Chapter 339 The Trouble of Duke Luen (Two in One! Please Subscribe!)
On the banks of the Chishui River where the Carter Plateau borders the Stuan Basin,
Two great noble families in the West were born, one of which was the Blood family.
Most of the land on the south bank of the Chishui River belongs to the Brad family's territory.
Thanks to the painstaking efforts of successive Dukes of Rune, this land had long become the area with the most serious land annexation in the entire empire. Even seven out of every ten people were serfs.
It was precisely under day-to-day exploitation that the Brad family not only accumulated a large amount of wealth, but also possessed the largest aristocratic private army in the western part of the empire.
The current Duke of Luen, Mankun Blood, is one of the five regent dukes of the empire. He has served as the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Seals of the Norman Empire. He is extremely powerful in the western part of the empire! Luen City, on the banks of the Chishui River.
It happened to be the rainy season in the western part of the empire. The rushing water of the Chishui River carried a large amount of silt from the upper reaches, so that when it flowed near the city of Rune, it had already turned into a dark red turbid stream.
In the distance, thunder occasionally streaked across the gloomy sky, and rapid raindrops poured down, stirring up countless splashes of water.
The serfs hid in their own dilapidated thatched huts, watching the rain pouring in through the cracks in the roof and soaking the only bedding in the house.
The ground was muddy and outside the house was a muddy puddle. Whenever the rainy season came, it was the most difficult time for the serfs in the western part of the empire.
Only the craftsmen serving the nobles and a few commoners had the right to live in the city, while they could only watch their feet get soaked and swollen by the pouring rain.
It’s not that the serfs didn’t think about rebelling. In fact, the western part of the empire was where riots occurred most frequently in the entire Norman Empire.
Almost every three or two years, a large-scale riot would break out on this land.
However...what can the unarmed serfs use to fight against the noble masters?
Putting serfs holding black bread against fully armed soldiers, there is almost no chance of reversal in such a confrontation.
What's more, the western part of the empire has the largest number of wizard towers besides the imperial capital of Saint Lawrence, and the wizard teams employed by the western nobles are even close to three-digit size.
Sometimes, all it takes is a simple fireball to make the lowly and ignorant people lose the courage to resist.
The square city of Rune is one of the few giant cities in the Norman Empire. The family castle belonging to the Brad family stands in the center of the city.
On the towering tower, the flag of the Blood family fluttered in the storm.
“Boom boom—”
A dull thunder suddenly exploded from the distant sky. The endless thunder even made the flame burning on the candle tremble slightly, flickering with an orange-red light.
The first floor of the castle is a traditional banquet hall, with scarred armor placed on both sides, which are symbols of the achievements made by the ancestors of the Brad family.
From Viscount to Earl, then to Marquis, Duke and even Regent Grand Duke.
The Brad family has always been steady and confident, moving forward step by step from being a local noble in the western part of the empire, gradually entering the magnificent palace of St. Lawrence and entering the center of power.
There are three extremely large oak tables in the banquet hall, which can accommodate a banquet for two to three hundred people.
Scarlet curtains were hung on the giant stone pillars surrounding the hall. Sewn on the curtains with light golden satin was the Blood family's unique family emblem - "Sword and Flower".
There were at least fifty candles on each gilded candlestick in the banquet hall, and the dancing flames lit up every corner of the hall.
Duke of Rune, Mankun Bra, sat alone at the end of the long oak table, using a knife and fork to cut a bloody, half-cooked steak on a tray.
“Bang…Bang…”
The crisp clash of knives and forks against trays echoed in the empty banquet hall.
The continuous heavy rain has lasted for several days, and Duke Rune has been feeling very depressed during these days.
This is not because of the heavy rain, but because of something else...
"Your Excellency the Duke, Master Alessi has arrived..."
finally,
When Duke Rune finished the last piece of bloody beef and gulped down a big mouthful of apple soup, the figure of the old butler appeared at the door of the banquet hall.
The great wizard Alessi, who was following behind the butler, seemed a little anxious, and hurried to the side of Duke Rune in small steps.
