Soul of Burning Steel

　　 The cold wind swayed across the plains, raising waves of snow and dust. In the heavy snow, a man was riding a horse, heading northward against the wind.

　　 Along the avenue, Joshua drove the horse and entered the border of Moldavia. The horse's hoof stepped on it, splashing ice **** from the starting point.

Along the way, there has been more and more people on the road, not only the caravans of Land Traveling Dragon, but also many carriages under various banners. They may be businessmen or rich people who simply go for fun. After all, ordinary civilians will not consume precious calories in winter.

　　 As for those who drive the winter wolf sleigh on the roadside, they are basically fishermen or hunters. Because they have to go to the waterside and forest without roads, it is not convenient to ride on horses and vehicles, so sleighs are the best choice.

　　 "Winter Wolf..."

Noting the group of large white dogs that were pulling sleds and running happily, Joshua couldn't help but shook his head. The name sounded handsome, but in fact its habits were similar to Huskies. He remembered that he had raised one back then. Handsome is handsome...

The memory goes back to a long, long time ago. At that time, the Conflict Continent had just opened its service, and he was still working alone in the Far South. By chance, he saw a winter wolf at the auction. He originally didn’t plan to raise a war pet and bought it somehow. Down...

"Wait, who is that?" A familiar black figure seemed to flash in front of him, and Joshua’s memories were interrupted. His eyes instantly focused, looking into the distance, the figure coming from the main city, subconsciously Muttered: "So familiar."

　　 Just a glance made him feel familiar. This situation couldn't help but make Joshua serious. He urged the horse to approach the slow figure, but the closer he got, the more familiar he felt, but he couldn't think of who it was anyway.

　　 It wasn't until a while later, when he faced the person face to face, that the doubts were resolved, and Joshua said in surprise: "Old housekeeper...Fan?!"

　　, the old man in black housekeeper clothes looked up a little surprised when he heard the sound, and then when he found Joshua, he smiled and dismounted and bowed politely:

　　 "Ah, long time no see, Master Joshua."

　　 Without reply, Qiao Xiuya's eyes were full of suspicious confusion. He also got off the horse, quickly walked over to lift the old housekeeper, and quickly frowned, "Your hair...hands?!"

　　 He held the old housekeeper's hand rudely and looked at it seriously, while the old man just smiled and looked at Joshua, letting him look.

　　 That is an old man's hand.

　　 The skin is already loose, and wrinkles are covered on it. If you get close, you can even see the blue blood vessels and tendons, and the muscles on your arms are no longer as strong as they used to be.

　　 Gazing at these hands, Joshua felt an unknown anger rising from deep in his heart.

　　 That is the anger of Joshua that belongs to this world.

Fan, the old butler of the Radocliffe family, has been taking care of him since he was born. They have lived together for more than ten years, and the relationship is no different from that of father and son. It can even be said that Fanby Joshua’s father Care about him more.

　　 In fact, it is precisely because he is so familiar with this old housekeeper who has lived with him for more than ten years, that's why he feels astonished and angry for these hands.

In the man in front of him, the traces of time are everywhere. Even though the white hair is neatly combed, it still shows the breath of aging, and countless small wrinkles are all over his face. His face is more angular, but this also confirms his weakness again.

According to common sense, it seems normal. This middle-aged man named Fan is no different from the old housekeepers of other families, and his appearance is commensurate with his age—after all, Fan is the same age as his father, and his father is also the same age. It's already over fifty.

　　 A middle-aged man in his 50s and 60s. It's not a strange thing that he has experienced wind and frost, battles, and gray hair.

　　 But this is not normal.

　　 Neither Fan nor Joshua’s father are ordinary middle-aged men!

Leaving aside other things, Belouo de Radcliffe, Earl of Winter, is a knight of the golden rank, which means that his natural life span is two hundred years, and it is not difficult to maintain a life span of three hundred years. Fifties and sixties are even in their heyday for such people.

　　 And where...

When Joshua was born, Fan looked eighteen and twenty years old, when Joshua was running around in the territory, Fan who looked after him looked eighteen and twenty years old, when Joshua was able to wield a great sword father While instructing with a cold face on the side, he smiled quietly beside him, and Fan who served tea looked still eighteen or twenty years old, even when Joshua had joined the army and returned to the territory due to the holiday of the officer’s school. The one who ran out to welcome him to entertain him was still about eighteen and twenty.

