The City of Marronligar

The Spring Festival is not only a public festival in Marenliga, but also a symbol of the true beginning of the new year. Many citizens regard it as a reference point for agricultural activities.However, the special climate of a certain year broke people's inherent understanding and even interfered with the operation of the city.It was also in that year that Maren Liga began to turn from prosperity to decline, and went on an irreversible downhill road.

However, if you study the story behind it carefully, you will find that the decline of this city-state has long been foreshadowed, but the foreshadowing of its fate is buried too deep, and the subtle noises under the prosperity are difficult for people to hear.

Undoubtedly, Marunliga was a strong fortress, and despite the external storms and the shaking of the earth, it still did not move.But when its base sinks into quicksand, it is only a matter of time before it capsizes and collapses.

——Miscellaneous Notes of the Silver Bay Tower: The Four Seasons of Malunliga

"Winter is here again!"

Holding the slender icicles that fell from the eaves, the children shouted and ran across the snow-covered streets, wearing cotton-padded clothes that had just been put in the bottom of the box not long ago.

Naturally, they didn't think too much about the sudden snow and cold wave without warning, they just felt that it was very novel.Before the Spring Festival celebration, the snow in the city has melted away, and the warm spring breeze has blown through every corner of Marenliga.At this moment, this coastal city-state has returned to winter overnight, and the new grass and treetop shoots are covered with a layer of cold silver gauze.

The snow is not thick, and the weather is not so cold that it is deep winter. The children can't build a snowman, they can only play snowball fights.For the children of Malenliga, the "catastrophe" is vague and distant, and it is difficult for them to connect the possible suffering with the snow scene in front of them.

Therefore, these inexperienced children have not been able to understand the troubles of adults for the time being, and they do not understand why there are distressed or even panicked expressions on the faces of their parents.

The snow fell intermittently from the night before to noon, and finally ushered in a moment of rest.Louis and Adrian strolled along the Pearl River, heading to their usual tavern for some new mead.

"Obviously the weather has turned warm, and the heater in the greenhouse of the mansion has just been turned off, and it suddenly returned to the end of winter overnight."

Adrian was wearing a heavy robe, his eyes were a little tired, he turned his face away from time to time and coughed softly, obviously he had caught a cold in the middle of the night: "I have never seen such a thing in my 21 years of life."

"I've lived 37 years and six months and I haven't seen one," Louis said with a smile.

Looking at the naughty boy running across the arch bridge, Louis couldn't help but sigh: "Farmers outside the city are going to be in trouble. They seem to have just started planting. Once the snow falls, the next farming arrangements will be disrupted."

Adrian is in charge of accounting at the Heshan Manor, so he will naturally deal with the surrounding farmers and small traders, and has a basic understanding of such things: "As long as the climate change does not last long, the official warehouse and the farmers each have stock, Ma There should be no famine in Lunliga, but this year's market conditions will be affected."

As for "why the sudden return of winter", the reason is worthy of deliberation.Louis and Adrian are not clueless, but this conjecture is too sensitive, and it takes a hurdle in their hearts just to say it.

In the end, Adrian asked hesitantly: "Do you think this mutation is related to the actions of uncle and the others?"

Louis sighed: "I can't tell. But there is such an abnormal phenomenon at the moment. According to the time, it is inferred that they happen to be in Logmar at the moment. Just now, you also said that you felt a mysterious force from the northwest last night... except Cataclysm, it seems that there is no other explanation for it.”

After all, Louis didn't know the actual connection between the Hallows and the Cataclysm.

He quickly remembered the hypothesis that Samuel casually said many years ago: Could it be the sacred artifact that caused the catastrophe?If so, the snow that brought Marunliga back to winter was probably the result of their contact with the Hallows.

What happened in the ancient sanctuary far away?Could the vision presented at this moment really show that the actions of Samuel and Hagrid were not only futile, but also led to worse consequences?

Adrian put his hands in the fluffy and soft sleeves of his robe, and turned to look at Louis: "Master, did you refuse to search for the ancient temple of Logma with your uncle because you expected such a result back then?"

Louis shook his head: "How is it possible, you think too highly of me. My understanding of those legends is limited to Samuel's introduction."

"This morning, Mrs. Sophia said that she had a nightmare, dreaming of a place she had never been to. She said that it was Logmar frozen in ice and snow." Adrian pursed his lips, considering the exact words . "She was very worried about her uncle's safety, but she couldn't show it on the surface, and she had to work hard to socialize with people outside."

Adrian clearly remembered the expression on Sophia's face when she received the will from across half the continent a few days ago.He knew that Sophia sat in the study all night after lulling Darren to sleep.

Louis has no siblings, but he can somewhat understand the relationship between Samuel and Sophia.

Adrian lowered his head: "If Uncle and the others fail...I don't know what to do next."

