Soul of Burning Steel

"You mean, our dear Earl Radcliffe has once again left his territory and gone somewhere?"

In the world of Mycroft, the imperial capital of the Northern Empire, and the imperial study of the Morlaix Palace, Israel raised his head from the stacks of documents. The majestic and tall emperor blinked his eyes and looked The visitor waited for a while, and then continued to ask in a familiar tone: "How long have you been away?"

When speaking, Israel's right hand was still correcting the memorial and various documents and asking for instructions, while his left hand was holding a rather small silver barbell, and was exercising up and down. The emperor's tone was calm and soft , but anyone could hear the helplessness and unhappiness in his tone.

"Ahem...Father, you know, the Moldavian territory no longer needs to be directly controlled by the lord..."

In front of the desk, the second prince of the empire, Di Moore, coughed softly. He drooped his eyes and showed a look of shame on his face. Regarding Israel's question, Di Moore said in a rather awkward tone: "So the territory is operating as usual, if it is not The sixth brother is visiting Winterhold Academy, we may not know the news yet..."

"Well, it means that no one knows where Lord Radcliffe has gone, and no one knows when he will return, and his territory has even been used to this for a long time. It’s running as usual—he’s only been back to Mycroft Continent for a few days now? Why did he run out again!”

Israel sighed, he put down the pen in his right hand, and continued to exercise with his left hand. His Majesty the Emperor leaned back on the big chair to summarize the news about Joshua, but halfway through, he slapped his thigh angrily. : "Nonsense! He is also an imperial nobleman, at least he should consider his own identity! Why is this person like a wandering adventurer, why can't he stay in one place quietly for half a year?!"

"What if there is any unexpected event, such as the sudden invasion of the abyss demon, but others can't find it?"

——That would not be the case.

The emperor was unhappy here, but Di Moore stood aside, silently thinking about the voice of the black-haired soldier, and said in his heart: Abyssal demons invaded? How could that man miss such a thing.

"Father, Earl Radcliffe is also a legendary powerhouse after all, so there is no need to report his usual actions to us."

Although he thought so in his heart, Di Moore would not say it. At this time, after thinking for a while, he suggested to Israel: "The title of earl is very important for a legendary strongman with great achievements. As far as he is concerned, it is really too small, it is normal for him not to care about the territory, we may consider..."

But Israel shook his head and interrupted Di Moore. He first glanced impatiently at the numerous documents on the table, then waved to his son and said, "Don't think about it, Di Moore, I'm not angry, and It’s not that Joshua did something wrong, but on the contrary, legends should live as they please, and this is their rightful privilege.”

"As for the territory and title, do you think he will care? If I give him all the uninhabited land north of the Great Ajax Mountains and give him the title of Duke of North Frost, do you think Joshua will be happy? ?”

of course not.

Without any thought, Di Moore could come to this conclusion. Joshua may be very concerned about the development of Moldavia, but this is only because this territory was passed down from his father's generation. If the entire Great Ajax Mountain Range is really If both the Extreme Arctic Ice Field and the Blind Sea area were allocated to each other, and then he was given the title of duke, Joshua would definitely not feel too much identification with the entire empire because of this, but would feel inexplicable and irritated.

"Legendary powerhouses are all like this. They cannot be restrained. Look at all the legends on the entire continent, which one is not like this? As for Mr. Nostradamus and me, they are special cases. He needs the support of the entire empire to achieve it. ideal, and me."

"I am the Emperor Diamond of the Northern Empire first, and then the legendary strong Israel. This is my responsibility."

Saying this in a peaceful tone, Israel squinted at Di Moore, and he said in a rather playful tone: "My child, I put you by my side in order to wait for you to take over I have a heavy burden on my back, but now it seems that you have lacked tempering recently, and the speed of your strength improvement has slowed down."

"My fault, Father! Life has been too easy these days, and I have indeed neglected a lot!"

Being evaluated by Israel in this way, Di Moore couldn't help feeling his heart sank, and an inexplicable sense of shame surged in his heart. He immediately knelt down on one knee, and said in an extremely serious self-reflection: "In a few days, I will go to Experience in the depths of the Black Forest, the southern fortress, and you will never slack off!"

