The City of Marronligar

The forefathers who founded Marunliga brought not only the wealth of the old empire, but also part of the northern military tradition.Although the long peace made the city too "spoiled", and the martial complex and sense of crisis were wiped away in the sea breeze, the fortifications of the city were still preserved as a legacy of the old empire.

It's just that the "Imperial Legacy" that has been abandoned for a long time is really too old, and the garrison used for law and order also lacks the combat effectiveness to fight against foreign enemies.When the Kurmans approached the city of Marunliga with their siege towers and artillery, most of them predicted that it would be a tragic defeat.

——Miscellaneous Notes of Silver Bay Tower·The Last Defense Army

Several nobles and businessmen approached Lucien secretly.They looked serious, and I don't know how much more serious they looked when they tried Louis: "General Lucien, we must report the traitors of Maren Liga to you."

The guard next to the governor's secretary handed over an opened letter, which actually explained the details of allowing Louis Cormac to sneak into the governor's palace and murder the governor.Except for the part of coercing Louis with a huge debt to commit a crime, each step strictly corresponds to the confession at the trial, which is like a crime guide that is as detailed as a hand-in-hand teaching.

— Could it be that Louis was instigated?

Looking at the unsigned letter, Lucien frowned, feeling that something was wrong: "Where did you find this letter?"

The few people who came to report looked at each other, and the secretary spoke again: "There is an abandoned watchtower on the outskirts of the city. Before the incident, the farmers nearby saw Louis Cormac haunting it. I heard such rumors by chance, So they commissioned a few guards to search, thinking that they might be able to find the whereabouts of the fugitive Louis. They didn't find anyone, but they found this thing in the watchtower."

While speaking, he quietly observed General Lucien's reaction.After thinking for a while, Lucien waved to the adjutant who was on standby and asked him to check the situation with the guard mentioned by the governor's secretary.

Lucien asked again: "What do you seem to know about the person who wrote this letter?"

The secretary's deliberate dodge of eyes accurately attracted the other party's attention: "This is the issue of the 'renegade' I want to talk about. There is something that I don't know if I should say it or not."

"Speak quickly."

"President Chu De, who is cooperating with the garrison... He hinted at something to me." The secretary paused. "He...he said that he knew some Kurmans. As long as the means are right, not only can he continue to do business with the north under the banner of Governor Mojis, but he can also make Marunlijia change owners at the least cost."

Lucien's brow twitched suddenly: "...I have already sent someone to clarify that the so-called conspiracy to collude with the Kurmans and rob Marenliga is just a rumor."

The banker who had been standing still and cherishing words like gold suddenly said, "Should we first identify the handwriting of this letter?"

Regardless of Chu De's personal morality, major issues involving the loyalty of the city-state should not be sloppy, and arresting and executing important figures in the city-state is always more troublesome than ordinary prisoners.

But even if General Lucien does not accept these falsified evidence and testimonies, and dismisses their new charges with sufficient reasons, the conspirators who decided to sacrifice Trude as a sacrificial son have already prepared second-hand plans.

When he received the invitation from the governor's secretary to "get together privately with colleagues in the city hall", Chu De hesitated for a long time: the group of dignitaries hadn't contacted him for several days, and they didn't even discuss business that needed to be sold together. Like avoiding him on purpose.

The eyeliner sent to observe the movement of the Governor's Mansion once told Chu De that they also had small-scale internal meetings with the general, but these meetings did not call the leader of the bounty hunter who was involved in security affairs.

Chu De was afraid that this invitation was a trap, and almost concluded that it was a trap.

But what if not?

The hesitation in his heart caused Chu De to miss the scheduled meeting time.When straightening his appearance, he tried his best to be optimistic, and deliberately dispelled those suspicious thoughts: it is not worthwhile to lose the opportunity to make friends with the nobles because of fear.

In the end, Chu De bit the bullet and prepared to go out, and decided to remain vigilant throughout the whole process.

In order to increase the physical distance between him and the upper class, Chu De settled his home in the aristocratic area close to the edge of the city wall. Although it is not a luxurious mansion, at least it is clearly separated from the so-called vulgar civilian area.

As soon as the door opened a little, a ball of paper precisely passed through the crack of the door and landed at Chu De's feet.When I looked up, the mysterious man throwing the ball of paper disappeared behind a secluded corner.

Chu De originally planned to catch up directly, but after thinking about it, he retreated to the threshold and confirmed that there was no one on the left and right, and then carefully unfolded the paper ball.There were short sentences scrawled on it: "Don't go," "They want to kill you," "Leave Marunliga."

The street in front of the door was suddenly eerily quiet.

Chu De kneaded the piece of paper again, and the wet ink was soon blurred by the sweat oozing from his palm, and his highly tense nerves had become taut strings.

"Who's there, come out quickly." He lowered his voice and growled towards the corner of the wall where someone might be hiding.

No one answered, only the sound of the east wind passing through the treetops.