In the past, Joshua asked his father this question-even if this is a magical world, youth is still a problem. Except for the elves, it is difficult for him to think of any race that is born forever. But there is no need for the former Patriarch Rudowcliffe to answer. He actually knew that a person with black hair, golden red eyes, and normal ears could not be an elf.

　　 But he is definitely not a human being. There is no doubt that he must be a longevity species.

　　 Until the end, Lord Earl didn't respond to his question head-on, but vaguely said something like "You will know about it later anyway." "This kind of question is meaningless." and so on.

　　 In fact, the humans on the Conflict Continent actually don’t care at all about this kind of problem. The same is true for Joshua. There are so many longevity species around. Maybe the owner of the bar where you often go to drink is an elf. Who has the patience to verify one by one?

　　 But this time is different-something that can make a longevity species age like this is undoubtedly related to a series of recent events-related to the death of Joshua's father.

　　 What happened in the guarded place?

　　 "Fan, what is going on?" Joshua looked up into the eyes of the old man in front of him, with an aggressive attitude: "Answer me!"

　　Since the journey through, the soldier has always had an unreal sense of confusion, although everything here is undoubtedly true, but he has no real feelings, everything is familiar and unfamiliar.

　　 But it's different now. The heart beats fiercely, and the blood rushes all over the body along with anger. Joshua's eyes are extremely cold, as if to pierce the void and point directly at the unknown enemy.

　　 "Guardian place..." The white-haired butler seemed to hesitate. He pondered for a while and said, "My young master, you don't know yet."

　　 "Why?" The words were almost intimidating, and Joshua took a step forward, as if there was no emotional questioning.

"Because young master, you are not'qualified'." I didn't care about Joshua's question, and Fan answered in a brisk tone as in the past, "If you want to know, then you must inherit the title of your father and become Moldavia. Master, the lord who guards this land, this is a contract that cannot be violated and is engraved in my bones."

　　 "Qualification?!"

With a short exclamation, Joshua felt an incredible absurdity, "The Earl of Wintery Belouo has only one descendant, and that is me, the only heir! After he died, he would automatically inherit the title without the emperor granting a title. , I, Joshua, is the natural lord of this land!"

"Now you tell me that I am not qualified? So who has it? That uncle who doesn't know where it came from?" At this point, Joshua couldn't help showing a grinning smile, and said with a vicious look in his eyes: "That's right, he also has the right to inheritance. , Then just kill him."

　　 did not answer this question. The white-haired old man looked at the wrists of Joshua's left and right hands with slightly dim golden-red eyes, then frowned, and shifted his gaze to other places.

"'Qualification' is not some kind of illusory title, but a real object." As if he was considering his words, Fan spoke slowly after a while, and Joshua also listened patiently: "I don't I know where the lord put it, but you should know."

　　 "What is it? Where is it? How can I know!"

　　 "Trust me, Master, all this is not because I don't want to say it, but I can't say it."

Qiao Xiuya is not the kind of person who can be verbose. After discovering that everyone seems to be unable to say anything because of the oath, he didn’t bother to talk, so he simply called up the system, and if he didn’t agree with him, he threw it out as an investigative technique. .

　　 [Investigation Judgment... Level crushing advantage, attribute crushing advantage...]

　　【Successful investigation】

　　[Name: Van Amos]

　　 [Template: Excellence]

　　[Race: Divine Machine-Racial Skill: Divine Machine, Resonate with Bloodline Contractors, Incarnate into a Weapon]

　　 [Level: the contractor is dead, the level is compulsory to 1]

　　 [Property board: the contractor is dead, all attributes are forced to be the basic value]

　　 [Body size: medium humanoid alien life]

　　 [Health: the contractor is dead, the health is forced to be the basic value]

　　【Stamina: the contractor is dead, the stamina is forced to be the basic value】

　　【Incarnation Weapon: Amos Slashing Dragon Sword】

　　【Status: Life passing (10 days remaining life)】

　　 [Occupation: The sixth generation uses a magic machine against the gods / steward]

　　 [Talent: the contractor has died, all talents are forcibly erased]

　　[Skills: the contractor is dead, compulsorily erase all skills]

　　[Equipment: Black Butler Suit]

　　【A powerful weapon, a loyal butler. 】

　　 Wait...Stop! Please stop first!

