Chapter 688: Act 48 – Long Road, Fragments of the Past II
In fact, the entire convoy had been struggling all morning with the long-neglected lakeside avenue on the west bank of Lake Varlanden outside the Anselra Forest. This once-thriving trade route had been a mess ever since King Obergo VII ascended to the throne about thirty years ago. However, it was somewhat better recently, as with the disappearance of merchant caravans, at least there weren’t any visible bandit groups around.
Overall, the entire convoy had a busy morning, with everyone too pressed for time to even have lunch until they finally arrived at Shallow Water Town in the afternoon.
Around three o’clock, Brendel could see the outline of a town by the lakeshore reflected on the lake’s surface, shimmering in the sunlight—
That was Shallow Water Town.
Shallow Water Town has a long history for Erluin; after Count Hadinger bought this land from the mountain folks in the last era, immigrants picked it up as a permanent settlement. Initially, it primarily served as a resting place for adventurers heading to the Needle Hill for gold mining, but gradually it became a transport hub connecting Vieiro, Golan-Elsen, and Lantonrand.
As a result, the town has preserved many historical inns over the centuries, such as the Butterfly Flower owned by Nise, which Brendel was familiar with, and Trout Pool.
However, in the game, Shallow Water Town’s status is not important. One significant reason is that it serves as a gateway to Lantonrand, which is rarely open to ordinary players. Additionally, the only advanced area nearby, Needle Hill, requires traversing the difficult northern section of the Anselra Forest from that direction, making players prefer to take a longer route through Varlanden.
After all, players could use teleportation circles, and distance wasn’t much of an issue.
This situation continued until the opening of the Weiston Castle dungeon and the appearance of the legendary sword, Gold Ice Flame, which attracted a massive influx of players. However, this good fortune didn’t last long, as it was followed shortly by the Third Black Rose War, and what happened afterward is already well-known.
Thinking of this, Brendel could not help but raise his head to glance at the mountains in between. Golden Orchid Mountain and Anselra’s Sapphire Mountains converged here, with the two largest peaks to the east serving as their respective main summits. Below the peaks was the Bochenier Pass, and north from there, Weiston Castle remained hidden within the jungle.
The legendary holy sword, Gold Ice Flame, is concealed underground in that castle.
That was one of Brendel’s goals, but he didn’t plan to disturb it at the moment. Speaking of which, there were many high-level areas around Needle Hill; he didn’t know what kind of madness the designers were experiencing. He was aware that guarding the Gold Ice Flame beneath Weiston Castle was a genuine adult dragon.
The winter dragon named Katina was unrelated to the Needle Hill, but its strength was geometrically superior to that of a young dragon. It would be tantamount to courting death for Brendel to seek trouble with the dragon at this moment.
Fortunately, Weiston Castle had been sealed for a long time, so no one was likely to disturb it for now.
Brendel then glanced at the direction of Shallow Water Town, a place that would serve as the front line against Madara for a long time afterward and left deep memories for him. He had fought and bled here with his senior sister’s troop, with many places still retaining fragments of memories where he battled side by side with familiar companions.
In every street and alley he passed, he could see familiar scenes and locations, which made him sigh with nostalgia.
The carriage entered the town from the nearest main road to Shallow Water Town. Since the area nearby had been relatively peaceful lately, they weren’t subjected to much scrutiny. Shallow Water Town falls under the jurisdiction of the Duke of Lantonrand, who governs with great strictness; even in such a remote place, it’s hard to see scenes like those of Golan-Elsen, where noble private armies are as fierce as bandits.
Finally, the convoy stopped in the center of the commercial district on the northern edge of the town. Brendel specifically chose a hotel far from the dock area—this inn’s name was unremarkable, “Carriage Home”—you could find such a dull and unimaginative inn all across Erluin to Vaunte; they were not connected, but the only association was likely the owner’s laziness when naming it.
This inn was also rather obscure in the game, and even Brendel had never heard of it. However, he chose this place partly to avoid the noise of the dock area and partly to prevent overly familiar lodgings from stirring up past memories. Those fragmented memories, like shattered pieces of glass, caused him pain every time they were uncovered.
After arranging the carriage, he stepped into the inn, which was just as eerily quiet as he had imagined.
Even the innkeeper, who probably never expected to welcome a significant customer, remained stupefied for a moment when he noticed the dimming light at the door. The middle-aged man, bald and busy polishing a dish with a dirty rag at the bar, finally snapped back to reality.
He lifted his head, squinting to see Brendel, who entered the inn first, along with Phillas and Lady Knight Laurena beside him, followed by Medisa and Charles, with Freya carrying a stone slab behind them, and next to her was Himelam—dressed in a linen robe, the priestess girl seemed not to mind bearing her bare arms, even in the chilly weather; he wondered if it was due to the blessing of the spirit from the Peaks of Himilud or if the austere life had made her accustomed to such harsh conditions.
