In March 322 of the Redemption Calendar, the war between the Ferret Empire and the St. Solan Empire reached a stalemate with a battle in Medin, a small town in the southern province of Lulian. Latest Chapter of the Holy Church.com
The situation has eased significantly. News from the front line has dropped from more than a dozen times a day to once every two or three days now. There has been no new content in Ishitang's express reports for a long time. The people's nervousness has been relieved.
Relief, life has returned to the previous step-by-step track.
The number of caravans coming and going has increased, and the major lords have also spared their hands to eliminate bandits and horse thieves to ensure the safety of the roads. The business of the bar is getting better and better, and the nobles have begun their endless dances and hunting. Topics that everyone talks about
There are also less wars and more trivial family matters and short-lived and romantic affairs.
In particular, some frontline cities affected by the war are showing a kind of abnormal prosperity than usual.
Refugees, mercenaries, free knights, merchants and imperial soldiers from all directions filled the city. The streets were filled with men wearing leather armor and carrying large swords on their backs. Some of them came to sign up to join the army.
, some come from the fringes, and others follow their respective mercenary groups to find work.
At this time, there is no shortage of work. An endless stream of caravans coming from north to south are pouring into the city, looking for opportunities to make a fortune. They either bring a large amount of urgently needed supplies, or they acquire a lot of precious fur magic cores.
On the road, it is necessary to hire these men who are dedicated to fighting for protection.
The city's markets are expanding at a terrifying speed.
Almost every day, new caravans pour into the city. In order to compete for a market stall, it is not uncommon to rob at high prices or even fight. The market has no time to expand, so people use wood and tarps to build simple stalls on the periphery. As long as
Once you pay taxes to the lord's steward, no one will care about you as long as there is room for you to work.
During this period, the most painful person was the affairs officer responsible for city health.
A large number of refugees poured into the city and lived along the streets, producing a lot of garbage. The excrement of the caravan's camels and the mercenaries' magic pets could be seen everywhere. As long as it is not cleaned up for a while, the stench will be unbearable. If
It has been raining for several days and the sewers and drainage channels in the city are blocked again, which will be great fun.
But it's not bad. In order to make ends meet, refugees are willing to do anything. No matter how hard and tiring the job is, no matter how low-paying the job is, there are still people rushing to do it.
With the prosperity of the city, there are many prostitutes dressed in coquettish clothes on the streets. They hold the arms of those mercenaries and nouveau riche who have made a fortune and swagger through the city, laughing wildly and making flirtatious glances. Many of them are flying around.
Refugee women who are forced to make a living also engage in half-hidden hookups. Sometimes a large piece of black bread can be enough to have sex.
In addition to prostitutes, there are also a lot of liars and thieves. These guys work in small groups to steal and swindle. They can be seen everywhere in the street crowds and in the markets. Even some nobles and wealthy businessmen from far away.
He became the target of these daring guys.
Of course, if you want to make a fortune, you have to take risks. But not everyone is so lucky.
The city's soldiers and policemen would uncover a few thieves and liars every day. They would escort him and lock him in shackles at the city gate or in the square. Let the citizens who lived in high and low places have a goal to consume their own money.
Rotten eggs and smelly tomatoes, by the way, you can practice your accuracy in throwing things. Some of the most heinous people who dared to offend the nobles were directly hanged on the gallows.
This is an era full of chaos and noise.
Every day, refugees die of hunger and illness. Similarly, there are also lucky people who seize the opportunity to make a fortune and become rich overnight. Countless people are ups and downs and struggling in the whirlpool of the times. No one knows what tomorrow will be like. They
All I can do now is try my best to survive.
On March 26, 322, Munich, the capital of Lullian Province, was bustling with people coming and going. In three days, it would be the 30th, which was the day when Archduke Adolf returned to the city and held a grand parade. As early as early March,
People who have flocked into the city of Munich are already looking forward to the arrival of the festival.
When the carriage entered the city, Moon opened the curtains and stared at the city he returned to after a year and a half with a pair of cold eyes.
A year and a half ago, as a confidant of the Pope, he and Mark, a knight of the Knights Templar, "accompanied" Princess Aleshia on her trip to Borabel, a small port town southwest of Lulian. "".com.
They say they are escorts, but in fact, their mission is to monitor Alessia, who is considered a taboo by Augustus, and ensure that she behaves in a well-behaved manner to prevent her from doing anything detrimental to the dignity of the Golden Dragon family.
That small city located in the southernmost part of the mainland was originally the end point of that trip. But it happened to be there that Alessia met Roy, the damn little handyman from Baron Polabel Castle, and at the same time, they also encountered
The Feili people's long-planned invasion.