"It doesn't have to be."

Weighing the silver barbell with his left hand, Israel narrowed his eyes and smiled. He stood up and motioned for Di Moore to stand up too. His Majesty the Emperor handed the barbell in his hand to the other side with his son's somewhat bewildered eyes. hands.

"This, this is?! Well———"

At the beginning, Di Moore didn't care much. It was just a barbell, no matter how heavy it was. As an existence that was only one line away from Jiyi, even a monster weighing dozens of tons could be regarded as a ball of paper. Rubbing, but the moment he took the barbell, the handsome face of the second prince, who had no defense at all, distorted immediately, and the floor of the imperial study room exploded instantly, with cracks spreading in all directions: "Ka...no way!"

Fiercely burning his grudge, Di Moore held the barbell that looked like the size of an ordinary person's arm in both hands, his arms were bulging with veins, his eyes were bloodshot, he barely raised his head, gritted his teeth and looked at Israel and said: " Father, what, what is this thing?!"

"It's the exercise equipment that Mr. Radcliffe gave me not long ago. It is said that it is made of very rare materials. Now I will pass it on to you."

Seeing that Di Moore seemed to be about to catch up with his next breath, Israel not only showed no worry, but he seemed very satisfied. His Majesty the Emperor even stepped forward and patted Di Moore on the shoulder, and said softly Said: "When you can lift this barbell almost freely without damaging the surrounding environment, then you are almost barely enough to take over my position."

Having said that, Israel turned his head and looked out of the window of the study. The magnificent palaces reflected the golden brilliance of the sun. His tone was as calm as usual, without the slightest ups and downs: "Work hard, Di Moore, the era of war is almost over. , a new era is at hand.”

"After doing what I have to do, I will not sit on the throne forever."

After leaving such a meaningful sentence, Israel left his study room, sweating profusely, trying to control his own strength. Di Moore, who did not damage the surrounding environment when grabbing the barbell in his hand, was among them. When the second prince used his power as much as possible, he thought about the deep meaning of his father's words.

"Could it be..."

...

Mycroft World, Northern Empire, Northern Moldavia, main city.

Generally speaking, the local hunters and farmers in the Northland would affectionately call this city of black iron located in the center of the Moldavian territory 'the place of the lord'. Traders and their like will respectfully call the city's real name, 'Moldavia'.

The name of the main city is the name of the territory. This is a very normal thing for the entire Mycroft continent, especially for the Northern Empire. This is a tradition that has been passed down for nearly a thousand years, and it is true almost everywhere.

However, at this time, Moldavia is no longer a small city with a population of only a few hundred thousand. Today, it has completely become a super large urban agglomeration with a population of over one million.

Taking the most central 'inner city', that is, the original main city as the origin, four large satellite cities have been established in the four directions of east, west, south, east and northwest with the help of mana machines. Hunters and herbalists all walked out of the forest under official guidance, settled in these satellite cities, and officially became part of the city. When they noticed the tall buildings and conspicuous mana towers in the satellite cities, these were almost still The hunters and mountain people in the primitive era were all surprised and speechless.

If it weren't for the Kuroshio, the dragon disaster and the continuous attacks of cultists, it would be almost impossible for the mountain people who usually live in seclusion in the mountains and never come out except for trading necessary supplies to move into the city. The reason why the Moldavian officials have repeatedly emphasized the importance of relocating the mountain people is precisely because the mana factories that are being popularized in the territory urgently need a lot of labor. For this reason, the Moldavian officials even accepted many people from other countries Adventurers in the territories and countries, let them easily obtain permanent residency.

A few years ago, when the Moldavian Lord's Mansion and the rune dwarves of the North jointly developed the first magic mecha, the modernization of the magic power of the entire territory had been written into the plan. The establishment of Winterhold College, the joining and joint research of high-level talents from the Imperial Academy of Wizards and the Church of the Seven Gods, the originally quite primitive magic energy factory has also updated its equipment and produced products from generation to generation, changing this situation little by little. The style of the ancient city.

