Chapter 32, Road to Glory

The next day, everyone in the caravan got up very late. In the morning, there was a thick fog in the forest. The white hazy fog almost covered the entire Hordaland Mountains, and they couldn't see their fingers. In this case, the caravan Don't dare to start rashly, everyone is ready and waiting in place.

"This thick fog, Mr. Matz, are you really planning to go into the mountain? It's too dangerous." Birger's dry voice came, sounding emotionless.

"No, no, Mr. Birger, you only know one thing, but you don't know the other. I have traveled the Nord trade route many times. The fog in the morning means that the sun will definitely come out in the morning, so today's journey It will be easier." Oliver said disapprovingly, his face full of confidence.

It is true as the imperial businessman said, with the passage of time, the dense fog gradually dispersed, the sun rose from the east, and the bright sunlight fell on everyone, and it also warmed everyone's hearts. They hadn't seen it for several days. The sun is out.

"Long live the God of Dawn!"

"Praise the God of Dawn!"

"Great! The sun is out!"

Everyone in the caravan cheered loudly. Oliver twisted his beard slightly when he saw this, and his face couldn't help but feel a little proud. This is his experience in doing business between Nord and the Empire all the year round: "Time is money, my friends, Get ready to go."

The sound of carriage wheels and horseshoes sounded on the mountain road. This former prosperous business road will not be abandoned for a long time. The road is overgrown with weeds, and the previous road can be vaguely seen. The sightlines on both sides of the mountain road are very wide. Ryan noticed There was a collapsed guard post on the side of the road, so he patted his horse and went to check.

"Mr. Ryan?" The half-elf also came up, Estelle also changed into a full set of light leather armor today, elves are not good at wrist strength and physical strength, especially the wood elves who have been integrated into the forest, change into leather armor It is convenient for walking on mountain roads.

Gray Blade Birger also appeared, and he said in a hoarse voice: "We have been here before, and we found nothing other than some weapons."

"Do you mean that this sentry post was voluntarily abandoned?" Ryan touched his chin.

"Look at this, Mr. Lane." Birger led two people to the inside of the sentry tower. Sure enough, the noose and bearings used to open the door showed no signs of damage: "The original army evacuation here was very orderly. This place should It was voluntarily given up."

"Why was this place abandoned? Does Mr. Ryan have any idea?" The half-elf turned over the wall lightly and asked Ryan.

"This." Ryan nodded first, then shook his head: "I don't know the reason, but I think it has something to do with it."

"that matter?"

"It was caused by a mission knight." Ryan signaled that there was nothing to see here, and three people came out of the sentry tower.

"Tch, it's that group of scumbags with water in their heads again. I really don't understand why their ladies always let these beasts out to bite people?" Birger's hoarse voice contained strong resentment.

"We climbed mountains, we crossed rivers, we plunged into the deepest underground, we wiped out the most terrifying monsters, how can we get your approval? My lady?"

——Bretanian mission knight Gasco

As a kingdom of knights, Brittania is well-known throughout the continent, but because of this, in the kingdom of knights, the title of knights is slightly different from that of the empire and the kingdom of Nord.

In Britannia, there are some special situations. Ever since Arthur, the first king of knights, drank in the Holy Grail of the Fairy in the Lake and obtained unparalleled power, the knights of Britannia have regarded the Holy Grail as their own. After a lifetime of pursuit, powerful kingdom knights will advance to mission knights (also known as expedition knights). Mission knights begin to be blessed by the fairies in the lake, and they are far more powerful than ordinary knights.

Mission knights can choose to abandon everything they own,

Walking on the Holy Grail Road, the fairy in the lake will give oracle missions to mission knights who walk on the Holy Grail Road. In the next few months or even years, mission knights who walk on the Holy Grail Road will give up all their Worldly possessions and titles, concentrating on completing the holy grail trial of the fairy in the lake, the knight's life will be full of trials and tribulations, constantly testing his spirit, body, and even soul.