In the battle that night, he, Mark and others relied on abandoning civilians to stop the Phillies' pursuit, and finally got out of danger with the help of the Templar Alex. But Roy, because of saving Al
Alesia was regarded as a hero because she escorted most of the civilians out of danger, and was named her guardian knight by Alesia.
Moon knew that, in fact, from that moment on, they had messed up the job. Not only did they fail to ensure that Alesia behaved according to the rules, they even asked her, as Augustus's fiancée, to consecrate a lowly servant to do the job.
Guardian Knight. This is simply an insult to Augustus and the entire Golden Dragon family.
Later, because Alex tried to kill Roy, a full-scale conflict broke out between the Royal Knights and the Templars. As a result, several Royal Knights were injured or killed, triggering the anger of Edward I and an ensuing uproar!
This is the Saint Solan Empire after all.
In this country, which had fought twenty-one battles with the Holy See when the country was founded, the power and influence of the Holy See has always been restricted by the royal family and nobles, and is far inferior to its status in the other two empires. Therefore, the conflict
The final result ended with a cardinal going to the imperial capital to apologize and recall Alex and most of the Templars.
That was a serious blow to the prestige of the Holy See.
However, the situation at that time was that Edward I was willing to die together, the imperial nobles were filled with indignation, and Alessia resolutely joined the Saint's Temple. All of this could only make the Holy See choose to settle the matter. After all, if Edward was given the opportunity to attack all the churches in the territory,
Excuses and opportunities, that would be an absolute disaster for the Holy See.
As the people directly responsible for this incident, the ones who have the worst time are Moon and Templar George. George followed Alex back to Vatican. It is said that he has been demoted to the lowest level and is in a difficult situation. And
Moon's status in the Holy See plummeted to a dangerous level because of the Pope's obviously cold attitude towards him.
However, Moon is Moon after all. With more than a year of unremitting efforts and several steady and even perfect completions of tasks, he is now back within the Pope's sight again.
But this time when he returned to Munich City, he was tasked with a task that was closely related to the incident more than a year ago.
The carriage entered the city gate with the sound of wheels rolling over the stone road. Several Holy See knights wearing white coats with cross marks walked slowly on both sides of the carriage. Behind them, thirty Holy See guards lined up neatly.
The queue walked on foot.
Seeing the Vatican's motorcade, pedestrians gave way one after another. Some people were saluting respectfully, while others gave them indifferent or even hostile looks.
Moon was already used to such looks.
The Saint Solan Empire has never been a country that is pious to the gods. Even though more than half of the people are believers in the gods, a small half are damned blasphemers.
Sooner or later, they will all be burned alive together with their province of sinners and the heretics in the chaotic land who stayed because Grand Duke Solan could condone them!
Moon coldly lowered the curtains, hiding his gloomy face in the silent darkness.
He did not see, in the crowd not far from the carriage, a black-haired boy, accompanied by a wretched-looking old man, looking around towards the slave market.
...........
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Roy was pushed forward by the crowd, and there were densely packed heads all around him. (《》网.com) From time to time, people rushed past, knocking him and the people around him to one side, and then
I heard a burst of curses.
The slave market in Munich City is located next to the trading market in the north of the city. Originally, the market was in the south of the city. However, since most of the port cities in the south have fallen, the caravans came from the north by land, and the city's market was accordingly adjusted to the north.
.This place was originally just a low-rise residential area, surrounded by farmland and open space. However, after the market was established, in just one or two months, it became the most lively place in the entire city of Munich.
Roy and Grandet walked all the way. As far as the eye could see, there were commodity stalls built with tarpaulins and wood everywhere, filled with a dazzling array of goods. Row after row, stretching into the distance. The crowd was there.
Walking through the aisles, people stopped from time to time to ask about prices. The sounds of selling, bargaining, and shouting were endless, making it extremely lively.
Behind the stalls are rows of camel and horse teams, with shirtless men carrying handbags on their shoulders. Their bodies are glistening with sweat, and their muscles are shining in the sun. Surrounded by various food stalls,
The steaming hot food is not only cheap, but also plentiful, attracting these people who have been working hard since before dawn and are already hungry.
In addition, there are also some bards and jugglers who have also set their sights on this geomantic treasure. They take every opportunity to occupy the open space around the market, especially in front of the entrances of several main passages. They are driven from all over the place.
The circus was occupied. Giselles in fancy costumes were shouting loudly, breathing fire, or tossing colorful balls to attract business. There were several beautiful Gisele girls wearing sparkling midriff-baring tops.
, rushing past the people above and below and ogling.
Walking among them, Roy looked around and couldn't see enough. He felt that all the cells in his body were filled with a kind of vitality like a fish in water. This was the life he was most familiar with. Everything in front of him made him feel as if he had returned to Borabel.
