The cold wind swept across the plains, stirring up waves of snow and dust, and in the middle of the heavy snow, a man rode a horse against the wind and headed north.

Along the avenue, Joshua rode his horse into the border of the Moldavian Territory, and the horse's hooves stepped down, splashing a little ice slag.

Along the way, there were more and more people on the road, not only the caravans of the dragons, but also many carriages under various banners, they may be merchants, or they may be rich people who are simply going to play, after all, ordinary civilians do not consume precious calories in winter.

As for those who drive the winter wolf sleigh on the side of the road, they are basically fishermen or hunters, because they have to go to the waterside and forests without roads, it is not convenient to ride horses and cars, so sleds are the best choice.

"Winter wolf, ......"

Noticing the group of large white dogs pulling sleds and running happily, Joshua couldn't help but shake his head, this name sounds handsome, but in fact, its habits are actually similar to huskies, he remembers that he had raised one back then, handsome but handsome......

The memory goes back to a long, long time ago, at that time, the Discord Continent had just been opened, and he was still working alone in the Far South, and he happened to see a winter wolf at the auction, and he didn't plan to raise a war pet at all, so he bought it inexplicably......

"Wait, who's that?" A familiar black figure seemed to flash in front of him, Joshua's memories were interrupted, his gaze instantly focused, looking into the distance, the figure coming from the direction of the main city, and subconsciously muttered, "It's so familiar." ”

The mere glance made him feel familiar, and the situation made Joshua get serious, and he urged the horse to approach the slow figure, but the closer he got, the more familiar it became, but he couldn't think of who it was.

It wasn't until a moment later, when he came face to face with the man, that the doubts were solved, and Joshua was surprised, "Old butler...... Every?! ”

The old man named Fan, dressed in a black butler's suit, raised his head and looked around in a little surprise after hearing the voice, and then after discovering Joshua, he dismounted with a smile and bowed politely:

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

Without replying, Joshua's eyes were full of confusion, he also dismounted, hurriedly walked over to help the old butler up, and then quickly frowned, "Your hair...... Hand?! ”

He took the old butler's hand a little rudely and looked at it earnestly, while the old man just smiled and looked at Joshua and let him see.

It was an old man's hand.

The skin has sagged, wrinkles cover it, and if you get closer, you can even faintly see the blue blood vessels and tendons, and the muscles in the arms have long since lost their strength.

Looking at the hands, Joshua felt a nameless anger rise from the depths of his heart.

It was the anger of Joshua that belonged to this world.

Van, 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, and it can even be said that Fan cares about him more than Joshua's father.

In fact, it was because he was too familiar with this old housekeeper who had lived together for more than ten years that he was shocked and angry at these hands.

In the man in front of him, the traces left by time are everywhere, even though the white hair is neatly combed, but it still exudes the breath of aging, countless small wrinkles are all over his face, although it makes his face more angular, but it also makes people reconfirm his weakness.

According to common sense, it seems normal, this middle-aged man named Fan is no different from the old housekeeper of other families, and his appearance is just right for his age - after all, Fan is the same age as his father, and his father is already in his fifties.

It is not very strange for a middle-aged man in his fifties and sixties, who has been through many battles and has been in a hundred battles, to have gray hair.

But here's what's not right.

Neither Van nor Joshua's father is an ordinary middle-aged man!

Not to mention anything else, Count Winter, Belruo de Radcliffe, is a knight of the Golden Rank, which means that his natural lifespan is two hundred years, and it is not difficult to pay attention to maintenance and live for three hundred years, and fifty or sixty years old is even in the prime of this kind of person.

And where ......

When Joshua was born, Fan looked eighteen or twenty years old, when Joshua was running around in the territory, Fan who was taking care of him looked eighteen or twenty years old, when Joshua was able to wield a giant sword and his father was guiding with a cold face on the side, he was quietly smiling next to him, and Fan who served tea still looked eighteen or twenty years old, even when Joshua had already joined the army and returned to the territory due to the military academy holiday, Fan who was the first to run out to welcome him was still about eighteen or twenty years old.

