In the eastern fortress Thorinburg, which is built of huge stones, Edmund Moen, wearing a black coat, sat down on his high-backed chair with a sinking face, and a letter that had been opened was placed in front of him. On the desk case, the brilliance of the magic spar lamp illuminates the emblem at the corner of the letter, which is crossed swords and plows, the emblem of the Cecil family.
The Doom Cultists invaded and destroyed the vital functions of the Sentinel Tower... The earliest erosion may have occurred hundreds of years ago...
If it weren't for the team led by Duke Gawain Cecil to discover the clues in the Shadow Realm by chance, the actions of those believers may never be discovered until the magnificent wall collapses, and until the destruction of human civilization. Discover.
The long hall of the castle was shrouded in a layer of deep pressure that seemed to be substantive. The bad mood of the high-level transcendent made the waiters and guards in the hall shudder, until a sound of steady and powerful footsteps came from the entrance of the hall. Duke Silas Lauren walked into the hall, and the breath that shrouded in this space gradually loosened and returned to normal.
Silas Lauren went straight to the main seat in the hall, came to Edmund Moen, and bowed to salute: "What happened, Your Highness?"
"A letter from the south," Edmund didn't say much, pushing the letter forward, "Look at it, Duke Laurent."
Silas Lauren took the letter with the Cecil family emblem curiously, glanced at it hurriedly, and then frowned: "Your Highness, when was this delivered?"
Edmund's tone was low: "I arrived at Thorinburg this morning."
After the winter, the Royal Army and the Eastern Realm, which had already entered a confrontation, further reduced their respective forces due to the severe cold. Edmund also temporarily returned from the front line of the Giant Wood Crossing to Thoringburg, which was the temporary base camp. Therefore, letters from the Southern Realm should It was delivered to him later than usual.
Silas Lauren quickly calculated the journey of the letter on the road, recalled a series of news from the south, and said thoughtfully: "It seems that Duke Cecil has just arrived at the border of the wasteland. These circumstances were discovered…”
Edmund took a breath and looked at Silas: "Mr. Laurent, that's not the point."
"The focus is on those dark believers," Silas Lauren said with a calm expression, and his eyes fell on Edmund calmly. "Your Highness, we have known this from the beginning."
"Yes, I know, they can't be trusted..." Edmund closed his eyes slightly, and when he opened them again, there was already a chill in those eyes, "Mr. Lauren, we should pay attention to Duke Cecil. warning, isn't it?"
"Of course." Silas Lauren nodded expressionlessly. "Sweeping away evil and maintaining peace is what nobles should do."
"Very good... Belk should return to Solinburg in the near future. After he comes back, I will leave this matter to him. I believe that upright young man will handle this matter well."
Silas Lauren lowered his head slightly: "Of course, as you wish."
Accompanied by the sound of steady and powerful footsteps, the Duke of the Eastern Realm left the long hall.
Edmund Moen sat quietly on the high-backed chair, his gaze once again scanning the warning letter from the south.
His gaze stayed there for a moment, then looked at the many documents and maps on the other side.
The Royal Army adjusted its deployment after the winter. A mountain corps stationed in the north of the giant wooden crossing. The winter atmosphere from that area was even worse than that on the plain. The Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilde, had obviously come to the front line, and the Grand Duke of the North It is said that the Mountain Guards under his command are not afraid of severe cold...
The law and order in some towns east of Solinburg has not improved, and the influence of the old lord has not completely dissipated.
The government reform in the Eastern Territory encountered an unexpected backlash. A large number of farmers are resisting the land replacement bill. Obviously, it cannot be their spontaneous behavior. Behind it must be the instigation of the conservative lords, but he can't find evidence.
The plan to promote education is progressing slowly, the people have no active literacy enthusiasm, and the lower scribes and minor nobles who carry out the orders are hardly serious. Even in many areas, they regard this task as a kind of "punishment" and " demeaning" because "teaching untouchables to read is a disreputable job"...
The Royal Army is gaining a foothold, the conservatives are resurging, the reformers are splitting, the efficiency of those who implement the government orders is appallingly slow, and the people... He tries hard to help the people who want to improve their situation, they don't understand him at all bill.
In the beginning, everything went smoothly. The successive victories and trophies of the legion made everyone's morale high, and the implementation of the decree did not encounter any difficulties, but since the war has reached a stalemate, since the New Deal began to involve "land" and "population ", countless obstacles and dilemmas appeared.
A sense of irritability inevitably surged into his heart. Edmund Moen suddenly felt distraught. He stretched out his hand and picked up the water glass on the table, wanting to take a sip of water to suppress the irritability in his heart.
He had been abstaining from alcohol for a long time in order to keep his head down.
At this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw an extraordinarily bright flame rising from the fireplace on one side of the hall. There seemed to be some illusory shadow trying to condense out of the hearth while the flame was jumping, and even the decorations on the nearby walls The candles on the sex lamp holder also seemed to be pulled by an inexplicable force, and the flame suddenly increased.
This is not a dark room without outsiders or the top of the sentry tower. There are attendants and guards everywhere in the hall, which makes Edmund Moen's bad mood even worse. He frowned and turned to the fireplace. With a wave in the direction: "Audacity!"
The flame in the fireplace returned to normal in an instant, no matter who was going to project it, it was obviously interrupted.
Edmund Moen snorted coldly, picked up his water glass and drank it in one gulp.
