Chapter 274

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Chen Yi

In Ma La, the photos on Good Citizen Certificates became a hot commodity. Although the images were a bit small, being able to draw such vivid pictures on such a tiny paper slip — doesn't that prove its impressiveness even more?

Compared to those portraits painted on oilcloth, the portraits in the photos were real to the point of ugliness, yet they just happened to suit the aesthetic tastes of the West Continent people.

Sometimes, seeing others' misfortune proves one's own happiness; seeing others' ugliness proves one's own beauty.

A photo on a Good Citizen Certificate quickly rose in price from 1 copper coin to 10, then 20, until it reached 1 conch shell, at which point the true nobles pocketed them and they ceased to circulate.

Besides the photos on Good Citizen Certificates, those holographic images and Chinese text also drew a chorus of controversy. The veteran Sir Rui Zhi tore off the parts other than the photo, keeping only the photo in a glazed frame, where the names of generations of Rui Zhi knights were also kept.

In recent days, whenever people entered that room, they would always regard the name and photo as one: "Sir Rui Zhi, the portrait of Third Generation Sir Rui Zhi is truly exquisite!"

"Actually the nose is a bit low, the eyes should be bigger, there are no yellow teeth in his mouth, he liked washing his teeth, oh, his skin was white, not this black..." Every time he explained, Sir Rui Zhi was very happy. Although the old man in the photo bore little resemblance to his grandfather, having such an exquisite effect — what did resemblance matter? Some families' enshrined portraits were just backs.

Also happy was Muse. Although many photos changed hands two or three times, the conch shells that ultimately landed in his purse were no fewer than 10, more than the High Priest's reward silver — the trip was not in vain after all.

Not long after describing the recent situation at West River Water Fortress to the nobles of the Ma La Elder Council, he received a new assignment: a second negotiation.

If not for the chance to buy up Good Citizen Certificates, Muse would absolutely not have agreed to this assignment — at least that was how he imagined it himself.

From Ma La to West River Water Fortress, traveling by water was most convenient, but the danger was relatively greater. No one knew when a bloodthirsty monster might appear in the West River — although the temples had many methods for dealing with aquatic monsters, they usually only acted when someone had been sacrificed. Manpower was truly insufficient, so naturally they had to reserve it for important places.

Muse was still disguised as a noble, so he could only ride a horse, and the lowest-grade mount beast at that. Unlike last time's hurried journey, this time he had prepared at least 200 strings of copper coins, 2000 total, nearly 20 conch shells, hidden in the innermost layer of his armor.

Not until the very moment of departure did a true knight, Sir Damas, wearing a low-brimmed hat, join the party. This made Muse feel the other party seemed to have come along to West River Water Fortress to pry the secret of the images on the Good Citizen Certificates. After all, those tiny images within a square inch only circulated among Ma La's upper class, while those who might possess Good Citizen Certificates were all vulgar commoners outside the city...

"At least I can still make a score." Muse made up his mind to dodge Damas as much as possible when entering and leaving the city; he would keep the secret as long as he could.

Each harboring their own thoughts, the group set foot on the highway to West River Water Fortress. The full 40-odd kilometers of dirt road was not easy going; a whole morning passed and they had only reached the halfway point.

Reaching a clearing midway where brush and forest had been cut down, the knight attendants automatically reined in and began lighting bonfires to cook and boil water. A rough iron bucket half a person's height was hung between two massive logs, emitting a bubbling sound. This thing's manufacturing cost was no cheaper than a large saber, and it had always been guarded by dedicated personnel.

Taking this opportunity, Muse walked up to Damas and opened with a smile: "Sir Damas, do you often travel to other places?"

"During the last temple war, I went to Raj City-State." Damas replied with a smile: "Don't call me Sir anymore, just call me Damas."

"That won't do." Muse finished speaking and paused, waiting for Damas to stiffen his face, then switched to a fawning tone: "You are truly a model for city-state nobles; then I shall call you... Damas."

The knight nodded in satisfaction, full of imposing manner.

Muse instinctively shrank his neck.

Don't look at Sir Damas being only 20-some years old; he had over a decade on the battlefield. In terms of experience, none of the knight attendants present could compare. Ma La was no peaceful place; although its own safety wasn't serious, the military often had to campaign to other city-states. As noble sons, they had to go to the battlefield from their early teens, starting as archers, then axe-throwers and javelin-throwers, then serving as knight attendants for nobles — different from the lifetime knight attendants before them, serving as attendants was just a process of waiting to come of age. If they performed bravely on the battlefield, or if their fathers died early, they often gained knighthood before adulthood. As for the final noble rank, it still required further fighting on the battlefield.

If they were commoner sons, they usually wouldn't have such a complete cultivation system. Many of them were only allowed to join the military after adulthood. Among them, the tall and sturdy lucky ones could become archers; otherwise they had to start as light infantry, then become shield soldiers or javelin-throwers, then heavy infantry or knight attendants. None of these steps were easy, especially becoming light infantry — their attrition rate was only slightly better than the Slave Legion's. They were battlefield cannon fodder for whom not dying was hard; they could only hope war wouldn't come, then rely on seniority to promote to javelin-thrower.

