Chapter 124 The Last Sovereign - The King of Rime

East of the Empire, Yuesu Province.

This is a county and province in the south of the east. The hills and fields alternate in the area. There are large and small noble fiefs. They build castles on the hills and fields, and rely on these castles, some sporadic cities and towns. embellish it.

Compared with other places, the provinces and territories in the eastern border are relatively prosperous and prosperous. There is a warm oceanic climate here, and even the few provinces in the interior are doing well with prosperous commerce.

However, even in the more prosperous areas, there are still people living in poverty.

Among the mountains scattered with yellow leaves, a 14-year-old boy was trekking in the mountains. He was wearing rough linen clothes. The whole was light yellow, and the color was like dry soil and blended with the surrounding environment.

Although it was already winter, it didn't snow in Yuesui Province, but it was a little cooler in the mountains. The boy's clothes were thin, and sometimes he had to move his hands and feet more to avoid freezing.

Elio stepped on the thick rope sandals and jumped onto a large rock, his eyes searched under the grass and the shade of the trees, and he soon discovered those small hidden gardenia fruits. These fruits mature later and are usually picked in late autumn. And because of the local climate, he can still find unfallen gardenia in the mountains in winter.

After finding the target, he jumped off the stone, pushed aside the dry and rough weeds with both hands, held the long branch of the shrub, and then stroked down the long branch with his hands, peeled off a row of small orange fruits, and slid them into the palm of his hand. .

These fruits are slightly smaller than grapes, covered with a layer of translucent and dry skin, and there are small green buds at the tips of the fruits. Comfortable visuals.

Picking up a few gardenia fruits that had fallen between the dead branches and fallen leaves, the teenager put them in his carry-on bag, then tied a rope around his waist, and continued to search for the next place with gardenia fruits.

Gardenia can be sold to some herbal workshops, but they do not receive much, so they are often sold to dyeing workshops, because they can be used to extract pigments and dye them yellow.

It is worth mentioning that the yellow linen on his body was dyed by Zhiguo, the most hardworking ordinary person. This kind of color is resistant to dirt and not easy to fade, and it is very popular.

Walking among the withered grass and bushes, Elio grabbed these tiny fruits and put them in a bag. He tried to find as many as possible so that he could get more money.

The time gradually approached noon. The young man sat down on a clean stone and took out half of the unfinished dry biscuits from his arms. He had very little money and could only buy such affordable things to fill his stomach. .

The teeth are struggling to bite down these cold and hard dry cakes, and then chew slowly, trying to moisten and soften these foods with saliva, so as not to be choked.

Even though his cheeks were a little sour and soft, after eating the half of the cake, Elio was still a little hungry and licked the crumbs around his mouth. search between.

This continued until the sun gradually tilted, and the time was probably in the afternoon.

Reaching out to take pictures of the tiny insects stuck on the bag, Elio looked at the not-warm sun in the sky, and estimated that he was going down the mountain.

He didn't dare to spend the night in the mountains, even if there were no beasts, the low temperature there would still kill him.

He untied the bag, stretched his hand in, and felt the tiny gardenia fruits rolling down from his hands, and he couldn't hold it with one hand. He felt a burst of satisfaction and happiness.

With these, it is estimated that I can have a full meal tonight. No, I can't eat enough yet, I have to save some money, winter is coming.

He is already an adult, and when his mother is gone, he can only live on his own.

Elio grabbed the bag, slid down the hillside and galloped forward in a fast and skillful way between the rocks and the yellow mud and dry grass.

In the distant field, a big city stands by the flowing river, and green smoke rises from time to time. This is the third largest city in Yuesui Province, located in Kuyan County.

——————

There were scattered lights on both sides of the street at night, and the windows of some wealthy houses illuminated the street. Elio walked out of the gate of the workshop contentedly, carrying a bag of copper coins.

Looking at the pedestrians around, he carefully wrapped the coins in his collar and ran quickly.

Gotta go to the backyard of that pretty bakery, where you can probably get some expired crumbs, which is a luxury delicacy among the poor.

The sweet cream mixed with cake crumbs was so sweet and delicious that he first tasted it when he was 9 years old, when his mother was still there and brought him some.

When he came to the backyard door where people came and went, the young man stood on tiptoe and looked inside, and when he saw a busy maid, he waved his hand with joy.

"Sister Anna."

This is a fairly common name, and one out of ten girls in the Eastern Region is named Anna. After hearing the boy's cry, the maid raised her head and looked around, but did not agree immediately, she was used to returning to the wrong person.

"It's you, Elio." She looked at the boy in surprise, then walked over. It's almost closing time, and the store has been idle.

"It's me, I want to buy something to eat." The boy said excitedly.