One early morning, he walked through the forest path, walked into the market, walked towards Dad Ken's blacksmith shop, or walked towards the dock.
Follow the road next to the market eastward, passing through several circus tents, and then passing by a gladiatorial arena where cheers and screams burst out from time to time, the roar of beasts, and a knight competition arena being set up.
It's a slave market.
Slaves are the market with the largest transaction volume in the entire trading market, apart from auction houses and valuable commodities such as magic cores. This place is much more orderly than the commodity market next to it. After all, if you can afford to buy slaves,
Or there are not too many traders who are powerful enough to run the slave business.
Old Grandet had asked Roy to buy slaves a long time ago, and had whispered it in his ears dozens of times.
The current manor is short of manpower. For Grandet and Maler who can't wait to run the manor, buying slaves is a top priority.
Roy originally promised Grandet to come to the slave market with him on the first day of school, but due to a conflict with the noble students and an injury during a competition with Xiang Feng, Roy was delayed.
In the next few days, Roy, who had just improved his strength, was completely immersed in practice and forgot all about it. Until Grandet rushed into the academy and saved him from harming the spiritual power of the Illusion World Tower.
It was plucked out from the layers of happiness.
"Master, this is the slave market. The slaves outside are all ordinary slaves traded directly. There are more expensive or special slaves, which are auctioned in the slave auction house inside. They are not available for purchase outside." Grandet
Obviously he was quite familiar with this place, and he introduced Roy to the slave market along the way.
Entering the market, Roy saw hundreds of slaves of different skin colors in huge iron cages. These people were in ragged clothes and disheveled hair, staying quietly in the cages with dull expressions. They were young and strong in one place.
, women, children and the elderly are all alone. The price is marked on the front of each cage. As long as you pay, you can enter the cage and choose.
Next to each row of iron cages, there is an open space surrounded by wooden railings. Many buyers gather around the railings to watch the slave owners take the slaves out of the cages and walk along the railings. If there is anyone they like, they can buy them.
The price is stated, the payment is made, the purchase and sale documents are signed, and the slave is marked.
"Special slave?" Roy asked strangely and casually while looking at the sign in front of an iron cage.
The sign stated that the seven or eight young men in the iron cage were all Ditu people from the north of the Chaos Land, and were prisoners of war captured by other Ditu tribes in a certain battle.
Tribes from all over the world are one of the main sources of slaves in the human world. The famous Ditu people, Felicin people, Talami people, Gysay people, Kenta people and other tribes in remote mountainous areas or bitter cold places, every year
Wars of different scales broke out. As a by-product of war, the most numerous were prisoners of war.
Tribal dignitaries usually sell prisoners of war to slave traders who come into the mountains to buy them. This is the best way to avoid having too many young prisoners of war bringing instability to the tribe, and to earn gold coins to buy weapons and equipment from the outside world.
In addition to these people, there are also some people from noble estates and some bankrupt farmers, criminals and families of the defeated. Of course, in addition to humans, there are also orcs, barbarians...
"There is a group of elves being auctioned. It is said that there are dozens of them. There are also a few dwarves and women from dilapidated families from the imperial capital." Grandet's voice rang in Roy's ears, "This is the biggest one recently.
Foreign slaves have been approved, and many nobles have come to prepare for bidding."
Upon hearing this, Roy frowned.
Roy doesn't like the system of slavery. Although slaves have been an integral part of the human world for thousands of years, even everyone including Grandet, Malt, Ken and Hans take it as a matter of course.
He still doesn't like things.
This is not because Roy has a great and kind heart, but it has a lot to do with his life experience in the dwarf dungeon and the Elf Lakeside City when he was a child.
Among the elves, the status of queens, elders and some temple priests is much higher, but they will not enslave other elves, nor will they capture other races as their slaves. The same is true for dwarves and gnomes. In and
In their experience of living together, Roy had never seen anyone treat his own kind as goods.
Cargo, this is why Roy dislikes slavery the most. He cannot understand how humans can treat people like him as lifeless goods.
Roy has seen many slaves. Without exception, these slaves were marked with the slave owner's mark with a red iron, and were tied in a string with handcuffs and shackles, just like animals. No one regarded them as human beings, but they
They are indeed humans. Compared with the freedom of races such as elves and dwarves, the advantages and disadvantages are obvious.
After hearing Grandet's words, Roy was silent for a while, looked at the huge white tent in the central auction hall, and finally sighed silently. He turned and walked aside.
The reality is cruel. Slavery has existed for thousands of years. Even Edward I could not challenge it at the risk of offending all the nobles, let alone an ordinary civilian.