Just as the tense nerves showed some signs of relaxation, Chu De vaguely heard whispers like hallucinations: "Those nobles and wealthy businessmen have abandoned you, just like you mercilessly killed minions that are useless."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Chu De could no longer tell where the voice came from and whether it really existed.

A series of bloody names flashed through my mind quickly.

Chu De suddenly found that no matter who used such a gloomy tone to hint to him about the future, it seemed to be justifiable. The candidates were not limited to life or death: it could be Louis, it could be Linka, it could be the messenger who was silenced on the edge of the fishing village Brother, it could be the bounty hunter he killed when he burned the old shipyard, or even Trud himself.

"Listen, someone is here, and they're here to 'invite' you to an appointment."

-Your "allies" can't tolerate you, they just want to ensure their own interests.

The mysterious voice did not lie, and the sound of quietly approaching footsteps was not a hallucination.Chu De gasped, and locked the door behind his back.After all, he is also a bounty hunter who has been on the verge of life and death. As long as he wants to, he can smell the faintest breath of danger from the wind at any time.

Therefore, Chu De quickly realized that if he didn't run away, he might have to die here.

There is a hidden door leading to the alley behind the house.When the uninvited guest, who didn't know whether it was a killer or a guard, broke into the front door, Chu De had already changed into a civilian attire suitable for wandering in the harbor area, scratched his freshly combed hair, and came out of The back door leaves.

For Chu De, this was a great humiliation.But in order to leave Marunliga alive, he must endure humiliation and the pain of losing all his capital.

The intruder held an unsheathed iron sword in his hand, with a murderous look in his eyes.Seeing that there was no one in the house, he immediately began to search for traces of Chu De.

"What about people?"

"Run through the back door."

The leader snorted coldly: "It's a guilty conscience. It just so happens that we have a reason to formally sue him to the city hall." The city hall is all "insiders", and the next step is to go through a process.

In a dark corner not far away, Adrian, who covered his figure and face with a long cloak, looked indifferent, watching Chu De with a cold eye as he was forced to flee from the shelter he had been running for a long time.The scene in front of me seemed familiar, but it was also completely different.

A few hours later, City Hall officially listed Trud as a fugitive in connection with several murders.

Within a day, like Louis who escaped from the gallows not long ago, Chu De's wanted notice appeared in the streets and alleys of Marenliga.

Ever since, two portraits were stuck on the mottled wall at the same time.One has just been painted, and the other is [-]% new. The two former presidents of the Bounty Hunters Association "stand side by side" in an extremely ironic way.

The "God of Destiny", who was falsified by the World Snake, played a joke unscrupulously, leaving a black vortex for Ma Lunliga.

The winter in the northern country is always much colder than that in Marenliga.Affected by the last cataclysm, this year's snow fell earlier than usual.When the southern port had not yet welcomed the first snow, the winter valley deep in the northern part of the Kuno continent was already covered in white mixed with impurities.

What was covered was not only the land, but also dilapidated fortresses and dried blood.

The Kingdom of Boyce hired Kurmans as the vanguard and invaded the large plains of the Principality of Morgan.After two months of stalemate, the Boyce army won the siege of Winterdale with the most advanced artillery at the time, wedged the outpost into the hinterland of the Principality of Morgan.

What followed was a bloody "celebration" - the victor plundered and slaughtered Winterdale with the momentum of a wildfire crossing.Most of the old, weak, sick and disabled who hadn't had time to escape died under the knives of the Kurmans. Women and strong laborers were taken captive to other cities in the kingdom as slaves, and the prisoners of the defenders were killed in the moat in front of the fortress.

The desperate wailing echoed in the narrow valley for a long time, until the rising black smoke gradually dissipated, and the once prosperous Winter Valley turned into a lifeless dead city.

In the protracted melee in the north, the fall of Winterdale City was only a section of the whole war, but the unimaginable tragedy was enough to make Chu De, who witnessed the whole process, tremble with fear.

After being wanted by the whole city, Chu De managed to get rid of the pursuit of the city guards in Marenliga. He planned to hide in the chaotic Shacheng, but found that the city hall's urgent arrest warrant had also been issued to this "friendly country", so he had to temporarily change his plan , After several twists and turns, he ran to the north by land.

At first, Chu De thought that he had found a chance to make a comeback in a foreign land - the Boyce Kingdom where he settled down had done business with the Governor of Morgis, and he also met the Kurmans who had cooperated there.

Although the business of wartime supplies was forced to run aground, Chu De firmly believed that he still had other capital: he was an industry leader of bounty hunters at any rate, and his business ability was impeccable.Seeing that he was proficient in sneaking and assassination, the kingdom's army reluctantly accepted the existence of this non-staff combatant.

However, compared with the hidden needles of the dignitaries in Marenlica, the distrust of Chu De by the nobles and military officers in the north is clearly on the surface.Thinking of losing everything he once owned, Chu De's inner unwillingness swelled to the point that his blood was not smooth.There was no need to observe carefully, Chu De also knew how others thought of him, and the intense humiliation gradually turned into fear of the future.