…
To the west of the giant wooden crossing, in Baisong Town, a town under the control of the Royal Army, Viscount Horn, wearing a dark red coat, was sitting in the carriage, listening to the soldiers outside reporting the situation to him with a very displeased expression.
Hell, it's a cold winter! A viscount actually wants to run to the streets where the untouchables live in this kind of ghost weather, to supervise the "eradication of evil", and listen to those stupid soldiers rambling about this, is there any law? !
Viscount Horn cursed inwardly, but he didn't dare to say what was in his heart, because these things were ordered by the Duke Regent, Victoria, and the Grand Duke of the North who possessed the power of the cold winter was stationed not far to the north , He felt that every word he uttered rudely here would immediately reach the ears of the Grand Duchess, which was not a good thing.
The cold wind seemed to blow in through the gaps in the carriage, and Viscount Horn couldn't help tightening his already thick and warm coat. He was originally a low-level spellcaster, but the years of drinking had already worn out his body. Even with the protection of the breeze shield, he still felt that the weather was unbearably cold, and at the same time, he heard the soldiers outside still chanting:
"...Three people were found in the cellar, all dead. They were obviously doing something sacrilegious. A blood-stained altar and a container containing a suspicious liquid were found at the scene...
"The whereabouts of the original owner of the house are unknown. People on the street said that they hadn't seen them since the beginning of winter. This is consistent with the description of the whistleblower...
"... The three cult members may have committed suicide, or they may have committed internal strife. This needs to be judged by you, my lord..."
A trace of impatience flashed in Viscount Horn's eyes, but when he spoke, he still used a calm tone. This way of speaking, which maintains a specific rhythm and strictly limits the tone of each word, is a must-have for a qualified nobleman to recuperate. : "I've figured it out. In short, someone reported to the knights that they found traces of cultists, and then you really found the desecrated altar and three dead cultists here. It's clear, right? .”
The voice of the soldier came from outside: "Yes, my lord, there is another missing resident..."
"I know, I know," Viscount Horn interrupted the soldier, "I know about this, so let's deal with it as it should be, burn the corpses of the cultists, purify the altar with holy water, and return the house to the lord. that's all."
After finishing speaking, he was about to order to leave this place, but the unwieldy soldier was still talking: "But... But my lord, you... Do you want to take a look... After all, this is a rule..."
What a stupid mind, I don't know who put such an idiot in the inner city guard.
Viscount Horn cursed secretly, quickly pushed open the cover of the window of the carriage, and glanced outside.
He saw the dilapidated streets outside, the half-melted snow had soaked the walls of houses and garbage dumps beside the road, a few soldiers were guarding the door of a residential house, and three corpses that had begun to emit a strange smell were thrown in the On the grass mat, there are ritual daggers, pottery pots, stone flakes and other objects on the mat as "evidence of heresy", while some timid poor people are watching from a distance. behind a window or door.
Those fearful and stupid gazes are very uncomfortable.
Viscount Horn just glanced at it, and quickly lowered the window cover: "Okay, I have witnessed it with my own eyes, do as I say, Mr. Pierre, and give them money for their work."
Outside the carriage, the viscount's butler took out three silver coins, which were money for disposing of the cult members' corpses and purifying the evil altar, and handed them to the captain of the soldier who was waiting aside.
Afterwards, the Viscount, his attendants and butlers left the street.
The few soldiers who stayed at the scene looked at me, I looked at you, or shook their heads or muttered a few words, then brandished their swords and drove away the poor onlookers who got too close, and the captain called a soldier to him, and walked over to him. Throwing a silver coin to the other party: "Okay, do as the lord said, find two people to deal with this place."
The soldier holding the silver coin shrugged as his captain turned his head away.
Then he noticed that there were still a lot of onlookers standing there. Those ragged, yellow and thin people were driven away by swords just now, but most of them didn't run far. They just stood blankly by the side of the road. , looking at this side with strange, numb, and empty eyes at this moment, looking at the three corpses on the ground, looking at the house that has lost its owner and is about to be taken back to the lord.
The soldier who was left behind froze for a moment, and suddenly shuddered inexplicably.
In this damn cold weather, the brains of these poor people may have been frozen unconscious.
In the inexplicable uneasiness, the soldier gave up his plan to search the unowned house. Anyway, the people living on this street should have nothing of value.
He raised his head, looked past the numb and dull poor, and saw the two corpse draggers who had already been waiting outside the crowd. The dirty gray-black blouse and the death amulet hanging around the neck are the most distinctive features of the corpse draggers. Well, these guys who deal with corpses have always had a sensitive sense of smell. I am afraid that within half an hour after the news of a corpse spread here, the two corpse draggers were already waiting nearby.
"Today is really bad..."
The soldier grumbled, called the draggers to the front, handed them a few copper coins, and ordered: "Drag the corpse outside the town and burn it. Remember, it must be burned. This is an order from above."
After saying this, he didn't care how the dragger answered, and left the place with a step.
The main reason why he walked so fast was that he knew that the dragger would definitely bargain for the extra firewood and grease money needed to burn the corpse, and those few copper coins were not enough.
But after he left, it had nothing to do with him.
The lord left, the steward left, the soldier left.
On the street, there were only dozens of poor people standing scattered in the cold wind, three corpses of cultists lying on straw mats, messy footprints, and two corpse draggers.