It may sound unbelievable, but in just six years or so, the whole of Moldavia has achieved semi-magic transformation. With the help of the magic spar veins around Palmprint Lake, the magic energy research directly under Winter Castle Academy As the center, huge mana furnace cores are produced one by one, and then transported to the other side, loaded underground in the city, supplying the needs of many public facilities, and more than 20 mana factories are scattered in the four major satellite cities In various places, common equipment such as magic stoves are produced.

Today, the original weapons and armor business of the Radcliffe family has been gradually replaced by the export of magic equipment. With a large amount of funds returned, almost all factory managers decided to expand the factory, but only It is not enough to have equipment. It is always people who control tools. In order to obtain cheap labor, these factories are responsible for promoting the Moldavian officials to absorb as many migrants as possible, and select suitable people from them to enter the factory. They are not afraid of any potential safety hazards and technology leaks, because the owner of these factories is a powerful legendary powerhouse. Even if this legendary powerhouse is excluded, there are also the Royal Mages Association of the Northern Empire and the Church of the Seven Gods as their backing. .

"Brother, is this Moldavia?"

In the southern satellite city, in the commercial area around the gate of the city, with the sound of heavy footsteps, a huge dragon cart slowly stopped beside the newly built post station, and the crowd got off the dragon cart in an endless stream, a team stationed at the post station The city guards stood together, maintaining the order of the team.

And in the team, there was a gray-haired little girl who looked less than ten years old. At this time, she was sitting in the arms of a tall man, biting her thumb, and murmured indistinctly: " There are so many people, much more than the old family... Will we live here in the future?"

"Yeah, little Lanni, the house here is very cheap, even with our savings, we can buy it!"

Holding the gray-haired little girl in his arms, he walked to a relatively open corner, carrying two huge luggage packages on his back, and the tall man with gray hair said softly to his sister. This man had scars on his face that seemed to be clawed by some wild beast, and various scars on his bare thick arms, making him look extremely hideous and not easy to mess with, but even such a hideous man, at this moment But he showed a sincere smile: "Moldavia is now a famous big city in the northern empire, and it is much better to find a job here than in my hometown."

"Then, Brother Priest won't fight those monsters again?" The little girl seemed worried and said, "You won't suddenly leave for more than half a year, leaving me alone with my aunt?"

"No, Britney, it's safe here, and I won't leave you again."

Recalling a few years ago, the tall man named Priest had a rather sad expression on his face. A few years ago, in the strange black tide and dragon disaster that almost swept across half of the continent, many areas of the Northern Empire were attacked in varying severity, and there happened to be a group of green dragons inhabiting around his hometown.

In order to defend their homeland and support the arrival of reinforcements from the imperial army, the parents of the two brothers and sisters paid the price with their lives, and Priest was also seriously injured. , but the farmlands and pastures in his hometown have been eroded by the venom, and they will be unusable for the next ten years.

In order to support himself, and to keep his younger sister from living a hard life, Priest entrusted his younger sister Britney to his aunt, and he joined a caravan with his tall and strong physique. Transporting and selling special products back and forth...Although it is hard work, and it is very easy to be attacked by wild monsters and robbers, the salary of this job is indeed quite good. Just two years of struggle gave Prest a fortune. With a lot of capital, you can consider finding a place to settle down and live a stable life.

Moldavia is the place chosen by Prest.

"This place is really peaceful..."

The tall man recalled what happened all the way, and couldn't help letting out a sigh of joy: From the Ural Mountains to the main city of Moldavia, the dragon cart passed through four or five forests and passed through two large plains. , but on this journey, not only were there no robbers, there were not even any attacking monsters! For the people on the mainland of Mycroft, this is completely unbelievable. Who would not encounter a few monsters when traveling?

But around Moldavia, there is nothing! No, it would be better to say that even if there were, no monster would dare to attack humans.

After all, it is the city where the legendary powerhouse sits. Priest was grateful for his choice. Within the majesty of the dragon slayer lord, even the most ferocious dragon beast would never dare to attack a child even a few years old.

After resting for a while, the tall man took out a map from his pocket. After looking down for a while, he continued to hug the drowsy little girl who seemed to be about to fall asleep and walked to the other side of the city. Since Lester chose to settle in Moldavia, he had already made all the preparations. A friend of a caravan he used to work for also quit the caravan and settled here. Because of the other party's invitation, he made up his mind to come to the end of the continent, the far north.