Anna was someone he had known for a long time, and it was said that his mother had helped her a little in the past, so they became acquainted with each other.

"But it will be very expensive." Anna said worriedly. Although she was a maid in the bakery, she could not take out the contents at will, and this job was very important to her, and she did not dare to do anything against the rules.

"I know." The young man took out the bag containing copper coins, for the perennial food and clothing

As far as online people are concerned, being able to eat a good meal is the greatest happiness in life.

"Where did you make the money?" Looking at the bulging bag, it was estimated that there were dozens of copper coins in it. Anna looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, so she came over to cover him and put it back into the boy's arms. inside.

"Don't learn from the hooligans on the street. If you are really short of money, my sister can lend you a little bit, although it's not much." Anna squatted down and stroked Elio's hair, looking at this thin and handsome man cheeks, lamenting that he has a good mother.

"No, I went to the mountains to find some fruits purchased by the workshop. I know where these things grow. I have been running in the mountains since I was a child, so I am familiar with them." The boy explained, looking at Anna with a smile.

"Okay, you have to be careful in the future. Although there are no beasts in the mountains, some ordinary beasts are dangerous enough."

"Hmm, I know, Sister Anna." Elio nodded as he looked at the maid in front of him.

"Okay, I'll go to the back kitchen first. Mr. Andrew will clean up the expired and unsold pastries today, and I'll get some for you. You can wait around now."

"Yeah." Elio agreed, watching the maid walk back into the yard.

Afterwards, he squatted on the stone beside the street, wrapped his arms around his body so as to preserve the heat, and looked up at the darkened sky. Under the obscurity of the buildings in the distance, a light purple appeared on the horizon, which was the color of burning clouds.

Time passed, and occasionally pedestrians passed by on the street, and no one paid attention to this ordinary boy, but a few ruffian boys who were familiar to Elio whistled at him. Seeing that he did not respond, they also smiled and walked away. past. When the weather is so cold, bullying others is not a fun thing, even they will think about getting to the warm nest soon.

Just as Elio was in a daze, a familiar voice came from behind.

"Elio."

"I'm here." The boy stood up quickly, but he stumbled because his feet were numb and numb, and only stood firm against the wall.

"It's frozen." Anna walked over in small steps, put a piece of oil wrapped in paper aside, squatted down, and checked Elio. Seeing that his arms and body were frozen red, and his lips were a little purple, Lovingly rubbed for a while.

"Go home early, it's too cold outside." She reminded the boy, and then handed over the small package.

"Here are the scraps I got from Mr. Andrew. Most of them should be fine, but they can't be put away anymore."

"Thank you!" Elio took it excitedly and opened it quickly, revealing smashed bread and cakes with a little white cream in them.

Ignoring the coldness, Elio took it out with his hand and put it in his mouth. The sweetness was as soft as cotton, melted in his mouth, and disappeared in one bite.

After that, he grabbed some more continuously, put it in his mouth, and ate the little scraps in one go. Seeing the young man gobbling up, Anna smiled, and then patted him on the back to avoid choking.

"By the way, money." Elio took out the bag of copper coins from his arms, ready to pay Anna.

"No, I'll be my sister this time to invite you. It's cold, so you should go and buy some warm clothes."

"This..." Out of self-respect in his heart, Elio wanted to continue giving money to Anna, but he hesitated again when he thought of how often he couldn't fall asleep recently.

"Okay, I work in the bakery, and it's not worth the money." Anna saw Elio's hesitation and continued to add.

"Then, I will repay Sister Anna in the future." Elio took the bag back, waved to Anna, and ran towards the place where he usually lived.

It was a remote corner of the slum, and although it was dirty, it was the only place he could stay. In the past, he also thought about building a cabin in the wild mountains, but the wild beasts and monsters in the mountains made him give up his idea.

At least it is much more convenient to work and make money here, and it is estimated that it is colder outside.

The slums are full of sludge and garbage. It is extremely cold and dark at night. Because there are no lights, you can often only move forward in the dark, and sometimes you have to be careful of those who have bad intentions.

Fortunately, it is winter now, and there are a lot fewer people wandering outside. Elio trotted across the alley and came to a closed and dilapidated yard. He found a collapsed place on the side, stepped on moss and gravel to build a footing, and turned into the yard.

"Is it Elio?" An old voice called.

"Yes." The boy replied, and then looked at the dilapidated house in the corner of the yard. An old man with gray hair in the leaking window looked at him, and then disappeared into the shadows.

This old man is missing a leg and is half blind. He lives here all year round, and makes a living by making some strange 'handicrafts' and selling them. He is Elio's neighbor.

"Going into his small room with air leakage, Elio moved a stone to block the door, so that there would be less wind between the door.

