A gust of cold wind blew the nearby flags, causing a clattering sound. Luo Penny Grant raised her head and quietly stared at the ancient castle in the distance.
The two-hundred-year-old Cracked Stone Castle sits quietly on the top of the hill. The steep cliff on the side of the castle stands on the horizon like a blade. The sinking sun shines on the rugged rocks and mountains. The high walls of the castle gilded those lines with a layer of pale golden brilliance.
It is a stone mountain, one side of the mountain is steep and dangerous. The Cracked Stone Castle is located on the top of the cliff, as if crouching on the edge of a knife. The outer walls of the ancient castle have long been mottled, and in many places You can see signs of cracking. When the setting sun shines on the castle from just the right angle, part of its outer wall will even shine through with light from the opposite side, showing crack lines as bright as leaf veins on the city wall.
People often worry that the old castle will collapse in the sunset, and countless tons of heavy boulders will roll down from the top of the cliff. In an earth-shattering disaster, Bury the most glorious surname on this land.
But Luo Penni thought of her husband’s words and the ancient agreement between this castle and the spirit of the earth element. It was at a time when the Grant family was only a marginal vassal of the Cecil family. The ancestors of the family A contract reached with the allies of the earth element: As long as the surname "Glen" still rules this land, the Cracked Stone Castle will never collapse naturally...
But the cracks in this fortress have become real over the years. There are more and more...
"Mistress," the housekeeper's voice interrupted Luo Penni's thoughts. The steady and reliable middle-aged man handed a wooden box to the countess, "This is It's the soil you want."
Luo Penni looked at the deep-colored soil in the wooden box, stretched out her fingers to grab a bit and rubbed it gently, and then a little magic light appeared between her fingers. Then it turned into green smoke drifting in the wind in the radiance of magic power.
"The potion is working." The gloomy expression on Luo Penni's face seemed to relax a little. She nodded slightly to the housekeeper, "Half of the farms in the territory need this Druid potion. Restoring the balance of the land must be completed before spring. Go negotiate with the Cecil Potion merchants and see what price they will offer."
"Yes," the steward lowered his head, and then couldn't bear it. The host added, "Mistress, you don't have to leave the castle or come to this dirty countryside in person. These are rude and ignorant farmers, and they may offend you."
"You've said enough similar things," Luo Penni glanced at the housekeeper indifferently, "Just do your own thing."
The housekeeper hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to express any further opinions. .
"Duke Gawain Cecil will visit in five days," Luo Penni broke the silence a few seconds later, "Let's start preparations when we get back."
"Duke Are you going to visit?" The housekeeper was immediately startled.But after seeing the calm and indifferent expression on the hostess's face, he immediately swallowed all the questions and nonsense back in his stomach, "I understand, I will arrange the most appropriate reception. But I don't know why the Duke came here." Come on, do I need to arrange anything else?”
“It’s just an ordinary meeting,” Luo Penni said lightly, “The Kande area has finally become the legal fiefdom of the Cecil family.”
"Kant...I understand."
A few days later.
A two-horse carriage with the emblem of the Cecil family was driving on the road east of the Kant Territory. In front of the carriage was the place where the Gulen 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.
"This is really worse than the last time I went to Kant Land." Amber sat opposite Gawain and couldn't help but started to mutter, "I said, you are more or less a duke, even if you If you are going to visit a nobleman who is lower than yourself, you should pay more attention to your appearance. At least two more cars and a few more followers..."
Gawain looked at the person opposite him in amusement. The elf girl glanced at him, and he knew what was going on in this guy's mind. Amber didn't care at all whether his appearance was good or not, she just felt that she had finally worked as a follower for the Duke, and as a result, she still hadn't enjoyed going out in a convoy. Hundreds of followers, walking with war drums to clear the way, and the treatment of going into the city to blow the trumpet is a bit unbalanced. This guy's yearning for a better life can be said to be extremely simple and straightforward. All he needs is glory, glory and wealth - he has no spiritual pursuits at all. .
If I have to say it, her only spiritual pursuit is probably who can organize a cheating and kidnapping tournament in her lifetime, and then she can go up and win the championship...
"You are still laughing!" Seeing Gawain's half-smiling expression, Amber immediately rolled her eyes at him in displeasure, "Back then, I saw a count bring seven or eight carriages when he went out~"
"Such a carriage...sooner or later You will be eliminated." Gawain smiled and shook his head. "When the time comes, I will let you ride on something more exciting than a carriage."
"Something more exciting than a carriage?" Amber suddenly asked. With a face full of curiosity, "What new thing have you come up with?"
