A gust of cold wind blew the nearby flags, causing a rattling sound. Lopenny Grant raised her head and quietly stared at the ancient castle in the distance.
The two-hundred-year-old Cracked Rock Castle sits quietly on the top of the hill. The steep cliff on the side of the castle stands like a blade on the horizon. The gradually sinking sunset shines on the jagged rocks and the high walls of the castle. A layer of light golden brilliance plated on those lines.
It was a rocky mountain. The side of the mountain was steep and sinister. The Cracked Rock Fortress was located on the top of the cliff, as if crouching on the edge of a blade. The outer walls of the ancient castle had long been mottled, and signs of cracking could be seen in many places , when the setting sun shines on the castle from just the right angle, part of its outer wall will even reveal the opposite light, showing bright crack lines like leaf veins on the city wall.
People often worry that when the ancient castle will collapse in the setting sun, countless tons of heavy boulders will roll down from the top of the cliff, and in an earth-shattering disaster, the most glorious place on this land will be destroyed. His surname has since been buried.
But Luo Penny remembered what her husband said, and remembered the ancient agreement between this castle and the spirit of the earth element. It was reached by the ancestors of the family and the allies of the earth element when the Gulen family was only a marginal vassal of the Cecil family. A contract: as long as the surname "Glenn" still rules this land, then Rockbreaker will never collapse naturally...
But the cracks in this fortress have really increased over the years...
"Mistress," the butler's voice interrupted Luo Peini's thoughts. The steady and reliable middle-aged man handed a wooden box to the Viscount, "This is the soil sample you want."
Luo Peini looked at the deep-colored soil in the wooden box, stretched out her fingers to grab a little bit and rubbed it lightly, and then a little magical brilliance appeared between her fingers, and the soil turned into blue smoke that drifted with the wind in the magical brilliance .
"The potion is working." Luo Penny's always gloomy expression seemed to relax a little, she nodded slightly to the housekeeper, "Half of the farms on the territory need this druid potion to restore the balance of the land, spring It must be completed before. You go to negotiate with those Cecil pharmacy merchants and see what price they will offer."
"Yes," the butler lowered his head, and then he couldn't help but add another sentence, "Mistress, you don't have to leave the castle, and you don't have to come to this dirty countryside. They are all rude and ignorant farmers. likely to offend you."
"You have said enough similar things," Luo Peini glanced at the housekeeper lightly, "Just do your own thing."
The butler hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to express any further opinions.
"Duke Gawain Cecil will visit in five days," Luo Peini broke the silence after a few seconds, "Let's start preparing when we go back."
"The Duke is going to visit?" The butler was startled immediately, but after seeing the calm and indifferent expression on the hostess's face, he immediately swallowed all the questions and nonsense, "I see, I I will arrange the most appropriate reception. But I don't know why the Duke is here, do I need to arrange anything else?"
"It's just an ordinary meeting," Luo Penny said lightly, "The Kant area has finally become the legal fiefdom of the Cecil family."
"Kant... I see."
After a few days.
A two-horse carriage with the emblem of the Cecil family was driving on the road east of Kantland. In front of the carriage was the place where the Gülen family had ruled for generations.
Except for the driver driving the carriage and the three soldiers in the back half of the carriage, there were only two people in the carriage, Gawain and Amber.
"It's really better than the last time I went to Kantland." Amber sat opposite Gao Wen and couldn't help muttering, "I said, you are more or less a duke, even if you want to visit someone who is lower than yourself." The nobleman, you should pay more attention to your pomp, at least two more cars and a few followers..."
Gawain looked at the half-elf girl on the opposite side amusedly. He knew what was going on in this guy's stomach. Amber didn't care whether he was good enough or not. I have never enjoyed the treatment of going out with a caravan, with 800 entourages before and after, walking with drums to clear the way, and blowing the horn when entering the city, so it is a bit unbalanced. This guy's yearning for a better life can be said to be as simple and straightforward as possible. - There is no spiritual pursuit at all.
If I have to say it, her only spiritual pursuit is probably who can organize a cheating tournament in her lifetime, and then she will go up and come back with a championship...
"You're still laughing!" Seeing Gao Wen's half-smile expression, Amber immediately gave him a displeased look, "I saw an earl go out and return seven or eight carriages~"
"The carriage... will be eliminated sooner or later," Gao Wen shook his head with a smile, "I will let you ride in something more exciting than a carriage."
"Something more exciting than a carriage?" Amber suddenly became curious, "What new thing have you come up with?"
"Not yet, it's just an idea at the moment, but the timing and technical conditions are immature." Gao Wen waved his hand, "Compared to this, let's continue to talk about the Glenn family. Except when Viscount Glenn died unexpectedly a few years ago." In addition to the few suspicious points, what else have you investigated?"
