After a second turmoil and turmoil, Moldavia is back on track, and the main city has ushered in a rare and peaceful night.

The lights of the commercial area are still bright, even if it is already night, there is still a lot of people, blacksmith shops, grocery stores, pharmacies and material buying places are thriving, and adventurers, scattered mercenaries or tourists are mostly sitting in the bar, raising a glass and drinking, and there are even people who have begun to wrench their wrists and compete with the strength of the people with the help of alcohol.

Riding a war horse, Joshua slowly made his way in the darkness towards Beppu, observing his territory.

The total population of Moldavia was nearly a million, and the population of the entire Northland was nearly five million, almost one-twentieth of the total population of the empire.

It obviously occupies a quarter of the northern territory, but the four territories together are not as populated as the big cities in the south, and it seems that no matter what the world is roughly like this, the cold spots are always vast and sparsely populated.

Of course, Joshua also knew that the million people under his name were actually a bit unworthy of the name, and the population density of the Northland was even smaller than everyone thought.

In such a vast land, there are only 420,000 humans under his direct jurisdiction, and the dwarves, gnomes and goblins living in the lava area add up to almost 400,000, and the number of halfling craftsmen, wandering adventurers, mercenaries and other floating populations scattered all over the country is 70,000 or 80,000, plus a little elves and barbarians and other ethnic minorities, the total number is indeed close to one million, but most of them pay taxes to him nominally at most, and some simply live underground, and there is no half of a figure on the ground.

The empire gave Moldavia ninety-seven knightly qualifications, and those who could really have their own fiefs of 10,000 people were in their early twenties, and most of the others were military officers, stationed in various fortresses and small cities, expecting that one day they would be able to make military achievements and get official titles.

Multiracial mixing,This is a big problem,But strictly speaking, it's not very important,Unlike the Eastern Human Federation,The Northern Empire and the Far South Alliance don't care about mixing,In the Far South,Humans and elves often intermarry,The number of half-elves once accounted for one-fifth of the total population,And the empire,Humans and dwarves live in harmony,There is no discrimination or prejudice,Hundreds of years of living together,Let everyone feel that this is a matter of course,No one will think that there is anything wrong with having an elf or dwarf neighbor in their own family, At most, a few words of scolding the group of goblin merchants in the shop.

Of course, there must be a reason why several different races want to live in harmony with each other, and in the Continent of Discord, this reason is the Black Forest.

【Hessian Tide】

The mountains trembled, and ten thousand beasts rushed out of the boundless forest, like the furious waves of the Black Sea.

No one who has never seen this scene can imagine that kind of despair, if it were not for this terrible catastrophe, how could the integration of races be so simple? The fertile land, the active magic, so that the races do not need to worry about food, but have to fight for the continuation of their own lives, in the millennium of wars, the blood of the tribes melted the sand, scattered the wasteland, and this is the origin of the name of the continent of strife.

In the west of the city, Joshua on the war horse was slightly shocked, and he narrowed his eyes and looked at the location of his residence.

"Silver, high-rank, man, not young......"

Talking to himself, in Joshua's vision that had crossed all obstacles, there was a high-ranking silver warrior who was standing near Beppu without any disguise, with a blue-gold fluorescence all over his body, and not far away was his own divine machine.

"This breath feels like an acquaintance, déjà vu."

Driving the war horse, Joshua is not patrolling his territory, this city is his, there is no need to worry about seeing it at all, he can watch it as long as he wants in the future, until he gets tired of seeing it.

It didn't take long for him to ride his horse to the side of the silver high-ranking warrior.

"Munster?"

Seeing the familiar red-edged and black-bottomed trench coat and the golden balance badge on his chest, Joshua knew that this was an inquisitor of the Imperial Noble Court, and looking at that face, it was none other than the acquaintance who had 'judged' him a month ago.

"I haven't seen you for days, new lord, young earl."

Bowing slightly, the middle-aged censor named Munster sighed, "I've been waiting since the sun didn't set in the afternoon. ”

"I didn't make an appointment beforehand, and I didn't send a letter, how did I know you would come back."

Dismounting, Joshua touched the horse's neck, looked at this plain-looking censor, and couldn't help but feel a little headache: "Are you here to tell me any bad news?" ”

"Unfortunately, yes, but it's not a good place to talk about it."

