The old man Kipling handed Fitch the letter from Fitch, and looked at him with bright eyes. "Read it, and tell me what you think."
Feiqi frowned: What is there to read? The letters are short, full of etiquette and formulaic statements, which is just a little more polite than formal official documents.
The Earl's father wrote in vigorous and powerful fonts and introduced himself at the beginning of the letter, and then expressed his "respect and admiration" for the management of the Ice Peak Fortress under the Goddess Church. The next step was to give money, interest, support the work of the fortress, and then expressed his tactfully that he hoped everyone would take care of their son.
"I'm very sorry, I didn't see anything special." Feiqi shook his head, and then added: "Except for I think I should reply to a letter to express my gratitude and correction."
"It is necessary to reply." The old man nodded, but did not show his usual kind smile. He stretched out his dry and trembling fingers and pointed on the letter paper, "Read this sentence."
"Oh... I beg you to carefully train the dog's son Feiqi Hall, so that he can become a qualified soldier under the glory of the goddess. He will serve him in the seat and have 500 gold coins for the annuity of the Toddqi Manor for installation and maintenance..." Feiqi raised his head and stared at the old man: "Is there any problem with this sentence?"
"This is the place of exile, a place to say goodbye to the past, but I hope you will still be Feiqi Hall." Old Man Kipling took the letter and placed it one foot away from the candlestick. "Every qualified warrior here will obtain the word "Frozen" as his surname, indicating that he will break with his past self. Therefore, you will become Feiqi Frozen, not Hall anymore."
Feiqi scratched his head. He didn't care whether his surname was Hall or Bingfeng. Anyway, it was not the original "Yan". "Maybe... maybe my father didn't know much about the rules here at Bingfeng Fortress, right?"
The old man shook his head and patted Feich on the shoulder: "The Hall family has two titles, the Royal Earl and the Templar. Your family has become hereditary Count due to the military merits of their predecessors, but the word Royal comes from your grandmother, who is the princess of the Central Empire of Revi, which makes your family's bloodline related to the imperial royal family. She was the only daughter of His Majesty, the three children of Emperor Butch Leighton III, and has a noble status, so she brought the word Royal."
Feiqi couldn't answer the words, so he had to keep nodding and answered with "Yes".
"Earl is very common, and the word "royal" is not rare, but the title of Templar rarely appears among secular nobles, right? The emperor manages the secular world through feudalism, and the church protects the spiritual world. The knights of the church, that is, paladins, have their weapons and armor, life and training, must be managed by the church. Therefore, they cannot obtain land in the kingdom. Not to mention hereditary counts, even barons or semi-joking clerks cannot have both."
"The Paladin, including the title of Templar, is not hereditary. But there are three special cases in the entire empire, and the Hall family is one of them. Your family is very close to the church, and he will not be unaware of the rules of the fortresses such as the Sunset Mountains. In fact, part of our daily maintenance costs come from the offerings of the Templar family."
Feiqi opened his mouth wide in surprise: He knew these things for the first time. Feiqi used to know only alchemy, dealing with devils, self-destruction, rebellion and dandy, and didn't care at all, let alone learning these political things. If Feiqi could learn a little in the past, he wouldn't have done anything to chemically castrate the Duke's son.
"Your father deliberately mistakenly linked the name Fitch Hall to annuity, which is actually an hinting to keep your last name so that you can return to the family one day. I remember you are the second son of the Count, you have an older brother, a younger brother and two younger sisters, right?"
Feiqi nodded. No matter how dandy or rebellious he was, he still knew what members of his family were.
"To be honest, your family lacks you, which will not affect inheritance and continuation." The old man did not take his hand off Fitch's shoulder, but instead pinched it a little tighter: "I thought about it, the only reason why your father asked you to keep your surname is that he knew that you did not make a mistake and should not be exiled. But he could not prove this, and he could not clear your innocence for the time being, and he could only save your life through exile."
Is there something like this?
Taking over this body also takes over the past it represents, but in Feiqi's memory, there is no direct relationship with "chemical castration". He did have close contact with the son of the grand duke and shared alchemy potions, but he did not have the memory of castration medicine. From simple to difficult, he could have fifty-five formulas, but no one had the effect or side effect of being a grandson.
