Mercenaries and Adventurers

"I came to the Farah Peninsula half a hundred years ago. At that time, a round of uprisings against the imperial rule was breaking out on the Farah Peninsula. All tribes, harbor cities, and oases all united with each other to secretly form a rebel army. The protests on the surface are led by local celebrities and hereditary nobles." Master Donila introduced to everyone by pointing to the faint outline of the land in the south.

The old mage raised a question: "The empire spares no effort to rule all parts of the country. How can it tolerate local forces fighting against them openly and secretly?" The mages who have grown up in the empire have no idea about this question.

"Your Excellency the Archmage, that's a good question. When I first arrived on the Farah Peninsula, I didn't know much about the situation at that time. Before I traveled to the Farah Peninsula, I also had a preliminary understanding of the situation in the Farah Peninsula in books. I also went to the voyage taverns in the various seaports we learned to control and talked to the captains who had been to the Farah Peninsula. All the intelligence and information told me that the Farah Peninsula was under the absolute control of the empire." Mage Donila Picking up a glass of drink on the table to moisten his throat, the others waited for the other party to continue, and no one interrupted to speak.

"According to the author of the book "Military and Political Research on the Farah Peninsula" judged during the investigation and investigation seventy years ago. The empire has deployed a small team of imperial knights in every harbor city on the Farah Peninsula. In every oasis At least five imperial knights were stationed there. Each local tribe was promised food support, and excellent doctors from all over the empire were assigned to ensure the overall health of each tribe. In general, the empire’s method On the whole, they stabilized their rule over the Farah Peninsula, coupled with the fortress built on the isthmus that connects the peninsula to the mainland of the empire, and stationed a whole squadron-sized Imperial Knights. How do you think, the empire’s control over the Farah Peninsula The rule is secure." Master Donila said.

Master Kony stood up, made a mage salute to Master Donila and said, "I have a question."

"Please speak." After drinking a glass of drink, Master Donila made a gesture of letting go.

"Since the empire's rule over the Farah Peninsula was so stable seventy years ago, why did uprisings break out in various parts of the Farah Peninsula when you arrived on the Farah Peninsula fifty years ago?" Master Coney asked his question, short How did the short twenty years make the situation like this?

Mage Donila was about to answer, but the old mage stretched out his hand to indicate that he would answer this answer: "Hehe, Coney, think about it, what was the Southern Magic Association doing fifty-five years ago?"

"The Southern Magic Society was supporting the independence of the Omorie region in the southern part of the empire. Oh, so that's it! The empire has withdrawn all the knights. No wonder. I remember that there was a resurrection of the dead because of the death of too many people. event."

Master Donila went on to say: "That's right, the empire strongly suppressed independence, and as a result, the knights dispatched from other places slaughtered the residents at will, and the deaths were excessive. The Southern Magic Society took advantage of the situation to deploy the resurrection of the dead. In the end, the resurrected The undead have left no one alive in the Omori area."

It was the first time that Mage Kony knew that the so-called resurrection of the dead was created by the Southern Magic Society: "How could they do this? So many people died. Our human territory also lost a large piece of land because of this." !"

Master Donila snorted: "Why don't they dare? Since the soldiers of the empire dare to kill people, they also have the courage to resurrect the dead as undead."

The old mage sighed slightly, thinking in his heart that his old friend said triumphantly in the letter he once sent him: the Omorie region must be separated from the control of the empire no matter what, no matter whether it is alive or not. independent in the hands of men,

Still in the hands of the undead. Because there is an ocean current in the Omorie area that leads directly to the headquarters of the Southern Magic Society located in the overseas islands.

It is impossible for the Southern Magic Society to allow the empire to build naval ports and warships in the Omorie area.

In the end, the purpose of the Southern Magic Society was achieved, but the empire lost a large number of official knights of the Knights Order and a small piece of territory, and the dominance of various border areas was also reduced. But in the Omorie area, there is no living person, only the activities of the undead occupying various villages and towns.

"Back to the Fara Peninsula." Master Donila continued what he said before: "After I arrived at the Fara Peninsula, I did a little investigation and found out the reason. But I don't really have much enthusiasm for the local uprising. I hired some local Unemployed businessmen, let them organize a group of people to visit various parts of the Farah Peninsula in the name of supporting uprisings in various places."

Hearing that he used this method to swim in the chaotic Fara Peninsula, many mages said, "It's wonderful." The old mage also nodded and praised Master Donila's flexible approach. Follow the trend and use the local situation to achieve your own travel goals, that is, to visit all parts of the Farah Peninsula, but also to gain the friendship of the local people, and to make a small profit by doing business.

