—097—
Orlando, a young boy, walks alone in the desert with a worried expression on his face.
Maybe it's because the sun in the sky is really scorching hot, or maybe it's because the heart beats a little too fast—in a word, it's clear that what was originally left on his chest represents his status as a "slave". "The contract imprint of his identity has disappeared, but Orlando always feels hot in his heart.
He looked down from time to time, and still felt a strong sense of unreality, and his whole body was like falling into a dream.
Did this kind of thing actually happen?
Although Orlando is usually calm and sensitive, which is not the quality that a slave should possess at all, but at this moment, what he showed was that "Orlando" should not have appeared in this person. The strange confusion.
From the time when he appeared in an unfamiliar desert for some reason, everything has started to rush in a direction that Orlando can't understand, and can't predict at all.
He was born with Su Hui, and he has always boasted that it is easy to do - even just relying on a face-to-face to see through people's hearts. Most things in this world are almost transparent to Orlando, including the matter of getting rid of the slave contract on himself. If he wants to, it is not impossible to do it at all.
After weighing the cost and the benefits that would be required to do so, Orlando found that this was not a good deal, so he put it on hold for the time being, and did not put it on what he needed to do. The front row of the list of things.
He didn't think it was necessary.
Compared with the series of things that Orlando wants and will accomplish, whether he is a slave or a commoner, it is a very trivial matter among them, and does not have any priority.
But now, another person exchanged this "freedom" and "dignity" for him.
Orlando was not so grateful that he gave up on the spot, but such behavior did make him feel "confused" and "concerned".
He should go find that girl and ask for clarification. thought Orlando.
Otherwise, such doubts will always accompany and trouble him.
When Orlando finally made a decision on this matter, he had actually almost reached his goal. When the young man stopped, what he saw in front of his eyes was a stretch of yellow sand dunes, undulating and unsteady - at least if it just looked like this, it seemed to be no different from the surroundings.
But that's not really indistinguishable of course.
Orlando took out a spar with magic power accumulated in it from his pocket, and then crushed it. When the magic power inside the spar spread out, the space in front of it that didn't look any different suddenly began to fluctuate like a disturbed water surface, and then it seemed that a hand brushed away the space that was originally covered in it. The barrier above reveals the truth below.
It turned out to be an oasis—even a not-so-small oasis.
This is really a rare thing.
You must know that in the desert, the existence of oases is equivalent to the soil that can survive and inhabit. Therefore, whenever you leave the oasis, it will cause fierce competition, and even develop into a war that kills tens of thousands of people.
Of course, nine out of ten deaths will be slaves.
The oasis that was hidden in front of Orlando now, which was originally hidden by special magical means, obviously does not belong to anyone—at least not to the nobles in the desert.
The entire oasis is formed around a huge lake in the middle, with lush green trees growing, and greenery can also be seen on the bottom. The lake in the center is very large, and the lake water is extremely clear. In a circle around the lake, you can even see fields with very obvious traces of artificial cultivation.
This place is like a paradise in the middle of the sandy desert that shouldn't exist at all. Everything is so beautiful that it makes people cry.
But such a place that looks like a fairyland has been hidden in the depths of the sandy desert. There is no news about it from the outside world. It seems to be hidden in the box. , Schrödinger's cat.
Orlando stared at the land in front of him, and his originally frowning brows gradually relaxed. On his face, the originally extremely serious and indifferent expression loosened, as if a mass of hard snow had been lifted in a warm environment. It gradually becomes softer.
Could it be that if we took a longer time to visit him, would he already melt into a puddle of water?
...It's kind of scary to put such an association on Orlando.
The arrival of Orlando naturally attracted attention.
However, when those people who originally lived here saw that it was Orlando, their original vigilance was completely relaxed, replaced by a warm welcome on their faces, welcoming them to meet again after a long absence The kind of smiles my family members come home with.
"Orlando, are you back?"