Moreover, the auction over there has obviously come to an end, and some noble buyers who have not gained anything have come out cursing. Even if he wants to help, he can't help. It is better to pay more attention to the people in front of him. At least these human slaves outside are bought back.
The situation of the manor will be much better than being bought by a scumbag like the previous manor owner.
"Master," Grandet obviously didn't know what Roy was thinking. He led him to a row of iron cages and said, "The slaves here are good. Although they are a bit expensive, I have seen them and they are all young and strong. I have already told him
The slave owner has talked about it. If we can buy more, he will give us a cheaper price..."
Roy looked at the people in the row of iron cages.
The people in the cage are all strong and powerful young men. The youngest is seventeen or eighteen years old, and the oldest is only thirty or forty years old. They are obviously specially selected from many slaves. However, the price is also expensive.
Much more. The price of a slave is thirty gold lulang. This is already more than three times the price of an ordinary slave.
Seeing someone stop, the slaves in the iron cage stood up.
This is the request of the slave owners. At the same time, these slaves also hope to be bought as soon as possible. After all, the slaves who are bought still have the possibility of living a better life, but here, they don't even have enough to eat.
If no one cares about it for a long time, it may even be sold to the nearby arena.
Once there, they wouldn't survive even a week!
Roy looked at the iron cages one by one. Suddenly, his eyes stopped at one of the iron cages. There were about twenty people locked in this iron cage. However, what was different from the other iron cages next to it was that this iron cage
Most of the slaves in the cage were crowded on the right side, while the three men occupied half of the space on the left side.
The slaves crowded on the right looked at the three people with eyes full of hatred and fear. When all the slaves stood up, the three people were already lazy and only turned to glance at him and Grandet.
Just ignore it.
"Soldier?!" With just his nose, Roy could smell the aura of these three people that could only be cultivated on the battlefield.
Before Grandet could reply, a voice rang out: "A knight, two sergeants!"
Roy turned around and saw a tall, thin, middle-aged man with a protruding chin walking over, escorted by several thugs.
"Are you interested?"
"Knight?" Roy looked at the middle-aged man in surprise. Obviously, this was the slave owner of these three slaves.
"The middle one," the slave owner walked up to Roy and turned to look at a middle-aged slave in the cage who was about forty years old. "Of course, strictly speaking, he used to be a knight. But because of his injury, he lost his fighting spirit. Now
Just an ordinary slave."
"How can you become a slave when you are injured and lose your fighting spirit?" Roy asked.
"Little brother, I only care about buying and selling, not telling stories," the slave owner raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "If you are interested, you can buy it and let him tell it to you. But I can guarantee that no matter what he has done before,
What does he do? Here, his status is the same as everyone else, that is, a slave!"
As he said that, he turned to look at Grandet: "How about it, Mr. Grandet, you've been wandering around for a few days. You haven't decided yet?"
"I asked, can the price be any higher..." Grandet bargained with the slave owner.
Roy walked to the iron cage.
"What's your name?" Roy asked, looking at the middle-aged slave who was claimed by the slave owner to have been a knight.
The middle-aged slave looked at Roy quietly across the iron cage. He was tall, with short hair and a beard like a steel needle. He had a square face with Chinese characters, deep sunken eyes, and a pair of blue eyes with indifferent expressions. Although he felt
There was not the slightest fluctuation of fighting spirit, but the aura that naturally emitted was as cold as winter.
After a long time, he spoke, his voice low.
"Kalenich!"
"Okay, Mr. Kalenich, I know my question is a bit abrupt..." Roy said seriously: "I want to know, were you really a knight before?"
Roy's words elicited snorts and glares from the other two people behind Simeone, as if his question was an insult.
Kalenich looked thoughtfully at Grandet, who was bargaining with the slave owner, waved his hands at the two men, nodded and said: "Yes, it used to be."
"Listen to him, you lost your fighting spirit because of the injury?" Roy looked at Kalenich with bright eyes: "Where is the injury?"
The two men behind Kalenich immediately shouted angrily.
"None of your business!"
Not only did they react fiercely, but even the slave owner who was bargaining on the side looked at Roy strangely. Obviously, this inexplicable question was really weird and boring.
Kalenich didn't have any overreaction. He just lifted up his clothes, revealing a strong body and a hideous wound that ran from his chest to his lower abdomen, almost splitting his whole body in half.
Roy looked at the wound carefully until Kalenich put down his clothes and suddenly turned to Grandet and said: "I want this person." As he said that, he looked back at Kalenich who was about to speak.
, smiled slightly: "Of course, including the two friends around you."
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.I could have written two thousand words to bring out the following things, but there was a thunder in Chengdu.