In the past, Joshua had asked his father this question - even if it was a magical world, but youth was still a problem, except for elves, it was difficult for him to think of any race that was born with eternal appearance, but he didn't need the former head of the Radocliffe family to answer, he actually knew that a person with black hair, golden red eyes, and normal ears could not be an elf.

But he was by no means human, and there was no doubt that he must be an immortal.

Until the end, the Earl did not reply to his question directly, but only said a few vague words, "Anyway, you will definitely know later." "That kind of question doesn't make sense." Something like that.

In fact, for this kind of problem, the humans on the Continent of Discord don't care at all, and Joshua is the same, there are so many immortal species around him, maybe the owner of the bar where you often go to drink is an elf, who has the patience to verify them one by one?

But this time it was different—what could make an immortal grow old like this—undoubtedly had something to do with a series of recent events—with the death of Joshua's father.

What's going on in the land of the guard?

"Fan, what the hell is going on?" Joshua raised his head and looked directly into the eyes of the old man in front of him, with an aggressive attitude: "Answer me!" ”

Since the crossing, the warrior has always had a sense of unreal confusion, although everything here is undoubtedly true, but he has no real feelings, everything is familiar and unfamiliar, as if it is separated.

But now it was different, his heart pounding violently, blood surging through his body with anger, and Joshua's eyes were so cold that they seemed to pierce the void and point directly at the unknown enemy.

"The ...... of the town guard" The white-haired butler seemed to hesitate, he pondered for a while, and said, "My young master, you can't know yet. ”

"Why?" The words were almost threatening, and Joshua took a step forward, as if questioning without the slightest emotion.

"Because young master, you don't have 'qualifications'." Ignoring Joshua's questioning, Fan, as in the past, replied in a brisk tone, "If you want to know, then you must inherit your father's title and become the lord of Moldavia, the lord of this land, this is a contract that cannot be broken, engraved in my bones." ”

"Eligibility?!"

With a brief exclamation, Joshua felt an incredible absurdity, "There is only one descendant of Count Winter, Beluo, and that is me, the only heir!" After his death, he doesn't even need the emperor to grant him a title to automatically inherit the title, and I, Joshua, am the natural lord of this land! ”

"Now you're telling me I'm not eligible? So who has? That uncle who doesn't know where he came from? Speaking of this, Joshua couldn't help but show a hideous smile, and said with a fierce look in his eyes: "That's right, he also has the right to inherit, so it's good to kill him." ”

Without answering the 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 elsewhere.

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

"What is it? And where? How could I possibly know! ”

"Please believe me, young master, it's not that I don't want to say all this, but I can't say it."

Joshua is not the kind of person who can be verbose, and after finding that he can't say anything that seems to be really hindered by the 'oath', he doesn't bother to say anything, and simply calls up the system, and if he doesn't agree, it's a reconnaissance trick thrown out.

[Investigation and Determination...... Grade crushing advantages, attribute crushing advantages......]

【Successful Investigation】

[Name: Van Amos]

【Template: Excellence】

[Race: Divine Machine-Racial Skill: Divine Machine, resonates with the blood-related contractor, and incarnates as a weapon]

[Level: The contractor is dead, and the mandatory level is 1]

[Attribute Board: The contractor is dead, and all attributes are forced to be the base value]

[Body type: Medium-sized humanoid otherworldly life]

[Health: The contractor is dead, and the health is forced to be the base value]

[Stamina: The contractor is dead, and the stamina is forced to be the base value]

[Avatar Weapon: Amos Dragon Slayer]

[Status: Life Lapse (10 days of remaining life)]

[Occupation: The sixth generation of Aragami with a magic machine/housekeeper]

[Talent: The contractor is dead, forcibly erasing all talents]

[Skill: The contractor is dead, forcibly erase all skills]

[Equipment: Black Butler Suit]

[Powerful weapon, faithful steward. 】

Wait a minute...... Stop! Excuse me!

Joshua didn't feel a good way—he was taken aback by the overly unexpected amount of information, and his expression became strange.

