the Lorelit text on it and what it records.

Baron Thornflower took a quick look around, confirmed the room where they would stay temporarily, and then took Leon to the top floor of the square fortress.

He held the battlements with both hands and leaned over to look down, seeming to have an indescribable feeling for the beautiful castle town below.

Just when Leon was wondering when to find a reason to sneak into the Mage Tower to meet Laura.

He saw Earl turned his head and looked at him.

"Farolisburg"

"What?" Leon was puzzled.

"I said. The name of this fortress." Elifer said in a low voice.

"It's the same name as the residential city in your territory?" Leon raised his eyebrows slightly. Although he had a hunch that the Thorn Flower Family was connected to this ancient city, he still couldn't help feeling a little surprised.

"Yes, if the ancient books and maps passed down from generation to generation are correct, this is the ancestral land that the Thorn Flower family has been pursuing for many years. My ancestors may be the residents of this fortress." Elliver looked into the distance and explained: "On the large map passed down in my castle treasury, this is the location where the real Faroris, the Bauhinia Castle, is located.

The city of Farolis outside the forest was actually named after the previous head of the family in order to commemorate the aspirations of his ancestors.

According to legend, this real Farolisburg houses countless and inexhaustible gold and treasures. Haha."

Elifer chuckled and shook his head, then looked at Leon: "You are the first one to come here, have you seen any amazing treasures?"

Leon shook his head quickly: "I swear, I definitely didn't see any gold or treasure belonging to Farolis as you said. I only saw an empty city."

He told this lie with a clear conscience.

There was indeed some gold and gems in the tower, although not much. As for the treasure, the Neti card should be counted as one of them, but those were Lady Aphrodite's things and did not belong to Farolis.

If we really want to talk about the connection, it is reasonable that the lady's teacher, Miss Lola, has inherited it.

As for the ancestors of the Thorn Flower family, if they were just the residents who fled the castle town at that time, it would never be their turn to get Aphrodite's inheritance.

In Leon's opinion, the Thornflower family, with his help, now owns this forest city where the wizard lord lives in seclusion, which is quite a bargain.

"Don't be nervous, I'm not questioning you, I'm just joking." Elifer looked at the serious expression on the boy's face and patted his shoulder armor: "What treasure? Even if there is, why not give it to you? It's only natural that whoever finds it first will own it.

And the fact that you offered me the city gave Thornflower the opportunity to expand southward, which is a hundred times more valuable than the legendary treasure."

He looked at the young man in front of him, and then at the fortress below him.

Ever since my father stepped into the forest in despair when his family was in dire straits, searching for this last comfort.

Elifer felt that over the past decade or so, he had led his family through many difficulties and helped them recover from adversity, and he had long since thrown away the cursed obsession.

He now only wants to look forward. With this in mind, the Baron is even more determined to separate the past from the future.

"Leon, why don't you give this place a name?" Elifer pressed the other's shoulder and suddenly said excitedly.

"Why? Didn't you say this place is called Farolis?" Leon asked puzzledly.

"That was the name in the past. Let the past return to the dust of time. Besides, the Thorn Flower family already has a better city, Farolis."

Elifer shook his head. Although the family's current residence was far inferior to this place in terms of chaos and complexity, as a main city that could accommodate more than 10,000 people and was still expanding, it was more than ten times larger than this one. In addition, agriculture and commerce were developed and wealth was constantly flowing. In terms of actual value, it far surpassed this fortress in the forest.

Now that his ancestor's obsession has been realized and he intends to break away from the past, he will naturally not allow his main city to change the name of this ancient town that remains in the past.

"Don't refuse. As the first person to discover this place, it's not inappropriate for you to name it."

Seeing that Feng Jun insisted, Leon had no choice but to nod, and his interest was aroused.

"Since you say so"

With his arms folded, Leon approached the battlements and looked around at the huge fortress below, which was now bustling with people due to the presence of Farolis' troops.

Imagining the meaning of the forest stronghold, several names quickly flashed through his mind.

Caliban?
Or. Oduruk?

Or, go a step further.

What about the boulder?

Leon pinched his chin, hesitating before rejecting the three names.

They were all very appropriate and he liked them very much, but the fortress under his feet did not belong to him after all.

A name that fits his sword-wing emblem so well should be left to the castle that truly belongs to him.

While Leon was thinking, his eyes suddenly turned to the innermost part of the northern fortress.

Looking at the tall tower that was now disguised as a cliff by concealment magic, a more appropriate name emerged in his mind.

Are Aphrodite and Miss Lola considered "fairies" in a sense?

I think so. From the perspective of the Holy Sun Church, it is not an exaggeration to say that Laura is a widely believed goddess.

What's more, one of them has returned to the Dead Sea, and the other exists in the world as a spirit, which is closely related to the underworld.

From the perspective of a hell joke, it is a perfect match for that term to some extent.

".Avalon."

Leon looked at Earlliver and told him his name: "Let's call this place Avalon Castle. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)