This is too exaggerated. Ashu Rufat was thinking about this almost incredible information in his stomach.

"Why is this happening?" Ashu Rufate asked in a low voice. "How can humans be willing to accept the rule of vampires? Their legal lord is not..."

"It's not our Count yet... He is just a nouveau riche and doesn't know how to rule at all! Before the vampire appeared, he had been levied until twenty years later..."

Nouveau riche? But why is an earl a nouveau riche? Asu Ruffatt is also very clear about this. Within the scope of the seven central countries, the control of the title is far less strict than that of the Stichia region. As long as you have money, a person can easily "donate" the title from the royal family. However, money can only buy titles, and it is impossible to buy real fiefs and corresponding ruling power. In other words, a real lord can only be those who have established enough merits.

"Didn't you hear it? Our Count..." The soldier saw the doubt on Ash Rufate's face and explained in a low voice. "It was because he was lucky enough to give the vampire queen the last blow that he obtained the title of this fief and the Count. Before that, he was not even a knight, just an ordinary soldier."

Ash Rufate was shocked and almost failed the cup in his hand.

"Everyone said that the vampire must have come to avenge the queen..." The soldier sat upright, forked a large piece of roast goose with a fork, and put it in his mouth. At the same time, his other hand filled his cup for himself again.

Is this why Baron Pinold came here? To avenge Qinxin?

At this time, Ashu Rufate accidentally saw a man walking in from outside the tavern. As he appeared, people around him became turbulent. "Come on a song!" "Come on a song!" and "Come on a!" shouts sounded from the various tables.

This man was wearing white linen clothes that were not very harmonious with the vulgar atmosphere of the tavern, and his clothes were very clean and tidy. He was holding a harp in his hand and a flute in his belt. From the man's dress and the attitude of the drinkers around him, it can be seen that he was a bard.

Having said that, it is very common for bards to appear in taverns. There are several in every tavern, and the owners of the tavern are very welcome to those who can bring better business.

Moreover, why does this bard look familiar?

"Did you forget?" Carrie interjected again in his mind. "You have seen him in Oren City... His name is 'Golden Finger Neil'! You drank with him that day..."

Carrie's reminder made Ashu Rufat immediately remember. Indeed, Neil's dress changed a lot and his hair grew longer, but this person was indeed right. When Neil came to the counter, a waitress with heavy makeup gave him a drink attentively. Even the soldiers around Ashu Rufat now showed a look of expectation.

"Hey, that's just a bard?" Ashu Rufate asked a soldier. "Why are you so popular?"

"We have only two or three bards in our city," the soldier replied. "But it's no wonder. We are poor and unsafe. How could the bard stay there without the special invitation?"

At this time, the bard was starting to sing a cheerful song according to the customer's request. This was a song circulating all over the world, about the love between young men and women. The sound in the tavern calmed down, and most people were listening to music and drinking, and the same was true for those soldiers. At this time, it was not a chance to speak, so Ashu Rufate could only put the problems in his stomach first and wait for the end of the song.

It must be noted that in terms of purely playing techniques, Neil is indeed very professional, much better than Thomas, but both his songs and his songs lack vitality. In other words, he is just a simple repetition and does not incorporate emotions into his songs.

This made Ashu Rufate unconsciously shake his head, retract his attention from the song, and focus on his own thoughts.

If these soldiers did not exaggerate, then the vampire's power was much stronger than expected. The reason why they did not occupy this city was probably not due to strength considerations.

"Oh, there is a space here!" A voice sounded behind Ash Rufate, and he realized that at some point someone had come to him.

However, Ash Rufate immediately realized that the reason why the other party came to his back without his notice was not because of the other party, but because he was distracted just now. Behind him was an old man in his sixties, with gray and messy hair, a beard, and his clothes were a little messy. This "messy" does not mean that his clothes were very ragged, but that his clothes were very messy. You can tell at a glance that they were the kind of person who didn't care about the details of life.

The old man sat down carelessly and stared at the roasted goose and fruit wine on the table. Just now, Ashrufat ordered a whole pot of fruit wine, so there is still a lot left.

"Hey, you guys are so generous? Our earl has paid military pay?" asked the old man.

The expressions of those soldiers were a little awkward. From this point of view, the old man was very familiar with them. However, the old man's dress was too weird and he had nothing to do with the identities of "nobles" and "officials". Ashu Rufate could not tell who this old man was for a while.

