The Great Wizard

Karina Liszt nervously tugged at the white feathers at the tip of the royal folding fan on her lap, and the girl's lake-like eyes, slightly red and swollen from days of crying, were staring at the long sword hanging on the wall.

The molten silver wire twisted and turned, twisted into a silvery-white vine climbing on the scabbard, and in the center was a black blooming rose. This is the crest of the Liszt family.

"... News came from the Archduke Newman that the council had been deliberating for days, and that the most popular opinion so far was for the lords of the South to return to their lands immediately and organize men to defend against the monsters.

Those who disobeyed the will and did not return in time stripped of their titles and revoked their lands." The knight in silver armour fell on one knee and whispered.

The maid, Jessie, was holding the lady's regular dress and looked frightened: "But the Count and Lady were killed in the rebellion only a few days ago!" Who can get back to Mansonburg to fend off the beast tide? Will Miss Mademoiselle go herself?"

The knight paused for a moment and whispered: "It is said that the southern lords who died in the rebellion of the imperial capital a few days ago, the heir succession ceremony is simplified, and the grace is given to return to the south within ten days, and the Emperor has agreed, the council will negotiate in two days, and the will will be sent to the court in seven days at the latest."

William Lister, Count of Blackrose, was Lord of Mansonburg in the South.

A month ago, he and his wife and only daughter Karina came to visit Grand Duke Newman in the Lion Heart City of the Imperial capital, but did not expect to be involved in the rebellion.

The carriage was returning from a banquet when it encountered a sudden rebellion, and the knights and mages of the house were destroyed.

The count and lady were killed on the spot, and their daughter Karina, who had left Mansonburg for the first time to come to the Imperial capital, fell ill, so she stayed in the post house to rest and survive.

After that, the Imperial Guard joined forces with the Magic Guild to quell the rebellion.

The Lord of Mansonburg, Count Wilhelm Liszt, died in the rebellion.

According to imperial law, the title of nobility was inherited by the eldest son, and passed to the eldest daughter only when there was no male heir among the sons of the nobility.

As a result, Count Liszt's only daughter, Karina Liszt, is almost certain to be the new countess.

Karina became popular.

The rebellion had just been put down, and while the people of the imperial capital Lionheart were still steeped in blood and grief, the rest of the nobility took notice.

The first time he sent envoys around the only heir of Mansonburg, he tried his best to intimidate and persuade a young lady who had lost her father.

They told her how hard it was for a 13-year-old orphan girl to support her family.

If you are willing to make a marriage contract and marry your Lord when you are an adult, how can you be pampered and live a carefree life again?

While the knight commander and maid are exhausted from dealing with the enthusiastic proposer, Karina is worried about the family territory and title.

The Southern nobles, including the Liszts, were mostly dependent on the Archduke Newman.

Nothing is settled until the Emperor's succession is decreed.

The noble lady who grew up under the wings of her parents plucked up the courage to run around for the continuation of the family, repeatedly visiting and even blocking the grand duke, but the duke never saw her.

After all, there's only one 13-year-old girl left in the Liszt family.

A vast earldom, as well as Mansonburg, now the most prosperous hub city in the south, even the great aristocrats such as Duke Newman were attracted.

The imperial succession rules for thousands of years have bound up the merger of nobility and lords, but there are always loopholes.

William Lister was also an orphan, and under the watchful eye of the Southern lords around Mansonburg, the neutral Black Rose family took refuge in the Archduke Newman.

Now, the heir of the Black Rose family faces a more dangerous situation than his father, and this is a better opportunity than the last time.

Grand Duke Newman is waiting for the noble lady in the middle of the pack to collapse, offering the whole of Mansonburg in exchange for the protection of a grand duke.

After all, as far as the Duke is concerned, the vassal's vassal is not my vassal.

Now that the vassal is dead, kick away his body and his orphan, and catch him in his own hands, it is really his own.

While Karina is holding back tears to restrain her parents' remains and worry about the title she has not yet secured, news comes from the south that there is another change in the beast mountains and the beast tide is coming.

The proposal messengers disappeared in an instant, and even Grand Duke Newman also took the initiative to send someone to send a message, saying that he was willing to help Karina successfully inherit the title and return to Mansonburg as soon as possible.

Mansonburg was a city on the southern border of the Empire, directly opposite the Mountain of Warcraft.

The last animal boom was more than 30 years ago, before Karina was born.