In the endless suffering and challenges, most of the mission knights will fail and return, and many people will even leave this world with an undying yearning for the Holy Grail. Only a very small number of mission knights will succeed. After successfully completing the holy grail task of the fairies in the lake, the incarnation of the gods will come before them, and the knights will drink from the holy grail of the gods. The physique and life of these knights will be permanently changed in the blessing of the holy water. They will become the legendary Holy Grail Knights, gaining a long life and extremely powerful power that surpasses others. These Holy Grail Knights, full of chivalry virtues and blessings from the gods, are the most powerful knights on the entire continent. The Kingdom of Knights is still standing today and is the core force that deters one side.

The Holy Grail Knight's charge is the most terrifying scene that people in this world fear most. Even angels and devils, even the most powerful Chaos Champions in Chaos, will be torn apart like rags in front of these Holy Grail Knights. One hundred and fifty years ago, the story of these Holy Grail Knights breaking through the Chaos army is still being told. The existence of the Holy Grail Knights made all the countries on the mainland fearful. At any time, you must first weigh whether your army can withstand the charge of these knights.

But for this reason, mission knights are the most resented and rejected by the mercenaries. There is no other reason. These mission knights are always competing for the jobs of the mercenaries. They always show their "compassion" and "chivalry" as much as possible to face the entrustment of the villagers and lords. These mission knights ask for very low rewards, very low, and they often can Complete the task very well, because those miscellaneous monsters that ordinary mercenaries can solve are too weak for mission knights.

This is not bad at all, but in the words of Ryan's previous life, mission knights do this, which is called "disturbing the market order". The existence of these mission knights often squeezes the living space of mercenaries, cunning villagers and lords They always take the opportunity to lower the price, and in many cases, the mercenaries can only accept a much lower price than the normal price, and they are complained that they are greedy vampires.

"I don't know the specifics." Ryan shook his head: "I heard that there was a mission knight from the south. I don't know what he did when he entered the deep mountain. Afterwards, due to the rampage of monsters, this trade route was abandoned. That The Knight of Duty is gone, too."

"Hmph! Those bastards must have done something." Birger shook his head and walked away alone.

Ryan and Estelle looked at each other, and the half-elf shrugged, expressing his helplessness. It is certain that the mercenaries hate mission knights. Now that this place has been explored, it is time to retreat.

Riding on the horse, Ryan started the conversation: "Mr. Estelle, you are from the San Lorenzo Forest. How much do you know about those mission knights?"

"I don't know much." Estelle also got on the horse. Compared with the bulky humans, Estelle sat on the saddle with his arms around the horse's neck and his whole body leaped lightly: "I only know that the forest doesn't welcome you." These duty knights, sometimes in order to show themselves to their ladies, they even plan to release the sealed evils and defeat them."

"This may be the required course for these knights to learn by the Lady of the Lake." Ryan laughed.

It is very normal for mission knights to ask for less price. If you want to embark on the road to the Holy Grail, you must at least become a kingdom knight first. Then these mission knights do not have economic pressure in an absolute sense. Ryan has seen a man carrying fifty The legendary mission knights with kilograms of dry food and wearing a full set of armor are wandering in the wild like normal people. All they do is to attract the attention of the fairies in the lake and complete the task of the Holy Grail, so it is only symbolic that they will collect money It's just charging a little armor maintenance fee and food fee. This kind of extremely low cost is beyond the reach of mercenaries.

Carrying fifty kilograms of dry food is actually nothing. Legendary powerhouses eat a lot, two or three times that of normal people. When crossing some no-man's land and mountains, let alone fifty kilograms, Ryan can carry one hundred kilograms of food. However, until he spent a lot of money and relied on favors to get a space ring from the Garland Council.

Having said that, Ryan turned his attention back to the team.

