30th of May, Hollier City.
It had been a month since the grand banquet that shocked the entire Eiffel Territory. The shock brought about by the "killing the chicken to warn the monkey" had also caused a lot of repercussions during this period of time.
The feudal lords put away their ambitions, and all kinds of petty tricks seemed to disappear in an instant. This also caused the taxes of the Ducal Palace to catch up for a period of time. Not only that, Angmar's actions on the 30th of April had now been widely spread throughout the country and became another hot topic for most people after a meal.
In the eyes of the public, he had become a Duke who had been 'dormant for many years, experienced ups and downs, and was cruel and merciless'. When these adjectives were superimposed on a single person, the meaning behind it was no longer as simple as it sounded … Many people guessed that the royal family, who was located in the southeast of the kingdom, would have more scruples or take more measures?
However, the old man in the Ducal Palace was not interested in quelling or paying attention to these rumors.
Angmar was very clear about his physical condition, so there was only one thing he was thinking about now: to pave a way for the Lucifron Family and the Eiffel Territory.
"Cough cough cough cough …"
There was a violent cough. Butler John gently stroked Angmar's back and took a green potion from the table at the side. Duke's face was pale because of the pain in his lungs. He slightly straightened up, took the potion and drank it in one gulp. Then he slowly let out a sigh of relief. "Ah … this potion is almost useless."
"Master, I'll let them make better potions …"
"Forget it. Although I'm not a pharmacist, I also understand … drinking this potion for a long time is no different from drinking water. I'll leave the rest of the money."
He waved his hand and turned to point at a stack of parchment papers on the table. "Send these to those few strongholds. They have done a good job with the recruitment. Cough cough … As for the training, it must be implemented within a month."
"Yes, Master."
John took the letter and felt that the thin paper was extremely heavy. The Dukes Of Angmar's life was coming to an end, but he forced himself to rely on the potion to support himself and dictated the parchment to John.
It wasn't about the distribution of the inheritance. Most of the contents were about the defense of the territory's borders, the reform of the fortress system, the governance of internal corruption, the recruitment and training plans. Apart from that, there was also the construction plan of the economic system with Erza Village as the core.
"Is everything ready on Roddy's side?"
"Knight Wellington will personally lead the team. Don't worry, Master."
Angmar had to remind him about this matter three to four times a day. Hardedef knew that the old man's memory was showing signs of confusion and decline, but even though he couldn't remember many things clearly, he always remembered to help Roddy …
This was probably the biggest obsession in his heart.
"Don't make any mistakes … Don't make any mistakes …"
Angmar murmured a few words. At this time, a servant outside sent a new letter. Hardedef went to take it. Duke looked up slightly, "What news?"
"Bishop Rubens sent a letter, he said …" John knew that the old Duke couldn't read the handwriting on the letter, so he briefly read it and concluded, "He said that Miss Sally has already set off for Eiffta after receiving your letter."
"Good … good …"
Angmar closed his eyes because of fatigue, but the corner of his mouth was slightly raised. Obviously, he was in a good mood.
"There's one more thing."
John continued, "Master, Lord Rubens said … because of her outstanding achievements in this battle, the Church believes that she can become the new 'Assistant Bishop' of 'Elsen City'."
This speed of promotion was quite "exceptional". According to the Church's usual standards, the youngest assistant bishop had to be 22 years old. And an 'Assistant Bishop' of a new city often meant that he would become a 'Bishop' in the future!
The Dukes Of Angmar still closed his eyes and nodded, "With Rubens's promotion, his future will be smoother. But I'm afraid that Sally can't go to Elsen, sigh …"
Hardedef understood what this sigh meant, and his heart felt more and more depressed.
"Right, the guards also sent some recently organized news. Master, would you like to hear it?"
"Say it. If you don't, I'm afraid you won't have the chance to hear it."
Angmar leaned on the armchair, squinted slightly, and quietly looked at the green back garden outside the window.
"Most of it is about the movements of those pagans. Their army gradually retreated due to logistical problems, and some of the nobles who secretly supported them were confirmed on the list …"
"Also, it said that two villages in the east had an outbreak of plague, but because it was not far from the Rose-Cross Holy Cathedral, it was quickly controlled. The south — "
"Wait, cough cough cough … You, you said plague?"
Angmar's originally relaxed expression suddenly became serious. He remembered that Roddy had unconsciously mentioned this in a casual conversation, and he waved his hand, "Go and investigate this matter in detail."
