biography of lvan

如果这世上存在比贵族更强大的人的话,那么一定是侍奉神明的神职人员和拥有神秘力量的魔法师.

虽然从某种意义上来说,魔法师只是一些极其特殊的学者,但是由于他们掌握着被称为"魔法"的特殊知识,是常人根本无法学习或使用的,因此他们享有特殊的地位.

而魔法师的数量更是少之又少,一万人之中难觅一人拥有魔法天赋,然而这些拥有特殊力量的魔法师对于一个国家来说却是至关重要的.

如果一支军队中,没有几名技艺高超的魔法师,那么,成千上万的军队就只不过是被敌人随意践踏和屠杀的对象.

因此,每一位君主的身边,总有一位最值得信赖,最可靠的高超魔法师,他们不仅是君主身边最强大的护卫,也用他们卓越的智慧引导君主走上正确的道路.

除了君王们渴望找到一个忠诚可靠,而且技艺高超的魔法师之外,那些能在朝中呼风唤雨的权贵大臣们,也在绞尽脑汁寻找能为他们效力的魔法师.在这方面,大家都不惜重金,因为身边有一位技艺高超的魔法师,几乎代表着这个人不可动摇的地位.

虽然对魔法师的需求如此迫切,但魔法师的数量却始终没有增加,

这是每一位君主都深感遗憾的事情,不管自己的国家多么繁荣富强,强大的国力也无法帮助魔法师的数量增加一丝一毫.

更何况,那些魔法师之中,有相当一部分人是不愿意为任何人服务的,这些魔法师们,把探索魔法知识看得比什么都重要,地位,权力,名声,是他们根本不会考虑的东西.

这让本来就极为稀缺的魔法师更加难求,

法国是世界闻名的魔法国家,魔法文明极其发达,但这并不代表法国拥有大量的魔法师.

事实上,法国的魔法师数量,比起奥托,西拜,留里克等几个周边国家来说,还要少.

Otto has a prosperous economy and a developed culture. The united government formed by city-states has a relatively stable political situation, and there have been few civil wars in the 900 years since its founding. Except that in recent centuries, due to the rise of the powerful Torr ethnic group in the east, which made this once most prosperous country lose a large area of land in the north, the long history of Otto is mostly records of prosperity.

Therefore, Otto has the largest number of magicians, which is also one of the reasons why this country, which hasn't fought many battles since its founding, can resist the invasion of the powerful Torr ethnic group.

Xibai, the descendant of the ancient empire, the last branch of the once glorious Grolletta Empire that had been prominent for a thousand years, possesses not only ancient traditions and a long history but also inherited the advanced magical civilization that the Grolletta Empire had in its heyday. If it weren't for this country's incurable decline like that of most old people, Xibai would very likely have achieved a magical civilization surpassing that of other countries.

However, due to being immersed in its long history and having an inexplicable sense of satisfaction with what it once had, Xibai has inevitably declined. Although it has a relatively large number of magicians, its magical civilization has lagged far behind that of other neighboring countries since several centuries ago.

As for Rurik, with a large population and vast territory, this youngest country shows an aggressive momentum. In just a few hundred years of history, this emerging country has already had a larger number of magicians than France.

These magicians were originally from those countries that were annexed by this emerging country.

Otrea in the southeast of Rurik was originally a country famous for its strength all over the world. This country, which had deep blood ties with Otto and France, was completely annexed by Rurik within just a hundred years and then incorporated into Rurik's rule.

France has become the next target of this huge country.

Although France doesn't have an advantage in terms of quantity, it has a leading number of senior magicians, which is incomparable to other countries.

In France, there once appeared Aubrey Dee, the great mage who was regarded as the strongest magician. He has already become a legend, a myth.

Although in the following centuries, there has never been another great mage with the same strength, as for the highest level that ordinary magicians can reach, which is the mage level, France has never had less than five, and it even once had twelve mages, which is almost a miracle.

Even now, France still has six mages, far more than Otto and Rurik, and Xibai doesn't have even one.

Otto has three mages. Originally, they had four mages, but in the final battle with the Torr people, not only did this country lose the three most prosperous counties in the north and nearly 200,000 troops, but it also lost one mage.

Of course, their gains were also substantial. The Torr left more than 500,000 corpses on Otto's land, most of whom were soldiers in combat, and there were also many immigrants relocated by the King of Torr. The Torr's navy was completely wiped out, and several coastal ports were burned to the ground.

In fact, if Otto had taken the opportunity to counterattack, it would have been fully capable of recapturing the lost land.

