The Black Scepter

>Irindal never thought that Murphy would overwhelm the lord's palace in the city of West Sellin in such a way.

How to end? Directly declare yourself a new lord?

What surprised her was that Murphy did not directly throw the arrogant lord of the muscles and brains down into the tower, but instead let Ashcandi use the ban to seal her strength and throw it in the dungeon. .

The damage to the entire castle is very exaggerated. The entire gate disappeared, one tower collapsed, and two were destroyed. All of this began repairs the next day. There was no change in the territory. The official notice received by the leaders was that someone attempted to assassinate the lord. , But failed to be killed.

The civilians who have long resented the ruler but are numb at the same time are simply too lazy to take care of this flawed news. Under the political pressure, people’s resistance has been wiped out due to countless crackdowns, so the lord is spread on the third day. When you are seriously ill and have to give up your position to illegitimate children, the only question people are concerned about is when the violent lord can quickly die.

It is not only the upper class that is insensitive, but it also spreads this habit to the people.

Murphy, sitting in the hall of the new Lord's Palace, has become the new owner of this land.

The illegitimate child, who nominally inherited the position of Garde, is only three years old this year. It is the youngest of the children born to countless lovers by this romantic lord—perhaps it is Garde’s mind that is completely used to achieve ambition. After his wife died prematurely, he no longer had a heir, and he had no intention of marrying again, but now he has completed one of the steps of Murphy's plan.

Taking control of the city of Sisselin is equivalent to taking control of another entire "Lampard" city and more than fifteen villages and towns under it-this wealth is far more than the original Leng Cui is countless times more, but the growth of the “night watchman” has not been achieved overnight. The economic problems have been solved, and the problems that it needs to face, rooted in the border territory of Balice, are still many.

"I am Murphys, Murphys & Bull Windsor, the leader of the "night watchman", you may not have heard of this name before, but I will tell you now that one day, it will face the Vatican Holy See, Standing between darkness and light, without fear of any power."

Murphy said what he had "ambitions"-maybe this is not the goal he has always had, but after going through a series of changes, and deeply aware of Ashkandi the night queen After the strength and the hidden dangers behind it, Murphy has customized its most basic nature for the "night watch" organization.

Standing in front of Murphy was Lord Garde’s most powerful men, including five high-ranking knights, twelve high-ranking swordsmen and the remaining members of the magician group, and the i-level Great Magister Sunderland.

Murphy was not so low-level as to be fearless because of Ashkandi’s existence, and everyone in front of him was not a stable factor even with Ashkandi, although their loyalty to Lord Garde was not as strong as nominally, but After all, it is a person who may put himself in danger. For the night watchman who is currently short of manpower, this group of people said that it is not necessary to abandon it. It is a pity, but because of loyalty, it cannot be entrusted with a heavy responsibility.

The so-called chicken ribs may be the feeling.

Facing Murphy's declaration, this group of people's eyes were a little numb, and they were more afraid of Ashcandi, who sat in the corner of the room, in a restrained and serious black robe, turned his head down to turn the book, quiet and abnormal, Let them feel strange.

"Sunderland & bullradyholm, great magister, I think some words may need to talk to you."

Despite having passed three digits, Sunderland still wisely used an honorific speech for this young man under the age of twenty. His behavior almost directly dominated the attitude of this group of people, at least against or against the face Of people did not show up.

"You are a wise mage, my force is not directed against Garde, and I will not point the butcher knife at someone who is willing to help me." Although Murphy was young, similar scenes have already come hand in hand. "For any Judging the target that is a threat to the night watchman, I think the end is obvious, let everyone come here, I did not raise a butcher knife to you, did not use cruel punishment, did not cut off the hands and feet that you depend on for survival, I just wanted to see Do you consider a question clearly within these few days?"

"Allegiance to the night watchman, or is he still selling his life for Garde?"

A brief silence.

