Since the conflict between the Northern Empire and the orc tribes living around the Tatarus Plateau in the northwest more than 400 years ago, the shadow of war has never escaped this vast country. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Inspired by shamans and ancient spirits, any orc, even a minor female orc, can become a warrior, and their physique is far superior to that of human beings in the face of primitive creatures with bone clubs and stone spears.

No one could have predicted that this primitive tribal extermination war, which was optimistically estimated to end in about three months, would last for nearly 500 years, and during this long period of war and truce, the primitive orcs quickly imitated human civilization, they tried to plow the fields, plant pasture to raise cattle and sheep, they built workshops and rudimentary sacrificial temples, learned from human craftsmen to build iron armor, built fortresses, and even the wise men among them could think about the mysteries of magic.

War has revolutionized the orc race, and the same has been true for the Northern Empire.

The nobles in the northwest of the empire have suffered a great blow because of the two-year invasion of the orcs, several families that have existed at the beginning of the founding of the country have completely disappeared, large tracts of ownerless land are vacant, and the empire's economy has been on the verge of collapse several times, and it has also rapidly leaned towards the direction of the military industry.

The best of these workshop owners and mine owners, as well as warriors who excelled in the army and orc battles, became the new owners of the vacant lands in the Northwest, and these new noble families became the main force to resist the orc invasion, and their family industry gradually became part of the economic lifeblood of the empire.

The annual beast tide in the south and the endless wars in the northwest have kept the empire from developing with peace of mind, and most of the new nobles have been declining in just a few decades, until another family replaces them.

But even so, for more than 400 years, there are a few families that have survived, and they have now become behemoths, controlling most of the mineral, construction, metallurgy, transportation, textiles, and enchantment industries of the empire. In terms of economy, the old-school aristocracy who was an agrarian was far behind by these later generations, but after all, this is a world of vindictiveness and magic, and in terms of individual strength, the old-school aristocracy with perfect inheritance experience still has the advantage.

Joshua's Radcliffe family, which was also part of the new aristocracy, explored the Great Ajax Mountains in the north in search of new veins and sources of resources in order to intensify the war.

But now, the orcs are extinct, and the war, which has lasted for more than four hundred years, is over.

The empire's deformed economic system was constantly returning to normal, most notably in demand for minerals and metallurgy, and it was rumored that the current emperor Israel was even preparing to reduce the number of private troops of the northwestern aristocracy within a few years, closing most of the dangerous temporary mines and workshops.

Power and money are the lifeblood of a family. Without power, there is no way to protect money, and without money, there is no way to cultivate power.

This move of Israel undoubtedly touched the core interests of the vast majority of the new aristocracy - the arrival of peace meant the disappearance of the policy of war, their importance rapidly diminished, the loss of the Imperial military, the largest purchaser, and the closure of a large number of production facilities, undoubtedly brought incalculable economic losses.

If it were an ordinary world empire, then this time might be the beginning of a civil war, but in the Mycrof continent, no one dared to challenge the majesty of the legendary powerhouse. The emperor said one, no one dared to say two, Israel was able to drive the expedition and set foot on the orc court, and he certainly didn't mind taking action to wipe out one or two stupid nobles who dared to challenge the majesty of the royal family to kill chickens and monkeys.

The aristocracy can only swallow the bitter fruit.

It was the early hours of the morning, and a knight rode slowly on the outskirts of Setti, not far from the emperor, and he passed through the fields full of moist water vapor to a quiet little town. There was a sparkling river at the entrance to the town, and the knights walked across the smooth stone bridge, crossed several streets, and finally stopped at the door of a nondescript manor.

The knight dismounted, and reported his intention to the servant of the manor, and the white-haired servant glanced at him a few times, and then on the simple armor, the old man saw the low-key coat of arms.

'Iron fist'

The iron fist of the Empire, the coat of arms of the Feltao family.

So, he nodded politely, and went back to the house to report to the steward, and soon a stern-looking butler walked through the manor and took a letter from the knight.

A short time later, there was a knock on the door of a room deep in the manor, and Kleiman Suward awoke from his sleep.

Although he woke up unexpectedly, Kleiman was not angry, and the middle-aged man with long dark brown hair took two seconds to completely break free from the illusion of his dream, and then began to think calmly.