"No, it was this generous friend who treated her to you." said the leading soldier. "To introduce, this is called Ashurufate, who traveled to us from the north... Ashurufate, this is called Oliveira, a local scholar, once a historian and drawing master of the church..."

"Hey, call me Dr. Olivera!" Olivera shouted. "In fact, the 'scholars' have all wronged me, because I am now an authority in the geography and history of Sivania! No matter what government or even the church, I have to recognize me!"

When he said this, the respectable doctor poured himself a glass of fruit wine without any politeness, and then drank it all. "Good wine, really cool and quenched thirst!" He smacked his mouth and commented.

"Hey, you're just a bad old man who can't even pay rent!" A guest at the next table who was listening to music was very upset by the doctor's loud shouting. "I heard that if you can't get the money within three days, you'll be kicked out of the house by the landlord and take your pile of garbage on the street overnight."

"Trump? That's the priceless treasure of knowledge! It's the result of my research in the Sivania region for a whole decade..." Dr. Olivera wanted to stand up, but the soldier held the doctor's shoulder.

"Don't argue with such people, PhD, we all know that your research is not easy."

The doctor picked up the cup angrily and poured a full cup for himself. After drinking it again, he used a fork to raise a piece of roast goose meat and put it into his mouth.

"Doctor, what are you studying?" Ashu Rufate asked casually.

"A lot," Oliveira glanced at Ashu Rufat and said casually. "One of them is the origin of the ghoul."

"Ghost?" Ashu Rufate was a little interested.

"Well, according to the ruins and ancient documents I found, Sivania was the residential area of ​​mankind in very ancient times. Think about it, there were several powerful countries, a large population, and a developed civilization... Unfortunately, for some reasons, these ancient human kingdoms were finally destroyed, leaving only a small number of ruins... And ghouls are the descendants of the remnants of these ancient countries!"

"No, the ghoul used to be a human?" This time he spoke with a soldier with a surprised expression on his face.

"Yes, the race formed after human degeneration." Dr. Olivera answered proudly.

"Nonsense...you can think of such nonsense! No wonder you don't even have a patron now..." the soldier laughed and said to Ashu Rufate. "Originally, his research here was supported by the Kingdom of Ryan. Unfortunately, he always used these inexplicable random results, but no one paid attention to him later."

"I said it was a political issue, not my fault!" The doctor's face turned red, but I couldn't tell whether it was anger or the effect of two glasses of fruit wine just now. "They had a conflict with the church, but they made me give up the research that had been conducted for three years... I had to waste my three years of hard work! I had to rely on my own strength to support..."

"Dr. Oliveira has put all his money into his research." The soldier sitting next to Ashu Rufat said to him quietly. "He was quite rich..."

While speaking, Neil had finished playing there. According to the rules of this line, he began to circle around the tavern and ask for tips. But Ashu Rufate noticed that although the guests welcomed him, he really didn't give much tips. To be honest, if he only had this level of tip every time he performed, Neil should have left this stingy city.

"Give another roast goose." Ashu Rufate shouted at the counter. There is still a lot of fruit wine, but the roast goose has almost been eaten up.

"So, why do humans turn into ghouls?" Ashu Rufat asked the doctor who was eating.

"This...it's hard to say the specific details, but there must be the contribution of the dimensional stone. According to my research, this means that there is an unimaginable dimensional stone mine somewhere in Sivania." The doctor said while eating. Looking at the other party's gray hair, Ash Rufate suddenly remembered another thing.

"Doctor, you've been here for a long time, have you?"

"It's long enough... much longer than the others combined." Dr. Olivera pointed at the soldiers with her hand, and the latter did not object, but instead agreed to the doctor's words.

"Do you know everything about it? For example...geography..."

"Ha...young man, I can tell you. I know everything here! There is nothing I haven't been to in the entire land of Sivania! If you have any questions about history, humanities, anecdotes, etc., you'll be right to find me! As for geography... In Sivania, if I claim to be second, no one dares to claim first!"

As he spoke, Dr. Olivera's eyes suddenly lit up. "Young man, are you interested in my research?"

"There's a little bit," Ash Rufate replied. He had already seen that the doctor was the kind of real researcher. In other words, he was the kind of person who was completely unhappy with anything, and undoubtedly knew a lot of things.

Asu Rufate's biggest goal at present is to find the hiding place of Baron Pinold and his army (judging from the words, Baron Pinold has gathered a large army). It may be difficult to get the answer directly, but if you can get enough geographical information from the doctor, you may be able to infer where the vampire is hiding.
Chapter completed!