Black smoke rose from the ruins of the houses. The light rain that had fallen not long ago did not completely extinguish the flames that had spread throughout the town. Instead, it intensified the smoke.
From afar, the whole town was shrouded in a gloomy black fog, making one's hair stand on end.
It was now evening, the time when people should have ended their day's work and prepared for dinner. But there was not a single resident walking on the streets that should have been bustling with activity. Those who should have finished their work and gone home were now lying on the ground in a disorderly manner. Pools of blood that were gradually drying up were beneath them. And in their houses, their loved ones who had been waiting for their return had also died under sharp blades, regardless of gender or age. Many of them had even been purposely stabbed once or twice to ensure that they had been killed.
In the whole town, the only place that still had some vitality was the lord's mansion. Of course, there were aristocrats in the territory of the merchant party, just as there were merchants in the territory of the aristocratic party. The local lord was a baron who was keen on doing business. Every night, he would check and sort out the day's accounts under the light of a lamp. This was his favorite form of entertainment.
He could no longer entertain himself like this, because he and all the original members of the mansion had become headless corpses piled up outside the door.
Now, it was a group of cold and tired executioners who brought life to this mansion.
The soldiers had already found their own places to sleep, and their snores rose and fell. Some of those who were in charge of patrolling were holding cold and sharp weapons in their hands, silently circling around the mansion. And on the watchtower at the highest point of the mansion, Earl Hauss, who should also be very tired, wrapped himself in a thick blanket and gazed into the distance.
He seemed to be playing the role of a sentinel, but the maid sitting opposite him knew that he was actually not looking at anything.
"It seems that things have gotten out of hand," she said. "News from above says that more than one god has launched an investigation."
"Let them investigate," the earl said indifferently. "They won't be able to find any valuable information."
Indeed, even the magic of Time Tracing was ineffective against them. Even if there were powerful gods who went to the scene of several massacres to investigate, they could not see what they looked like. They could only know their identities.
"As long as they investigate diligently, there is no secret in the world that can't be found out."
"Maybe, but for us, it is enough as long as we keep it a secret for a while." The Earl didn't care at all. "As long as our plan can be completed, even if they find out the truth, so what?"
He sneered disdainfully, "The will of a person's heart is not something that can be decided by mere 'truth'."
The maid sighed and did not say anything else.
After a while, she stood up and looked around at the town that had become a ghost town.
"This is the fifth village. How many times do you plan to massacre?" she asked.
"I'm not sure, but it depends," said the count. "Probably... two or three more, and that's about it."
He paused for a moment and said, "I'll have to trouble you with the finishing touches when the time comes."
"… I really don't like this job."
"I don't like it either, but every work must be done," said the count, laughing. "It is a little hypocritical between us. You and I have done this many times in our lives, right? "
The maid smiled bitterly and sighed, "You might not believe it, but when I was alive, I really didn't commit a single massacre. Killing on the battlefield was one thing, but I had never asked the soldiers to point their weapons at civilians. This is also one of the few things that I am most proud of in my life. "
"That's why you can only create a kingdom, not an empire. If you were ruthless enough, maybe you could have defeated the Orc Empire and created your own empire. "
"… That's not unreasonable, but in the face of time, what great empire can last?" The maid smiled. "The so-called 'Orc Empire' has already been changed for several generations. Whether it is the bloodline and tribe of the emperor, or the guiding ideology of the ruling … Even the king of the Orc gods has been changed. Even if I created an empire, so what? I don't think it can make me more glorious in history. "
"Is this the arrogance of a winner?" The count smiled a little sarcastically and said, "I'm different from you. I'm a complete failure. I've tried my best, tried everything, but in the end, I still couldn't protect anything. I've never had the kind of confidence you have. "
"That's why your style of doing things is so intense?"
"More or less. Among the three of us, I'm probably the most extreme." The count looked at the sky and sighed. "I also didn't expect that I would have the chance to step into the human world again and display my abilities to the fullest!"
"Things in the world are often unexpected," the maid said. "At first, I came to the human world, then Robert came, then Robert was recalled, and then you were replaced … The three of us Holy Spirits actually all appeared. This is already very surprising."
"But the goal has never changed much, has it?"
"… Yes, we always have only one goal." The maid smiled. "Although there have been some changes, what we want to do is more or less the same."
"Let the Commonwealth of Gold Coins be chaotic, as chaotic as possible. This is what we want to do, "the count said." I feel that I've done a good job. "
"It's good, but I think the method can be better."
"The method is not important."
"The method is very important."
"Winners always think so, but for losers, if they can't succeed, what's the point of thinking about the 'method'?"
There was a momentary silence in the sentry tower.
After a while, the maid said again, "How are your injuries?"
"Not bad."
"Not bad? You've been punished by Heaven. It can't be that easy. "
"In fact, it's really not as serious as you think. After all, I was originally hostile to these guys. Killing them, for me, is not a violation of my oath. "
"But with our strength, once we display it in the human world, it's very easy to be sensed by the boundary."
"You think too much. If I'm sensed, I would have been struck to death by a lightning." The count smiled and shook his head. "I just used the power of a low-level legendary. This level of power won't alarm the boundary."
"But I don't see any signs of recovery from your injuries," the maid said.
"Yes, it's impossible to recover." The count smiled slightly. "After all, this body has been dead for a long time. Dead people can't recover from injuries."
After another period of silence, the maid sighed and said, "I always have a bad feeling."
"Me too," the count said. "It doesn't matter. As long as we can get things done, anything is fine."
The two of them said nothing more and fell into complete silence.
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