I Am Louis XIV

After leaving the ship, they stepped on a barren sandy land. The white stone brick city wall stretched from an unreachable distance into the sea. They could not see any moving things except ghosts, not even the clouds and sea water. It seemed to be solidified, and the corridor was full of shrill shouts—from the ghosts, the dragging footsteps of the ghosts and the unknown liquid dripping on the ground, Louis remembered seventy-seven steps, wizards like to have magic power He was weak, but he could support it—although he wanted to support the wall, but when he thought of the ashes of wizards burned in those foundation stones, he couldn't lift his hands at all.

Infernal corpses and ghosts peeped at them, their eyes—transparent and cloudy, all condensed on every living person who passed through here, there were indeed black stains on the gray-white stone bricks, and Louis passed through calmly Of them, the Inferi was like frozen carrion, and the Wraith was like a cold wind blowing from the swamp. Fortunately, he had the fur cloak that Marley had prepared, so he didn't feel too cold.

The light came suddenly, and with the darkness came the cold. A burst of warmth made Louis tremble slightly, and his arm was immediately held by someone, it was Milady, and Louis looked around , accidentally discovered that this was the other side of the city wall, the reason why he said it was the other side - he saw a mountain range that might have stretched for hundreds of miles.

Mary and Vesalius came out later than Milady and Louis, which surprised Mary a bit, because Louis was a mortal who was only temporarily disguised as a wizard, and Milady, she was a wizard without a mentor. Vesalius is not surprised to guide the outsiders. The wizards’ tunnels test the willpower of the visitors, because they are always proud of their rationality and strength compared to ordinary people, but even ordinary people will always have one. A person with a strong will that cannot be shaken.

Of course, without Colonna's blood, if the coming person is just a mortal, even if he is determined, his breath will still be smelled by those ghosts and ghosts, and then he will be swarmed up by them, torn apart and eaten.

When Mary was about to say something, they heard a pleasant flute sound. Louis turned his head and looked over, showing a slight astonishment under the hood, because the sound was obviously made by a monster. The wizard on Zhenghe was slowly approaching them. This was the manticore mentioned by Mary. It has a male human face, round ears protruding from the fluffy golden-red mane, a pair of blue eyes like sea water are looking at them curiously, just looking at them like this, the emotions expressed in the eyes are all Stronger than some unqualified theater actor, and the wizard who sat on it, as soon as his eyes fell on Marie's face, gave a good-natured smile.

"Well," said he, "I am surprised, Miss Mancini, have you returned from the world of watches?"

"Oh, yes," Mary said calmly, seeing the male wizard jump off the manticore, raised her hand and kissed it, "I thought you wouldn't be returning to the other world anytime soon." Because The Mancini family has decided to find a noble marriage for their sisters in the watch world. This matter is no secret among the aristocratic factions.

"Indeed," Mary said, "it's just that I'm going to be the introducer for the Duke of Colonna," she said, and then turned to Louis and the others: "This is the youngest son of the Dante family, and I...a childhood friend. "

As soon as the young man from the Dante family heard the name of the Duke of Colonna, his expression immediately became serious, "I have heard his name for a long time, Your Highness." He bowed to Louis, and the wizards in the inner world are not like the outside world. Instead of wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a plume like the young men, they wear a peaked hat or pull up the hood that comes with the tunic, so they seldom take off their hats when they salute, but just open them first and fold their hands on their chests. , Louis guessed that this was a "weapon" for people to see that they didn't have wizards in their hands, that is, something like herbs or mineral powders that he saw Marley used, "Hello, Mr. Dante," he said gently Nodding, even if it is the real Duke of Colonna, this is the first time he has come to the inner world, and he will not salute like a wizard, and in view of what he saw, in the inner world, a duke may not need to greet most people. Make a gesture of humility.

His idea was correct. The Dante family was not angry because Louis didn't return the gift. His status was lower than Mary's and he didn't have a title. "Sorry," he said, "Although it's you, Your Highness, Do you have a coat of arms?"

Louis let him see the coat of arms hidden under the cloak. The bright gold and blue coat of arms dazzled Mr. Dante for a while, and then Milady and Vesalius also took out their coat of arms. The Colonna family After checking the coat of arms, the young wizard guard asked them in a low voice if they needed to summon the Pegasus carriage. Mary shook her head: "The carriage of the Colonna family Be there soon."

Those utilitarian eyes dimmed instantly, but Mary just turned around without seeing anything, and Mr. Dante's eyes shifted to Louis. Obviously, compared to Mary, this distinguished outsider might be more important. It was easy to cling to, but unfortunately, before he could open his mouth, he heard a violent whistling sound.

The manticore suddenly fluffed the fur of its whole body like a rage. Although it had a human face, when it opened its mouth wide, it could be found that there were three rows of sharp triangular teeth neatly inside, just like a shark. Undercut, Mr. Dante scolded a few times, but it still arched its back and made a threatening gesture. Milady walked slowly between the king and the manticore, raised her eyebrows and smiled at Mr. Dante, with a very Menacing eyes forced him.