"Then we have to start from an earlier time. Before the accidental death of the former Viscount Glenn, he had implemented a series of almost unimaginable 'new laws' in his territory. At that time, not only his territory, but even surrounding territories The nobles have been affected to a certain extent... "
"New law?" Gao Wen frowned, "Tell me about this part carefully."
"Oh, then let's start with him liberating the serfs and slaves throughout the territory..."
…
When Duke Cecil's carriage drove towards Glenn, a messenger wearing a red and blue burqa and holding a passing flag was riding a fast horse on the avenue in the center of Saint-Sunil City.
The flag is the king's token, and no one dared to block the messenger holding the token, and all the passers-by on the road ran away from the galloping horse in panic and fear. The people of the capital, who had long been accustomed to a peaceful life, had their peace of life broken on this day. , but at this moment, they didn't know what was going to happen next—they just hid by the roadside, looking at the direction of the courier's journey with astonishment and curiosity, guessing what kind of message this galloping man was carrying. information.
The messenger ran across the King's Avenue and the arc-shaped square in front of the Silver Fort, then got off his horse in front of the castle, raised the flag all the way and went straight to where the king was.
Just a few minutes later, a piece of information from the western part of the Holy Spirit Plain was sent to Francis II.
This urgent information made Francis II quite unhappy, because today is a rare day when Veronica left the cathedral and came to Silver Castle to reunite with him. For the father who is a king and the daughter of a saint For me, this is a very special and precious time, but this good time has been disturbed.
Veronica looked at the information that had just been sent, and she showed a reassuring gentle smile, and said softly, "Father, government affairs are important."
"I know," Francis II sighed and picked up the information on the table, "but I don't want to receive any news of 'unexpected situations' during this period of time... Those greedy nobles will never be fed enough, they don't have enough food at all. Will think nothing of this kingdom, but only cause trouble for me."
Veronica smiled lightly: "Maybe this isn't news about nobles?"
Francis II forced a smile and opened the envelope of the information.
Over the next half minute, the smile on his face faded.
Veronica noticed the change in her father's expression: "Father, this is..."
"You can read it for yourself," Francis II handed the secret letter to his daughter. "This is something you can read—because it will probably be passed to the Cathedral of Holy Light soon."
Veronica frowned and took the letter paper curiously, and the content on it jumped into her eyes:
"... The conflict between the Holy Light believers and the Blood God believers in the Holy Spirit Plain is becoming more and more serious... On xx, xx, armed conflict broke out between the believers of the two sides in Boulder City, and the radical Blood God believers smashed the statue in front of the Holy Light Church... The next day, the Holy Light The believers retaliated, and the Church of the Blood God was burned down.
"Lord..." Veronica sighed in astonishment and sorrow, and drew the emblem of the Holy Light on her chest with her hand, "Even if you want to maintain your faith, why do you need to do this step?"
Francis II glanced at his daughter, shook his head and said, "Keep looking down."
Veronica looked at the second half of the secret letter, and couldn't help but gasp:
"... The regional bishop of the Blood God Sect led the believers to fight back. On the way to the Church of the Holy Light, he was severely injured by a back arrow. When he was dying, he broke out... It mutated into a flesh-and-blood monster. There were many witnesses at the scene...
"The lord of Boulder City and the regional bishop of the Church of the Holy Light jointly killed monsters... Afterwards, they searched the Church of the Blood God, found a secret room under the church, and found a large number of bloody sacrificial traces... There is also an emblem of the death of all things and records of various blasphemous knowledge, Notes on Evil Speech…
"... All the Churches of the Blood God in Boulder City have been sealed off... Half of the believers have been expelled..."
"A person at the level of a bishop in the area is actually a believer in the Death of All Things Society..." Veronica murmured to herself with an incredulous expression, "They actually infiltrated to such a degree..."
"So you should understand, my daughter," Francis II said with a bad face, "understand why I keep saying that Ansu is not ready for a war with Typhon at all...especially this year."
Veronica was silent for a moment, and returned the letter in her hand to the old king: "Father, how are you going to deal with this matter?"
"The royal power does not interfere with the divine power, and the divine power does not interfere with the royal power. This has always been the rule, but now someone is shedding blood for it, and the king must do something," Francis II said in a low voice, "We have been searching The whereabouts of those heretics, and even began to investigate every nobleman, began to investigate the supernatural beings registered in the royal family, but ignored the Holy See... The Holy See, which was thought to be the least likely to be corrupted by the heretics, has also become a breeding ground for evil."
Francis II clenched his fists and couldn't help knocking on the table: "Veronica, the church must be inspected, but... I can't let this further affect the stability of the kingdom."
"Father, I can guarantee the cooperation of the Church of the Holy Light. Any rational follower of the Holy Light will understand this—it is good for everyone to find out the cultists who are hiding around," Veronica said. She said with a solemn expression, the power of the Holy Light was agitating around her, creating a holy halo, "I believe that other sects will actively cooperate after learning what happened in Boulder City... No one wants the heretics to Lurking in your own home."