It was a thin blonde young man, with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, who looked very elegant, he was standing at the back door of a tavern in a daze, and when he heard the footsteps, he subconsciously turned his head, and then he saw Joshua, he was a little dazed at first, but after reacting, he laughed excitedly - but before the blonde young man could say hello, a hand like an iron tong grabbed his throat.

"Chris, I didn't expect to see you here."

Lifting the blonde young man with one hand and pressing it heavily against the wall of the alley, Joshua turned his right hand and inserted the spear into the ground, revealing a kind smile: "It's been a long time, how are you doing lately?" ”

"Hmm-ahem-"

"Oh, forget you can't talk like that." Joshua relaxed the strength of his hand slightly.

"Ahem...... Cousin, what are you doing here? ”

The blonde young man named Chris, whose face was originally reddened, returned to normal a little, and although he was choked by someone, he didn't look very scared: "There's no need to treat me like this as soon as we meet, right?" ”

"Just by the word cousin, if we don't kill you on the spot, even if we have a good relationship." Joshua was not moved at all: "I don't want to think about what your father did. ”

As the dialogue says, the blonde young man Joshua met in the alley was his cheap uncle's son, his cousin, Chris Radcliffe.

It was really lucky, he was a little skeptical that it was a trap.

"Even so, our relationship isn't so bad."

The blonde youth tried to justify: "At least you shouldn't look like you're going to kill me as soon as you meet." ”

After hearing this, Qiao Shuya couldn't help but nodded, in fact, this cousin and Qiao Shuya originally had a good relationship, and the two played together in the snow field when they were young, and they had a bit of brotherhood.

But even so, he didn't let go of his hand.

"Regardless of the previous relationship, Chris, we haven't had any friendship since your father was planning to snatch the title." Said very simply, Joshua didn't bother to care why Chris was here, he gave two requests bluntly: "That's right, now you have to tell me how many guards there are in the lord's mansion, and who is your father's helper, give you ten seconds, and wait for me to slaughter if you don't know it." ”

After speaking, he stared into the eyes of his cousin in front of him and began to count down: "10." ”

Looking at Joshua, Chris's blue pupils constricted behind his glasses, and his head was covered in cold sweat, he was not stupid, and he could see that Joshua was serious - if he didn't get the answer he wanted in ten seconds, this ruthless guy would undoubtedly break his neck bone decisively, regardless of his previous friendship.

"There are twenty-four guards in the lord's palace, fifteen silver low, and six silver, three silver high." Decisively reported the news he knew, the blonde young man was in danger, and said quickly in a cold sweat: "I don't know the help behind it, but there is a guess - by the way, in fact, I don't support the seizure of the title at all, I sneaked out!" ”

Speaking of this, Chris spoke extremely quickly, afraid of being interrupted by Joshua: "You see, my brother, I was very happy when I met you at the beginning, and I believe you can see that I am indeed not in the same group as them!" ”

“…… That's right. ”

No one would lie in this situation, Joshua's face softened a little, but his hand still didn't let go: "But even so, it's more convenient for me to take you as a hostage than to break in, and if you will be injured by mistake, blame your father." ”

"Wait! The mastermind of this knighthood is not my father at all, he is just a pawn, and it is impossible for those real black hands to take my life seriously! ”

Realizing that Joshua didn't have the idea of breaking his neck immediately, Chris breathed a sigh of relief, but after hearing the latter sentence, he immediately became anxious: "Think about it carefully, with my father's status as a non-nobleman, how could he learn the news of his uncle's death so quickly?" ”

Speaking of this, the blonde young man's eyes were very serious: "The day after my uncle's death, a large group of people suddenly appeared, surrounded my family, they negotiated with my father for a long time, and then set off together - but neither I nor my father believe in this group of people, there is no good thing in this world to help in vain, and my escape last night was also because of my father's hints and connivance, otherwise, with my black iron level strength, how could I leave quietly?" ”

"But in any case, there is no doubt that he wants to be an earl."

