It started to rain heavily.
The cold air flow brought more and more cold rain. According to the weather in this area in previous years, this may be the last rainfall before snowfall, and Kantland has always been the place with the most abundant rainfall in the entire southern region, and this moment is no exception.
The raindrops have already formed a rain curtain, hanging in the sky obliquely along the wind, splashing in the wilderness, also in the town, and splashing on the outer wall of the ancient castle of the Kant family. The mottled and uneven dark red spires and black exterior walls flow down, presenting a shiny texture like black oil in the increasingly dim skylight.
But the thick outer wall of the castle cuts off the sound of wind and rain outside, and also cuts off the ever-increasing cold breath. In the lobby of the castle, magic spar lamps illuminate all corners. The shadowy situation disappeared for some reason, and now the entire castle is brightly lit under the reflection of magic lights. Coupled with the burning fireplaces and braziers everywhere, the entire family castle is full of light and warmth.
The servants were cleaning the tables, chairs, lamp stands, and statues everywhere, making all these things with history and family glory shine in the lights. They talked about the increasingly cold weather outside, and about the The harvest of crops and medicinal materials, and also talking about the distinguished guests that the Viscount Lord will entertain today. The entire castle has been cleaned since two days ago, and everything has become brand new. The status of the guests is not ordinary.
Then they saw the old butler of the castle, old Mr. Carter, who was old but still strong-legged, rushing down the stairs of the hall, followed by the head of the maids and butlers, and they ran like a gust of wind across the hall. , ran to the gate, and the head maid was still shouting to the clumsy maids: "Put the bucket away! Don't leave the rag on the counter. Go back to the kitchen, silly girl! Don't let the duke see it!" A low-level maid in a dirty dress is standing in the hall, do you understand?! Everyone go back to their places! The guests are coming!"
Viscount Victor Kant walked down the stairs on the second floor. When the butler was about to touch the door, he happened to stand in the center of the hall. This position allowed him to welcome the distinguished guests with open arms in the most appropriate way. It will embarrass the guests to wait too long, and it will not make the owner of the castle eager to look like an inferior servant.
The old butler came to the gate, took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands carefully, while silently counting the time in his heart, estimating when the knock on the door would sound based on the time when the guards in the tower delivered the message and his own speed of action.
When he silently counted to thirty, there was a knock on the door.
It would be unseemly for a distinguished guest like the Duke to knock on the door for the second time, even if it was only the Duke's coachman or guard who knocked on the door, but he could not open the door immediately. Before the second knock sounded, he ordered the soldiers on both sides of the gate to pull the roulette.
The extremely heavy "house door", which can withstand eighty-two strikes of the battering ram, opened under the power of hinges and roulettes, and the heavy creaking sound seemed to carry the majesty of the Kant family for three hundred years.
And a man with a majesty of seven hundred years entered the gate, and the cold wind and rain rolled into the hall behind him.
Immediately, some servants stepped forward to take the cloaks or hats that the guests took off, and some servants ran out to meet the carriages parked outside. Gawain led Amber and Knight Philip into the main hall of Fort Conde. He saw a man with hair The old nobleman who was almost completely white, had many age spots on his face, and was wearing a black and red long coat opened his hands to greet him. This Viscount Victor Kant was older than he imagined, but his legs and feet were obviously still good.
"Ah, today this castle welcomes the most distinguished guest in history, a living legend!" Viscount Kant said loudly, "I'm sorry to let you visit in such bad weather, if I have the spell to control the sky Enough."
"Actually, I like rainy weather very much," said Gawain. He didn't accept the Viscount's hug, but just shook hands with him. This was not indifference, but the rule of meeting between high and low ranks: low ranks must show a certain degree of enthusiasm and respect, but unless the two parties have a clear affiliation relationship, the high-ranking person must not accept it, but should return it with a certain degree of politeness. These messy traditions are troublesome to death in Gao Wen's view, but it is not necessary to abide by them at this time. Will drop a piece of meat, "I have seen the fertile land of Kant before the rain fell, and after the rain fell I saw a good rain scene, which is quite worth it."
"It's best if you are satisfied," Victor Kant smiled, with a calm and calm smile, like a very normal, elderly and well-educated old gentleman, "I have prepared a reception for you." The banquet is in the dining room behind this hall."
Amber stood behind Gao Wen with her head down all the time. She was not used to such a serious and "aristocratic" occasion, so she kept quiet rarely, but when she heard "eating", her voice The ears still betrayed themselves, and the pair of pointed ears from the elf blood immediately trembled, turning around the head like a radar, as if searching for more information related to "eating".
Gao Wen agreed with a smile while secretly looking at the appearance of the old Viscount in front of him.
Aged, but still healthy, with a calm smile, and a gentle demeanor with a little ease, there is absolutely no aura related to cultists in him.