Although he had participated in many wars, Sir Damas rarely concerned himself with marching matters. He watched several young attendants cut down the not-yet-grown small trees near the reclamation area and couldn't help frowning: "Do we still need to bring firewood?"

"If we go slowly, we worry we won't arrive by evening." Firewood wasn't scarce locally, and mount beasts weren't weak; two bundles were enough for a whole day. But if one wanted to use more wood, one had to roast fresh wood while burning, then bring it to the next rest stop. If not for this forced-march mode, there would be absolutely no rest stop capable of holding nearly a hundred people right now. The crazed trees, like lustful ghosts, would plant their offspring on any piece of land.

"Raj City-State's roads are much better. Paved with stone slabs, five forearms thick." Damas gazed ahead: "Next time the city-state war brings funds, a portion must be spent on roads. If not for inconvenient marching, the Third Infantry Battalion wouldn't have been wiped out."

"You're right." Muse said with his mouth, but actually disagreed. However, the entire Elder Council supported this fabricated scenario, so it wasn't something a small figure like him could influence.

The water bucket made short "glug-glug" sounds. Damas chuckled twice, took out a silver-white metal kettle, and went to fetch water.

Seeing that metal kettle wound with white silk patterns, Muse's eyes lit up. He thought: No wonder he dares talk so big.

Nowadays even blacksmiths who can forge crude swords are hard to find, let alone such a beautiful metal kettle.

"He shouldn't be going with me to snatch Good Citizen Certificates." After making this judgment, Muse's mood improved somewhat.

With black bread and meat soup, the simple midday meal ended. The cavalry hurriedly mounted and began advancing forward.

Muse deliberately lingered near Damas and said: "The road ahead has been unrepaired for years; it's nothing like near the city-state. We can't gallop."

"I'm fine." Damas actually hadn't ridden a mount beast in some days. He had a thorn dragon, tall and broad, nearly 15 meters off the ground. Its walk was extremely steady, most suitable for this kind of wide but bumpy road surface.

After passing another small clearing, the ground indeed became uneven, even describable as rugged.

Due to long disrepair, plus the pressure of heavy objects coming and going, the road was actually lower than the woods on both sides. One could often see roots abruptly protruding from the ground, or broken ones scattered about.

Damas pretended not to care and continued forward, but his hand tightly gripped the reins.

Nearly 1 hour passed, and the group of knights had only traveled a few kilometers. The mount beasts' speed simply couldn't pick up; gravel and wood chips on the ground even affected the hooves.

Damas thought: Should've gotten a dragon beast. Elite cavalry doesn't seem like a particularly formidable troop type.

Just thinking randomly, the ground ahead suddenly began to rise, and human voices gradually came through.

"Still 10-odd kilometers from that water fortress." Muse said a sentence, waved his hand, and four cavalrymen rushed forward in pairs covering each other.

"We wait a moment." This was what Muse said to Damas.

After a moment, the four cavalrymen ahead left their field of vision. They stepped in neat cadence, facing the sunlight, holding long spears — although they were knight attendants, because they wore knight equipment, they simply didn't need to fear ordinary bows and arrows. Multi-layered leather armor, though not as solid as heavy infantry's, made it hard to hit the throat or arm while moving.

Suddenly the front opened up.

Trees within 40-50 meters all around had been cleared. On the right were quite a few pretty wooden houses, grand in scale. Some had exterior walls reinforced with large gray stones. Judging by the size, they'd probably need draft beasts to move.

"Halt, who goes there."

The person shouting had a bit of a rural accent, which made the four knight attendants quite disdainful, and they had no intention of obeying.

"Bang!" A huge boom came from somewhere, instantly making the mount beasts run restlessly.

Three consecutive "Bang bang bang"s shot dead the first mount beast that had run into the construction site. That knight also tumbled off and couldn't stand up for half a day.

Half-crouching on a 30-meter-high tree, the native sentry Lie Ba held a leaf in his mouth, aligning the crosshairs of his optical sight on the second mount beast. His whole body exuded excitement.

"This thing shouldn't be called an automatic rifle; it should be called a Thunder God Gun. Too powerful. Armored mount, truly accurate." Lie Ba thought, his finger preparing to squeeze.

A small red flag suddenly waved in the corner of his left eye. Lie Ba, who had undergone a full 200 hours of training, almost reflexively released his finger.

"We are Ma La's envoys, requesting an audience with Chen Sir." Hearing the gunshots, Muse ran forward. He didn't want any misunderstanding with the Jiangning people of West River Water Fortress.

"Chen Sir is not here." The one at the very front of the highway was Shi Nengren, head of the Infrastructure Department, a fifth-term student, a pure Jiangbei person. Because he had studied architecture at a third-rate university, he was heavily employed in the cadre-scarce West Continent. His rank was above Group Leader, and he had permission to speak and negotiate with passing merchants and travelers.

But Muse was no simple merchant. His mind turned and he immediately said: "Then request an audience with Lord Yu."

Shi Nengren pondered for a moment, nodded in agreement, and asked, "Your names."

……(Unfinished, if you want to know what happens next, please log in to www. qidian. com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)