Divine machine? Joshua vaguely remembered that before the crossing, there was a period of time when this word was often mentioned in his own battle group, and it was also very hot on the forum, it was said to be a super cherished-level contract race, and he didn't care much about the specific ability because he was concentrating on opening up the wasteland legendary dungeon [Ten Thousand Worlds Sacrifice Ground].

The memory gradually became clear, Joshua recalled a lot of information, the contract mission of the divine machine was indeed in the Northland Empire, it was very difficult, and the time was limited, and by the time he finished attacking the Ten Thousand Realms Sacrifice Ground, it was over, and there were only no more than ten people in the world who had successfully made the contract, and the group of lucky people also deliberately concealed the information together, and the entire mission process was foggy, time passed, the craze cooled down, and the divine machine also became a rumored race.

But now it seems that the ability of the divine machine should be incarnated as a weapon! And the level must be extraordinary, just like the Amos Dragon Slaying Sword incarnated by the old butler, it is a powerful giant sword that Count Winter relied on to become famous, once slashed twelve white dragons, and forced the Northland White Dragon Yuan to sign a peace contract!

And the initiator of the mission of the god machine...... It seems to be the Radcliffe family in Moldavia!

The information buried deep in the memory gradually recovered, Joshua had a feeling of sudden enlightenment, through the comparison of the intelligence of the two worlds, he suddenly found that his Radcliffe family had participated in the historical process of the game, and through the scattered information, he could even guess what was guarding in the place where he was guarding, and what was the so-called mutation now!

If he wasn't mistaken...... That's a great thing.

But more important than these things is the state of mortal life flow.

"Fan." Joshua looked at the old butler in front of him, his brows furrowed, and now that the truth had been roughly guessed by him, he simply picked out the words and said, "Your time is short." ”

"......" was silent.

"Even if you don't say it, I can guess it...... But it doesn't matter anymore, you know, I always thought that when I inherited the family, you were still our housekeeper, and my son inherited the family, and you were still our housekeeper! Joshua just looked directly at Fan: "You are my most important family member, I just want to know what happened to you, that's all!" ”

"......" Fan looked up at Joshua, the original pair of red eyes with gold edges had lost their brightness due to the passage of life force, they were cloudy, but they were still sharp.

"I'm impressed." At last he seemed to have made up his mind, and said in an extremely serious tone, "But an oath is an oath, and I will tell you something inconsequential at most." ”

"I, as you can see, am not human, a long time ago, my elders and I made a pact with the Radcliffe family to serve you, and this pact allowed us to live and die together, and now that the master is dead, I will naturally die soon."

Speaking of this, the white-haired old man bowed: "I'm sorry for not being able to protect the master." ”

"I can't say much else, even if you guessed it, I can't say. Unless you become the head of the family, unless you take on the heaviest part of the Radcliffe family, I will not be able to tell you the truth. ”

In the heavy snow, silence spreads.

After half a ring, Joshua spoke, "I probably understand. ”

The warrior sighed and shook off the snow on his body, which was shattered by the cold wind and disappeared into the snow: "So, where are you going now, when you only have ten days to live?" ”

"Don't grieve for me." Touching his horse, the white-haired old butler looked at the expressionless Joshua and chuckled: "Dying to fulfill one's duty is the most glorious end of a warrior, and both the master and I are worthy of it." ”

"Now I want to say only one thing." Turning around, Van turned his back to Joshua and said something like this, and his tone was meaningful: "Now, we have a group of uninvited guests in our house, and it is a pity that I am not in a good state now. ”

"Well, I'll sweep this garbage away, just like you did before." Joshua understood what he was saying, "Clean, not a single one." ”

"Good luck, then, my master,"

“…… Goodbye, Fan. ”

The old butler got into the saddle and galloped away in the opposite direction from the Moldavian leader.

Joshua, on the other hand, looked indifferently into the distance.

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

At the end of the view, the walls of the main city, obscured by heavy snow and only vague shadows.

The uncle who had come thousands of miles to the Northland and tried to snatch the title from him was there.