"Prest! You came here so fast! I thought you would have to wait until autumn at least... This is your sister? She is such a lovely girl, and she will definitely be a beautiful woman when she grows up!"

Arriving at the east of the southern satellite city, next to a magnificent building that looks like a trapezoidal pyramid, Prest, who was shocked by the pyroxene street lamps and magic energy towers along the way, successfully found him according to the address and asked the locals The address left by the friend was in front of a two-story single-family building. Prest knocked on the door, and then took a step back when he heard the hurried footsteps coming from the house. Then, the door opened, and he saw I missed my friend who was full of surprises and hadn't seen him for a long time.

"Dear Dar, it was your invitation that made me make up my mind."

The two brothers and sisters were invited into the house. Dahl asked Pronost and Britney to sit aside, and he went to prepare tea. The blond man with a vicissitudes of life was putting the tea at his friend's table. Priust quickly thanked her, but the little girl Britney had already fallen asleep coiled in a chair because of the exhaustion of the journey.

Added a blanket for the little girl, and after reminiscing for a while, Dahl said with emotion: "Thanks to the kindness and generosity of the lord, the housing prices in Moldavia are almost the same as free gifts, even for me A guy with little savings can also have a small building of his own."

"This is really enviable. You know, in my hometown, in the cities around the southern desert, a single-family house made of stone needs at least 1,500 gold coins to buy."

Prost drank the tea in his hand in one gulp, he was naturally very envious. Dahl was a member of the caravan with him back then, and the two helped each other, and each saved the other's life several times. Their relationship was deeper than that of real brothers. Because of this, he also knew that Dahl spent a lot of money on weekdays. , the savings are far less than his, even if he can buy such a good house, then he will definitely not be far behind.

"But beware, Prost, such low housing prices won't last long."

After refilling a cup of tea for his friend, Dahl said in a low voice with a rather mysterious tone: "To be honest, because there are too many people who want to become residents of Moldavia in the recent period, it has been far away. It exceeded the expectations of the Lord's Mansion, so now the purchase conditions for the houses in the four major satellite cities have been restricted."

"What conditions?!"

Hearing this, Priust was naturally very nervous. You know, he wandered all the way from the south of the empire, and then came to Moldavia, which has excellent conditions, and is ready to settle down, but now he is suddenly told that the purchase conditions of the house are limited. How could you not be in a hurry.

"Don't be nervous, friend, since I invited you here, I have already thought about everything... Although I'm a bit impolite, I have to say that I have my own purpose."

Dahl smiled. This young man, who appeared to be vicissitudes on the surface, no longer kept his secrets. He said bluntly: "If you want to buy a house at the previous discounted price, you need to obtain a 'permanent resident certificate from Moldavia. ', and to obtain a permanent resident card, you need a serious job in Moldavia! And what is a serious job? It's not an adventurer, it's not washing dishes in a bar, and it's not a businessman. Only those who work for the Lord's Mansion are considered serious. Work!"

"Prest."

Speaking of this, Dahl's expression gradually became serious: "Have you heard of the 'Magic Energy Factory'?"

...

"Not bad, great guy, your physique looks very suitable to work here...Dahl, the person recommended by you is really not bad, go, take this voucher, and go to the financial front desk to receive your reward .”

"Okay, Mr. Round, I'm going now-Prest, don't be so worried, you must meet the requirements!"

A few days later, in the huge trapezoidal building, Prest with a nervous face stood inside the structure of the magic energy factory that seemed to be made entirely of steel and crystal, and looked down at the burly man in front of him with anxiety. , the dwarf with a big beard patted his knee, the dwarf who claimed to be in charge of the factory seemed very satisfied with his physical fitness: "Our work in the 'Rune Spirits Factory' is not high-tech, although the requirements are relatively high. It is fine, but it is easy to learn. Compared with the brain, the most important thing is the physical fitness that can work for eighteen hours continuously during overtime...Of course, the overtime pay must be based on the standard of the Lord's Mansion, so you don't have to worry about paying. return."

