Seeing Rubens waving his hand, Andrew ordered the other soldiers to continue patrolling while he took a few steps forward and walked to the shadow behind the building. He saluted and then asked curiously, "Sir, why did you suddenly come here today? Are you going out for some business? "
"Indeed. I have to leave the Divine Temple for a while. I'm not sure when I'll be back."
Rubens looked serious and did not seem to be chatting, which made Andrew nervous.
"You mean …"
"The affairs of the Grand Cardinals are too much for me to handle. I want to take a rest in the countryside."
He was actually admitting his failure in the political struggle. Andrew naturally understood what he was implying. Without further ado, he said straightforwardly, "When will you leave, my lord? I'll go with you. Wherever you go, I'll go. "
Rubens was quite satisfied with such loyalty. However, he shook his head and gave him a money bag. "I don't know when the news will be settled. I'm just here to say hi to you. So … take a few days off. Bring your brothers to have a few drinks and build a good relationship with the guard captains. That way, the guards you've trained will have something to answer for. "
It was actually a tradition. Every guard captain had good talents under their command. If Andrew left, those promising talents would not leave with him. If he did not build a good relationship with them and ask them to take care of them, the original talents would soon be buried. Rubens was obviously considerate of Andrew. For him, the most important thing to take care of his subordinates was to always remember to take care of them.
"My lord …"
Andrew was so touched that his eyes turned red. He reached out to push the money bag, but Rubens stuffed it into his arms. The heavy feeling made him realize that it was not silver but gold.
"You're the only one I can trust in the Divine Temple. So … do as I say."
"Yes, my lord!"
Andrew did not doubt Rubens' words at all. He lowered his head and answered. There were a total of three city gates in the inner city, and a total of twelve teams of guards were on duty in shifts. There were less than two hundred people in total. Apart from that, there was also a team of two hundred "Church Guards" to protect the safety of the core church.
However, after a long period of peace, it was not difficult for the guard captains to ask for leave to go out for a meal. It was fine as long as there was a team guarding each of the three inner city gates. The rest of the soldiers could move freely.
In terms of the strength of the guards, Andrew's team should be the strongest among the twelve. He was good at commanding the troops, and the overall combat ability of the troops he led was more outstanding. However, in this era, the trait of "strong combat ability" was nowhere to be seen, so no one cared if he took time off from work to have a meal with his old buddies.
After giving a few more instructions, Rubens turned around and returned to the cathedral. He walked up the steps and walked through the eight-meter-tall wooden door. In his field of vision, there were already bishops who had begun to recite their scriptures. He passed through the huge lecture hall with ethereal echoes, and walked through the wide corridor made of white bricks. When he passed by a huge iron door, his gaze paused for a second.
Behind the iron door was the path to the secret underground chamber. The "Viper's Kiss" scepter had been moved here after it drove the monks guarding it crazy. The Pope had personally cast a spell to seal it to reduce the mental influence it had on others.
Rubens frowned slightly. He remembered that the Pope's body had become much weaker after that incident. Recently, his complexion had been terrible, and his voice was weak. It was obvious that he had expended a lot of energy.
The cold iron door was still the same, but when he stared at it, Rubens could no longer hear the vague whispers in his mind like before.
Rubens squinted his eyes and moved his gaze away. He then continued forward and came to the white house where the Pope was.
Even the Cardinal Bishops could not directly discuss problems with the Pope. Therefore, he used the Pope's chamberlain to solemnly express his opinion that "we should be wary of Count Milno's coalition army".
The chamberlain entered the room to convey this news, and very quickly gave a response — Pope Peter expressed "understood".
This response was actually "noncommittal", because if such a warning was taken seriously, the Pope would immediately send people to mobilize the guards in the city to organize and be on guard in advance.
Rubens sighed and raised his drooping eyelids slightly. He looked at the young chamberlain and nodded to indicate that he accepted the answer. He then made his request of "returning to the countryside to rest for a period of time".
The Pope hesitated for ten minutes, and when the chamberlain returned, he brought back a response of "approval". Rubens knew that the Pope's action also meant that he had already completely given up on cooperating with Eiffta. Usually, such requests would be rejected two to three times, but now that Rubens's first request was approved, the meaning was self-evident.
He did not look disappointed. He still bowed respectfully like before, and then turned to leave. The old man did not hesitate much. He quickly packed his few belongings and set out on the road to leave the Holy Cathedral.
The city of the "Holy Cathedral" was not big, and it governed more than twenty villages. Although this area was managed by Earl Ryan in name, in reality, as a devout believer, Ryan had basically ceded the management rights to the "Rose Cross", so it could be said that this was the "Holy Cathedral" territory.
When Rubens left, he only brought three attendants. Walking out of the inner city and passing through the outer city, he saw the sparse patrols and the soldiers dozing off on the city walls, but the old man did not say anything. He just silently left this land of intrigue and power.
*****
On the other side, in a camp less than ten kilometers away from the "Holy Cathedral", Roddy was sitting in a tent, absorbing the last part of the Shadow Dragon Crystal's energy.
After waking up early, the team did not break camp and advance. Because of the lack of food, the "Holy Army" sent an order that they could only leave after gathering enough food nearby. This kind of thing was originally done by logistics, but now that the villages in the "Rose Cross" territory were empty, where could they find food? Therefore, when the order was given, the mercenary knights of the "Holy Army" understood what it meant —
They had to rely on themselves.
Teams of all sizes spread out in all directions. When Roddy joined this team, he specially bought an ordinary warhorse, but he rejected the request to go out with them because he was not good at riding. He stayed in the tent and continued to advance to level 30. His choice made the Knight of Zack and the others in the same camp sneer. Before leaving, they did not forget to mock Roddy as a "coward who does not dare to go to the battlefield".
To this, Roddy looked confused. "Aren't you going to collect food? What battlefield? "
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