Louis decided to give a few words of comfort, at least to reassure the people around him: "Samuel and that judge are not ordinary people. They have made sufficient preparations, and they must know what they are doing. As for you and me, we are not here after all. For the scene of the ancient temple of Rogmar, just trust their judgment for the time being."

After all, he casually helped Adrian brush off a bit of residual snow that fell from the treetops onto his robe.The smallest gesture seemed to comfort Torreso's youth more than words.

The two walked into a familiar tavern, only to see that the fireplace that had been left out for a few days was lit up again, and the warm air carried the aroma of wine, which made the people who came here feel a strange sense of intimacy.

After taking his seat, Adrian folded the robe he had taken off and placed it neatly on the empty seat.While waiting for the tavern clerk to serve the dishes, he looked around, only to see that "Saint Roland Picking Roses of Stone Heart" on the wall was replaced by another new painting.

Adrian pondered the content of the picture, muttering to himself: "They changed the picture."

Louis then turned his head to look, and saw the three-masted ship in the painting riding the wind and waves, with a Valkyrie-like figure embedded in its raised ram; sailors and mercenaries were standing on the bow of the ship against the waves and heavy rain, holding their bows and arrows , and fight sea monsters that stretch out their tentacles from the bottom of the sea and make huge waves.

"Sure enough, people are still tired of the journey of seeking the sacred, and began to love fighting with nature again." Louis chuckled lightly. "You're always preoccupied with odd details."

On the other side of the tavern, the guests were chatting enthusiastically.They were a group of servants working in noble houses. Although their standard of living was not as good as that of their masters, they were still a bit richer than commoners. At least they had enough to eat, warm clothes, and some spare money to gather here to share some of the wealth of the noble district. Little secret.

One of them made a gesture and asked the drinking buddies at the same table to listen to him, and lowered his voice in a mysterious way: "My master likes to collect all kinds of strange things, and some collections are so disgusting that I can't take a second look. You know."

"I know I know." The drinkers who were looking forward to the news echoed one after another. "I heard that last year he got the body of a lightless man from nowhere, and put it in the dark room without letting anyone see it."

"What I'm going to talk about is that evil thing." The "speaker" tapped his finger on the table. "Early this morning, as usual, he went to personally count the valuable collections—these aristocratic lords always have a weird temper—but found that the dead object was gone, and there was only a puddle of ashes in the place where it was originally placed. When the door was opened, the breeze As soon as you blow it, it disperses to nowhere.”

The audience showed terrified expressions very cooperatively.

The speaker was very satisfied with the response of the crowd.He drank half a glass of honey wine leisurely, and left an end to the strange news he released: "If the key to the collection room has not been in the master's hand all the time, and the whole family has no suspicion of touching it, he will definitely smoke us servants." Let it out. Haha, the money he paid for that thing is in vain."

Listening to the conversation of the noble servants, Louis and Adrian glanced at each other, not knowing what to do.

Adrian whispered to Louis by bowing his head to drink, "They seem to be talking about the Lightless Man we killed in the mine last year."

Louis nodded: "There is only one noble collector in the whole city who would pay me to find such a prey. It should be interesting to see his distraught appearance."

He held his chin, smiled and watched Adrian spread the honey sauce on the barbecue with a wooden spoon: "Speaking of which, when we completed that commission, we were not yet familiar."

Adrian recalled the first time he fought side by side with Louis, especially the scene where he attacked the Lightless and almost got caught, and couldn't help but feel hot: "At that time, I was more..."

childish?opinionated?Short-sighted?Adrian couldn't find the right words for a while.

The bounty hunter smiled and said, "In the past six months, you have grown a lot, and you have also gained a lot of knowledge for me."

Adrian was a little embarrassed, so he just buried himself in eating the barbecue.

Louis said again: "Ah, you said the other day that your hair tie was missing. I found one under the stairs when I took the brazier this morning. It must have fallen through the gap in the wooden ladder. It was dusty, but I washed it. Clean it up, take it back if you need it."

Adrian's face was almost lowered into the plate: "Master, don't mention this matter again..."

Thinking back to the morning of the second day of the celebration, when he couldn't find a headband, he had to borrow a clean bandage from Louis to make do with it.Sophia and the other adults in the mansion knew it; but when asked by the curious Darren, Adrian was so panicked that he almost couldn't make up a word.

Louis admitted that teasing Adrian with ambiguous topics has become a great pleasure for him.He picked up the wine glass and touched the glass in Adrian's hand: "You look good without a hair tie."

Because of this climate change, different groups of people in Marenliga are busy in different ways.Apart from farmers, fishermen and small businessmen, the busiest people are the scholars in Silver Bay Tower.