However, the Kingdom of Otto was formed by the union of more than a dozen independent city-states, and most of the city-states were not willing to continue this war that seemed meaningless to them.

The Torr sued for peace, and the war ended. For most of the city-states, that was enough. It was simply not worth spending huge military expenditures and the lives of tens of thousands of people to recapture a few counties that were of little importance to them.

What's more, compared with the value of those three counties, it was more important to keep the trade between Torr and Otto flowing smoothly. If the war continued and enraged the King of Torr, causing him to close all trade and sea routes, it would undoubtedly be a disaster for Otto, which thrived on trade.

Precisely because of this, Otto exchanged three counties and one mage for half a century of peace and prosperity.

Otto didn't care at all about the sacrificed legions. Its weapon workshops could manufacture enough weapons to arm an equally sized legion in just one year. Horses were not a problem at all. The Otto people were good at horse breeding, and the horse trade with Torr could also quickly replenish the shortage of warhorses.

As for soldiers, the refugees who escaped from the three counties were enough to form three or four legions of this size.

As for military expenditures, as long as the maritime trade routes remained unobstructed, money was hardly an issue.

The only thing that Otto regretted was the loss of that mage and several other senior magicians in this battle. These couldn't be replenished with money or manpower.

Moreover, in this way, the balance of power between Otto and Rurik was broken.

Rurik also has three mages, and Rurik has the world's most powerful knight legions and infantry regiments.

Originally, Otto could still deter this covetous enemy by having more mages than Rurik.

But now, the balance has been broken.

In fact, Otto is even more afraid of Rurik as a potential enemy. In their view, the Torr people are just greedy robbers who want to plunder Otto's astonishing wealth.

However, Rurik is completely different. What it wants is Otto's complete submission.

The only one that can contain Rurik is France.

And what France can rely on is nothing but the mages in its possession.

Precisely because of this, magicians enjoy an extraordinary status. Not only are senior magicians treated with great courtesy, but even the status of a magic apprentice is higher than that of an ordinary noble. Because for a noble, it is extremely difficult to be promoted in title. For a lord to become a baron, he must make outstanding contributions.

For a baron to be promoted to a viscount, it proves that the family's influence in the local area is already quite large and can affect the political situation of a region. For a viscount to be promoted further, it is impossible without military achievements. In the nearly one thousand years since the founding of the kingdom, only five families have obtained the title of earl not because of military achievements or marriage with the royal family.

And the titles of marquis and duke are only granted to families that have huge influence in the kingdom and have blood ties with the royal family. That is an exalted status that ordinary families can't reach at all.

However, a magic apprentice is completely different. Who knows whether he will become a senior magician or even a mage in the future?

In the eyes of the world, a magician is synonymous with a promising future.

Precisely because of this, when Baron Brown, with his extensive knowledge, proved that Ivan was indeed a magic apprentice, everyone at the dining table stared at Ivan closely.

For them, Lord Kewell Egrete Juan was no longer important. Whether he was a commoner noble or came from the Robeck family, which has the longest history and the most prominent reputation in Otto, didn't matter at all.

Because the status of a magic apprentice had already overshadowed all of this.

Although they didn't know what level of magician Mr. Lavash, mentioned by Ivan, was, as long as he was a magician, any door in the kingdom would be open to him. Even having an audience with the king would be an easy thing.

At this dining table, there was no doubt that Ivan now had the most noble status, which had nothing to do with bloodlines. It was simply because this young man was a magic apprentice.

Baron Brown respectfully handed the ring back to Ivan.

"Oh, Ivan, you've brought me too many surprises. I've never encountered so many shocking things in my life. You not only have the talent of the most outstanding diplomat, but you're also a magic apprentice. How enviable," Baron Lipper exclaimed.

"In your opinion, what's going on with this abnormal rainstorm?" the baron's daughter asked.

"It's hard to say. I guess that when you renovated the villa, you accidentally touched something. You should have heard that things with magic don't necessarily have to be as precious as my ring and show their extraordinariness at a glance. A stone slab, a stone monument, just like the four lonely stone pillars on the Ingles, Puszta prairie. Who could have thought that they were actually ancient magical relics with extraordinary power? The magical world is so strange. The more inconspicuous something is, the more likely it is to be a priceless treasure," Ivan explained.

This statement wasn't just made up casually.

Odrie had once mentioned the Puszta megaliths. Every year at noon on the summer solstice, when the sun reaches its zenith, a raging fire would rise in the central area surrounded by these four huge stone pillars.

The temperature of this kind of fire is incomparable to that of any known flame. It is dozens of times hotter than the lava erupted from a volcano, and almost any material would be evaporated by this flame.