If there is nothing important, his deputy does not disturb his sleep on weekdays, and since it is disturbed, then it means that there must be something important. The middle-aged man with such a logic in his mind quickly dressed and walked out of the door, and he immediately saw his deputy waiting for him. As the largest ore supplier in the northwest of the empire, the spokesperson of the Suward family in the imperial capital, Kleiman, the second son of the family, believed very much in this deputy who had assisted him for many years, and he did not pretend to be serious, but yawned and complained: "What's the matter? I haven't had a good night's sleep in almost two months. ”

"Letter from the Feltao family." The deputy, who looked to be about fifty years old, immediately replied, "The Grand Knight Nack personally sent it, it must have something to do with 'that incident'." ”

"They're not done yet?" Kleiman took out a vial of amethyst from his pocket, sniffed it, and an extremely fresh and sobering smell poured into his nasal cavity, making him completely enter the working state: "It's been half a month, isn't there any result?" ”

Speaking of this, Kleiman frowned, and he said with some annoyance: "They didn't make a move? ”

"No, it did, but the situation was a little weird, and Nack felt that something was not quite right, and he said that his master was not sure about the situation."

"Except for the eldest son, the new generation of the Fertao family is a bit of a waste." Kleiman said disdainfully, although he is only the second son of the family and cannot inherit the title of the Suward family, but he is the spokesperson of the family in the imperial capital, controlling most of the secrets of the industry, and even his eldest brother must rely on him in the future to manage the entire family smoothly.

Having said that, Kleiman still took the envelope from the deputy's hand, opened it, roughly swept the contents, and then his expression distorted.

"What did they do?!"

The future number two of the Suwards let out a low roar, with a hint of fear in his anger: "Kill them all?!" These hellish dwarves, idiots mixed with dwarves, are their heads made of stone?! ”

The Feltao family used to be of mixed blood with dwarves, so most of the family members are not tall, and it is precisely because of the dwarven blood and human wisdom that they can become one of the largest arms suppliers in the empire.

Seeing this, the deputy took the letter from Kleiman's hand, and he also glanced at it roughly, and then gasped: "Oh my God—this is not in order!" ”

"Of course." Kleiman subconsciously took out the amethyst vial again, which contained a high-concentration refreshing potion, which was the favorite of mages who like to stay up late to study, he took a sip before calming down: "The Radcliffe family is unruly, trying to grab the cake of the weapons market at this time when everyone is very difficult, it is normal for those dwarves to want to threaten, but they have gone too far this time." ”

Now, it is the Empire's long-lost time of peace, and after the war with the orcs, the Empire's weapons and ore market has shrunk as a whole, and many workshops are unable to receive orders and are on the verge of bankruptcy. Fortunately, the Suwards are in high demand even in peacetime, and although they are a little uncomfortable, they are not very difficult, but unlike the nobles like the Feltao, who started by forging weapons, they are in an unprecedented moment of crisis.

But the Radcliffe family is even worse at this time, this Northland family is one of the special ore suppliers of the five directly subordinate legions that have been granted royal privileges, even if the war is over, it can't affect their business, but the new earl doesn't seem to be satisfied, he actually started to produce and sell finished weapons and armor at a time when all the new nobles were extremely difficult, and grabbed business from other families that were already very difficult.

Cutting off one's fortune is the enemy of life and death, this sentence is the same all over the world, and the Fertao family, who are the most affected, must be going crazy, as can be seen from the actions of their spokesman for the imperial capital, who has been trying to harass the Radcliffe family's shops and properties for a while.

"One, two, three...... Six people. ”

Kleiman rubbed his forehead fiercely, he looked very distressed: "The Seven Gods are above, he killed most of the spokesmen of the Radcliffe family in the imperial capital...... This is no longer a temptation or a threat, it is a naked provocation! ”

Kleiman also dislikes the unruly Radcliffe family, but he is cautious by nature and prefers to find a time to settle it all at the negotiating table - of course, he doesn't think there is anything wrong with the Fertao family's behavior, but there are too many people to kill, and it is also unruly.

Assassinations, threats and bribes against rival spokesmen were part of the struggle of the aristocracy. If the struggle of the nobles was likely to develop into a bloody war near the frontiers of the empire, such as the Northland or the Southern Fortress, this would not be the case around the imperial capital. However, generally speaking, the assassination of the spokesperson is the most fierce warning and provocation, and killing six at a time is basically equivalent to a war in the border region.