　　 Joshua felt a little bad—the excessive amount of information surprised him severely, and his expression became weird.

　　 God machine? Qiao Xiuya vaguely remembered that this word was often mentioned in his own battle group for a while before crossing, and the forum was also very hot. It is said to be an ultra-cherished contract race. The specific ability was because he concentrated on pioneering wasteland. Jie Sacrificial Site] didn't care much.

The memory gradually became clear, and Joshua recalled a lot of information. The contract mission of Shenji was indeed in the Northern Empire. It was very difficult and limited time. It was over when he finished the sacrificial field of Ten Thousand Worlds. There is only No more than ten people succeeded in the contract, and the lucky group deliberately concealed information together. The entire mission process was foggy, time passed, the craze cooled, and the magical machine became a rumored race.

　　 But now it seems that the ability of the magic machine should be transformed into a weapon! And the level is definitely extraordinary, like the old butler incarnation of Amos's Dragon Slashing Sword, which is a powerful giant sword that the Earl of Winter Winter is famous for. It once killed twelve white dragons and forced the North White Longyuan to sign a peace. contract!

　　 And the initiator of the mission of the magic machine... seems to be the Radcliffe house in Moldavia!

The information buried deep in the memory gradually recovered, and Joshua felt a sudden realization. Through the comparison of the intelligence of the two worlds, he suddenly discovered that his Radcliffe family had participated in the historical process of the game. Through scattered information, he can even guess what is guarded in his guarded land, and what the so-called mutation is going on now!

　　If he didn't guess wrong...that's really amazing.

　　 But compared to these, what is more important now is the passing state of Fan's life.

　　 "Fan." Joshua looked at the old butler in front of her, frowning, and now he has roughly guessed the truth, so she simply picked up the words and said: "You are running out of time."

　　 "..." Fan was silent.

"Even if you don’t say it, I can guess...but it’s not important anymore. You know, I used to think that when I inherited the family, you are still our housekeeper. My son inherited the family, you are still Our housekeeper!" Joshua just looked at Fan directly: "You are my most important family member, I just want to know what happened to you, nothing more!"

　　 "..." Fan raised his head and looked at Joshua. The original red eyes with gold edges had become less bright due to the passing of vitality. They were muddy, but still sharp.

　　 "I'm very touched." Finally, he seemed to have made up his mind, and said in an extremely serious tone, "But an oath is an oath. I will tell you at most something insignificant."

"As you can see, I am not a human being. A long time ago, my elders and my elders and the Radcliffe parents and sons made a contract to serve you. This contract allows us to live and die together. If I die, I will die soon."

　　 At this point, the white-haired old man bowed: "I'm sorry, but I didn't protect the master."

"I can't say more about other things, even if you guessed it, I can't say. Unless you become the owner of the family, unless you take on the heaviest responsibility of the Radcliffe family , Otherwise I won’t be able to tell you the truth."

　　 In the heavy snow, silence spread.

　　 After a while, Joshua said, "I probably understand."

　　 The soldier sighed and shook away the snow on his body. The sigh was shattered by the cold wind and disappeared in the flying snow: "So, now you have only ten days of life, where are you going now?"

"...Don't be sad for me." Touching his horse, the white-haired old housekeeper looked at Joshua who was expressionless and chuckled: "Dying to fulfill his duty is the most glorious end of the warrior. Whether it is the master or me, I have no shame in my heart."

"Now I want to say, there is only one thing." Turning around, Fan turned his back to Joshua, and said such a sentence, his tone is very meaningful: "Now, we have a group of uninvited guests in our home. It is a pity that , I’m in poor condition now."

　　 "Then, I will sweep away the rubbish, just like you did before." Joshua understood what he was saying: "Clean and leave no one."

　　 "Well, good luck, my master,"

　　 "...bye, Fan."

　　 The old butler got on the saddle and galloped away in the direction opposite to the Moldavian collar.

　　 And Joshua looked at the distance indifferently.

　　 "Become the lord of that township." He whispered, then sneered.

　　 At the end of the field of vision is the main city wall covered by heavy snow, with only a vague shadow.

　　 The uncle who came to the Northland not far away and tried to **** the title from him was there.

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