"Your Majesty the Duke!"
Looking at Alessi's solemn face, Duke Rune suddenly seemed to have a bad premonition in his heart.
As a great noble family in the western part of the empire, the Blood family possesses a professional magician team consisting of dozens of wizards and several great spells. Alessi is the best among the great wizards and is regarded as the right-hand man of Mankun Blood, the Duke of Rune.
These wizards employed by the Brad family not only have in-depth research on magic, but also take advantage of the abundant magical environment in the western part of the empire to open up a number of experimental fields to grow scarce magical plants.
Just a week ago, the magic plants in the test field withered without any warning, as if they were possessed by a demon! This was a phenomenon that had never happened before! "How are the magic plants in the test field? Are there any new changes?"
Alessi shook his head in frustration and replied helplessly, "All the hard work we put in over the years was almost destroyed in one day. We finally managed to snatch dozens of extremely rare magical plants from the experimental field and transplanted them into the Mage Tower, barely retaining a little hope."
"Just transplant it to the Mage Tower?"
Alessi shook his head and said, "Although the magic environment in the Mage Tower is more stable, it can only delay the withering..."
Hearing this, Duke Rune clenched his fists silently.
As one of the important supporters of the Iren School, the Brad family invests a large amount of gold coins into the experimental fields every year.
But now...
Not only was all the money lost, but even the few dozen remaining magical plants were in danger.
"Can anyone tell me what happened?!"
At this moment, there was already some anger in Duke Rune's tone.
"Your Excellency the Duke, this phenomenon has never happened before. We can only rely on our own experience and review past materials to find clues..." Archmage Alessi looked embarrassed.
"Are there any clues? I don't want to know the process, I just need an answer!"
Duke Rune leaned back in the wide chair, took out a cigarette case from his arms, and smoked a cigarette.
Although the Idar people's goods were mainly sold to the Kingdom of Basel, merchants traveling to and from the Principality of Idar would also bring these new things to various parts of the Norman Empire.
As one of the highest-ranking dukes in the Norman Empire, Duke Rune naturally developed a keen interest in Duke Zero, who had just been born in the eastern part of the empire.
Therefore, when this kind of cigarette from the eastern part of the empire was first sold to the western part of the empire by traveling merchants, Duke Rune had already fallen deeply in love with this feeling.
Somehow, perhaps it was some kind of psychological comfort, he could always sort out his messy thoughts while smoking.
The smell of smoke was a bit pungent, but Alessi still told everything in detail:
"Magical plants are far more sensitive to magic than human mages, and the reason why a large number of magical plants suddenly withered is usually related to magic. So... after consulting a large number of magic-related books and drawing on the experience of the mage school, we believe that only one situation can cause the current phenomenon."
Alessi took a deep breath and said seriously:
"Only when there is a large-scale reduction in magical elements will magical plants wither collectively like this..."
"A large-scale reduction in magical elements?"
Duke Luen was stunned for a moment, then...
There was a hint of confusion and... disbelief in his eyes.
"Are you sure? You are mages. If the magic element is reduced on a large scale, you should be able to feel it, right?"
"Reporting to His Excellency the Duke, we have tried several experiments, and the magic concentration in the western part of the empire... seems to have indeed decreased. However! It has been raining continuously in the past few days, and the change in weather will sometimes affect the magic concentration in the environment, so we cannot draw an accurate conclusion for the time being." Mage Alessi said with his head down.
"I'm afraid you are unwilling to believe that the concentration of magic elements is decreasing..." Duke Rune said while smoking.
"How could such a thing happen..." Alessi gave a bitter smile, agreeing with Duke Rune's statement.
After a long silence, Duke Rune lit up another cigarette and said, "Go find the wizards of the Asimov family and ask them if such a situation has occurred in the Asimov family's territory."
The Asimov family mentioned by Duke Rune,
In fact, it is the family power represented by Duke Carter, one of the five regent dukes.
The Asimov family's territory is located on the Carter Plateau north of the Redwater River, not far from the Blood family represented by Duke Rune.