Under the rambling narration of the dwarf factory owner named Rand, Prest finally understood the current situation.

His friend Dar, is now working in this rune spirits factory. This factory produces some strange magical energy equipment, but due to the shortage of manpower, it is very difficult for the factory to complete the order normally, and often needs to work overtime. Therefore, the dwarf Lande, who is the owner of the factory, has set a reward for anyone who can find a suitable one. If he is a worker reserve, he is willing to pay a fee. Dahl naturally thought of his friend immediately, so he invited him to Moldavia.

In this regard, Prest is naturally very happy - anyway, according to this Lang De said, the production of magic machinery does not require the operator to have any magic knowledge, only need to remember the correct operation process, and enough physical strength to process it That's it, men naturally believe that they can do it. What's more, the strange magic mechanical structure they are producing now called "Fairy Card Table" is not complicated. The core components are produced by other factories or research centers, and they are just sent to them for assembly.

After a short few days of training, Prest has successfully learned how to assemble the fairy card table. According to his serious character, he is naturally appreciated by the factory owner Lande. With the help of his friend Dahl, Prest Lester has naturally mingled with other workers in the entire factory.

As workers, their salaries are related to their working hours, but even in the most leisurely eight-hour working hours, Prest earns more than he did as a caravan guard before. Somehow, they produce This goblin card table is extremely popular, and it is even heard that nobles and even royal families buy these things, so the rune spirits factory will never lack orders, and there is almost no leisure time.

In the tense work, the time flies like a flow, and in a trance, several months have passed.

"By the way, Prest, you don't seem to be twenty-five, do you?"

One day, the dwarf Ronde was touring the production workshop. He walked up to Prest who was carefully manipulating the workbench and assembling the fairy cards. He suddenly asked, "It seems to be in his early twenties."

"Ah, director, I am twenty-four years old, and I will be twenty-five before winter."

I don't know why Lande asked this question, but Prest answered while working. In fact, his age is only 21 years old, but he lied about his age in order to join the caravan, and now he has slowly accepted the saying that he is 24 years old, which is not a big deal anyway.

"That's it... To be honest, our factory actually only belongs to the Lord's Mansion and the College of Winterhold. There are actually a few recommended places in the factory from the Warlord Department of the College of Wintercastle. Employees who meet the requirements They went for a few for their children, and now there is one left, you are not yet twenty-five years old, theoretically you are eligible to try to fight for it."

"The test was before winter. To be honest, I think your physique and physical strength are not comparable to many students at school... I heard from Dale that you once fought against the green dragon and survived." , This is innate divine power!"

Having said that, there is no need to continue talking. Looking at the sincere eyes of the dwarf factory owner, Prest opened his mouth wide. He clenched his fists and said in a low voice: "...the factory manager , I will definitely work hard!"

"Effort is not enough, what you need is to work hard—and don't be too grateful to me, it is more cost-effective to bring out a possible professional than a hard worker. Anyway, if you fail, you can only come back and continue Die for me."

After waving his hand, Langde laughed, but immediately, he turned to leave with a straight face: "Okay, let's continue working. Today, there will be a partner coming to check the quality of the product. Don't be distracted."

"of course not!"

...

Moldavia, the official welcome hotel built by the Lord's Mansion.

The sixth prince, Adrian, sat helplessly on the edge of the bed in his room, looking at the four villains in different colors with dragonfly-like wings in front of him, who were having an impassioned discussion that he couldn't understand at all.

Since Adrian reached a series of agreements with the Moldavian lord's mansion and the Northland dwarves, and got the assistance of four large rune factories in the Northland, the goblin card table, which was originally expensive in raw materials, was immediately replaced by everyone's wisdom. Step by step, it has become cheaper through various means. Nowadays, almost every tavern in the entire Northland has a few fairy card tables for customers to play, and in the noble circle, getting a fairy card table with a special style and default card back is also part of showing off. This little gadget that he only thought had potential at first, suddenly became so popular, which really made Adrian feel a little unbelievable.

"Could it be that I'm actually a business genius?"