As a legendary warrior, with the blood flow and the slight movement of his muscles, Joshua could clearly know whether the other party was telling the truth or a lie, hearing this, he let go of his hand, put Chris down, and then shook his head in the cough of the blonde young man: "If he doesn't want to be, no one will come, even if he is used as a pawn, he must be used willingly." ”

Speaking of this, he pulled Chris up from sitting on the ground and asked seriously: "You said that you have some guesses about the origin of that group of people, then tell them all." ”

"The Wilsons house."

Touching his neck with obvious pinching marks, straightening his glasses, Chris's tone was a little scared, but it was very clear, and he said decisively: "The four major counties of the Northland, and only the Wilson Lords have the motivation to attack you, they are a forging family that deals in high-quality weapons and magic accessories, but due to the lava pool, there are more and more dwarves in Moldavia, although the magic jewelry aspect is not affected, but the weapon aspect is being suppressed in all aspects, which is a direct conflict of interests." ”

"It's boring."

Joshua felt that the reason for this was that Moldavia had always befriended the dwarves, so the finishing of ore was the main industry, but recently due to the increase in the number of dwarven blacksmiths willing to accept employment, they also began to try to enter the field of forging and selling weapons and armor, which undoubtedly affected the business of the Wilson family.

There weren't many ways to make money in the Northland, and although it was boring, it was enough for the Wilson family to do it - and speaking of which, only a nobleman of the earl level could come up with a few dozen silver knights and hundreds of soldiers.

If it weren't for the fact that Moldavia had to face the Kuroshio, and the main forces were in the Black Forest fortress, Joshua would actually be able to pull out a hundred or so silver knights, but now, he could only face the enemy alone.

Thinking of this, Joshua suddenly asked curiously: "Chris, you don't seem to like your father's decision very much, you know, even if you are used as a pawn, it is also the title of the earl, and when your father really succeeds to the throne, even the Wilson family will not be able to really control it, at most it is to regain market share - don't you want to be an earl in the future?" ”

"Not everyone wants to be a nobleman, Joshua." With a sigh, the blond young man pushed his glasses and shook his head helplessly: "Everyone has their own pursuits. ”

"I like alchemy, I like business, I like a relaxed and leisurely life - life in the north is too hard, different from the calm south, here the weather is cold, uninhabited, there is a black tide every winter, and my father and I are not strong, we can't lead the team to kill powerful monsters, come here to be a nobleman, it is better to be a commoner in the south."

Speaking of this, Chris's expression was very serious, and he sighed to Joshua: "Listen, I have a fiancée in the south, my own alchemy laboratory, here, I have nothing but an old home, nobility is a privilege, but also a responsibility - I am simply crazy to want to come to this place to fight the Kuroshio before and explore the mountains later, and there is nothing to play, and I can freeze bears to death in winter to be a nobleman!" ”

Joshua: "...... Hearing you say that, I suddenly don't want to compete with your father for the title. ”

Chris is telling the truth, for Joshua, who grew up here, the Northland Mountains are indeed a beautiful landscape, but for Chris, who has lived in the prosperous south of the empire since he was a child, whether it is the atmosphere or the humanity here, it is really not the right way for him - a coming-of-age ceremony is to kill bears empty-handed, and he is embarrassed to greet people if he can't do it, how can he live as an elegant alchemist?

"All in all, cousin, I have your full support in this matter." Chris pretended not to hear Joshua's words, his expression grim: "If you succeed, then my father will be at your disposal." ”

"It doesn't matter if you kill it?"

"I didn't kill him, in fact, he betrayed my mother, but I am the only son, and our relationship is nothing more." Chris didn't look like a joke: "Of course, it's better to look at the same bloodline and spare him a life." ”

"You're doing this to your father? Sure enough, it's my own son......"

Laughing, Joshua's eyes were extremely cold, and in the question and answer that Chris cooperated with just now, he silently pulled out the short knife he had snatched from his waist, and then turned around and threw it towards the end of the alley, a corner shadow!