I heard Master Donila explained in detail how he organized a caravan to support the uprising, and how he established a good relationship with uprising leaders everywhere. The old mage specially applauded and praised Mage Donila's approach, and asked other mages to learn from this clever approach. They are mages and a group of people who rely on wisdom to grow. To be not slaves to magic and spells, but their masters, learn to use wisdom to drive power, not force to drive yourself.

Master Donila then introduced some famous ruins and scenery on the Fara Peninsula.

In the center of the Farah Peninsula is a huge desert, and there are always continuous sandstorms near the desert. According to legend, in the area in the center of the desert, there are relics of an ancient human kingdom. The people there used to have some local beliefs about deserts and sandstorms. But with the decline and bizarre destruction of that kingdom, the whole kingdom was buried by the desert, and endless sandstorms blew up on the periphery.

Master Kony curiously asked Master Donila if he had gone to investigate. Master Donila nodded to confirm that he was indeed flying over to investigate curiously, but there were no relics of the kingdom in the center of the desert, only endless sand dunes.

The old mage looked at Kony, who was a little frustrated, and comforted him in a low voice: "Most of the so-called legends actually exist, but most of them have been annihilated in the long river of time. Think about it, there are sandstorms blowing in the desert all day long, even if it was once There are urban relics, but they must have been wiped out by the sandstorms year after year. Only places with some complete magic institutions can resist the invasion of various natural environments. Or some special geological environments have protected ancient times. The ruins. Of course, the special geological environment must have different magical influences, and it will be discovered and occupied by mages of all ages."

After listening to the teacher's words, Master Kony managed to pull himself together, and listened to Master Donila continue to tell everyone what he had seen and heard.

In addition to traveling around the Farah Peninsula in the name of supporting the uprising, Master Donila also indirectly controlled several outstanding young uprising generals and learned about the uprising situation at that time.

The development of the situation is not as smooth as everyone expected. At the beginning of the uprising, under the passive coping of the empires everywhere, the uprising immediately started. Various places formed their own uprising armies, and the mage was joined by the young people he secretly controlled. As soon as the rebel army was established, it controlled most of the population gathering places on the Farah Peninsula. The oases in various places were basically controlled by the rebel army, while the various seaport cities were under the control of the hereditary nobles in the city. Joining one party is already providing indirect support for the uprisings in various places. After all, the various military supplies of the insurgents in various places are supported by various harbor cities.

Instead, the various tribes firmly supported the empire. Many local officials of the empire who escaped from the pursuit of the rebel army received direct support from various tribes, and the imperial officials relied on the support of various tribes until the arrival of powerful imperial troops.

Master Harlow played with the small magic missiles in his palm, flattened and rounded them casually, and asked Master Donila, "I have two questions."

Master Donila happened to take a sip of his drink, and reached out his hand to signal Master Harou to ask the question.

"Two questions. First, where did an entire squadron of knights go on the isthmus between the Fara Peninsula and the Empire itself? Second, why did the various tribes firmly support the Empire? If they directly supported If you join the rebel army, the entire Fara Peninsula will be independent. After taking down the fortress on the isthmus, you can establish any kind of kingdom or city-state alliance."

Many mages also nodded, it seems that they all have the same question.

"Good question, I'll answer the first question first, because the specific reason for the second question is more complicated." Mage Donila picked up a bottle of sugar on the dining table, opened it and cast a levitation technique, allowing the The sugar flew out of the bottle and stretched in the air.

Mage Donila then finely manipulated the sugar that was floated into the air by the levitation technique, but he himself is not good at this. He himself is good at the spiritual magic that he has learned and the plant magic that his race is good at.

That's right, Master Donila is not a human being, he is a half-elf who is a hybrid of human and forest elves. Moreover, his forest elf blood is also mixed with a part of flower elf blood, which makes him have bright red hair and excellent plant magic. His identity as a forest elf allows him to systematically learn the magic knowledge of the forest elves and has a long lifespan, while his human blood brings him excellent physical vitality, allowing him to have excellent learning ability and growth speed in his hometown.

He came to the Northern Magic Society for exchanges as a magic communication representative. Of course, he is also a follower who admires the old mage.

Seeing that Master Donila was struggling to manipulate the sugar, the old mage secretly took over the floating technique, allowing the sugar floating in the air to change at will according to Master Donila's mind.

Under the control of Master Donila, the sugar turned into a map of the Farah Peninsula. After begging for a dozen candies from one of his mage friends, let the candies float in the air to represent the city.

Master Donila pointed to the candy representing the Imperial Castle on the Isthmus and said: "The knights here were not transferred by the empire during the previous Omorie incident, so they were not buried in the outbreak of the undead in the Omorie area. After the Mole incident, the Fara Peninsula was not the only place where the empire was unstable, and uprisings and rebellions continued to occur in other areas. These uprisings and rebellions occurred in a sequence throughout the empire."