He wrapped the tattered old blanket around him, curled up in the corner, endured a still hungry stomach, and fantasized about a world where he could eat bread at will, where he had a mother, and a Warm stone house.

Just like that, Elio fell asleep.

The next day, he went to a place that sold old things on the street, and found an old coat that didn't fit well. Although several holes were torn, as long as it was repaired, it was still a good thing to keep warm.

In the following week, before the hoarfrost covered the earth, he went to the mountains several times, looking for gardenia fruits that could be sold for money, until one day he finally collected a huge fortune of 1 silver coin.

This is the first time in his life that he has earned this

So much money, a huge wealth that can barely survive even if you don’t go out for a month.

Taking the money, Elio set off towards the bakery again. He wanted to return the money to Sister Anna and buy some delicious food.

"Anna?" A strange maid stood in front of the backyard door, preventing Elio from entering.

"Oh, remember, that maid, she's not here now."

"Then where did she go?" Elio was a little anxious.

"I don't know. I just heard that she quit. She seems to be married. You should also know that she is not too young. In our case, she should be a mother at such an age." The maid Impatiently explained, and then drove the dirty teenager away.

"Don't come here, customers will be disgusted when they see it in the future." She said disgustingly.

"Sorry..." Elio apologized and ran away.

He vaguely remembered where Anna lived. It was another corner of the city. It seemed to be a place where ordinary civilians gathered. Although it was not rich, it was fortunate that the houses and streets were complete.

"I'm sorry, I haven't heard of Anna." An old grandmother shook her head and asked the teenager to ask elsewhere.

"Ha, who is that? Get out of the way." Someone waved impatiently.

"Go away, it's disgusting." A certain girl covered her mouth and nose and waved her hands in disgust.

"Anna? There are too many people with this name." An uncle who was carrying his prey shook his head.

"I don't know." The passerby hurried past.

"Who are you?" Some people directly refused.

In this way, Elio asked for a day and still got no results. He squatted on the corner of the street and thought for a long time, and finally had a new idea.

Another evening, Elio blocked Mr. Andrew, the baker's pastry chef, on the street.

"Hello, I want to ask where Sister Anna is going." Elio looked at the man seriously.

"Are you...? Oh, remembering it, it seems that Anna really takes care of you." Andrew looked at the thin black boy.

"I advise you not to look for it, Anna is home."

"Go home, which home?"

"Her home is actually in a mountain village in a neighboring county. In fact, she lives in her uncle's house on weekdays. She just gives some money for rent."

"Actually, you don't know. Anna has been working very hard. Most of the money she earned was taken away by her uncle, and sometimes she hid some of the money in the store and asked me to help keep it safe."

"Recently I heard that his uncle helped her introduce a butcher and married her."

"But..." Elio wanted to ask a lot of things, where he was married, how the other party was, whether Sister Anna was happy or sad, and so on.

"You don't have to think about it, it's not a good thing to disturb others." Andrew shook his head.

"But I have to pay back the money. I owe Sister Anna a lot." Elio looked at Andrew seriously.

"Hey, this..." Andrew wanted to get away, but was stopped by Elio several times, and finally had to tell him the direction.

"Just in a small village not far outside the city, probably to the east?" Andrew said and walked around.

"I'm going to find her." Elio ran away without looking back.

The cold wind blows on the winter field, like a tiny blade brushing across the cheek. Although it is not as cold as the north, it is also uncomfortable.

Elio ran along the road on the field with some wrapped bread in his hand, guessing which road might lead to the village based on the sketchy writing on the fork of the road.

After taking a lot of wrong paths, it took him nearly three days to finally find the village Andrew said.

"There is a birch tree at the head of the village." The young man read the sign of the village silently, and then walked quickly into it.

Scattered houses are scattered among the hillsides. It is still deep winter, and every door is closed, only the rings woven with frozen blue are hung on the doors. This is the custom of praying for blessings in winter.

Elio had to knock on the door of a house with a thick face, asking if there was a newly married girl named Anna.

"I don't know." Someone shook his head.

"Go away, kid." Some people didn't want to pay attention.

"I haven't heard of anyone getting married recently."

"Are you talking about the butcher? This one is simple. The house in the village is the house near the big stone and the sheepfold."

"Thank you." Elio saluted gratefully, and then ran over quickly.

Taking tired steps, Elio finally stopped in front of a house, and there was a terrifying swearing sound.

"Will you serve people? I bought you for a lot of money, but it's not for raising waste." After speaking, you could hear the sound of the water basin turning over, followed by a slap.

"Sorry, sorry." Elio finally heard Anna's voice again.

The door opened, and Anna, who was dressed as a woman, squatted in the water basin and came out, pouring the water out the door, when she saw the child standing outside the house.

