收拾好行李后，三人告别了女孩们，上路了。格尔丹部落位于科兹德部落的西边。他们需要穿过荆棘丛，朝返回营地的方向前进。大约走到一半的时候，他们会到达一个岔路口，如果他们从那里向西走，他们就会到达。

通往格尔丹的路两边都是悬崖和 沟壑。那里的土地已经不适合放牧了。据说格尔丹人靠狩猎和贸易生存下来。

带着这个丑陋的奴隶，沙吉感到很尴尬。他拒绝说话，只是偷偷地盯着格温克。

加兰一点也不介意。他并没有因为奴隶的丑陋外表而歧视他。在他眼里，外表只是肤浅的。只有像自己这么好看的人才会这么想！

“别害怕，格温克是一个很有趣的人，他会给我们讲城堡里的故事，让我们一路上开心。”

说完这句话，他命令格温克去谈论城堡里的兽王和巫师的事情。

格温克发出一声嘲讽的咯咯笑声，露出了腐烂的牙齿。

“丑八怪，你笑什么！” 萨吉对他大喊。

“我的小主人，你真是什么都不懂啊，城堡里什么巫师啊！只有你们野蛮部落才有这种胡言乱语！”

“你竟敢嘲笑我的族人！我现在就杀了你！” 萨吉甚至拔出了刀，正要跳下马，就被他的哥哥拦住了。

“别生气，这个人很粗鲁，别把他的态度放在心上，我们只是需要从他那里得到一些有用的信息。”

“是啊是啊！你看，我家小少爷没有生气，你为什么生气呢？”

格温克做了个鬼脸，伸出舌头。

“格温克，别得意，”加兰严厉地说。“我们都是正直的人，如果你招惹了人，人家一怒之下打死打伤你，我也救不了你，你自己小心一点！”

“好吧好吧，呵呵。”

加兰继续温和地询问他，并没有因为奴隶的嘲笑而生气。

“你为什么说城堡里没有萨满？他们不是有神吗？”

“城堡里的人当然有神像，不过他们的神像好看。和你们的不一样，就是一块老石头，上面有一些涂鸦。”

格温克语气讽刺，蔑视部落的神祇。但传说荒原上的所有部落都有共同的祖先，崇拜同样的神。

“我们的神不也是你们的神吗！这样说话也太不敬了！”

萨吉对从格温克嘴里说出任何话感到厌恶。格温克不理他，只对他的主人说话。

“城堡之神是全能的创造者。” 格温克不等被问到就继续说道。“是他们创造了这个世界上的万物。”

Gwenck spoke very proudly, as if he were one of the northerners.

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"What do their gods look like then?"

"Well...hmm..." Gwenck's eyes shifted as he blurted without thinking, describing them in a grandiose yet disjointed manner. One moment he said a great beauty, the next an old man, until Garland noticed contradictions in the descriptions.

"Liar! I knew this freak was making it all up!" Sagi rolled his eyes.

"Have you really seen them...?"

"Don't worry little master, maybe my memory is not so good, but I have really seen them." Gwenck insisted he knew everything. "There are monks in the castle who serve the gods. I've dealt with them many times, absolutely no lies!"

"They all wear coarse white robes, heads shaved bald, some holding books of scripture, reading when they have nothing else to do."

The two youths looked at each other. Neither having witnessed it themselves, they couldn't imagine.

"So who are they serving? Where are their gods?" the elder brother asked.

"They're...in the sky. When chanting scripture they look upwards, eyes rolling back." the slave said.

"Brother, they are from the exiled tribes, punished to be slaves for life for forsaking our gods!"

"What exiled tribe! I'm just a slave, I have no tribe! Whoever my master is, their tribe is mine."

"Our Kozd tribe wants nothing to do with you!"

"Who cares about you savage tribes!" Gwenck was smug. "Look at my little master's charming green eyes. He must be nobility. I belong to his tribe. No, his family."

Sagi looked at his brother in confusion, many of the northern words unfamiliar to him. Garland suddenly realized his origins were a taboo that shouldn't be brought up. He hastily silenced Gwenck.

"I told you to speak of the castle, so speak only of that! If you claim to know everything, then tell us what tribes the people are, what they wear and eat daily, and what their leader is like."

"The great leader? Oh little master, you really know nothing of the outside! You've never left the badlands your whole life!"

Garland was only asking based on his own life experiences. What, did the slave find the term 'leader' strange? His curiosity grew. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Little master, only primitive tribes like yours have one leader. The masters of castles are called lords. He owns all the land around as far as the eye can see."

"Lord" was another northern word. As Garland pondered the pronunciation and meaning, Sagi exploded in anger.

"Don't look down on our tribe! We Kozd are the largest in the badlands, three thousand strong!"

"Ha, that's nothing!" Gwenck scoffed.

"Then how many are in your castle?"

"The one before you has thirty thousand."

格温克漫不经心地说道，但青年们却目瞪口呆。部落语言中几乎不使用“万人”这个词。只存在于近乎神话的故事中。

“哈哈，没见过这样的诶！光是士兵就从骑士到步兵，几千上下，和你们部落一样！哈哈，害怕了吗？”

格温克得意地摇摇头。

“很多！” 加兰惊呼道。“听说他们住在一座山上，那座山得有多大，有多少帐篷？！”

“小少爷，你别老想着帐篷了，他们就住在城堡里面！里里外外都有好几座城堡，旁边还有营房，足够他们住了。”

加兰几乎无法想象奴隶所说的话。

“好几层楼？所以有人活活踩在别人头上？”

“没错，如果这个比喻适合你的话。嘿嘿嘿。”

奴隶的解释在加兰看来更加无稽之谈。

“我们部落并不是整个荒地。传说有一位远古酋长聚集了百万大军来征服这一切。我们在数量上不能输给他们。”

“傻小主人，那座城堡后面还有无数！一直到帝国！帝国本身就有数百万！”

加兰皱起眉头看着奴隶。他实在不敢相信自己的耳朵。但奴隶却没有半开玩笑的表情，认真的说道。

“不可能？后面还有城堡？这不是世界的边缘吗？”

“当然不是！世界比荒地大得多。如果荒地是一只羊，那么整个世界就是一群……”

“不可能，我们部落三千人，需要这么多荒地来放牧，那个城堡能养活多少牛羊？难道他们还堆放牲畜。”

“小主人，你又没经验了，城堡外面是大片良田，农民种庄稼，养牲畜，养活了这么多人。”

加兰好奇地听着格温克热情地喋喋不休。

“城堡本身很热闹。市场、商人、工匠、织工……”

“总有一天我一定要亲眼目睹你所描述的这些景象。” 加兰说道。“但如果你夸大其词，我发誓你会付出代价。”

“好吧好吧！” 奴隶点点头。“不过别担心，城堡里只有难以形容的景象。我没有夸张。”

一路上格温克讲述了许多关于城堡的故事。加兰全神贯注地听着，未曾见过的景象激发了想象力，渴望明天亲眼目睹它们的到来。