"Orlando, I haven't been out for a long time this time. Come home tonight? Let's have meat stew tonight."
"Hey hey hey, of course Orlando should come
Home! But let's talk about Orlando, today, hey! Just caught a basin full of sand scorpions! Come to home, to make spicy scorpion tonight! "
They all seem to have a very good relationship with Orlando. Although most of them seem to be much older than Orlando, they all look at Orlando with undisguised respect and trust.
Obviously, in this oasis, Orlando's status is very high - he is respected by everyone.
But this kind of respect is not the kind of aloofness with a sense of distance. People will respect and obey his orders, but they will not stay away from him and fear him because of this.
"Okay, okay." Someone came out from behind the crowd, "It's not easy for Orlando to come back once. There's still a lot of work here that needs to be decided by him. You don't need to invite him tonight."
The elf who also looked like a boy laughed, but the laughter sounded a bit sinister: "In this world, there is no such thing as a job that is still owed, so you have to eat a big meal first."
"Carol, are you here?"
"Okay, okay, since Carroll said so..."
"Pfft...you have to work hard with Carroll, Orlando!"
If it is possible for an outsider to appear here now, then he will be surprised to find that everyone who appears in this oasis—whether it is an elf or an orc, Whether it is human beings, or sand people of any other race, without exception, they all have the incomparably conspicuous mark left by the slave contract.
Those who live in this oasis and enjoy such rich resources are not any nobles and their families in this desert, but just a group of slaves.
If this is said, what a shocking thing it would be, enough to shake the whole desert.
Orlando and Carroll walked side by side toward the depths of the oasis.
If this oasis owned by slaves is the first absurd thing, then, as the management of the oasis and so many slaves, it is just two teenagers and half-grown boys should be the second ridiculous thing.
"Why did you come back suddenly?" Carroll asked, "Did you encounter any trouble? Didn't you say you would stay in Lanner's territory for a while to see the situation?"
For the nobles, slaves are the most useless and worthless resources, especially for the nobles with a vast territory. With this advantage, Orlando was able to "float" among the territories of different nobles.
He would bring the slaves who were also desperate and determined to resist the nobles back to the oasis after the assessment, and would bring back resources from other nobles' territories to the oasis from time to time.
Carroll stayed in the oasis. On the one hand, she dealt with various affairs in the oasis, and on the other hand, he used his divination magic to hide the oasis so that it would not be discovered by other nobles in the desert. .
They are accumulating strength, and they also know that one day, they will definitely rise up to resist, and let this cruel division of "nobility" and "slave" have been spread in the desert for thousands of years. The regime system was abolished.
They will build a New Deal...a better, more habitable desert.
But Orlando returned to the oasis outside the agreed time. Carroll was more worried about whether he encountered something outside than the original plan needed to be changed or abolished, so he made such a decision and action comes.
"Something very strange," Orlando said, "Carroll, I need help."
He told everything about the girl he met in the desert, and then said to Carol, "Help me in divination and prediction."
Carroll was amused by him: "I don't say what answer I want to know, and I don't say what kind of future I want to see, just come to talk to me vaguely to help me like this." Divination and prediction—"
If it wasn't for the disparity in strength between the two sides, Carroll would have wanted to stage a martial arts fight with Orlando on the spot.
"This is finding fault, Orlando." She said coolly.
Orlando scratched his hair a little irritably, and realized that his behavioral requirements seemed to be a little unreasonable, so he could only back down and lower the requirements on the spot: "Then it will be fine." Let's see what your release means to you."
As soon as the voice of this sentence fell, Orlando realized that something was wrong. He raised his head and found that Carroll was watching a theater with a look that seemed to be very clear about something.
I don't know why, but when he was shrouded in such gazes, Orlando unexpectedly felt a sense of embarrassment all over his body.
"What are you looking at?" His voice was lowered a bit, and he sounded a bit nasty, like a cub who had already crouched down and was about to attack at any moment.
Carroll looked away, but there was still a smile on his face that made Orlando feel uncomfortable.