The youngest son of the Dante family looked at Milady for a few seconds before stepping back helplessly and annoyed. With just one hook of his finger, the manticore could no longer make a sound. , even the tail full of venomous thorns slowly drooped down, no longer opened horribly, as if it was about to be launched at any time.

"What a disgusting fellow," said Milady softly.

Since the wizard knew the Duke of Colonna, he should also know that it was his first time entering the inner world, so he deliberately indulged his mount. Whether the Duke of Colonna was afraid or curious, he had a direct relationship with Louis. opportunity for dialogue.

Perhaps it was because she was used to seeing manticores that Marie realized what had happened at this time. She looked sullen, but at this moment the Pegasus carriage of the Colonna family had already circled down. It was eight beautiful black horses. The four-wheeled carriages inlaid with gold dragged by the Pegasus fell to the ground, ran a few brisk steps, and stopped in front of Louis accurately. A middle-aged man also wearing a robe jumped out from the back seat of the carriage, With a very happy smile on his face, he bowed deeply to Louis: "I am your manager here," he said, "You can call me Luca."

"I am His Highness's bodyguard and doctor." Vesalius said.

"I am Your Highness's maid," said Milady.

Luca's eyes only stayed on them for a short moment, and then he saluted Marie Mancini. They were quickly ushered into the carriage. The space in the carriage was larger than it looked on the outside. To be exact, It was like a fine bedroom, because the seats inside were like couches, piled with fur, and Louis could lie down comfortably, and he really needed this.

When the chief Luca was about to retire, Louis stopped him: "Luka," he said, "There is someone outside who offended me."

"I see, Your Highness," Luca said.

It may only be a few seconds, they heard the wailing of beasts and the neighing of horses, and then suddenly fell into an inexplicable dead silence, followed by the conversation between Luka and that Mr. Dante, who was obviously suppressing his anger , Luca was smiling and relaxed.

"Excuse me, Your Highness." When Luka returned to the carriage, "it took a while."

"Well?"

"Our Pegasus, Your Highness, one of them suddenly let go of its bridle, so it ran out and killed Mr. Dante's mount," Luca seemed to turn around: "Oh, it may have eaten a little bit. "

"Mr. Dante is not hurt."

"No, just a little frightened," said Luca. "I'll give him some compensation."

"Very well, Luca," Louis said.

After the Pegasus that suddenly "loose its bridle" was called back, they set off. The Pegasus carriage was lighter and smoother than any means of transportation that Louis had ever experienced, either now or in the past. They galloped on the ground. At that time, only the sound of Dada's hooves indicated that they were moving forward. When they flapped their wings and took off, the carriage only trembled slightly, and then there was a moment of weightlessness. A few minutes later, Milady saw There are only gauzy clouds and a lake-blue sky.

"What kind of horse is that?" Louis asked.

"It's a nightmare." Marie said. In fact, even the Mancini family only had a carriage pulled by four nightmares. The Colonna family shouldn't have prepared so well for their youngest son here, after all. The young wizard is not going to enter the other world, so it can only be that Mr. Bishop prepared it for the king.

"Is it a demon?"

"No," Vesalius said, "wizards don't have that much power. This kind of monster is just made by them with alchemy. It's just not easy and requires a lot of precious materials." He looked out the car window : "They are very expensive, even in the other world, but they can drag a carriage like a flying horse, and they can hunt or guard their master like a hound, and they have a beautiful posture, so every noble family will configure a nightmare carriage."

"Do they eat meat?" asked Milady with interest.

"I said they were like wolfhounds," Vesalius said, but he didn't say he'd ever seen them chasing fishermen or pirates who had strayed into nearby waters—to mortals, that would be a demonic presence. , can fly, the Nightmare Pegasus that is not afraid of ordinary swords can land on any ship or the sea at will, they will lift the deck, open the hatch, grab the prey in the air, drag them to the reef and tear them apart eat up.

People in the watch world often say that the so-called ghost ship is caused by this.

Although Milady couldn't hear what Vesalius was saying, she also guessed that those horse-like monsters were extremely cruel creatures. The manticore they saw was at least ten feet long with a tail that was sharp. Teeth, huge claws, and a scorpion-like spiked tail, but against the Nightmare Pegasus, she is not even an enemy. She smiled and did not continue to ask. There are too many secrets in the other world. There's still so much to explore.

—————

Louis took a nap in the Pegasus carriage for a while, maybe only ten minutes, when he heard Milady's soft cry, he got up and leaned against the car window to look down at the scenery below, the green mountains were gradually receding, and there appeared on the ground Rolling hills and ribbon-like roads, followed by neatly divided fields and villages, this scene lasted for about an hour before slowly turning into denser towns, and finally several connected A huge castle together.