Then he was answered by the collective bending of the Masters, the collective kneeling of the great swordsmen, and the indifference of the five knights.

The expected answer is that as a knight with a firm belief, it is the most disgraceful behavior to betray your master and surrender to the enemy.

Murphy respected the choices of the five high-level knights, and took them in the same way as Lord Garde, leaving a life in the dungeon.

"Benevolence to the enemy is cruelty to oneself."

It was not Ashcandy or Knight Jeanna who spoke this sentence, but it was the first mage Sunderland, who looked at the five knights who were taken away and turned to look at Murphys.

"Benevolence and cruelty, often separated by a line," Murphy got up and motioned for today's "meeting" to end here, leaving the mage Sunderland after the party left, and he continued: "I don't understand why one An i-level wizard will serve such a lord."

No one of the entire mage group has reached level, but Sunderland is a real "i level", and in Barrich, where there are many mages, this kind of magister is also a very scarce strategic resource. After all, to cultivate the same strength mages, No matter which country needs to spend howl money and time.

Why does a juggernaut with its own strength of class i, such as Gard, have a more powerful magician of class i as a subordinate? For a large pyramidal echelon of military ranks, this kind of situation would not have occurred unless there was a contract between Murphys and Ashkandi.

"There are thirteen subordinate organizations of the Golden Compass Council on the mainland, and Ballice owns three of them, namely "Phoenix", "Rock Dragon" and "Frost". I obtained it from "Phoenix" 13 years ago The qualification of the Great Magister and the emergence from there is not intended to be a thug under a so-called powerful lord."

Sunderland's self-introduction is very straightforward. The name of "Phoenix" is far from the highest school for all magicians in Ballice, which is a little higher than the Panther School of Magic at Constantine. This grade-because the lowest threshold for studying there is the magician.

Instead of holding a magic wand in hand, the great mage took care of the cloth and continued: "For the magician, the search for truth is a common goal, but many people have not walked on this road for a lifetime. See clearly where I need to go, and after more than ninety years of study, the only clue I have found leads me to this territory."

"There is truth at the feet of Garde?"

Murphy asked directly.

"Regarding "truth" is a broad term for magicians, but the process and results of inquiry are not consistent and uniform. In the final analysis, each magician pursues the same and different things," Sander Lan replied unhurriedly, "I have been searching for the root cause of the birth of the elements over the years, and the only thing that can verify all this is related to the same thing."

When talking about his lifelong pursuit, the old mage had a different look and tone. Before waiting for Murphy to say anything, he took out a yellowed old parchment in his robe, and his fingers were loose. Open, simply use the skillful control of the element to let it float gently in the air and gently unfold, the content on the parchment slowly reveals in front of Murphys.

The old parchment has blurred handwriting. In the center is a portrait of the Tarot card that Murphy is familiar with, and a black scepter with exquisite painting.

Simply speaking, the night watchman standing between darkness and light has no qualifications and capital to announce his existence to the world.

What Murphy wanted to do was to build a real dark army with Ashcandi, the strongest man in the dark except the group of Prince William’s vampires. The Holy See, there are any possible threats-including the military power of any principality or empire.

To do this, it is not enough to occupy one territory alone, but Murphy remembers the words that Don Quixote said when he first asked him to hunt alone-"When you are hesitating, this world Very large, when you take the first step bravely, you will find that this world is actually very small."

What Murphys had to make sure now was that every step he took was solid--so after Sunderland took out the parchment, he kept himself in the house for a long time, even behind him. Shikandi didn't notice the change of personality invisible.

"Murphys, where are we?"

Ashkandi did not sit in the closed bedroom this time, but was on the sofa in the hall.

From here, you can see the prosperous night view of the city of Sisselin under the moonlight. Everything is as strange as usual, but she never seems to care about this strangeness, as if it has become a part of her life.

Sitting at the desk for a long time, Murphy turned his head and said softly: "Balice and Fording are fighting, and we escaped from there."