But this cannot be used as a basis for judgment.
Smiling, he accepted the old viscount's banquet invitation, and led Amber and Knight Philip to the depths of Kant Castle.
…
At the same time, in the Silver Fort in Saint-Sunil City, the old King Francis II was frowning at the sealed letter in front of him.
These secret letters all come from the "royal nobles" who were directly conferred by the king in various parts of the kingdom, including such figures around the territories of the three border dukes. In other words, they are "eyeliners". It has been going on for a hundred years, and it is an important reliance on the control of the entire country by the Ansu royal family. The civil strife in the fog and the second dynasty's "illegitimate child weakness" once made this system useless, but after a hundred years of reconstruction, especially in several Under the compromises made successively by the two dukes for the stability of the kingdom, this intelligence network belonging to the king is still operating as effectively as it did during the first dynasty.
Most of the nobles directly entrusted by the king are located in the south, while a small number are distributed in other parts of the kingdom. On weekdays, the secret letters sent back by these eyeliners all report the situation in their respective lands, and those situations are very different. , basically have nothing in common, but the secret letters sent recently have shown a tendency to make Francis II feel uneasy
Reports of various dark sects active are increasing and increasing everywhere in the country.
Although until today, these increased reports only accounted for less than 10% of the country, but they are so widely distributed, which is enough to make the old king worry.
Anzu does have a rotten system, but kings are basically smart people.
Now, what he has in front of him is a secret letter from Viscount Andrew Leslie in the southern region. The content of this secret letter is more important than what other nobles from all over the world have reported:
In the town of Tanzania, there were cultists of the Death of All Things. The cultists once sneaked into the castle and used magic to control some people. Thanks to the support of Duke Gawain Cecil, the Duke eradicated the cultists entrenched in this land.
The old king would not know that Viscount Andrew Leslie had concealed many truths in this secret letter, such as the Eternal Slate that had fallen into Gawain's hands, and the details that he himself was controlled by cultists. The criticality of the matter has been consciously reduced a lot, but even so, the information revealed in this secret letter is still enough to scare the old king.
The cultists who only dared to operate in the dark had actually directly invaded the mansion of a real noble this time!
No matter whether they used living sacrifices or dead bodies for rituals, they would not make the real nobles nervous, because those behaviors happened to the "untouchables", and those cultists seemed to abide by the bottom line of the game. Never put my hand into the aristocratic system, but now... the wind has changed.
It happened at such a time, when the relationship between Ansu and the Typhon Empire was at its most tense. Originally, Francis II was a little relieved when he knew that the Typhon Empire would not launch a war this winter, and thought that he could take advantage of He took this opportunity to further strengthen the border armaments and lay a good foundation for the war, but now he suddenly felt that those cultists probably didn't want him to have this leeway.
Just when the old king was frowning, a warm feeling suddenly filled the whole room.
He looked up a little unexpectedly, and saw Veronica, who was wearing a white priest's robe, walk into the room.
The "Saint Princess" walked towards her father with a smile and a little coquettish look: "Father, I asked Lord Aiden, and he said that you are still in the study."
"Veronica, my daughter... why are you here today?" Francis II looked at Veronica in surprise. Although his daughter still retained her status as a princess, she was already a formally converted saint. A believer of the God of Light, she spends most of her time in the Holy Light Cathedral and rarely returns to Silver Castle.
"Have you forgotten? Today is the day I leave the cathedral and come to see you in the castle," Veronica said with a smile, drawing the emblem of the God of Holy Light on her chest, "It is impossible to serve the Lord." Forget about serving your parents, this is the teaching of the Light."
"Look at my brain," the old king couldn't help but slapped himself on the forehead, "I remember the wrong date!"
"It's okay, the burden of the kingdom is on you, you should take the responsibility of the king first," Veronica said while noticing the tired look on Francis II's face, she raised her hand and summoned a holy Guang, using magic to relieve his father's mental pressure, "Father, what happened?"
Francis II sighed: "Heretics, the Church of the End of All Things, the Order of the Eternal Sleepers, and other fragmented sects like the Blackstone Sect and the Followers of the Abyss. Every one of them started looking for trouble."
Hearing the word "cultist", Veronica, who is a devout follower of the Holy Light, couldn't help but frown immediately: "May the Holy Light save those poor people who are attacked by mobs... Heretics are always spreading everywhere, unfortunately except Apart from the Holy Light Sect and the God of War Sect, the divine arts of other sects are too weak against the sorcery of those heretics."
Francis sighed: "Don't worry, those evil people dare not make trouble in the royal city."
Veronica glanced at the secret letters with special seals from all over the kingdom, folded her hands on her chest, and said devoutly: "The Holy Light will protect Ansu."