"Ms. Trovik, what is your gun?" Oliver was talking to the sorceress. The businessman was very envious of the gun in Teresa's hand. Teresa was in a good mood today, and she was not sitting in the car Instead choose to ride a horse.

"It was bought by the dwarves from the Garland Unity and the Roof of the World." Teresa is wearing a brown leather jacket with a thick fleece collar, a white shirt and scarf inside, and a sea blue gemstone necklace from her swan Hanging down like a neck, a pair of long legs in tight black leather pants and high-heeled boots attracted the attention of many men in the caravan.

"Oh, that's great~ I've always wanted a pistol like this, but I can't find a way~" Oliver rubbed the back of his head with a very humble attitude: "It's always safer to have a firearm on the road, isn't it? "

"Maybe." Rost was still dressed in the same clothes as before, and the leather armor on the barbarians always exuded a fishy smell: "I still think that these firearms may play some role in siege, but if it is a field battle When the time comes, our own weapons will still work, right?"

"..." The sorceress was in a good mood, and she didn't argue with Roster too much. It's been a long time since she came out to take risks. What she didn't expect was that she encountered so many troubles. After more than ten days, there was no result. If it wasn't for the many harvests during the journey... the current state is pretty good.

Seeing that the sorceress did not reply, Oliver immediately swallowed the next words. He originally planned to ask a sorceress if there was a way to sell him a few, and he was willing to pay a high price.

Dwarven handguns are a standard decoration of the upper class, and they are especially popular in the empire. Oliver couldn't ask for it. But compared to this, the empire merchant knew that he had no reason to arouse the anger of a legendary spellcaster.

As they were traveling in the forest, the speed of the caravan was not very fast. Ryan rode on the horse and leisurely recited some incomprehensible words: "So, if the mountain is not high, there will be forests, and if the water is not deep, there will be rivers." ..."

"Why have I never heard of this proverb?" Teresa pulled the rein, and the horse came to Ryan's side and turned to look at him.

"... Forget it, it's not important, you see, we are about to leave the forest." Ryan spread his hands.

Yes, after a whole morning of trekking, everyone finally walked out of the forest. Although it is the middle of winter, the warm sunshine has already shone on the earth from the top of the mountain. After walking out of the forest, the halfway up the mountain is full of meadows. Colored meadows and white ice and snow almost constitute the landscape of the entire mountain range, and layers of mist permeate the valley, just like the vast ocean.

It is the sea of ​​clouds.

"It's so beautiful." Ryan rode on the horse, reaching out to caress the pine cone of his horse: "Do you like it?"

"In Skydome, I see this kind of scenery every day." Who knew that the sorceress didn't appreciate him at all, and Ryan could only laugh awkwardly when he heard this. The Skydome, the headquarters of the Garland Council, is located on a thousand-meter-high mountain on the edge of the Roof of the World. , but it is really possible to see the sea of ​​clouds every day, nothing unusual.

"Skydome, that's such a beautiful place." The half-elf interrupted, brushing his long hair: "I used to dream of walking up to Skydome alone..."

"Impossible! You need to prepare at least a whole set of cold-proof equipment and 20 catties of food for one person to walk up to the Skydome alone, as well as something that can make fire and a tent." Ryan complained: "Two years ago, I went up to the Skydome alone. , but it took a person to go up the mountain with more than a hundred catties of things on his back, and walked fifty miles a day, and it took seven days to arrive. There were many battles on the way, and he killed three ice trolls, spiders, salamanders, ice lizards, There are countless bears and wolves."

Yes, the road to Sky Dome is so dangerous. This castle on the edge of the world has no supplies other than snow and grass along the way, and there are countless beasts infested, so adventurers call this road "Road of Glory" .

It’s not that it’s an honor to walk this path, but that there is a high chance of being “honored” by walking this path.

"Have you ever been to Sky Dome?" The sorceress regained her spirits, her eyes flickering, "I don't even know about it."