The reason why we say they are connected together is that the castles are connected by city walls, and inside the city walls is an extremely vast site. Unlike castles, the buildings inside are much lower and neater, and there are several circular squares.

But the nightmare carriage didn't land in the castle group, it circled slowly in the afterglow of the setting sun, and then slowly landed in a secluded courtyard, where spells were released in a targeted manner, and the howling wind and icy air were blocked Outside, a cute little open carriage—to be precise, not a carriage, but a unicorn carriage, because the one-person carriage is pulled by a silver unicorn. The horned beast, Louis couldn't help but put his hand on it, it blinked gently, and didn't only allow virgins to touch it as in the legend,

Although Louis is a man, he couldn't help but be attracted by the silky fur. He petted it again restrainedly, and then stepped into the cart. The unicorn stomped towards That gray and black basilica building.

The architectural style of basilica comes from ancient Rome. It is a flat rectangular building, which was later used by churches to build monasteries and churches. It was in the fifth and sixth centuries AD, the Byzantine style was still in its infancy, and the Gothic style didn’t even have a prototype. On both sides of the path passed by the unicorn, flowers like peonies bloomed. Louis could not be sure, because at this time Not peonies in bloom, but whether they are or not, the flowers, which are bigger than a human palm and hang heavily from the branches, are really lovely, not to mention, the goblins who are startled when the unicorn passes by Covered with starlight pollen, it yawned and flew out.

The shadow of Prince Vanjoy, the blue-gray kitten poking its head out of Louis' coat, grabbed a goblin that almost pounced on the king's face out of curiosity, so Louis heard a series of small With screams and complaints, the goblin fled quickly, but it also left half of its wing, and when Louis pinched it, it shattered in the king's fingers.

The cat lowered its head, licked its pollen-stained paws, and barked a few times as if complaining.

Louie bent down, picked up the kitten, and stuffed it back into his coat.

Since it is a Basilica-style building, the main entrance is on the longer side, and there is a magnificent colonnade on the outside. There are four servants in front of the colonnade. They prepared a sedan chair for Louis, and then led him into the entrance. After the gray entrance is an empty atrium. In the center of the atrium is an overflow pool. In the overflow pool is a statue of a Roman warrior. From the moment Louis stepped into the atrium, this marble statue knelt down on one knee and hung low. With their snow-white heads, and the reliefs on the wall of the inner colonnade, those so-called mythical figures also bowed their knees to Louis, and several gorgeous birds hovered over the atrium, singing clear and pleasant.

The side corridor is an open room, which contains some games, books and studios that Louis is familiar with, but they are slowly closed after Louis walks through - obviously they are opened for the owner to watch, according to the style of basilica architecture , behind is the main room, but the main room here is obviously used as a hall for entertaining guests.

In fact, the residence of ancient Rome was a courtyard called Domus, which, like the basilica, had an atrium and colonnades, but it was a multi-storey building surrounded by dense forests and flowers - it is in this Brazilian city. The rear of the Lika building is exquisite and gorgeous. Compared with the previous hall, there is a large mosaic pattern starting from the road connecting the two places. The fish on it will swim, and the birds will fly from here to there. The servant held a bright lamp. The lamp was fueled by unknown fuel. It was bright and soft.

There are countless palm-sized pink and white roses climbing the wall of the foyer here. As soon as Louis came in, they trembled and sprinkled their petals on him. There are also goblins here, but maybe because they knew that there was a cat in Louis' coat, They just gathered on the roses, chattering and laughing incessantly.

The overflow pool in the atrium is... made of pure silver. Louis can be sure of this. The light of silver and gold cannot be camouflaged by any metal. As for why it is not a silver-plated product, it is because it is melting or continuously Flow, like water with its attachments removed, falls softly from the midair to the ground, and then rises from the ground against gravity to its original place. Under the soft light, the silver overflow pool covered by clear water is just like some kind of There is life.

And the pillars supporting the colonnade have also changed from Ionic columns to female statues. They cast gentle eyes on Louis. Although they are carved from stone, the tulle on their bodies seems to fall gently at any time. .

As for the hot spring water that can automatically overflow the bath, a variety of delicious food, and a comfortable bed that can sing and shake, there is no need to say more.

Every servant here is a very good wizard. Louis is not surprised by this. After all, he knows from Valo Vesalius that the population of the other world has indeed shown a state of being about to burst.

They are very honored to be able to work here with Louis. Although, as the Duke of Colonna, Louis is an outsider, they can eat and live here - a separate room and delicious fresh food have already satisfied them.

"Are they all alien wizards?" Louis asked Mary in a low voice after a session of treatment.

Mary shook her head: "No, they are all collateral branches of various families."

Louis' surprise was definitely not a disguise: "What about the foreign wizard?" He asked, "Are you plowing the fields and raising sheep?"

Mary's answer was beyond Louis' expectation, because she said: "No, this is not what wizards should do. I don't know what foreign wizards are doing, but the people who tend the fields are mortals."

Plus more achieved.