The mage manipulated sugar and candies to form a map of the entire empire: "Everyone see, after the Omorie incident, the Osuncion area in the south near the Omorie area first launched a military self-protection activity. It is said that it is a military self-defense confrontation The undead are actually the local nobles and imperial officials vigorously expanding the army under their control. Then, the Grand Duke of Cold in the north also initiated serious friction with the imperial garrison. After that, in the three principalities of Roentgen in the east, the empire sent to supervise the local royal family members The third prince was assassinated, and the imperial family urgently dispatched the Knights Squadron on the Isthmus to support the investigation team and protect the investigation team with force. This investigation team was established by the royal family after the assassination to investigate and judge the assassination of the third prince As for the castle on the isthmus, it is guarded by knights and troops made up of imperial local officials and pro-royal nobles in the western part of the isthmus."

The old mage stroked his beard, looked at the sugar and candies representing the three principalities of Roentgen and said, "Hehehe, I have information that the killing of the third prince of the empire was entirely a play directed and performed by the imperial family, and the three The prince is not dead either."

As soon as this remark came out, all the mages were shocked, and couldn't believe that such a big thing was all fake.

Master Donila said: "But the third prince of the imperial family is indeed dead. It is impossible to give up the main leaders of our country for the sake of the Three Principalities."

"Has anyone seen the body of the third prince? It is only said that it was an assassination, but there was no grand funeral, and there was no direct confirmation from the gods. If you say that after decades until now, there is no news of the third prince. , should be dead. Then I can only say that in order to deal with the grievances and grievances between the three duchies of Roentgen and the empire for hundreds of years, the imperial family faked the death of the third prince, which is very beautiful."

Speaking of this, the old mage sighed: "Hey, in order to deal with these three duchies, the imperial royal family probably made solid preparations earlier, and only found a suitable time to launch it. Compared with these, the political power of a member of the royal family What does life matter? As long as the third prince no longer uses his identity as a prince and becomes a figure hidden in the dark, it will not be a bad help to the royal family."

"Then, are the various things on the Farah Peninsula also expected by the empire?" a mage asked.

"It's unlikely. At that time, the situation in the empire was not stable. After all, what happened in the Omorie region was beyond everyone's expectations. It can only be said that in the situation of the empire at that time, the empire had to make a choice. Abandon the unproductive Farah Peninsula, and take the rich and prosperous Roentgen Three Duchies that have been prepared for a long time. It’s just that the situation of the empire on the Farah Peninsula has not collapsed. With the support of various tribes, the imperial officials maintain At least one-third of the control of the Farah Peninsula. Until the situation in the Roentgen Three Principalities is settled, a whole squadron of knights returns to support." Master Donila said in a deep voice.

Master Harou saw that his fish soup was ready, and carefully gave a ball of fish soup floating in the air to the old master to taste.

The old mage divided the fish soup into many parts, so that everyone could have a taste of what was new and taste the craft of Master Harau.

"Then what is Master Harlow's second question?" After tasting the very delicious fish soup, Master Kony continued the topic just now.

"The fact that the tribes on the Farah Peninsula supported the empire was beyond my expectations at the time, and even beyond everyone's expectations. I didn't understand until a long time later. Hey." Master Donila said.

He went on to say: "No one could see the reason at the time. After all, it was the era when various careerists emerged one after another. I specially disguised myself as a wandering elf mage. After I faked my identity and joined the local army of the empire, I personally contacted the tribes. Soldiers understand."

The old mage looked at Master Donila with bright eyes, he was very interested in these.

How did the Empire make the tribes that wandered the desert so steadfast in their support for outsiders? This may also have a reference for how the old mage governs the Magic Society. The current situation of the society made him quite worried, although the society has now become a very powerful organization, establishing and ruling many small countries, large areas and large populations in the northern world. Everything seems to be thriving, like flowers and brocades, and the fire is cooking oil.

But the old mage knew that the organization he had led dozens of mages to build with his own hands had become diseased. Why did they betray the group of imperial magicians hundreds of years ago, leave their respective hometowns, and come to the remote northern part of the mainland? It is because the magicians of the empire are addicted to the power provided by the empire and cannot extricate themselves, they can no longer be called mages.

The magicians of the empire are just slaves to power, whether it is the violent power brought by magic or technological power, or even the identity power of the magician itself. If you lose your curiosity and enthusiasm for the magical world, you will already be a monster using magic power, or more commonly known as Warcraft. They have transformed into animals of power, running wildly on the road to power.