The brutal war scenes made this fear even worse.

In order to get into the upper class, Chu Deming used many methods secretly and killed many people.But compared with the scene in front of me, it was nothing.The stench of flesh and blood presented the war in a straightforward manner, which was extremely shocking both in terms of vision and smell.

This is the distant war that he and Governor Morgis and others have used.

They used money, food and weapons to invest in and promote wars that "have nothing to do with themselves", and the prosperity of Maren Liga was nourished by such wars.

When he was in Marunliga, even if he heard the appalling numbers of casualties, Chu De would not feel anything.But now, although his spirit is becoming increasingly paralyzed, he still feels a biting fear on the edge of the battlefield.

He even felt a long-lost sense of guilt because of fear, an emotion he never felt when he killed Linka, attacked Lucien, and framed Louis.

Beyond the fallen Keep of Winterdale lies the camp of Boyce's army.

Chu De was sitting by the fire, fiddled with the firewood in front of him with a long stick, his eyes were black and blue due to long-term insomnia.He dared not go to sleep, lest the vicious nightmare would manipulate his hand and end his life in half-dream and half-awake.

"Why, you don't like this scene? Oh, I almost forgot, you haven't fought a war there for 200 years. Before that, you probably didn't know what the battlefield looked like."

The speaker was the leader of the Kurman cavalry, named Sullo.When Ma Lunliga and Shacheng raised supplies and participated in the assassination of General Lucien, he was the one who dealt with Chu De on behalf of his clan.It wasn't until not long ago that Chu De knew that Sullo had such a high status in the tribe.

Chu De has always looked down on the Kullmans, and is very afraid of their undisguised bloodthirsty nature.But the irony is that since Chu De fled to the north, only Siu Luo is willing to talk to him more.This Kurman seemed to be very interested in Chu De. He was currently wiping his saber with the broken flag of the defeated army, and asked him about his next plan.

Winter is of great significance to the north: low temperatures, food shortages, heavy snow closing the mountains and making it difficult to travel, and people and horses also need to recuperate.Therefore, after breaking through the Winter Valley Fortress, the Boyce Kingdom decided to temporarily withdraw its troops, and the Kurmans led by Shi Wuluo would also return to the grassland when the contract expired.

The cavalry was basically useless in the siege, but after breaking through the fortress, the Kurmans made a lot of money by massacring the city.In addition to tangible money and food, what was packed away also included the thrill of wanton hacking and killing.

Just like fish cannot live without water, the Kurmans have been immersed in blood and fire for a long time. They have long been inseparable from war, and even alienated into war itself.

Shi Wuluo grinned and said, "Do you want to go to the grassland with us? I see that you and that 'Louis' fought back and forth on the boat, and maybe you can teach the young people in our tribe how to play tricks."

"No, that's fine."

Chu De still kept a distance from Shiuluo—even if he would be looked down upon by others if he stayed in Boyce's army, he would never follow the Kurmans back to the grassland.This is the only arrogance rooted in "civilized society" that he has left as a citizen of Marenliga.

"Is the grassland bad? You don't need to talk about any messy rules, as long as you have wine and meat, you can be happy all night."

The corner of Chu De's mouth twisted: Swoolo's "joyful" was not happy at all to him.

Even though he was treated coldly by Chu De, the unruly and cruel expression on Shi Wuluo's face did not change: "This time fighting for the Beuys Kingdom is probably the last time we will be mercenaries. I am going to take Kullman The tribes unite to form a powerful and invincible steppe army. Just like this strong north wind, our iron hooves will trample the entire continent."

He looked at Chu De, and asked with a smile: "If we take down Ma Lunliga and make it the current Winter Valley City, don't you mind?"

Chu De suddenly felt creepy - he felt that Swoolo was not joking.In the temporary camp outside the Winter Valley Fortress, the bonfire seemed powerless in the severe cold, but Chu De's back was sweating.

"You've been staying there all this time, so you're used to rich clothes and good food, so you don't feel much. But that trip to the south really made me greedy. Marunliga is really a good place." Shi Wuluo licked his lips. "We Kullmans have always been like this, as long as there is something missing or something we want, we will try our best to get it."

——Just like you, Chu De.

Chu De looked at Shi Wuluo in shock and was speechless for a while.

Swoolo asked again: "Do you mind?"

Chu De froze for a long time before shaking his head stiffly: "No..."

He was frightened and couldn't tell whether he meant "don't mind", "don't know", or "don't know how to answer".

And Shi Wuluo obviously understood Chu De's reaction as the first one: "Oh, then I will not be polite."

The author has something to say: Soldier-Fleurie

The setting of the Kullmans is actually a mixture of many elements, as are other background board stories, and there is basically no specific historical prototype.If I have to say it, the most reference is the architectural style of Macheng...