But she grew up hearing stories about how the Empire had been threatened by southern monsters since its founding.

Thirty years ago, in the tide of beasts, grandfather Earl Carson Lister led the ground guard to defend Mansonburg, insisted on five days, and finally the city was broken and died.

His father William was hidden in the dark cellars of the castle by the family mage of the time.

Her father told her that after the animal tide, the southern border was covered with rotten flesh and mud wrapped in clothes and cloth, not a complete body could be seen, houses collapsed and cities were damaged.

Because of this, there were not too many imperial lords to step in and wrestle a broken earldom with young William.

When William grew a little older, he took the opportunity to find the Archduke Newman in time, and offered his loyalty on behalf of the Black Rose family, becoming a vassal of the Newman family, and since then the Liszt family kept its territory.

The beast tide of Warcraft mountain is completely irregular, I do not know when there will be tidal warcraft like a flood, the south is always shrouded in the fear of tomorrow's unknown.

And thousands of years of time has passed, the aristocracy is no longer the beginning of the empire, adhere to the creed to resist the heroic appearance of foreign enemies.

They became rotten, pot-bellied, pleasure-seeking worms.

This is especially true in the South.

Fear of tomorrow has divided the lords of the South.

Some abandon themselves in time to enjoy, only to collect all the treasures of the territory beauty for their own enjoyment; Some have got down on their knees like a pug. Shamefaced, he hid in the imperial capital Lion Heart City with all the family's wealth in his mouth and handed it to the foot of a big nobleman, just to insist on being wronged by the emperor without returning to the border and refusing to accept the obligations of the nobleman...

There were brave lords, of course, but most of them, like Carson Lister, died in the beast tide.

In this environment, the mediocre and gentle William was not a great Lord, but he was industrious and practical.

Without the heavy taxes and capricious cruel regulations like the Lord's leather, after more than 30 years of development, Mansonburg, which was originally only called a medium-sized city in the South, stood out and became the most prosperous hub city in the South.

Of course, it also became the most coveted piece of fat in the South in the eyes of the imperial aristocracy.

But now the beast tide is coming again, so these greedy and timid hyena nobles have no time to eat a bite of fat, tail between their legs and run.

Karina thought sarcastically.

The thirteen year old white girl dressed in black veil, standing in the bright sunlight took over the will of the successor, watching the imperial herald hurried to the next southern noble post house.

Her face was calm, but deep in her blue eyes there was confusion.

The maid, still kneeling behind her, was in tears, and the few remaining knights of the family were frowning.

The Liszt family's titles and fiefdoms have been preserved for the time being, but when they return to Mansonburg, how will they be preserved in the face of the monsters that wreak havoc?

The blue-eyed maiden turned to the last captain of the knights beside her -- the other two had died at the hands of the rebel magicians.

"Uncle Wayne, what did Father do?"

The scary-faced, gray-haired strong knight gave a bitter smile.

"At that time, his Lord was hidden in the hidden Dharma array by the family mages, until the beast tide raged over most of the southern land, and the warcraft ate and drank enough to return to the mountains."

Why is Mansonburg now the most prosperous city in the South? That's because the last time the beast tide was mainly aimed at other places, and those cities have not recovered yet..."

The girl touched the badge in her arms and continued to ask: "How long is it expected for the beast tide to reach the south?"

"Two months, from the receipt of this decree from His Majesty the Emperor, and if you leave ten days later, counting the time of your journey, by the time you return to Mansonburg, the beast tide should have arrived..."

"Can you hold it?"

The knight hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and whispered, "Several of the most powerful mages and knights in the house were killed in the Lionheart rebellion, protecting the Count and Lady, and there are less than 10,000 knights and farmhands in Mansonburg."

They're monsters, flesh and blood, they can't hold..."

The girl's green and delicate fingers clenched into fists.

"Is there any help?"

In the few days between the news and receiving the emperor's will, she had sent letters to countless nobles asking for help.

Among them, the father frequently wrote to the God's confidant, often drink friends, mother often meet the handkerchief to the family, even if she is only familiar with the famous aristocrats also sent people to subpoena visits.

The young knight at the summons shook his head in dismay.

"Not a single one; some refused even letters, and the nobles who proposed some time ago avoided us."

Grand Duke Newman says his knight guard has been redeployed north to fight the rebels, and that the Imperial Army can send a 100-man guard to take us back.