Hardedef obeyed the order and left. The Dukes looked into the distance and murmured, "It can't be what you're talking about …"
*****
31st May, Forest of Silent Whispers
Unlike the perpetually wet and rainy environment of Briar Forest, the Forest of Silent Whispers still maintained a certain degree of coolness at the beginning of summer. Under these conditions, Roddy's team moved quickly through the forest. In just two days, they left Elsa's village and arrived at the first High Elf ruin in the plan.
Everything went smoothly. Due to the large number of team members, they did not encounter any magical beasts along the way. Other than the exhaustion of the journey, the atmosphere within the team was very relaxed. Roddy also heaved a sigh of relief when he found more than 80 "Recharge Crystals" in the first ruin.
Although only a quarter of the mission was completed, this discovery still gave Roddy confidence. There was no problem with the location Camilla had given him. If they continued to search like this, they would definitely complete the mission.
"There's another one here!"
"There's another one here too. Send the engineers over!"
The shouts of the soldiers could be heard from all around. Clearly, they had found more scattered crystals. Roddy reached out to pick up a well-preserved stone slab in the middle of the ruin. His fingertip traced the traces of words on it …
"The military warehouse."
Although the town had disappeared in the river of history, the traces left behind still showed that it had once been a "military town". However, what puzzled Roddy was that according to Camilla's deduction, if there had not been an explosion here, there must have been more than 200 crystals left behind.
A faint doubt emerged in his heart, but Roddy did not take it too seriously. After all, in the span of 700 years, anything could have happened here. Nothing could be certain.
Turning his head, Roddy found that the little priest beside him had a somewhat stiff gaze and a very pale face. So he asked, "Akasha, are you not feeling well?"
"I … I'm a little scared."
Akasha did not want to admit such a thing, but in front of Roddy, she could not hide her emotions … She had once fallen into the secret chamber of the ruins of Wagra City, so she had an instinctive fear of similar environments. Although she was in excellent condition now, and her strength was much stronger than before, there was always a fear in her heart that she would "repeat the same mistakes".
"But … it's okay. I'll get used to it."
Roddy knew what she was afraid of. Although he did not say it, he immediately led them out of the ruins after the team completed the first stage of collection.
Such a "good start" seemed to indicate a good omen. When they camped at night, most of the soldiers were smiling, and most of their conversations were in a cheerful mood. However, sitting in front of the campfire, Roddy's mood was not happy at all.
During this period of time, he had been trying hard to force himself to focus on other things. The ultimate goal was to forget the scenes when he quarreled with Sally … But now, he found that the more he wanted to forget, when he quieted down, the scenes would always appear in front of him, making his heart bear an indescribable … regret.
Roddy regretted.
He regretted that he did not explain clearly to Sally, regretted that he left because of the helpless frustration in his heart.
It was at this time that Roddy realized … His feelings for Sally, in fact, were not as cold as they appeared on the surface.
He did not know what the so-called "love" was, but when he regretted his words and deeds towards Sally all the time, Roddy knew that he undoubtedly liked her.
However, what was the use of confirming all this now?
He inexplicably thought of the classic line in "Journey to the West". Looking at the soldiers singing and laughing around him, his heart was desolate.
The campsite's fire gradually dimmed. Roddy heard footsteps coming from beside him. When he looked up, he found that it was Natha —
"You are not on night duty today, right?"
Natha shook her head, and then brought her quiver to Roddy: "I made the arrows."
This was the meaning of letting Roddy "check" and "explain".
Even after becoming Roddy's student, Natha rarely took the initiative to speak. At this time, her initiative made Roddy a little surprised. He tried hard to sort out his emotions, seriously began to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of these arrows, and then talked about the experience of making arrows. Natha sat at the side and listened, nodding and occasionally asking questions in a low voice. About an hour later, she took the quiver and returned to her tent, leaving behind the somewhat tired Roddy who was ready to sleep.
Stepping into the shadow, Natha looked back at the figure fiddling with the campfire … She gently sighed.
Natha, who was not good with words, was more sensitive to Roddy's changes than anyone else. Although she did not understand what happened, after seeing Roddy was continuously tortured by painful emotions, she finally decided to use the most "clumsy" way to divert Roddy's attention and ease his tense heartstrings.
Roddy did not know that the disciple beside him was watching him with a cold face but a warm heart. The smooth operation of the past few days had calmed his heart a little, and in the middle of the night, he naturally felt sleepy. He got up and extinguished the campfire. When he turned around and was about to open his tent, he found that Akasha was standing beside him.
"What's wrong?"
Roddy thought that she had something to say, but then he found that she was holding … a bed?
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