Chapter 104 Open the champagne at halftime
It is now October 10th, and there are only 16 miles left to Fort Joan of Arc.

Sitting by the brazier, Horn calculated silently in his mind.

If it weren't for these patients, according to the current progress, we would be able to get out of the Wild Spider Forest in about twelve days, and after getting out of the Wild Spider Forest, we would walk for another three days to reach Fort Jeanne d'Arc.

These five days of journey were the smoothest five days since the start of the march.

When they walk fast, they can walk twenty miles a day, and when they walk slowly, they can walk fifteen miles. After they adapt, their speed becomes faster and faster.

The only thing that took up time was the enthronement ceremony for the beastman kings.

During these five days, every time Horn set up camp, he had to confer titles on a number of kingdoms of fifty or sixty people, or duchies of seventeen or eighteen people.

When they heard that the emperor of the empire was coming, the kings from all over the country were completely shocked and all came to ask for titles.

In order to be the first to be crowned with a kingdom, many kings brought tributes of varying sizes.

Don't underestimate these tributes. They not only contain rare herbs, but also monster meat and even bits and pieces of mountain copper and mithril.

There was even a king who sent three monster wolves, but Horn refused them.

We don’t even have enough food for our own people, where will we get the money and food to feed our magical pets?
If they could survive by eating shit, Horn could still consider it, but it turned out that they wanted to eat meat, so there was nothing he could do.

At this point, there are basically no kings coming to ask for titles.

This is the civilized border of the beastman kingdom. If we go further, we will reach the uninhabited area at the lowest point of the swamp.

Among the beastmen, only the bravest hunters dare to enter here.

During the five-day trip, Horn completed a rough census of the Blackbone Swamp.

After all, the approximate population must be written on the investiture document.

In this river valley swamp, which is about 195 kilometers long and has an average width of about 38 kilometers, there live nearly beastmen and savages.

The population is quite sparse. According to the files Horn saw in the Gulag Monastery, Hedge Township is slightly smaller than Black Bone Swamp and has a registered population of nearly 70,000.

For example, Gaobao Township has a registered population of about 160,000, and the densely populated areas around Gaobao Township alone have a population of nearly 30,000.

This does not include refugees, but only includes citizens, registered farmers and armed farmers.

In addition, Horn would trade with them, exchanging allicin, shiny trinkets, and dyes for a lot of cloth, food, and medicinal herbs.

These herbs can be of great help.

Horn didn't expect the herbs to be consumed so quickly.

The weather was so hot in September, but it suddenly became cold in October. We first marched in the mountains, then at night, and finally in the swamps. In the end, we could not bear it any longer.

Horn actually found it a bit weird, as most of these villagers were young and strong men like the soldiers in black.

How is it that women and children do not get sick, but young and strong people get sick instead?
But in any case, they could not march any further like this, so Horn had to announce a half-day break to cook medicinal soup for them and let them rest.

Horn had thought about handing the patients over to the care of the beastmen, but considering their level of civilization, a cold would probably be a terminal illness for them.

This is close to an uninhabited swamp area, a real low-lying swamp area.

The beastmen and savages nearby are all barbarians in the eyes of the beastman kingdom, with neither human nor animal nature.

There's no other way, I can only take care of it myself.

After enduring this section, and walking for another ten days or so, you will reach Chateau Jeanne d'Arc.

"We'll have to walk for about ten more days. If we can hold on for the last ten days, our journey will be over." Horn sighed as he sat in front of the brazier and warmed himself by the fire.

Xixi looked around and lowered her voice: "What are you going to do in the future?"

"Shouldn't we open the champagne at halftime?"

"You don't want to think about this problem now, but are you going to think about it when the time comes?"

Looking up at the villagers outside the tent, Horn rubbed the scabbard in his hand and said, "In the future... I don't know. I will stay incognito for a while and wait until the storm has passed."

"Then are you interested in joining our White Mountain Hermitage?" Sissi took off her boots and placed her feet next to the brazier.

There were several blisters on the delicate feet, and white steam was steaming out from between the toes. "Does your Baishan Hermitage have any preferential policies? If not, I won't join." Horn covered his nose and moved away from the downwind.

"The Ruoan Party has a strict organization, clear hierarchy, and is very orderly, but also very oppressive." Picking up the rough stone, Sissi rubbed her toes.

During this period, they were walking on the swamp road, the air was humid, and he was wearing boots. The boots even raised a layer of smoke.

Only when she was tapping her toes did Sissi behave like a man.

"The Ruoan Party is composed of Ruoan's maternal family, and is rich in spiritual wizards, such as illusion, charm and other spells.

Their leader, named John III, is said to be the great-granddaughter of John's family and possesses witch magic similar to that of John.

Our White Mountain Hermitage is mainly composed of wizards who practice divination and are relatively free and casual.

The leader is elected by everyone, and everything is discussed together. Members often work in various guild workshops.

You also know that divination casting spells on wizards does not make as much noise as casting spells on the physical body. We will be mixed up with many liars and sorcerers, and it will be difficult to distinguish the real from the fake.

A good astrologer could earn 5 to 7 gold pounds a year.

They can help employers predict market risks and determine locations when traveling, and they can also help us sell alchemical products.

So the members of our White Mountain Hermitage are very wealthy and generous with their money.”

Horn silently memorized the two secret features in his mind, but skipped Sissi's invitation and asked:
"Come to think of it, you haven't told me what types of witches and spells there are."

"It's very simple." Sissi replied while counting on her toes. "Witches have evocation, divination, mind, body, and others. There is only one more category of spells than these, and that is the undead."

"Are there no undead witches?"

“Not even one. Necromancer is unique to vampires, and so far no human wizard has been able to replicate it.

Have you ever been to the Flesh Court? There are no farmers on the farmland there, only skeletons are farming, and there are no miners in the mines, only zombies are mining. "

"So what type of spell do I have? Am I not a wizard? Am I a wizard or not?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's some other kind of wizard. Anything that can't be categorized is some other kind, like flying, feigning death, invisibility, all count."

Then my magic is just the power to pull the bow?

Horn secretly shook his head and thought that it would be better to just run away with the bucket. He would use this ability as a last resort.

"A secret party made up of other types of wizards in the secret party?"

"Yes, but you don't want to go." Sissi sat up straight.

"The secret party that is famous for other types of wizards is the previously mentioned Priory of the Scales, a very radical secret party.

Compared with them, the An Party is shy and introverted.

They are devout believers in the religion of Myrcella and believe that Myrcella is a witch and that monks are all Myrcella's witch followers.

In the eyes of the church, they are heretics; in the eyes of the secret party, they are traitors; everyone is very unhappy with them."

I thought the personality school of Messiah was already quite heretical, but I didn’t expect there were other masters out there?

But after several stimulations, Horn's psychological threshold has increased a lot, and he can now hold on very well.

The world is so big that it is not surprising that there are talented people everywhere.

Just as Horn was weighing the pros and cons with several secret party members, he saw Grampven running towards him with big strides, carefully carrying Dia on his back.

Seeing that Grampven was not coming alone and was carrying Dia on his back, Horn immediately realized that something was wrong.

He said something to Sissi, and they both stood up and went to greet him.

When Horn came closer and was about to speak, Dia, who was originally lying on Grampven's back, suddenly raised his head.

Her face was much paler than before, and wrinkles appeared on the wings of her nose and the corners of her eyes. On this haggard face, there were two obvious bloodstains running from the corners of her eyes to the wings of her nose.

"They are coming, Your Majesty, those devils, the Knights of the Imperial Company, they are coming!"

(End of this chapter)