On the path south of Havenright, a carriage was speeding along.
The environment was extremely empty, and the surrounding area was desolate, with no other people in sight. But even so, the driver still waved the whip in his hand and kept accelerating in the hunting wind, as if he was afraid that someone would catch up from behind.
"C-can we really run away?"
In the carriage, six nobles, including Duke Colin, and several mages were crowded inside, all looking a little nervous. One of the nobles was holding a sleeping little girl in his arms. He couldn't help but glance out the window, then turned back and said this.
At this moment, their moods still have not completely calmed down.
As nobles with a high status, they have seen a lot of the world and can remain calm no matter what happens. But an hour ago, they kidnapped the princess from the palace, and then rushed to the city gate. Under the protection of several mages, they forced their way through the city gate and escaped from the royal capital... This series of actions had completely exceeded their previous bottom line. .
Despite the smooth operation, they managed to escape. But when the initial enthusiasm passed, the nobles couldn't help but feel a little trembling again when they thought about the church.
-From now on, they are no longer the nobles of the Hori Kingdom.
He will be hunted to the ends of the earth by the church.
Fear and doubt inevitably arise in the hearts of a few people. Although everything has been going well so far, when the church comes around, will they really be able to run away
"Okay." Duke Colin nodded and said as if he was suggesting himself, "We have already gotten rid of the pursuers, and the people in the church don't even know where we are."
The nobles also nodded silently, and the carriage fell into silence, each of them seemed to be digesting the situation at the moment.
After a moment of silence, someone spoke again: "So... Your Excellency, since you proposed this plan, have you also thought about our next move?"
Duke Colin raised his head: "We are leaving the Kingdom of Horli."
"How to leave? Your Highness is in our hands, and the church cannot let us go easily. And now that the matter has come to this, it will be difficult to use our previous relationships and power."
Duke Colin immediately replied: "Look for Master Benjamin, he knows how to take people out."
"What if he dies in this battle...or doesn't care about us at all?"
"Then let's go back to the fief first. Before the news spreads, we still have some power that we can use to contact other forces abroad." Duke Colin took a deep breath and looked at the sleeping little girl, "No matter what How about, with Your Highness in our hands, we have the capital to survive."
The nobles looked at each other and finally fell silent, probably thinking about the situation at hand. The wheels rolled, carrying them towards the southern fiefdom, disappearing little by little in the afterglow of the setting sun.
And probably following their footsteps, a few hours later, the figure of the paladin appeared on the path under the moonlight.
"...What clues were found?"
After chasing him all the way from the royal capital, the captain squinted his eyes and tried to look around in the dim light. A whole team of Paladins were searching back and forth in this area, as anxious as ants in a frying pan.
However, the results obtained were not very good.
"The wind here is very strong and the sand and dust are very strong. The traces of the wheels have disappeared by now and may have been covered. It is difficult for us to judge their next direction."
"Damn it... keep looking south." The captain suddenly became nervous, "You have also seen His Majesty the Pope's appearance. If we can't find any clues, we will all suffer!"
As he spoke, he couldn't help but think back to the situation a few hours ago.
- After receiving the news that His Majesty had been kidnapped, and no one could be found in the Pearl Lake area, in the end, less than a few hours after the expedition, the Royal Army had to return to Havenright in despair. It was simply a great shame and humiliation. His Majesty the Pope was riding on a horse, and his whole person seemed to be shrouded in a dark cloud. No one dared to get within a few meters of him.
The army returned to the royal capital first, but they and a dozen other groups of paladins were separated on the road and set off early to investigate the entire incident. The captain still remembered the extremely gloomy look on the Pope's face when he gave them the order.
… He didn’t dare to think about it anymore.
"Hurry up, look over there, and be sure to find the whereabouts of those people!" Therefore, he urged again. Under the night, the paladins looked tired and continued to search forward.
And at the same time.
Bottom of Pearl Lake.
"... They left so quickly."
After using the water element induction method to explore around and sneaking out to check carefully, Benjamin showed a somewhat surprised look on his face. The Royal Army, which had been engaged in a massive attack a few hours ago, had already withdrawn completely, leaving only a few sentries patrolling the area.
This made him feel a little confused.
Looking at Grant's initial battle, he even planned to fight him to the death here. Even if he couldn't find anyone, he wouldn't retreat after staying for a few hours, right
The system came out and said lazily: "Isn't it better to leave? If someone really digs three feet into the ground, drains the lake water and starts digging, maybe they will dig you out."
"Of course it's good to go... I just feel a little strange."
"Why are you thinking so much? Just go ahead and do what you have to do."
"… never mind."
Finally, Benjamin shook his head helplessly.
He suspected that there might be some hidden reason for the church's retreat, but under the current situation, it was best for them to hide underground and wait for news. In fact, the Black Nightmare Army hid in the dark again, and the church's attack failed. This situation was already more favorable to them, and Benjamin had nothing to worry about.
Therefore, he didn't think much more and returned to the camp to start planning the next round of attacks. The other exit of the underground passage is near the Crusad Gate, and Benjamin is also preparing to attack the towns in that area.
The next morning, new news came from the academy's ANBU from outside.
"... Mr. Dean, are you okay? The church has just announced to the world that their army went out last night and after a great battle by Pearl Lake, they have severely damaged the Black Nightmare army. The specific situation is unclear, but priests in many places said , you were seriously injured by the Pope and have escaped back to the Magic Academy?"
Upon receiving the news, Benjamin had a "what the hell" expression on his face.
The church is also becoming more and more capable of making up lies.
But I was just fooled by him once. Is it so hard to accept it? Grant is so unwilling to admit that he failed? By making up such words, the church has become increasingly unrestrained in order to stabilize the situation.
"Don't worry, they didn't find us at all, they were just bragging." After replying such a message to the academy's ANBU, Benjamin touched his chin, thought for a moment, and a smile gradually appeared at the corner of his mouth.
It would be too naive if the church thought... that issuing such an announcement would bring stability to the Horli Kingdom.