"Not yet, it's just an idea at the moment, but the time and technical conditions are not yet mature." Gawain waved his hand, "Compared to this , let’s continue talking about the Grant family. Apart from a few doubts about Viscount Grant’s accidental death a few years ago, what else have you investigated?”
“Then we have to start with it. As mentioned earlier, before the accidental death of the former Viscount Grant, he had implemented a series of almost unbelievable 'new laws' in his territory. At that time, not only his territory, but even the nobles in the surrounding territories were affected. The impact..."
"New law?" Gawain frowned, "Tell me about this part carefully."
"Oh, then we must first liberate the serfs in his territory. Started talking to the slave..."
......
When Duke Cecil's carriage drove towards Glenland, a messenger wearing a red and blue burqa and holding a flag was riding The fast horse galloped down the main road in the center of Saint-Sunil City.
The flag was the king's token. No one dared to stop the messenger holding the token, and all the pedestrians on the road ran away in panic and fear. That galloping horse, the people of Wangdu who had long been accustomed to a peaceful life, were shattered on this day. But at this moment, they didn't know what was going to happen next - they just hid by the roadside, shocked and confused. He looked curiously at the direction the messenger was heading, wondering what kind of news this galloping man was carrying.
The messenger ran across King Street and across the curved square in front of the Silver Castle. , then got off his horse in front of the castle, held the flag high and went straight to where the king was.
Just a few minutes later, a piece of intelligence from the western region of the Holy Spirit Plain was delivered to Francis II.
p>
This urgent information made Francis II quite unhappy, because today is a rare day when Veronica leaves the cathedral and comes to Silver Castle to reunite with him. For the saint's daughter, this is a very special and precious time, but this good time was interrupted.
Veronica looked at the information that had just been sent, and she showed a hint of it. With a reassuring gentle smile, he 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' at this time...those greedy The nobles will never be fed enough, and they will not consider the kingdom at all, but will only cause trouble for me. "
Veronica smiled lightly: "Maybe this is not news about the nobles? "
Francis II forced a smile and opened the envelope of the intelligence.
In the next half minute, the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
Veronica noticed the change in her father's expression: "Father, here is..."
"See for yourself," Francis II handed the secret letter to herself daughter, "This is something you can watch - because it will probably reach the Cathedral of the Holy Light soon. "
Veronica frowned and took the letter curiously, and the content on it jumped into her eyes:
"...There is a conflict between the Holy Light believers and the Blood God believers in the Holy Spirit Plains. It’s getting worse... On XX, XX, armed conflict broke out between believers from both sides in Boulder City. The radical Blood God believers smashed the statue in front of the Holy Light Church... The next day, the Holy Light believers retaliated, and the Blood God Church was burned down.
"Lord..." Veronica sighed in shock 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 go to this step? "
Francis II glanced at his daughter, shook his head and said: "Keep going.Look down. "
Veronica looked at the second half of the secret letter and couldn't help but take a breath:
"...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 wounded by a hidden arrow, and when he was about to die, he exploded... mutated into a flesh-and-blood monster, and there were a large number of witnesses at the scene...
"The lord of Boulder City and the regional bishop of the Holy Light Church jointly killed The monster... later launched a search on the Blood God Church, and found a secret room under the church, and found a large number of traces of bloody sacrifices... There were also emblems of the death of all things and notes recording various blasphemous knowledge and evil remarks...
< p>"...All Blood God churches in Boulder City have been sealed off...Half of the believers have been expelled...""Is a regional bishop-level person actually a believer in the Society of the Death of All Things..." Veronica murmured with an incredulous expression, "They actually penetrated to this point..."
"So you should understand, my daughter," Francis II looked very bad He said, "I understand why I have been saying that Ansu is not ready for a war with Typhon at all...especially this year. "
Veronica was silent for a moment and handed the letter back to the old king: "Father, how are you going to handle 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 bleeding for this, and the king must take action," Francis II said in a low voice He said eloquently, "We have been searching for the whereabouts of those cultists, and even started to investigate every noble, and began to investigate the extraordinary people registered in the royal family, but we ignored the Holy See... The Holy See, which was thought to be the least likely to be corrupted by the cultists, also Become a breeding ground for evil. "
Francis II clenched his fists and couldn't help but knock on the table: "Veronica, the church must be inspected, but... I cannot let this further affect the stability of the kingdom. ”
“Father, I can guarantee the cooperation of the Holy Light Church. Any rational follower of the Holy Light will understand this - uncovering the cultists hiding around them is a threat to everyone.” Everything is fine," Veronica said with a solemn expression. The power of the holy light stirred around her, rippling a layer of holy halo. "I believe that other sects will also learn about what happened in Boulder City. Be cooperative…no one wants a cultist lurking in their home. ”