Feiqi tried hard to recall the things about the Hall family, hoping to find evidence to support the views of the old man Kipling. In terms of emotion, Yan Rui had his own sustenance and did not want to have a deep connection with Feiqi's family. The Hall family was like a foster family that suddenly entered a foster family, and the sense of rejection was the instinctive reaction. He even liked the beginning of exile after traveling through time, as if it was a certain degree of "freedom". This emotion, coupled with the lost memory due to the merger of drugs and souls, Feiqi could not think of anything useful.
"I...I don't understand a little. Is anyone coercing the Count?"
"Coercion... Child, I am not a god, I can't see things that far away, and I can't see through time. All I can do is make an analysis." Old man Kipling said that he couldn't give an answer, but had some ideas: "I was very surprised when I saw this letter. The Ice Peak Fortress is the most dangerous place in the entire Sunset Mountains, especially in the coming winter. If you are to be exiled, the Jiechuan Fortress is actually more comfortable. So the key point is: Who proposed to let you come here at the beginning?"
"It's the count." Feich still remembers this. "It was one night when he came back from outside, pointed at me at the dining table and said, "You pack up and go to the Ice Peak Fortress in the Sunset Mountains. You can't stay at home anymore." It seems that he never mentioned the word "exile". By the way, what I could have been here two months ago was...I was invited to play all the way, and I was separated not long ago."
"It seems that you have figured out some things, but you must remember to not be confused by appearances." The old man closed his eyes, pondered for a while, and still had a puzzled expression after opening it again. He shook his head and said, "The people who make you delay on the road may just be tools to be used, and they may not know more. Also, your father asked you to come here, but it would not be the first to propose. But he should know the danger of the Ice Peak Fortress, so it would be strange to be able to agree to you come here and let you stay for a long time."
"What is the danger of the Ice Peak Fortress?" Feiqi finally couldn't help asking.
"They didn't tell you? Oh, probably because they were afraid that you would be distracted by training. This is actually considered a good intention. When the Ice Peak Fortress arrives, it will be haunted in winter. The wandering souls in the Sunset Mountains will gather to disturb the mind and take human life. This phenomenon has lasted for more than three hundred years and has not been solved."
Feichi's eyes widened: "Haunted? If it's dangerous, can't we avoid it for the time being?"
"The Ice Peak Fortress needs someone to be on duty, and there cannot be no one all winter. It will always snow here in winter, the roads are closed and unpassable. Therefore, someone must stay here, and stay for the whole winter. However, although it will be haunted, within the fortress, as long as the body is strong enough, or has a firm soul, or is protected by divine arts, those wandering souls may not be fatal."
The old man then explained that, under normal circumstances, young apprentices would go down the mountain before heavy snow began to gather, and go to Collingwood dozens of miles away. There was a lot better snow in the hills at the foot of the mountain. People could still get in and supplies would not be cut off. There were warm fires and beds there, and even soft bodies to relieve loneliness.
Going to other fortresses is also a winter option, but it is not applicable to Fitch. Because his "exile land" is the Ice Peak Fortress, only this place. Not to mention other fortresses, even Collingwood cannot be considered part of the Ice Peak Fortress, nor can it be considered Feich's exile range.
If Fitch fails to complete the training and rituals, or does not receive indulgences, he will not be protected by the church in any other place except the Ice Peak Fortress. If it is particularly strict, Fitch can even be regarded as a "desergeant" and will be rewarded for killing. Being executed as a deserter not only means losing his life, but this stigma will also be traced back to the Earl's family.
"You are very close to death. If you can't complete the training, you either stay here and wait for the wandering soul to torture to death, or go down the mountain to bet whether you can avoid the assassination blade; even if you complete the training and the enhancement ritual is not safe, you will still be about 30% of the chances that you can't survive. This is never a good place, except for the death."
Fitch suddenly stood up and walked around the room. He had encountered the assassination blade and was only revived by the power of the devil - but this did not mean that there was no next time. The threat of death was real and the conspiracy was definitely not a conjecture derived from a piece of paper. The big hand formed by conspiracy and malice in the past was still pinched to Fitch's neck now; the enemy hiding in the dark held a deadly blade high, ready to poke his internal organs again.
"I...If I have your wisdom, or if you can see my memory directly, you may be able to find out the truth directly." Feiqi sat down again, and the sorrow was still there, but he could not hide his perseverance: "No matter where the enemy is, it certainly doesn't like to see me alive. Then I will live! Not only will it survive, but it will also become stronger, smarter, surpass that enemy, and then continue to move forward."
"My excitement is the arrows that shoot at the enemy, and I can always follow the arrows and find them."
Chapter completed!