"Okay~ok~" Carroll said, "I got it."
"Wait until night."
Carroll's magic attribute is divination magic among Xiaoyuan magic, a disease is very rare, but
There is no doubt about it, but it can definitely be regarded as a very useful magic attribute.
Every magician who uses divination magic needs to find a "carrier" for his magic, so that he can better guide his own power, and by interpreting the meaning conveyed by the carrier, he can predict those things that will happen in the future.
Of course, this medium cannot be chosen at will, but needs to be selected carefully, and after a long period of running-in and accumulation, the selected medium will almost become a part extending from one's body.
The more you can integrate the medium with yourself, represents the deeper your attainment in divination magic, the more future you can "see" and "touch".
But it is obviously impossible for Carroll to have that many resources.
After all...she is just a slave.
But she is really full of imagination, and she is indeed extremely talented in this way. The boy finally looked up at the starry sky that appeared once every ten days, and chose his own medium.
--Star.
From then on, all the stars in the sky are his eyes, and the brilliance of the stars will show him the way of the future.
Orlando's luck is good, and it's not too long before this "night". Not a few days later, the night and the blood moon had squeezed out the scorching sun of the day, occupying the entire sky, and the stars naturally followed.
At the moment when the stars were shining brightest, Orlando and Carol came to the lake one by one. The smile that always seemed to be hanging on his face was removed, and he seemed to have a different kind of solemnity .
Carroll raised her hand, and the light of the stars seemed to be converging towards her. These lights hit the clear and tranquil lake, reflected in the young man's eyes, as if covering his eyes with a layer of gold.
His eyes were far away and empty, as if he was staring at something that ordinary people could not see.
After a while, those lights began to gradually go out. When the last touch of gold that fell on Carroll's eyes was gone, he raised his eyes and looked at Orlando who was standing in front of him, waiting anxiously for a result, and there was a strange strangeness in his eyes.
"...? Why?" Orlando was a little terrified by his strange eyes, "What do you mean by looking like this?"
Carroll stepped forward and patted Orlando on the shoulder very hard.
"My suggestion is, I'm so worried anyway, why don't I go find that girl?" Carroll said, "Invite me to our oasis, and then think about it slowly, right?" What kind of feelings and attitudes does the existence of have? It is better than waking up to the truth and not being able to find anyone."
He rarely gives such advice.
Orlando stroked his chin thoughtfully, and suddenly asked Carol, "What did you see?"
Carroll didn't answer, but just raised his finger, put it against his lips, and let out a soft "shh".
"As long as you know, for you, your existence is very, very important."
***
Jiang Qi was surrounded by those soldiers and left.
Orlando disappeared after the separation, but Jiang Qi was not very worried about it. Because as soon as you open the map, you can see the small green dot representing Orlando steadily showing its presence on the map.
In other words, as long as Jiang Qi wants to, she can follow the trail to find her at any time.
When I install a GPS positioning on my cat, I will not be so worried and concerned about his behavior of running around.
Because Jiang Qi had previously shown a super powerful ability to smash the forbidden magic barrier, the soldiers who witnessed that scene did not dare to underestimate it. They are wary of the existence of the girl, just like they are wary of the monsters that are ferocious and terrifying even though they have gorgeous fur.
Fortunately, it is not far from the town of the nobleman, and with the assistance of transportation magic props, they arrived at the town of that nobleman—Naples City in less than a day.
If the time spent in the desert with Orlando earlier could be said to have made Jiang Qiming understand why the beach desert is also known as the "desert of death", then when he stepped into the city of Naples, What I feel is that there is a huge difference between the pain here and the outside world.
It's like... the towns of these nobles are tumors parasitic on the desert, sucking up all the resources of an entire area, and adding countless blood and sacrifices, and what is piled up is only the property Aristocratic city.
Jiang Qi doesn't like this kind of feeling. If I have to say it, I think that the last country with oasis and ruled by the devil is more in line with what an ideal country should be like.