Although this kind of thought occasionally arises, Adrian knows that if his father is not Emperor Israel, if Earl Radcliffe is not his father's friend, if the Northland dwarves are not loyal to this dragon slayer Overlord, if he doesn't have a good relationship with the goblins... he can't do anything, even if he can create a goblin card table, it will only end up being taken away by other big forces.

Of course, the most important thing is the few 'fairies' who have designed almost all the elf cards.

In the hotel room, on Adrian's bed, four elemental fairies who had left the imperial capital Morlaix Palace at some unknown time were giving a very fiery speech.

"My fellow citizens!"

The whole body is blue, as if it is a fairy incarnated by the wind element. 'Changfeng''s delicate and beautiful little face like a doll is full of blood. We call the wind and shake the rain, among the many races, we goblins are not only top-notch, but at least at the pillar level! Whether it is stabilizing the situation on the mainland or adjusting various natural disasters, we do our best, without any mistakes, just a little. Obtaining the right to rule the mainland... Okay, okay, not a little bit, and let alone a sage, a sage is beyond the standard. At that time, who in the entire continent would think that a sage would emerge from the human race? Let alone it Those of us younger generations, the fairy queens of the past, didn't even think of that!"

Although the speech was refuted by other goblins who didn't give the slightest bit of face back at the beginning, Changfeng still didn't show any flinching on her face. She clenched her small fists and said firmly: "Don't talk so much. ——The Fairy Queens have already known our current achievements in Fairy Township, Your Majesty thinks it has great potential! The Fairy Card is undoubtedly our Fairy's return to the main material world to obtain the first fund An important channel for us! Israel has no time to help us, so we will do it ourselves!"

"Let those humans know that we goblins don't ask for help!"

"Tootoo..."

"Yeah……"

"Changfeng, what you said is awesome, when can we go back?"

The other three fairies, representing earth, fire and water respectively gave out sparse applause, among which the fire elemental goblin named Guang Yan complained impatiently: "Adrian, it's so boring here. , I don’t want to accompany Chang Feng to design any cards here, why don’t you take us out for a spin.”

While talking, Guangyan tried to get close to the sixth prince's arm, but she was immediately driven away by the tense wind: "Go, go, go, it's fine if you don't plan to help, and even tried to abduct my student! I want to play with you!" Go find Israel by yourself, but I found Adrian, and I will never let it to you!"

Alas, I am not your toy.

He sighed deeply in his heart. For some reason, Adrian, who is very popular with fairies, really wanted to roll his eyes, but at this moment he could only show a wry smile, echoing Chang Feng's words: "Yes, yes, Chang Feng teacher……"

In fact, the sixth prince knew that what Changfeng said was not wrong at all. The goblins could indeed rely on the publicity and funds brought by the goblin cards to return to the world of Mycroft... At that time, most of them had played People in the fairy card will not reject the fairy as a part of the human world. But why did the goblin who lived in the goblin town for nearly a thousand years suddenly think of returning to the mainland? Regarding this point, Adrian felt that there must be some important news behind it that he didn't know.

With the direct support of her students, Changfeng immediately became proud. She looked around at the one or two other spirits who were listless, flapped her little wings behind her, and said in a very serious tone: "Again! Once again, we goblins don’t ask for help! The promotion of goblin cards is imperative!"

"yes……"

And at the same time when several other goblins answered in unison in a listless tone, in the distance, the Great Ajax Mountains.

Accompanied by the violent fluctuations of time and space and the sudden rise of most of the strong men in the main city and Winterhold Academy, a pure white airship with countless densely packed mysterious runes floating around it was accompanied by bursts of faint blue ripples. , pierced through time and space, and appeared on the Great Ajax Volcano.

A black-haired man took the hand of a dragon girl, stepped out of the airship, stood in mid-air, and looked down at the land.

"I'm back."

The man stared at this familiar land, familiar city, and familiar mountains, and smiled. Behind him, two legendary mages also stepped out of the airship, releasing their legendary energy without any concealment. The fluctuation, immediately, accompanied by the spread of unparalleled majesty, everyone in the entire Moldavia knew it in an instant.

Their lord, has returned to his land.

Although the update was stopped yesterday because of the outline, but today I made up 9000 words, and a new volume starts, please ask for a monthly pass!