Needless to say, the naturalist called his assistants and students before dawn, recorded the latest snowfall with a sad face, compared it with the climate data of past catastrophes, and speculated whether this symbolized the beginning of another Little Ice Age .Even a small circle of historians has begun to help, piecing together the scattered fragments of knowledge to deal with the crisis of the moment.

"Liz!" The elderly curator ran after his granddaughter and added a booklet to the pile of books in Liz's arms. "Send them the old edition of "History of Meteorology in the Kuno Continent" as well, maybe it will come in handy."

Liz shook the book in her arms, said "yes" readily, and hurriedly walked towards the scholars who were arguing over the "judgment principle of catastrophe" and other issues.

However, in the Governor's Mansion, which has always lacked a busy atmosphere, although the warm air passing through the corridor has an elegant aroma, it always has an inexplicable sense of depression.

When Chu De came to visit, Governor Morgis was drinking tea in the small living room, and the Governor's wife Bella, who was famous for her beauty, was sitting beside him, with light makeup and a sickly pale complexion.Although she lost the overflowing style of her early years, her posture was still impeccable, but a little more dull and reserved.

Seeing a visitor, the Governor, who has always been good at putting on airs and paying attention to ostentation, first nodded as usual, and then specially said to his wife in the tone of the head of the house: "Bella, please avoid it for a while."

Mrs. Bella stood up almost reflexively, and bowed to her husband and Chu De respectively before leaving.It was not difficult for Chu De to notice that when the governor looked at his wife, there was no tenderness in his eyes.

The maid who was taking care of her also accompanied Bella and left the living room.She felt relieved and secretly breathed a sigh of relief: as a servant, she knew many secrets here, including that the governor did not have the habit of beating his wife during the day.

The nominal hostess of the Governor's Mansion survived another half day.

After they left, only Governor Morgis, Chu De, and the Governor's personal secretary were left in the living room.The secretary has a strict tone and is shrewd and capable, so he is deeply trusted by Morgis, and he often does things for him that cannot be put on the table.

The governor picked up the teacup and held the nobleman's reserved and proud tone: "President Chu De, did you come here because of the snow?"

Out of the arrogance of his class and status, he didn't like to see the bounty hunter in front of him who had only squeezed into the upper class in recent years, but he had to admit that Chu De's skills were very good, and he was of great use to the Governor's Mansion.

Chu De smiled ambiguously: "Yes. But instead of talking about these visions, I would like to share some suggestions that will interest you."

Governor Morgis' sparse eyebrows twitched: "Oh?"

"Doing business with the north, what do you think the benefits are?"

In the northern part of the mainland, wars are still frequent, and countries are constantly attacking each other. The decline of the northern cities forces the trade center to shift to the south, and indirectly ensures the prosperity of Marenliga.To put it bluntly, in recent years, Marunliga has been enjoying the peace bought with money and resources, while enjoying the benefits of foreign wars.

Even the most ordinary goods, as long as they appear in the right place at the right time, are enough to reap huge profits.

Chu De once proposed to the governor a plan of "investment war": with the help of Maren Liga's financial resources and trade node status, he will focus on the grain and weapons business, try to dispel the idea of ​​truce from various countries, and sign a treaty with the "buyer" It would also ensure lasting gains for Marenliga after the war.

He said that the war dragged down the country in the north, but fed the population in the south, and made Marunliga earn a lot of money-although the money only filled the pot of merchants and some nobles.

Intervening in the war by means of trade will bring Marunliga a considerable amount of wealth.As the main beneficiary, Governor Morgis cannot deny this.But a considerable portion of the returns could not be realized until the end of the war.

"I know that their battlefield is expanding. In order to mobilize supplies to the Principality of Morgan, the Kingdom of Gallon, and the Kingdom of Boyce, the expenditures of my bank and those chambers of commerce have exceeded expectations, and several city defense budgets have been cut on purpose. , I am afraid that we will not be able to mobilize more resources in the short term.”

Chu De reminded him: "Tax."

—Sure enough, a short-sighted layman.

The Governor was unimpressed by the answer.

He glanced at Chu De calmly: "After all, you are not a businessman, and you have never really been in politics. Naturally, you don't understand the mystery. Let me just say that the tax of Ma Lunliga is just right now. If it is raised further, the lower The civilians are about to rebel; if you reach out to the nobles, they will not end well. Tell me, who can I use the knife?"

Governor Morgis has always held a contemptuous attitude towards himself-Trud knows it well.But as long as he can continue to climb up, he is always calm: "Actually, there is another option, you can get enough capital from them."

"Who?"

"The Church."

The author has something to say: Discovery - Andreas Waldetoft

A semi-transitional chapter, the focus of the next story will return to the protagonist's city

The second half of the chapter contains the treacherous and evil behavior of P agency, which can be regarded as a little (mixed with brain supplement) historical fact reference

It’s easy to write a scumbag man, but it’s hard to write a good man_(:з」∠)_