For living in this country, the citizens will feel happy and grateful——It's not like this, Jiang Qi looked around, but the people walking around and walking on the street, But it was mostly a numb and empty face.
If the "civilians" with independent human rights are like this, then it seems conceivable what the situation of the lower slaves will be.
When the soldiers took Jiang Qi through the streets
At that time, the gazes cast towards them—or in other words, the gazes cast towards these dogs who belonged to the city lords and nobles were all not in good faith.
It's just that when these eyes fell on Jiang Qi, they seemed to understand something, and there was a bit of pity and sympathy in them.
It seems that the city lord likes to collect good-looking girls and gather them all in his back garden. It is no secret at all.
The fate of these girls must not be very good, so when they look at Jiang Qi, they don't regard it as a "victim" but a "victim" just like them "."
Jiang Qi was taken to the most central mansion in Naples.
It is not suitable to build tall buildings in the desert, so even a big noble who owns a whole city—or even several adjacent cities will not build a tall building. The huge palace complex is more of a manor.
Compared with the simple bungalows in the city, the manor occupies an extremely large area and is incomparably gorgeous, using countless neat jewels and gold as decorations.
Jiang Qi even saw some precious utensils that were not produced in the desert, but were produced outside the desert—the sea or the forest. It seems that it appeared in the desert like this.
The soldiers handed Jiang Qi to the butler of the city lord, and then, Jiang Qi was taken to wash and dress up. They didn't have time to know from the soldiers that this girl who looks weak and slender, delicate and beautiful like a doll, but also fragile enough is actually a girl with a force value that doesn't match her appearance. A powerful magician.
Ever since entering the city lord's mansion, Jiang Qi couldn't help frowning.
Some kind of disgusting and abominable smell that makes me feel disgusting has been coming and enveloping me, Jiang Qi almost has the illusion that she has fallen into a bucket full of sticky and disgusting mucus, anxiously wanting to "Bang Bang" gave Jie two punches.
Jiang Qi thinks that she is usually a relatively calm person, and the last person who made her feel such a distinct disgust was Azazel.
...Oh, Azazel.
Jiang Qi suddenly remembered that the reason why he fell into this strange secret realm was also Azazel's last fight before the consciousness left in the "temple" was burnt to death by his blood.
In this way, when Jiang Qi looked at the City Lord's Mansion again, it looked like Azazel's malicious face, as if the other party might come out from any side of the corridor at any time.
It was Jiang Qi who asked the maid beside her who was sent to serve her: "Is there a temple in the city of Naples?"
"Shrine?" The maid didn't think that this noble existence, as cold as ice, would condescend to talk to her.
While suppressing his excitement, he answered Jiang Qi's question: "Are you referring to... the god enshrined by the protoss? No, there is no tradition and belief in the desert to believe in the Lord of the Riding Sun." ."
"Then besides the Lord of Lieyang, are there any other beings enshrined?" Jiang Qi asked.
This question is a bit out of line for the maid, but she doesn't want to be unable to answer Jiang Qi's question, so she racks her brains to think about it.
There is one thing that needs to be clarified here. Those who can serve in the city lord's mansion—whether they are maids, soldiers, or male servants, all are civilians living in the city of Naples. , There are even down-and-out little nobles.
Slaves are not qualified to appear in front of the public, let alone serve nobles. They are only fit to rot and stink with rats in dark, dirty, damp corners.
Therefore, this maid slave recalled all kinds of rumors that she usually heard, and in the end she actually pulled out some information from her memory.
"I remembered!" the maid said, "Although there is no public offering in the city, I heard a piece of news."
"In private, the city lord seems to often hold sacrifices as offerings... What he enshrines is not the lord of the fierce sun, but no one knows what it is."
Jiang Qi raised her eyebrows.
"Where does he usually worship?"
The maid thought hard.
"I remember..."
"It should be, in the bedroom of the Lord City Lord?"