"We have twelve wounded, eight of whom are recruits, but they are not serious."
Sodelor pointed to Akasha, who was casting divine spells in the distance. He brought Roddy to the wounded prisoners and continued, "I just asked them. These guys have been wandering in this area for more than a month. Originally, they were a small group of forty to fifty people. Later, they merged with two other groups of bandits, and that's why they have so many people.
"During this time, they have blocked the road four or five times. Today's incident was instigated by the group with the best equipment. Look, there are some decorations on their wristguards. At a glance, you can tell that they are private soldiers of the nobility. After a simple interrogation, I found out that they are the subordinates of Viscount Anru. "
Viscount Anru was the fat man who had discussed to 'teach' Roddy a lesson at the banquet. Roddy was not surprised by this. He just shook his head and said, "Originally, this was the end of our investigation, but it doesn't seem that simple."
"Oh? Who was the person you killed? "
Sodelor naturally noticed that Roddy did not return empty-handed.
"I didn't have time to do anything … He was a suicide soldier."
"Suicide soldier?!"
Sodelor's originally relaxed expression immediately changed. He carefully asked a few questions, then followed Roddy to the corpse of the 'rogue' and carefully examined it, just like Roddy had done before. But after a long time, he did not seem to find anything extra.
"There are no tattoos on the body. The scars are all from training or battle, and there are no special marks …" Sodelor fiddled with the already stiff arm of the thief without any scruples. Just as he was about to give up, his eyes suddenly froze. "Wait!"
He took off the thief's wristguards and arm guards, cut open the leather jacket with a knife, and then picked up the meticulously made linen shirt. After carefully examining it for a while, his expression became somewhat strange.
"Did you find something?"
Rody found it strange. Sodelor looked excited, but his eyebrows were trembling as if he was suppressing something.
"Well … sort of. Actually, it's the way the clothes are cut that I find familiar … Look, the stitches here, the hemming here, and the neckline here — sure enough, there are two 'X' -shaped sealing techniques. "
Only a professional tailor would know these terms. Roddy looked at him in surprise. "You know how to make clothes?"
Don't tell me this guy's subclass is "Advanced Tailor"? A Sword Sage actually likes to make clothes?
However, Sodelor shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Your question is a bit amateurish. Actually, as a noble, I have to understand these things. When you're customizing clothes, the tailors will take the sample and modify it on your body several times. You'll naturally learn after listening to it. "
He pointed at the clothes in front of him. "Every shop has its own style. Although the clothes don't have a name written on them, you can often tell who the designer is at a glance based on the style. When a group of nobles brags together, they compete on their foresight."
"I understand now that you put it that way."
Roddy thought that this was the same logic as rich kids knowing more about luxury brands. However, he was even more puzzled. "That's not right. Then how do you know all this?"
"Because … I used to be a noble."
When he said this, Sodelor's eyes clearly dimmed. Roddy's heart trembled. He immediately realized that he had asked the wrong question. However, before he could apologize, Sodelor waved his hand. "Alright, there's no need for us to do this. It's actually just some past events that shouldn't be mentioned …
He paused and said concisely, "My father was the Baron of Bergen, but before he could pass the title to me, his family was destroyed by someone. At that time, almost everyone in the family died. I was the only one who gritted my teeth and escaped to Efta. Only then did I leave a bloodline for the family. "
This was definitely a blood feud, but Sodelor had never told anyone about it before. Although he said it lightly, Roddy knew that under those calm words, Sodelor's unprecedented hatred was actually hidden …
He would never forget this. Sooner or later, he would find the culprit.
"I know all this because I used to be famous in Bergen. I had many custom-made clothes since I was young. One of the shops made clothes in this style."
"You can't be mistaken, right?"
"I was young back then. Because my body grew quickly, I had to make several sets of clothes every year. Most of them were ordered from this shop, so I can't be mistaken. Look … the clothes he's wearing are standard ready-made clothes. If they were custom-made for nobles, the seams on the back and cuffs would be different. But this one doesn't have that. "
"Could he have bought it somewhere else?"
"That shop only sells goods to nobles in the territory. So, first of all, this guy must be a local noble. And he's of high status … "
At this point, there was no way to investigate further. There were many great nobles in Bergen. Right now, there was no way to confirm which family it was from just one piece of clothing. However, the fact that he had narrowed the scope of his investigation had saved Rody a lot of trouble. He sighed and said, "Let's go back and investigate this in detail. Viscount An Ru was probably just being used. The Bergen Territory might be the source of the problem.
"Yes, I'll investigate."
Sodelor lowered his head, looking a little depressed.
"Oh, right." Roddy reached out and patted his shoulder. He asked in a low voice, "Back then … which family did it?"