So he led dozens of mages who saw this matter clearly and believed in him, and went away to other places, and established the Northern Magic Society. But what makes the old mage sad is that after hundreds of years, despite his constant influence, many mages he learned still walked on the old path.

They have grown strange hairs of 'noble status'; the fangs that often take human life and are called 'magic rule' are exposed in the open mouth; the animal pupils of 'power desire' are wide in the eye sockets; the mouth is open All the sounds are unknown roars of 'pleasure'.

No matter how you look at it, it looks like a magical beast with wisdom.

The old mage killed countless monsters like this in his life, but this time he was reluctant, and still hoped to find a medicine to transform them from monsters speaking human language back into humans.

"What made the tribal warriors fight bravely is because of themselves. Their survival is the grace that the empire brought them. They are grateful for this." Master Donila said in a heavy tone.

"How?" asked the old mage.

"The climate on the Fara Peninsula is harsh, and you will see this for yourself later. At the same time, the water source is precious, and food is naturally hard to obtain. On the peninsula, the oasis where the water source is located is controlled by the people who have ruled there for generations. Nobles, big merchants, and local churches. As a wandering tribe, they can only wander among the oases, and exchange hard-hunted wild animals for water and food."

"And the arrival of the empire has gradually changed their situation. Although the magic props that can absorb moisture in the air out of thin air to produce water are expensive, they can be obtained by hunting powerful monsters. The cheap empire food saves them from running around all day long to survive. Physicians from all over the empire greatly improved their health conditions. For the first time, they knew that maintaining hygiene would prevent them from getting sick. Not only that, the physicians also taught them characters so that they could re-understand the whole world through books. Babies no longer died, You can grow into a child. Hunger no longer comes, you can grow into a teenager. Hunger and thirst no longer visit your throat, you can grow into a young man. The sun god religion brought by the doctors allowed them to reshape their social relationship with each other.

Therefore, after the great uprising on the Fara Peninsula, under the appeal of the doctors, they changed from various tribes into a uniform army. From speaking various tribal dialects, they became uniformly speaking the imperial dialect. From babes who may die early, to strong youths. From tribes that often plundered each other, they became brothers who believed in the sun god at the same time. Under the leadership of the doctors, cross the desert, break through the sandstorm, form an army, and fight against the loose rebels. "

The old mage was silent. He hadn't expected this situation, and he couldn't use it.

Did you learn anything? Last year, the income from gold alone was more than 100 tons, and there were so many other magic materials that they could not fit in warehouses in various places. So the problem the society is facing is not the problem that these tribes used to have. His daily work is dealing with the use and distribution of various resources, trying to make the resources of the society be used for the development of magic, rather than being used to strengthen the various levels of the society rule. He hopes that the society should not oppress the lands it has ruled, but develop them as much as possible, so that more people can use the various magics learned to create happiness, instead of being killed by the magic army learned.

"It seems that among these doctors, no, they should be the ones who formulated the management strategy of the Farah Peninsula. They have a lot of foresight." The old mage finally came to such a conclusion.

"Your Majesty the Archmage is right, but it's not a person. It's a god." Master Donila said, while pointing straight at the sun above his head.

It goes without saying that all mages understand what he means, plus what he just said clearly about the Church of the Sun God.

Master Kony asked, "So, what happened in the end? An uprising on the Fara Peninsula."

"In the end, the Farah Peninsula was still won by the empire, but the empire lost its specific right to rule. The doctor with a huge army suddenly became the priest and shepherd of the Church of the Sun God. It turns out that the various dignitaries in the Farah Peninsula, if they were not defeated After being cleared, it turned into various bandits in the desert."

Hearing this, the mages all laughed happily.

"Half a hundred years ago, before I left here to travel to other places, this place was already under the actual rule of the Church of the Sun God. Now, it may have become the kingdom of the Sun God on earth." Master Donila Finally said.

The old mage had a different opinion: "The empire is not easy to get along with. The sun god can put them together, but the empire that reacts is not afraid of him. The empire can kill all the people in the Omorie area to maintain stability, and they Why dare not? Who can guarantee that the empire will not dare to do this? The sun god Mora? How many full-knit knights does he have in his hands? Not even one! So it is they who really dare not turn their faces."

Everyone was shocked by the old mage's conclusion, but Mage Kony raised a more realistic question: "Teacher, what should we do after we arrive at the Fara Peninsula? Should we pretend to be a chamber of commerce or use invisibility magic to not appear in front of people? "

The old mage stood up and said while walking around and moving his body: "No need, just inform all parties directly. I think we will receive the highest standard of reception. Official channels can also travel around, and push the troubles to other people. Well, there are so many of us, let’s enjoy this holiday.”

Not far away, the land on the horizon has already shown a clear outline, and the coconut trees by the sea can already be seen faintly.