The Magical Guild has put out a call for support, but so few wizards have volunteered, and they've been given priority to other lords, we need to line up..."

Knight Vane grew up to swear, angrily smashed his helmet, from the left corner of the eye to the right lower lip of the scar trembling, a sign of the knight's anger.

"These bloody bloodsucking cockroaches, carrion-chewing maggots! This is what they do to lords who guard the border! Giving the creatures the flesh and blood of the empire in an attempt to feed them? "

The young countess, who had just been appointed, bit her lips, which were full and delicate without a trace of blood.

The bright sun brought no warmth, and the whole courtyard fell into a desperate silence.

A trembling, sobbing voice whispered: "Did my Lord Count say, I remember, that he once sponsored a poor but very talented magician at the gates of the Imperial Academy of Magic?"

Jess, the maid, was still lying on the ground, but hope shone in her eyes.

Karina remembered.

On her seventh birthday, her father, who had just returned to Mansonburg from the Imperial Capital, joyfully picked her up and spun her around, pricking her with his beard and making her giggle.

The Count told his wife that when he passed the Lion's Heart Square, he saw a poor girl in distress standing at the gate of the Imperial Academy of Magic, and she stood at the gate with the admission book, but the guards did not expel her.

"I ordered someone to ask, the guard said that the girl was from a civilian background but extremely talented, with self-study through the magic Guild test to become a junior mage, was admitted to the Imperial City Magic Academy on the spot, I heard that a master admitted her personally."

But the sorcerer went to look for magic materials, I don't know when she will come back, she can't even bring out a silver coin, can't pay the tuition fee, and will soon miss the registration time."

"I've never heard of anyone being able to become a beginner mage through self-study. What a powerful gift that must be.

The Count smiled gently at his wife. "I asked the girl, who is three years older than Karina, and I paid her entry fee, telling her that Sanina, the gentle, beautiful and generous countess of the Black Rose family, was sponsoring her."

The Imperial Academy of Magic is the best and most accessible magical college in the whole continent.

Of course, the fees were the highest, and the tuition fees were five thousand ducats per year, equal to the annual taxes of a small city.

After all, scroll materials and so on are expensive, and no one can be a magician without money.

And Count Liszt, his wife gave him a monthly allowance of 200 gold coins.

"You seem to have accumulated quite a bit of money."

The Marchioness gave him a charming white look, and let the butler go to her husband again to draw gold coins.

Karina thought of her parents, her eyes red again.

A knight hesitates: "Six years ago, the junior mage, now is no more than a middle mage?" Besides, we're dealing with a tide of beasts coming out of the Mountain of Warcraft, a mage..."

Karina s*ck*d her nose to suppress the bitterness that was rising in her heart, and said to the captain of the Knight Vern: "We must try, there are no wizards above the junior level in Mansonburg now, and we have no other assistance..."

The family's only middle sorcerer, who was also the chief mage, had died in the rebellion with the previous Lord.

"Uncle Wayne, do you remember the girl's name?"

"The Count only said he would contact the girl in a few years' time when she was of age, we didn't know her name or anything, and..."

Wayne hesitated, then continued, "And is it true that the Imperial Academy of Magic's sorcerer is not hiding from us like those people?"

The girl thought of the amazing and greedy smiles of the nobles who had proposed to her when her parents had just died, and of the cold reception she had received when she, already an earl, asked for help when the news of the beast tide came.

Fingers scratching the palms, flesh. Physical pain seems to cover up the bottom of the humiliation.

Karina's blue eyes were deep and determined.

"Of all the people I've asked, this is not the only one."

The Imperial Academy of Magic is located on the side of the Lion Heart Square in the center of the Lion Heart City of the Imperial Capital.

If you want to get to the palace, the Lion Heart Square is the only way, and passing through the Lion Heart Square, not a single person will not look at the gate of the Academy of Magic, to convey their respect or fear.

Not all of the Empire's citizens know about Lion Heart Square, but every magician on the continent must know about it.

Because Lion Heart Square not only has the Imperial Academy of Magic, but also the headquarters of the Magic Guild.

Across the fountain, on the opposite side, stood a large number of tall black sorcerer towers of different styles, each of which was owned by a prestigious sorcerer.

It's a mecca for all wizards on the continent.

There is a huge round fountain in the middle of Lion Heart Square and three statues in front of the fountain.

In the middle, straddling a statue of