Sodelor immediately raised his head. He naturally knew what these words meant.
"This —"
The corners of Roddy's mouth curled up. It looked like he was smiling, but his words were even colder than the howling wind. "Don't look at me like that. I don't care who it is. Since it did something, it must be prepared to bear the consequences … Am I right?"
*****
17th January.
While the northern part of the kingdom was still shrouded in the cold winter wind and snow, Bergen, thousands of miles away, was already showing signs of spring.
Green sprouts gradually appeared on the grass. Many flowers had already bloomed in the back gardens of the nobles. The pedestrians on the streets had already taken off their winter clothes. Peddlers were hawking their wares, children were playing, and cattle were plowing the land that had been fallow for two years in preparation for the new year's planting …
Compared to the northwestern part of the kingdom, Bergen was obviously rich and prosperous.
This was not only because of the climate or the landscape, but also because it was bordered by the territory of the Kingdom of Karen's royal family. It was good to be cool under a big tree. With the developed King's City as the foundation for trade, it was hard for the economy to not be developed.
As the biggest lord of the territory, Count Milnor's days were even more glorious.
In the early years, the Milnor family could only be regarded as a "first-class" family in this territory, but not a "dominant" one. However, under the management of the current head of the family for more than ten years, the Bergen territory was now completely under his control.
Even the insignia of those families that refused to be disciplined had disappeared from the kingdom's noble genealogy. The saying, "Only obedient nobles are good nobles" had become Milnor's political creed. He was indeed qualified to say this because there were probably few people in the entire kingdom who could be compared to the count in terms of means to deal with people.
Logically speaking, if a lord's means were too harsh, it was inevitable that he would suffer a backlash. However, Count Milnor did not have the slightest concern … because the person behind him was the biggest lord of the Kingdom of Karen, who was also the nominal master of the kingdom: Charles II.
"My lord, this is the gift list sent by Viscount Chayton and Baron Mukhera today."
Although it was a gift list, in fact, it was not a festival at all. These things were just "offerings". Count Milnor was quite proud of this because these were not "taxes" but additional income.
"You are much more active than last year."
The fifty-three-year-old count had a head of silver hair and a thin figure. When he stood in front of the window with his hands clasped behind his back, he had the air of a superior who looked down on the world. But when he saw his son groping a maid in the back garden, he immediately raised his eyebrows.
"Didn't I ask him to practice swordsmanship? Why is he here?! "
Count Milnor reprimanded his son. After the butler left, he rubbed his eyebrows and sighed to himself …
Perhaps this was the price of being infatuated with power … Even though the clan had power and influence, they only had one son. Furthermore, because he was born from the 'legal wife', they had spoiled him too much over the past twenty years and raised him into a debauchee. This made him regret it every time he thought about it.
Fortunately, his 23-year-old son was not a brainless playboy. At least, he had inherited his father's excellent standards in "scheming". However, he was still lacking if he wanted to take over the family.
"I still need to find a place to train. This can't go on …"
Count Milnor sat in front of his desk and quickly put aside these chaotic emotions. He reached out to straighten his clothes and began to write a letter to report to Charles II as usual.
"The development of the 'Rose Cross' in the Bergen Territory has been curbed. The 'Viper Cross' preaching process is relatively smooth. The recent conflicts have been suppressed. The current situation is very stable …"
"The Bogdo Parish is still controlled by Benjamin. It will take a long time to change this situation …"
"The actions of the Efta Territory this winter are thought-provoking. According to the reports from our informants, that Sally Duke seems to have predicted the consequences of the severe cold in advance. Therefore, with sufficient preparation, she collected a large number of gold coins in three months. According to preliminary estimates, the amount is probably more than four times the annual tax revenue of the Efta Territory …"
"If this goes on, the power of Efta Territory will grow and become a serious threat to His Majesty's rule."
From a different point of view, the same action had a different meaning: Sally's efforts to save the refugees had become an action that "threatened the stability of the kingdom" in Count Milnor's writing. Meanwhile, the nobles who did not earn enough money and were jealous became the "best weight to balance the situation".
This was ridiculous and pathetic politics.
Charles II had two close vassals: one was "Count Moore", who was in charge of the battles and deployment of troops on the surface; the other was Count Milnor. However, most of what he did was "under the surface", so he felt better about himself.
Think about it, most of the territories in the country were directly or indirectly monitored by him, and some places even had the ability to control. This feeling of being in control of the entire situation naturally made people feel superior, as if they were 'playing chess'.
The Count leisurely finished writing the letter. However, when he was about to seal it with wax, the butler brought a message that made the Count's face turn gloomy.
[Thank you to the friends who voted: Shufu 86552484, Shufu 1269666111, Yellow Rod, Halo Water Bro, Xiao Lou Online]
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
