While Rody was leaving, in the private room on the second floor of the Pig's Head Bar, which was only a dozen meters away from him, the five believers of the "Viper Cross" dressed as adventurers were making another plan revision on the parchment—
"The first people will attack here, and if that old Rubens man has enough men, they will definitely show up here..."
"...The additional manpower sent by the monastery is counted, so we need to participate in the second attack after the opponent shows their hole cards."
The man in the robe should be the leader of the team. At this time, there was a little awe in his words, and he whispered: "Lord Gallup seems to be very interested in Priest Akasha"
"Anyone can see that they don't quite see each other."
The two-meter-tall bald-headed urn answered in a low voice, and finely polished the tips of the short spears with a whetstone in his hand.
His words made the atmosphere of the team a little silent. The "Viper Cross" sect has as many contradictions as the "Rose Cross". There are conflicts of interest and family conflicts between different bishops. It is not uncommon for the task to be "squeezed to the end", so the pressure on these five people is not small at this time, because if they mess up the task, they will also be doomed.
"The escape route from the square to the west gate of the city has been prepared. If the west gate is blocked, we still have two other roads to leave. The tunnel on the edge of the Cambay district has been dug for half a year, and it can be used at any time now."
"Master Gallup has been planning for so long, we can definitely complete the task"
"Don't be too optimistic," the guy in the robe leaned back on the wooden chair, squinted his eyes and pointed to the city square on the map, "Roose Cross, I'm not a vegetarian, wait until everything starts..."
"But there's really no room for maneuver."
September seventeenth.
An unprecedented storm is brewing in Houlier City. The strange thing is that no one is trying to stop this storm, but they all think they have the absolute advantage, and they all think about how to get more benefits from this storm
But this is a small microcosm of the whole era.
In the evening, Francis in the Moria manor finished the parchment in his hand. At this time, his state had recovered from the previous depression, and the nerves that had been tense all the time were relieved a lot. It's vague anticipation and excitement.
The fireplace reflected the warm fire, which dispelled the premature chill in the villa outside the city. The maid walked in with her head bowed and served exquisite tea for the young earl. The latter threw the parchment into the fireplace casually, Staring at the burning paper in a daze, he took a sip from his teacup, waved his hand, and Willie, who was at the door, walked in.
"The group of heretics still have no intention of further cooperation?"
"Master, they don't seem to trust us, but we found some interesting news outside the city"
Willie reported a few words in a low voice, and Francis twitched his lips and laughed out loud, "If that's the case, why not help those heretics once?"
Willie nodded yes, and then Francis asked softly, "Where is the monastery?"
"Miss Sally, she—she has two mercenaries who have entered the city. Although they were well hidden, we still found the trace. If you need it, we can get them tonight..."
Willie made a neck-scratching gesture, Francis narrowed his eyes, and snorted coldly: "She finally knows that she is going to be ruthless? Oh, don't do it today, just keep an eye on it for a few days, and wait until the day after tomorrow, so she won't have time." Make other preparations...Before that, just give her the illusion that she is sure of winning, and when the celebration starts, I will 'celebrate, she is a priest."
Francis clenched his fists confidently, then seeing Willy hesitate to speak, he said, "Is there any other news?"
"There is one—Titus and the Knight of Wellington have arrived at Houllier."
After finishing this sentence, Francis's originally contented expression became a little unnatural: "It's so fast!
Although he has advanced to the rank of "Element Master" and has become a magician that ordinary people can't match, Francis understands that after more than ten years of practice, he may not be able to walk back and forth in front of these two knights —These two knights really fought together with their father from the sea of corpses and blood, and their strength is absolutely terrifying...
But they were in such a hurry to come here now... A certain guess flashed in his heart, and Francis asked hurriedly, "Have they gone to the Duke's Mansion?"
"I visited once as usual, but I just went to check today. Everything is the same as before. His Excellency's condition has not improved." Willy thought for a while, and added: "The steward Alpha seems to be ill. I will go to the Duke's mansion. I didn't see him when I was there."
"It doesn't matter whether Alpha is sick or not, the main thing is..." It seemed that there was something wrong, but Francis couldn't figure it out, and finally waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I always feel that something is wrong, go and increase the number of people you have arranged. Some, sure enough, keep an eye on Titus and Wellington, of course—keep too close, or they'll surely find out."
The originally relaxed mood became a little uneasy because of this inexplicable information. Francis walked back and forth in front of the fireplace a few steps, but in the end he didn't make any changes to his plan.
"It's been just a few days, there can't be any more accidents..."
September eighteenth.