There is a first sentence and a second sentence for a lie. More and more lies cannot build a strong castle, but only a sky pavilion. Murphy knows that one day he will face the fact that a lame lie has been taken down. But now he could not confirm the consequences of talking about the other two personalities with this strange woman.

"war"

Ashcandy was slightly silent, but when he raised his head, there was a short stunned expression.

"how?"

Murphy was unclear, so he got up gently and sat not far from Ashkandi, "Need help?"

"Your shadow is strange." Ashcandi tilted her head slightly, looking at Murphys curiously, but her green eyes exuded a faint glow. "The last time I saw you, the female knight's The soul is broken and not dying, and this time, I actually saw a person’s soul with an unimaginable "density."

Soul, density.

These things may not be clear to the most wise magician in the world. Murphy also does not understand what this is, but he can be sure that this is different from the normal person, otherwise she will not be confused. Suddenly a stunned expression appeared.

"What does this mean?"

"I don't know, I have never seen such a soul," Ashcandy stared at Murphys, without any shyness, but a deep curiosity, something like Sphinx looking for something new to play. It looks like, "I have seen many people, from big nobles to downcast beggars, their souls are different, dying people will always have thin souls, healthy people will always be stable and dense, but your shadow is like an abyss , There is no light."

"This is a special skill?"

Murphy no longer discusses his own soul, but turns to understand the past of Ashkendi, the green eye, "has it been since childhood?"

"Ok."

She nodded hesitantly, and seemed undefended against Murphy.

"Have you not explored the reason?"

"I was told by my father not to leave my room since I was a kid."

Ashcandy's answer caused Murphy to frown-he could hardly imagine the personality of a woman who was banned in the room and could only look out the window every day.

"Then have you thought about looking at the outside world?"

Murphy asked suddenly, his eyes turned to the window, and the clear weather brought a beautiful scene of the vast starry sky. Looking down from this tower overlooking the city of West Sellin, there would be an illusion of standing in the sky.

"My father always said that it was dangerous outside. I was too young to face the world in a hurry and I would be hurt."

Her hands rested gently on her knees, which could not be moved, and her eyes moved away from Murphy. "I would like to believe my father."

"Reluctant to break the rules?"

Murphy got up, stood in front of the window sill not far from Ashkandi, reached out and pushed the whole window open, and the moonlight spattered, Ashcandi saw a back that was not high under the silver light.

"My mentor always lamented that he was no longer young and could not do what he wanted to do as he used to. When he last saw him, he still regretted that he failed to try from a cliff decades ago. Jump down, people don’t go crazy once, and never know where the bottom of their calmness is."

Murphy sighed softly.

Ashcandy looked at Murphys without speaking. Those green eyes could see the soul, but could not see through the hearts of people. Finally, she gently shook her head and whispered: "I still don't have the guts. For me, the world is always Big."

Being in the status quo, I never thought about jumping, escaping, closing, the green eye Ashcandy is melancholic, but she always smiles to the world Like a disguise, it will only stand aside and face the world far away.

"Take a step and the world will become very small."

Murphy didn’t make any more moves. After saying this, he just stood silently in front of the window sill, and Ilindal’s knock on the door interrupted this silent and embarrassing moment in time, and entered after getting permission. She entered the door but suddenly froze.

"Irindal, head of intelligence for the mercenary regiment."

Murphy first pretended to be a temporary identity for the elf, and then did not give the two women time to introduce each other and asked directly: "Say things directly."

"Three cavalry brigades and five infantry regiments appeared on the edge of the territory. According to intelligence, they came from three forces in the three nearby territories." Ilindal looked at Murphy without looking squinted - she also understood that some things should not be seen Don't look at it when you arrive, restraining curiosity is the instinct of every assassin.

For this group of speculators who will seize the opportunity, Murphy did not hesitate to give an answer.

One word, "War."