"You're... Elio?" There was disbelief in his voice.

"It's me, Sister Anna." The boy wanted to speak up, but Anna quickly winked and waved his hand.

Immediately, he stood there and watched Anna put the pot back into the house. After a while, he quietly walked out of the back door and pulled him into the hidden shade of a tree.

"How did you come."

"I want to give you the money back." Elio took out the purse in his arms, which was still warm.

"No, you can take it yourself." Anna waved her hand.

Elio

He was stunned in place, a little overwhelmed, and finally asked.

"Is Sister Anna okay now?"

"It's okay, you don't have to worry about me, you should think more about yourself." Anna hesitated, then continued.

"Actually, you don't need to thank me specially, because your mother helped me in the past, and I'm just repaying my kindness."

"Don't come again in the future, it will make people suspicious, and it will affect the reputation." She said a little more seriously, but then added.

"It's not annoying, but it's better this way. If you have money, remember to learn a craft, and you can find a place to settle down and live well in the future, so it's not a disappointment to your mother."

Anna put her hand in front of her and recalled more than ten years ago, when she was just a little girl who had just grown up. And the beautiful lady walking through the village with her child was an amazing scene that she will never forget in her life.

After speaking, Anna waved her hand and said goodbye to Elio and walked into the house again. Soon after, there was a sound of scolding and apology.

Hearing this sad voice, Elio stood under the tree for a long time before leaving silently.

The winter festival is coming, he is a year older, and life seems to be a little lonely again.

Two weeks later, the winter festival was held in the city, and many people from nearby villages came to watch and participate. The shops of all sizes on the streets were hung with garlands woven with frozen blue, and the dark green leaves and berries were dotted with colors. The dark world made the residents of the city show a rare smile.

During this time of the year, it is difficult to go out due to the weather, so it is also a rare time for rest. Everyone sits together and discusses recent current events, such as harvests, fun facts, etc., and then sits in a lively bar with a fire, drinking beer, and listening to the bards play various stories.

chirp——

With the long sound of breaking the sky, the nobles' servants lit the fireworks made by the alchemist, and then everyone in the city began to enjoy the beauty of the night sky.

Bang! Red fireworks bloomed high in the sky, crimson meteors streaked like rain, and then another bright yellow fireworks burst, causing a large star shower.

Amidst the crackling sound, residents from nearby areas stood on the street to watch, and some even applauded slightly.

"These mages are quite useful. No wonder those nobles want to cover up those who escaped from Ruerna."

"But these things can be used by noble masters."

"But it's also good to look at, it's really beautiful."

"Haha, this is also." The civilians in the city whispered.

"Hello." Elio saw a familiar face in the crowd, the one who showed him the way in Anna's village some time ago.

"Oh, hello, it's you." He seemed to recognize Elio.

"Yes." Elio nodded, and then asked about Anna's situation.

"This... ah, I advise you to think about it." He sighed and said, and then wanted to avoid it.

"What the hell happened." Elio was worried and scared.

"It's nothing, that Anna, I'm afraid she's gone now."

The calm words exploded in Elio's mind like thunder, so that he didn't listen to what the man on the opposite side said later.

He ran under the dark night, his body was like a red burning coal, gasping for breath, running in the direction he remembered before.

The small village outside the city was hazy under the cold starry sky. He was far away from the hustle and bustle of the city and plunged into the cold night. The cold winter air was rolling in his lungs, making him feel a pain, but the one shaking in his mind The back made him suffer even more.

Why?

Why?

Why did the people who were still alive a while ago suddenly disappeared, and even such a difficult winter was passed one by one?

Why is this time...

'The girl named Anna committed suicide. ' The uncle's sighing words still lingered in his ears, making Elio unable to let go for a long time.

He ran to the village in a frenzy, rushed into the house, quarreled with people in the midst of yelling and fighting, and then was beaten on the head with a thick wooden stick and broke blood.

The warm blood gradually became cold in the winter night, and the pain on the top of his head gradually became numb. He froze and walked to the hillside behind the village, where Anna is said to be buried.

Walking in a dark forest, Elio's hands and feet gradually became cold. He only felt that the mass of flesh on his feet seemed to be someone else's. It was cold and stiff, and it would no longer hurt to hold his hands on the rough bark.

Is this winter? It's so cold.

Even though the cracked lips were slightly open, there was a burst of pain, which stimulated Elio's gradually numb nerves, preventing him from falling down.

He couldn't see in the dark, and he couldn't find the place to bury Anna, so he could only walk in the forest, disappearing into the darkness step by step.

Behind this young man, in the distant city, grand fireworks are rising one by one, blooming with delightful brilliance. These light and rain slid down, causing countless beautiful reverie in people's hearts.