Munster looked sideways at the silver-haired girl who was trotting over at Beppu, shook his head and said, "Then again, this little subordinate of yours is loyal and dutiful, and he won't even let me near the courtyard. ”

"Master!"

Running to Joshua's side, Hotaru looked at the two of them with some confusion: "Do you know him?" ”

"Ah, I do know, I guess it's an acquaintance."

Patting the little head of the god girl, Joshua praised with a smile: "Good job, worthy of encouragement, how is today?" ”

"It's good, I've gotten to know most of the things in the house, and I've learned how to cook."

"Oh? That's a good thing, it's a quick learner. ”

Munster looked at the two guys who had already chatted naturally, and couldn't help but remind: "Ahem...... Are you going to stand outside and talk? ”

"That's right."

Joshua looked around, then nodded, he patted Hotaru on the shoulder, and motioned, "Hotaru, you lead Hei to the stable first, and I'll take this guest to talk about something." ”

"The black chief is so strong and mighty, how good it is to call it the black king, why do you have to call it the black ......?"

"If it's a dragon, let alone the Black King, it doesn't matter if I call it Nidhogg or Nesario, but it's just a horse, so don't say more, let's go."

Hotaru walks to the stable with the obedient Black, while Joshua leads Munster to the gate.

"She called you master?"

"Yes, Hotaru is my head maid."

The examiner of the aristocratic court shook his head expressionlessly and said, "It is illegal to abuse child labor...... I didn't expect you to have such a hobby. ”

Joshua opened the door and frowned, "She's the same age as me, how can she be a child laborer?" ”

Hotaru's core was made from his right wrist bone when he was born, and if you have to be serious, the two are indeed the same age.

"I can't see it at all."

Munster seemed to be still wondering, "Is it an elven half-blood?" Is it slower than the average person? Or is there fairy blood? ”

While talking, the two of them had already entered the mansion and arrived in the reception room.

"Alright, please take a seat."

Stretching out his hand to signal, Joshua also simply sat down by himself, sitting on the chair, his face was slightly solemn: "I can't wait to tell me the bad news that you can wait outside the door for a long time, but I really can't wait to know." ”

"It's important, but it's not in a hurry......"

Munster looked back and forth at the black-haired and red-eyed warrior in front of him, and sighed a little: "Although I have heard rumors and felt this way outside before, I really didn't expect that you would really advance to gold, and in a month, you would leap from the silver high level to such a point...... It's incredible. ”

Isn't it level three, as for being so surprised?

"Accidentally, after running on the road for seventeen days, I don't know what happened and suddenly became stronger."

With a perfunctory and insincere expression, Joshua looked into the eyes of the censor, as if he wanted to see something: "Don't tell me that you came to the Northland from the Northwest Orc Plains just to marvel at my advancement to gold. ”

"Naturally not."

Shaking his head, Munster stopped talking, as if he didn't know where to start, and after a while, he simply moved on to another topic: "Lord Count, I don't know if you know that the Ural Fortress has been closed to more than ten people?" ”

"Not long ago, the group of people from the Chamber of Commerce told me."

"Then you should also know that there is a riot in the middle of the empire."

The examiner continued to question.

"That's true." Joshua tapped his fingers on the armrest of the seat, his brows furrowed, and he said simply: "No need to twist and turn, Munster, just say what you want to say, you and I are both born in the military, why be so cautious." ”

After a moment of silence, the noble court inquisitor, the spokesman of the emperor's will, sighed, and his face was solemn: "The wind of black erosion has risen from the south, and an unknown plague has spread in the depths of the Black Forest everywhere...... It has crossed the Ural Mountains to the Northland, which means that this year's Kuroshio will be earlier than ever, and more fierce and unstoppable. ”

"The imperial capital has judged that the severity of this Black Tide will be increased by three levels, and it is even very likely that there will be multiple gold-level demonic beasts."

Speaking of this, Munster's face was unprecedentedly serious, he put his hand into his arms and took out a small box: "Earl, you have just encountered this kind of accident when you succeeded to the throne, and your luck is indeed a little bad, although you have advanced to gold, there should still be some distance compared to your father...... And here, it is the care from the imperial capital. ”

When he said the last sentence, Munster's tone was already with the highest level of respect, looking at his expression, although the censor didn't know why the emperor would treat the person in front of him so specially, he didn't hesitate: "Take it, this is given to you by His Majesty." ”

As he spoke, he handed the box carved in mahogany and densely packed with runes in front of Joshua.