You know, Duke Carter and Duke Rune can be said to be the uncrowned kings of the entire western part of the empire, and they are the two core figures of the aristocratic interest groups in the entire western part of the empire!
Of the five regent dukes of the Norman Empire, the western part of the empire holds two! "Understood."
Hearing this, Alessi nodded quickly.
“Wait!”
Just as Alessi turned around, Duke Rune added: "... not just the Asimov family, you have to visit all the noble territories in the western part of the empire that grow magical plants or employ wizard consultants..."
Although a little puzzled, Alessi nodded and agreed.
Alessi had never heard of the gradual decline of magic power, because there were few books circulating to record what happened in the past.
but,
The Brad family is a behemoth that has been rooted in the western part of the empire for hundreds of years, and successive team leaders have left behind countless secrets and notes.
Therefore, although Alessi had not heard of such a thing, and it may be that he subjectively missed some details, it does not mean that Duke Rune, as a layman, does not know! The eastern part of the empire is a living example!
According to the records of the Brad family's ancestors, hundreds of years ago, the eastern part of the empire was a place with abundant magical power similar to the western part of the empire.
However, it only took two years for the eastern part of the empire to fall from a place with abundant magic power to a place with scarce magic power!
In two years, everything has changed!
No one knows what happened, and no one knows why it happened!
At this moment, cold sweat had already soaked Duke Rune's back. This duke, who was only fifty years old, felt this feeling of loss for the first time.
history……
Will it happen again?...
"Butler!" Duke Lunn suddenly shouted.
"Here we go, Your Excellency the Duke..."
Hearing Duke Rune's words, the old butler finally ran over panting.
"During this period of time...is there anything unusual in the western part of the empire?"
"abnormal?"
"Coming merchants, travelers, or other things worth noting."
Somehow, Duke Rune always felt that there should be some clues to this matter.
"There was a peasant uprising in Duke Carter's territory, and many people were killed and injured..."
The old butler frowned and tried his best to recall:
"The caravan from the eastern part of the empire brought a lot of new things..."
"The war in the interior is very intense, and the refugees have attacked Earl Cecil's territory..."
"Bishop Olson of the Inquisition went to Cecil Diocese a few days ago and brought a group of Crusaders with him..."
“…”
for a long time,
Duke Rune finally opened his eyes: "Investigate everything carefully! When Alessi comes back, if this situation occurs in the western part of the empire, from refugees to caravans, from churches to nobles, I will find out what happened at all costs!"
"Now, as you wish, Your Excellency the Duke..."
"Also... have you found out any news about Arnel?"
Hearing this, the old butler shuddered and said:
"Reporting to the Duke, I received news from the imperial capital of Saint Lawrence a few days ago. It seems that Arnel wrote a letter and asked some mage apprentices to go east, but I don't know where they went..."
The Arnel mentioned by the two is the Arnel Blood who ran away from home and is now the mage advisor to the Principality of Idar.
Duke Lunn had two wives. If his illegitimate children were included, he had a total of five sons and two daughters.
Except for Arnel Blood, the illegitimate son born to his lover who ran away from home a year ago and has been missing, the rest of his children are famous in the western part of the empire and are sought after by countless nobles.
The eldest son, Conley Blood, was highly regarded by Duke Rune and had already shown remarkable communication skills.
Although the youngest daughter, Rhea Blood, has just come of age, she has already been called "the most beautiful woman in the western part of the empire". She is so stunningly beautiful that countless young men have come to her house to propose marriage.
The rest of his children also had their own talents, but his illegitimate son, Arnell Blood, ran away in anger, perhaps because he paid little attention to him...
"What kind of chaos has the interior of the empire become? Why haven't the people been found yet?"
“Send more people out. If you can’t find them inland, go to the east. If that doesn’t work, go to the Odin Empire and the Basel Kingdom! In short, no member of the Blood family can die outside. This is related to the dignity of the family.”
Duke Rune said with a frown.
Not today.
(End of this chapter)
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