Last were Xi and the little prince Haruze, who came out of the stable, looking dejected after a long morning of fatigue, trailing behind the mercenary girl like an overworked child.
Brendel hadn’t brought many people on this journey due to the dangerous nature of their destination; bringing along weak individuals would be pointless. So aside from the necessary staff, he only brought his cards. Adding the Gray Saint Mephistopheles, Babasha and her underling witches, and Alorze, there were just a little over ten people in total.
However, there was one uninvited guest among this group.
While the innkeeper was still squinting to size up the group, Brendel couldn’t help but glance back at the one who had silently followed behind them. She hadn’t spoken a word to him yet, just tagging along quietly.
But considering the Princess, he didn’t want to proactively ask her anything.
After everyone entered the inn, the bald innkeeper seemed to finally come to his senses, confirming that this large group did not look like they had come to collect debts. He paused for a moment before asking, “Are you all here for lodging?”
“Isn’t this an inn? What other services could you offer?” Phillas asked, somewhat puzzled, before Brendel had the chance to respond.
“Ah, no, of course not… no, you’re very welcome!” The bald owner jumped up as if his feet were on fire, “Do you need rooms? We have many vacant rooms here guaranteed to satisfy you all.”
“Not just rooms.” Brendel finally spoke up, “We need food too. We just came from Cru, and we’re cold and hungry; do you understand?”
“Yeah, it’s so cold at night in the wild, the ground is hard and freezing, and tents and sleeping bags do little good! I finally get to sleep well tonight, and I want something to eat—” Phillas couldn’t help but excitedly interject, “I want roasted venison, preferably cooked with hay from the Meadow of Alfalfa and juicy, spiced up—best would be seasonings from Lu Ke’s shipping—if not, the herbs and salt from Saint Ausoor I can accept as well. And bring me a jar of honey, a butter cake, baked herring, and after a meal, a cup of pure red tea from Rustra’s Golden House would be great, and also—”
The knight from Cruz was getting carried away, as if he had already painted a picture of a feast in his mind. But Brendel quickly interrupted him before he could go on and told the dumbfounded bald innkeeper, “Listen to him, roasted venison—if you don’t have that, the Trout Pool Inn should have some available at this season. You can go buy it. Just head out, turn left twice, and walk straight to the end of the street; I believe you’ve heard of that place.”
“As for the other stuff, just pretend you didn’t hear it. But you can buy some seafood from Lake Varlanden—like the eel and salmon that are in season now—and make us a few decent dishes. I can pay you double for these; and if you can get honey, I’ll reward you extra.”
“Additionally, the ladies need some fruit wine to warm them up,” Brendel glanced at the little prince, “And a cup of goat milk, whatever methods you have to use. Don’t play tricks with me; I’m more familiar with the rules here than you are, understand?”
The bald innkeeper trembled slightly, realizing that the person in front of him was an old hand and seemed even more familiar with the town than he was. He couldn’t help but take another look at Brendel, whose southern noble attire puzzled him a bit—someone who could say such things should logically not be a noble offspring, but rather mercenaries or adventurers who had spent years on the road.
However, the bald innkeeper didn’t dare to act recklessly; he quickly excused himself and instructed his attendants to carry out Brendel’s requests.
Only then did Brendel turn back; everyone was looking at him with a mix of astonishment and confusion. Whether it was Medisa or Charles, or even Freya, Xi, and even the newly joined Himelam, they all knew that their lord was well-versed and a master of swordsmanship, having delved into the secrets of wizards and elementalist magic, and even the secrets of witches. From astronomy to geography, it seemed there was nothing he could not handle.
In fact, privately, Brendel was also an alchemist, blacksmith, and scholar. But despite all this, they had never imagined that this lord would have such a side to him.
This couldn’t simply be explained by being well-read—
At least in the eyes of others, this lord had previously appeared to be like a seasoned mercenary or adventurer. This was especially strong in Xi’s perception; she had only seen such ‘aura’ in mercenaries who had traversed the entirety of Erluin and even Cruz.
She couldn’t help but pause and look at her lord in a daze. However, the consequence of this was that the dejected little prince behind her bumped into the blue spear package on her back, unable to suppress a groan.
Haruze’s muffled sound seemed to break the silence.
Brendel coughed lightly, as if only then realizing that his display might have been a bit excessive. He couldn’t help but shoot an annoyed glance at Phillas; if it weren’t for this guy’s brainless chatter, he wouldn’t have instinctively revealed this aspect of himself from the game.