Of course, things that won't be evaporated are definitely quite rare in this world, such as mithril used in the ring in Ivan's hand.

Some people once guessed that the mysterious magic array formed by these four stone pillars might have been a smelting furnace used in ancient times to forge special weapons.

"Something inconspicuous?" Baron Lipper frowned and thought hard. "I don't think we found anything special. The renovation work seven years ago wasn't extensive. We just did a little refurbishment on this villa, painted the exterior, brought in some furniture. The low houses beside it and the stables at the back were already there.

The vegetable plot was originally a lawn, and that was the place where the most changes were made.

"Besides that, there were no other changes. Due to the shortage of manpower, the cellar was never renovated at all, and there was nothing in it originally. The only place that changed a lot was that the study was originally built on the south side of the second floor. Considering that it was the room with the best lighting in the whole villa, I transformed it into my wife's bedroom.

"As for the study, it was moved to the west corner. There were originally two large bookshelves and several statues in the study, and I moved them all to the new place. Could it be that there was something wrong with those bookshelves or statues?"

"Were there any books left on the bookshelves? For a magician, powerful magic is often cast on his magic books to avoid accidental loss and theft," Ivan asked.

"No books, not a single one," the baron replied firmly.

"There was a statue of a book," the fat man reminded them from the side.

"A statue of a book?" Ivan asked.

"Yes, I remember now. Among the statues left behind, there was a statue of a book. I embedded it into the wall above the fireplace in the study. Could it be that this is causing the trouble?" the baron asked thoughtfully.

"For now, it's hard to tell. We have to see it with our own eyes," Ivan said.

"Then after dinner, I'll accompany you to the study to have a look. Maybe you'll find something," the baron said with a smile.

"Don't forget me. I definitely hope to be present for such an interesting thing," said Baron Brown sitting beside Ivan.

"I'm also very interested," Sinclair announced.

Although the others didn't say anything, judging from their expressions, they were obviously also full of curiosity about this interesting matter.

Baron Lipper's dinner party, although not particularly luxurious, was quite sumptuous.

Since it was close to the seaside, aquatic products were naturally abundant and cheap food. There were delicate and delicious tuna, thick and delicious flounder, tender and delicious eel, as well as huge lobsters, sea crabs, and all kinds of plump shellfish.

Of course, besides these, traditional chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep were also indispensable.

This dinner party could indeed satisfy the guests quite well.

Ivan also ate a lot, but he didn't touch any of the meat or fish. Although he had always liked these foods, Odrie had made a special diet plan for him. The original Ivan Este was apparently quite a picky eater. Except for shrimp, crabs, and shellfish, he hardly ate any other meat dishes. Ivan had to follow this special diet.

Ivan's pickiness obviously also caught the attention of the others at the table.

"Little friend, at a time when you're growing up, being so picky about food is not good for your growth," the old grandpa sitting at the other end of the table said.

"Yes, you're so skinny. Obviously, your physical growth can't keep up with the growth of your wisdom. You should eat everything so that you can grow into a real man," Sinclair sitting opposite said.

He really had the right to say such a thing. In fact, among all the men sitting at the table, he was the most muscular. Although it couldn't be seen when he was wearing a formal suit, Ivan was sure that Sinclair's muscles were even more developed than those of most sailors in South Port.

Ivan was quite suspicious whether Sinclair was a knight. Many nobles had the title of knight, which, like their noble titles, had already become a symbol of honor. But Sinclair could definitely be called a real knight.

Although he wasn't particularly tall, he was extremely muscular. His hands, although as delicate and white as those of most nobles, were extremely powerful.

And when he ate, just as he had said just now, he ate everything.

"There's nothing I can do. It's a habit formed over many years. There are some foods that I just can't swallow no matter what," Ivan said.

"Then what do you like to eat? Maybe we can prepare some for you. We can't just let you eat so little," Baroness Lipper said gently. In the eyes of these noblewomen, being picky about food wasn't such a serious problem. As for whether Ivan would look like a real man or whether his body was too thin, it wasn't that unpleasant to them.

"Ah, don't bother. The food here is already quite rich for me. There are lobsters, sea crabs, and my favorite oysters, as well as these shellfish. I'm already very satisfied. If there's anything on my diet that isn't here, it's only octopus and squid. But I think most people don't eat these two things," Ivan said.

"Octopus and squid? Oh my god! There are people who actually eat those things. Oh, just thinking about that black ink-like stuff in the bellies of octopuses and squids makes me lose my appetite," the fat man shouted.

These words earned him a fierce glare from the baroness.

Apparently, Ivan's diet was quite unexpected to others.