When walking to the front of the monastery, Rody looked at the towering church spire, gently pinched the dice he had given to Sally, straightened his loose robe, and stroked the mustache used for camouflage. Taking a deep breath, he walked into the church.
Climbing up the stairs, the white stone floor exudes a cold atmosphere, and there are still dents from crossbow arrows on the stone pillar in the front hall. Rody remembered that Sally was hiding behind this stone pillar at that time. Seeing it now, he couldn't help sighing. A coincidence of fate.
The temple guards in metal armor stood expressionlessly on both sides, with gorgeous and sacred patterns of intersecting roses and crosses on their chests. Thin whispers came from the front, most of which were the whispered prayers of the believers, or the priest's explanation of the doctrine, and the scent of roses that always remained in the main hall of the church could be smelled in the breath.
At this time, Roddy had a big belly, two mustaches around his lips, naked eyes, and a bowler hat. He looked like a businessman that could be seen everywhere in the city—among those who donated to the monastery Except for the nobles, this type of people gave the most, so he didn't get any obstacles along the way.
Although it is not Sunday, more than half of the rows of seats in the church are still filled with all kinds of believers. After stepping into the main hall, Rody crossed himself in front of the statue of the god, and then found the place in the corner. Sitting down in his seat, he made an appearance of praying devoutly, chanting words while quietly scanning his surroundings
The expected Sally did not appear.
Could it be... She didn't see the message she left
Rody left a message about the meeting at this time today in Martin's letter before. In order not to cause accidents, he also specifically confirmed that Martin had reported to Sally before he was relieved - but now she didn't show up, did she come out? What's the problem
However, the extraordinary sense of hearing brought by the "sensitivity of the environment" still made him aware of some clues. Looking behind the statue, he roughly confirmed certain things, and then continued to wait.
Ten meters away, Sally, who had been standing here for a long time, pursed her lips slightly, leaning her back against the cold wall, avoiding Rody's occasional glances like a thief.
"This idiot..."
That is to say, but the joy in my heart is not concealed, and it can even be said that there is an inexplicable sweetness. At the beginning, she gritted her teeth and wrote the letter. Although the tone of the words was flat, her heart was full of worries about gains and losses—this damn bastard left with a harsh word, and that feeling really made her uncomfortable for a few days. Some of them didn't eat, and even the oval face was about to show a pointed chin.
Let me suffer so much, so let you wait a little longer
Taking a peek, Sally found that Rody was still sitting upright, and couldn't help snickering.
"Hey, I even put on a beard..."
The bell at the top of the church rang, proving that Rody had been waiting for half an hour. Sally felt that this guy had been waiting enough, so she tried her best to keep a straight face and walked out.
Don't look at him, don't look at him, you must pretend to be casual...
Sally walked to the corner of the church without looking sideways, with a sullen face all the way, sat down beside Roddy and began to pray silently. Although she looked decent, her ears almost stood up to listen to There was movement and stillness, and the heart "plopped" beating violently.
But after a full minute, Roddy was still unable to speak
"This lump... bastard..."
Sally can't bear it anymore—I'm already sitting next to you, so there's some movement
And just when she was about to say something, Rody finally said, "That—Master Priest, I have something to confess to you..."
Before he could finish his words, Sally, who had always been sullen, burst out laughing. She pretended to turn her head and replied, "Only priests and above can listen to believers' confessions. I'm just a nun." , not yet a priest."
Under the blond hair, Sally looked at the guy who had been worrying her for a while but wished she could give him a hard punch, her pretty face tightened up after a fleeting smile, "But , if you don't use the confessional room, I am willing to listen to your confession here, as long as you don't mind, devout believer
"That couldn't be better." Rody coughed twice, and pretended to draw another sign of the cross.
Although he made a lot of predictions before speaking, the otaku Roddy is still a little nervous when he really expresses his emotions—such as apologizing. This is different from games. It's another thing for a friend to apologize solemnly... So he held back for a long time, and only came out with an inexplicable sentence:
"Thank you."
Sally raised her eyebrows, a little confused.
"I...did something I shouldn't have done and hurt people I shouldn't have hurt. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to... apologize." Rody tried his best to squeeze the words he wanted to say into one sentence, "Speak to you I said what I shouldn't have said, and walked away-I only hope I have time to say this now, because I..."
Roddy swallowed, the words that he had rehearsed many times before were finally deleted in his mind, and only one sentence remained in the end—
"Because I don't want to lose you—this friend."
Unable to grasp the rhythm, Rody made a mistake in punctuating a sentence because of a big gasp, but he didn't realize there was anything wrong with it. After speaking, he swallowed, looked at Sally with some embarrassment, and waited for the other party's reaction...