However, he sighed slightly in his heart, knowing that it wasn’t entirely the other person’s fault. He couldn’t help but look out the window at the scenery outside, which felt too familiar to him.
“You all know that I had a period of studying abroad in my early years,” he gave a sheepish smile and replied, “During that time, I dealt with adventurers and mercenaries, and even went to sea—”
“I see.” Phillas said in realization, “Lord Earl, you just had a bit of the charm of Lady Veronika. As I know, the Legion Commander has had a similar experience in her early years; I heard she even joined a mercenary group alone.”
This young knight from Cruz seemed to have accepted Brendel’s explanation without thinking, but not everyone was as naive as he was. Brendel could detect a hint of doubt in the expressions of the others. He understood that his explanation might not convince everyone.
The first significant doubt was his youth.
But clearly, now was not the time to mention that, so Brendel could only grit his teeth and arrange for everyone to sit down. Fortunately, except for Laurena, Xi, Medisa, and Freya all had a blind trust in him; seeing Brendel say no more, they chose not to ask further and took their seats one by one.
But just at that moment, when he thought he had successfully evaded a crisis, a cold voice interjected, “Brendel, you said you’ve been to sea?” Brendel was slightly startled, raising his head to see the Lady Knight who had finally taken a seat beside the little prince Haruze.
She appeared to be of Northern descent, her nose straighter and higher than the typical mountain folk of the South, with a slight fullness to her lips that did not detract from the refined beauty of her features, instead giving off a hint of sensuality.
Yet this sensuality did not render Nemeses seductive; on the contrary, she coolly gazed at him with her slightly violet eyes, like a she-wolf watching her prey.
One hand rested on her sword, while she casually brushed her dark hair away from her forehead.
Brendel stared back at her; this woman was the only uninvited guest in his troop. He had initially assumed that the princess was worried about the little prince and sent her to accompany and protect him, but he had once tentatively let Haruze do the more dangerous escort work in the convoy to test the waters; however, she had not stopped him.
This point made him very suspicious. Moreover, given the princess’s character, if she had already expressed complete trust in him, she typically wouldn’t hesitate to act as a safeguard.
In fact, after several days of testing, Brendel had almost confirmed that this lady knight seemed to be here for him.
But what her actual purpose was, he found it hard to determine at the moment.
Yet just as Nemeses was about to speak, Brendel felt a thud in his heart: “Here it comes!” he thought anxiously, hesitating before replying, “What?”
“I just wanted to ask you where you went to sea from?” Nemeses answered calmly, her tone seeming to soften for a moment. This made Brendel slightly astonished, as he hadn’t detected any confrontation in her words.
On the contrary, due to that familiar face, there was an inexplicable warmth emanating from her.
“Why does that matter?”
“Nothing,” the lady knight shook her head, “I just suddenly became curious, Brendel; can you answer me?”
Brendel suddenly felt extremely awkward; he didn’t know why Nemeses had suddenly stopped addressing him as Lord Brendel, like the princess did, and instead called him by his first name. This sudden closeness gave him an uncomfortable feeling as if he was being scrutinized.
However, he looked at her earnest expression and found he couldn’t refuse her—Could he really refuse his senior sister? Brendel immediately shook his head internally; evidently, that wasn’t possible. At that moment, he realized where his unease stemmed from; this moment of Nemeses was far too reminiscent of the impression she left in his heart.
“I once studied at the Karasu Plateau, under a black tower wizard, and had an apprenticeship. Later, I went to sea with some people from the present-day Serpens, reaching Saint Ausoor and some places even further east…”
He hesitated a bit and carefully fabricated his story. Fortunately, he had rich experiences, and even with lies, he felt confident there wouldn’t be any issues. Moreover, in another strand of history, he indeed had been to those places. He was confident he could handle things if she pressed the matter.
However, unexpectedly, the lady knight only glanced at him, seemingly surprised and a bit regretful. Then she sighed and said, “I see. I thought you had been to the Shimmering Sea. From Port Gris, you could see the Karangar Mountains piercing into the sky glittering on the shimmering sea after several days of sailing…”
“That scene must be beautiful, right?”
Hearing this, Brendel’s heart sank, and he felt momentarily frozen.
In that instant, he seemed to hear no other sounds; only the phrase echoed in his mind: from Port Gris, you could see the Karangar Mountains piercing the sky, glittering over the shimmering sea…
That scene must have been beautiful, right?
Yes, magnificent and breathtaking.
…
(PS: Today I don’t have a designated posting time, struggling to keep up, the pressure to update daily has turned me into a beastly overlord. Requesting monthly tickets and asking for cute comments in the book review section…)(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