"Octopus and squid? Are these two things delicious?" The baron's daughter asked from the side. However, judging from her expression, no matter what Ivan's answer was, she wouldn't be interested in trying them.

"Quite delicious," Ivan praised. This was actually true. At first, he also forced himself to taste these creatures with eight legs and a sticky body full of black ink. But unexpectedly, these ugly creatures were really extremely tasty.

However, in France, there were indeed very few people who had the courage to taste this kind of food. Even Odrie himself had no interest in this food at all. Whenever there were octopus and squid in the dishes, only Ivan and Mr. Juan could truly enjoy their deliciousness.

"This strange preference is really unheard of. Maybe it's another surprise. Or perhaps, those great magicians draw mysterious magic power from octopus and squid. You have to admit that these two creatures are really a bit incredible. Their blood is black, just like ink, the same color as the demons that are said to live in the bottom of hell," Baroness O'Neill said. Obviously, she was still resentful about the purebred horse and the ring.

"Although this preference is extremely peculiar, it's not unique. I know another person who has almost the same diet, and that's our former lord, the late Lord Medin. Although Lord Medin wasn't as picky as this young man, his preference for shellfish, shrimp, crabs, octopus, and squid was almost the same.

"When I first saw Lord Medin eating this strange food, I was really surprised. But when listening to the count talking about these two creatures, he was obviously as fond of them as this young man," Viscount Terbor said.

"By the way, now that you mention it, I remember that our respected Lord Medin did like to eat these two strange creatures. But his two sons had no interest in them at all. Instead, it was the count's daughter, that little angel, who inherited her father's preference. And if I remember correctly, this young lady was as picky as you, Ivan.

I remember that the strict aunt once forced this young lady to change that strange diet, but it almost cost her life. Since then, no one has ever mentioned asking the young lady to change her picky eating habits again. Until later..." The old man stopped here.

"After the Medin family passed away one after another, that young lady should be the only heir, right?" The fat man asked.

"Unfortunately, Miss Bertha has also passed away. It was the plague that broke out in South Port a few years ago that took her young life," Viscount Terbor said.

"Plague? Isn't there a church in South Port? The church should have ways to suppress the plague," Baroness Lipper asked. In fact, her real target of inquiry was Ivan, because Ivan was the only person here from that port city in the south.

"There are two churches in South Port. The priests in the churches are undoubtedly devout to the gods. However, they don't know how to create miracles through the protection of the gods. The only thing the priests can do is to prevent mild illnesses from getting worse. For serious diseases, they are also helpless.

"At that time, the plague spread very quickly. Only those who escaped from South Port in time to take refuge survived. In this plague, at least seventeen priests died of the disease themselves, and a town mayor and five prosecutors also died. In this plague, those who survived were all the ones favored by the God of Luck," Ivan said in a low voice.

"很抱歉让您想起那些悲伤的事情."男爵夫人道歉道,

"让我们为那些在可怕的瘟疫中死去的人,以及那些幸运地活下来的人干杯,愿神灵与他们同在."特伯尔努力调整着情绪,事实上,当他想到那位最终去世的可爱迷人的伯爵女儿时,他的心情已经变得相当沉重.

"特博尔子爵的提议真是太好了,我同意!"利珀男爵难得同意了这位曾经的情敌,

众人举起酒杯,象征性地干了一杯.

"梅丁大人没有子嗣了?那位严厉的梅丁小姐就是唯一的子嗣了,对吧?天呐!光是想想这个老姑娘会成为我们的领主,就觉得恐怖."胖子说道.

"卢森堡这样重要的郡县,肯定不会允许女性担任郡主.国王会任命另一位大臣担任卢森堡郡主,"布朗男爵说道,"据我所知,至少有三位伯爵正在争夺这一职位.霍勒斯伯爵是王室亲戚,也是我们尊贵女王最小的弟弟.罗威内尔伯爵是受人尊敬的皇家财政部副部长."

他显然觉得,在法国南部当一个领主,远比数数国库里的金币有趣得多.最后一位,是利亚姆伯爵,贵族菲利普亲王的教子,皇家骑士团的团长.我听说,亲王殿下打算让自己的教子在卢森堡历练一番,以便将来可以接替他的位置."

布朗男爵交际广泛,消息灵通.

显然,这都是既定的事实,而且卢森堡不仅仅是南方的一个郡,更是连接法国南部与其他地区的枢纽.

由于南港的繁荣和海上航线的开发,原本贫瘠的法国南部一下子变成了富饶安逸之地.同样,这片原本几乎被荒废的土地,如今也成为了日益枯竭的国库的希望.