"Doesn't the Radcliffe family have any indications?" Thinking of this, Kleiman turned his head and asked his deputy, who said with some incredulity: "Can the temper of those Northlanders endure?" ”

He knew that the young lord of the Northland was known as the youngest Jiyi, and was even called a legend of the future by His Majesty the Emperor, and it was really unimaginable that the arrogance of the young man could bear such a loss.

"Here's the strange thing." The deputy replied quickly, and by this time he had finished reading the contents of the letterhead: "The shop is operating normally, although people are dying one by one, but there is no counterattack, you know, many people are ready to be assassinated, and we have temporarily taken refuge in the suburbs - this is why the people of the Feltao family asked us, they want to know what is going on." ”

This attack was undoubtedly acquiesced in by Kleiman, to be precise, if it weren't for the joint targeting of several mining and metallurgical nobles against the Radcliffe family, the Fertao family would not have dared to provoke an extremely strong man so easily, but Joshua's reaction made the other party extremely puzzled.

"Do they think the Earl is afraid?"

Taking the letter from the deputy's hand again, Kleiman saw the end, he grinded his teeth, and even laughed angrily: "Arrogant dwarf...... That's a very strong man! He's just returned from the Sacred Mountain and the Dragon's Battlefield, and he's probably killed more dragons than you've ever forged in your life! ”

Previously, the nobles of the empire had learned some news from the court, and they knew that Joshua had left the empire, so the Feltao family dared to make a move against Alfonso Carlos, but just about a week ago, the news from the Far South shocked everyone - the warrior had left, in fact, he was invited by the Church of the Seven Gods, and during this time he had been fighting against the dragon in the Far Sea Mountain, and had won countless victories.

Although he didn't believe that Joshua was afraid that he didn't react to the deaths of his spokesmen one after another, the middle-aged man didn't know what was going on, he leaned against the wall in some distress, and his brain kept running.

Could it be that you are really afraid? He thought so, of course, not because he was afraid of the Feltao family, but because he was afraid of some big people at a higher level.

This attack on the Radcliffe family was not entirely to retaliate against the other party's unruly business robbery, Kleiman himself was instructed by the patriarch of the family, the old Marquis of Suward, to cooperate with the group of dwarves to provide poison. He vaguely guessed from the scattered information from his father's mouth that it seemed to be due to the instructions of a certain big figure in the royal court, but Kleiman couldn't figure out who would target Joshua within the royal family.

The Radcliffe family has always been a clear-cut royal party, which can be seen from the orders they can get from the five legions, and Joshua himself has a close personal relationship with Brandon, the heir of the Kaos family, another royal party, and His Majesty the Emperor's former teacher, Master Nostradamus, has also opened a mage academy in the Northlands, not to mention that His Majesty Israel himself admires Joshua very much.

The internal struggle of the palace could not involve him in any case, unless......

Kleiman took a deep breath, he had been reluctant to think in this direction, but now he felt a chill spread down his spine.

Unless, this matter involves the question of the heir of the empire.

Throughout, neither Kleiman, nor his deputy, nor the Feltao family's group, none of them felt that the assassination of an ordinary businessman was a big deal, they were afraid, but they were only afraid that they would go too far, and that killing too many people at once would make the Radcliffe family lose face, and thus see it as a provocation to officially start a war.

Money is more important than everything, they want to settle it all at the negotiating table, the assassination of the spokesperson is just a more intense notice, this is how the nobles fight - Kleiman is very used to all this, he has been this way for so many years, and he thinks it will continue like this, but there are always some surprises in life.

For example, now.

Outside the manor, there was a sudden thunderclap, and Kleiman didn't pay much attention to it, but in the next moment, he suddenly felt a shock all over his body, and all the pores on his body tightened with fear.

The space seemed to be distorted, and the entire manor tilted suddenly—a swift dark red ripple streaked across the corridor from top to bottom, breaking a crack and crunching twisting and shattering, and the middle-aged man and his deputy hurriedly leaned against the side of the corridor, and they watched it all blankly.

The crack then widened rapidly, splitting the entire estate in half.

The building on the other side toppled over, and Kleiman saw the early morning sun and breathed in the dew-soaked air.

And a figure, suspended in mid-air, holding a silver sword in his hand, his eyes red as fire.

The heat that burned out the steel spread from his body, and the middle-aged man watched in horror at everything around him—the shattered corridors, the broken walls, the furniture, the potted plants, all turned into ashes in the sky, and the air was distorted by the heat, and the sparks that shimmered red rushed into the sky.

The shadow of despair, covering everyone.