Lately, Strom's mood had been fluctuating as if he was on a swing.
The believers of the mysterious church who had suddenly appeared in Crookes and were wantonly capturing the swampmen he had been manipulating in secret had left his nerves stretched to the limit. If the Society of the Secret Eye hadn't given him some 'research results' as a trump card, he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from having the swampmen revolt to see if they could directly attack the mayor's residence.
It was fortunate that his rationality stopped him from having such unrealistic thoughts.
While his nemesis Lloyd and his city watch weren't that powerful, the city watch itself was a second-tier force that maintained order in the city.
While the peasants wouldn't have access to such secrets, there was a rumor among the nobles that wasn't really a legend: Crookes had a secret force that Mayor Meredith's family had been grooming since two hundred years ago.
None among the nobles could prove their existence, but every time a noble threatened the mayor, blinded by the riches of Crookes and had thoughts they shouldn't have, they would be flattened in one night no matter how prosperous their family had been. * * *
There was once a noble family in Crookes that had prospered for over a hundred years, with three bishops of different churches and a mage who had stepped into the domain of supernatural.
Such a faction was a force that no one could ignore in any city, and even the mayor had to feign civility with them.
And the head of that family, who was also one of the three bishops, had relied on his family's power to force Mayor Meredith to take a share of Crookes' mining industry.
He and several other bishops had mobilized some sacred troops from other cities, even having the mage who had stepped into supernatural watch over the family, making it seem as if they would raise their flags if the mayor didn't agree.
But the next day, the family vanished from Crookes.
They weren't wiped out in a fierce battle, but hundreds of members of the family had vanished overnight. Even the luxurious mansion that didn't lose out to the mayor's residence was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a patch of white land.
After that, the three churches had sent people to investigate the matter and interrogate the old mayor, but to no avail. One of the churches was even blacklisted by the old mayor as an unwelcome religion in Crookes due to its stubborn attitude, forbidding them from preaching in the city.
That particular church had wanted revenge, but their pope died that very night. The new pope promptly withdrew the sacred troops and kept their distance from Crookes, and only then did the matter end.
No one knew how the Old City Lord's secret army managed to achieve this, but from then on, no noble dared to touch the tiger's whiskers.
Even now, the old mayor was getting old and about to die, and the nobles in the city only dared to support those who could rise to power, with no other tricks up their sleeves.
Even Strom had only worked with the Secret Eye Society as a last resort to protect himself, using swampmen to cause trouble in secret, afraid that the old mayor would notice and send a secret legion to directly destroy him.
While Strom was in a state of panic, the believers of the mysterious church suddenly retreated.
The specific reason was unclear, but the swampmen lying in ambush among the city guards reported that the believers had been attacked by something unusual.
Later, under the swampman's guidance, Strom went to the scene of the battle between the believers of the mysterious church and the unknown enemy to take a look, and found that both sides were quite frightening.
There was no way the swampmen could beat either side.
Just as Strom breathed a sigh of relief that the believers of the mysterious church had retreated and began to think about how to break out of this predicament, the swampman's spy brought him another piece of bad news.
That group of believers from the mysterious church had come again … and this time, they had brought a whole bunch of people with them!
They seemed to be looking for something.
At first, Strom thought that they were still searching for swampmen, but he soon noticed that they were much less interested in them as if they were looking for something else.
Still, that did not mean that Strom could rest easy. Even if they were less interested in looking for swampmen, it did not mean that they were no longer looking for them.
As a matter of fact, they were still very passionate even if they were less interested, and would ask if the people around them were swampmen even as they searched for their targets.
And just like before, the swampmen would immediately be exposed and cut down by their blades if they were asked …
Strom thought that they wouldn't get anything out of finding swampmen, would they? Lloyd hadn't given them any money either, so why would they be so passionate about searching for swampmen?
Unfortunately, he could never have imagined that the Players had something more important than money — EXP.
"Lord Ambassador, please teach me what I should do!" In the end, feeling helpless, Strom could only try asking the mysterious Lord Ambassador through the mirror. "Do I have to use the trump card you gave me last time now?"
"I've already said that it's a test."
The Lord Ambassador of the Secret Eye was cursing inwardly as well, finding the Players who popped out of nowhere to be a hindrance. Still, his expression could not be seen because his face was hidden by his hood. "All decisions are up to you."
"But …"
"There are no buts." The Lord Ambassador cut Strom short without hesitation, sounding rather irritated. "This is the last time I answer your call before you successfully take over Crookes."
"How could this be … Lord Ambassador!" Strom exclaimed in a panic. "Did something happen?"
"We've discovered a strange high elf undead within the borders of the Tegrono Federation. Although it has lost its consciousness, its brain still retains the 'knowledge' it had when it was alive. Compared to your trivial matter, capturing that fellow is more important to us!" The Lord Ambassador of the Secret Eye sounded impatient, and it was clear that the capture wasn't going well. "Prove your worth to us, or we'll abandon you! You know very well what would happen if you do that. "
"I-I understand." Strom's mind was a mess at the Lord Ambassador's threat, but he had already made up his mind. "I'll do my best!"
The light of the mirror dimmed, but Strom was still standing in front of it, staring at his rather deranged reflection while repeating over and over again, "I'll do my best … I'll do my best …"
His tone became firm, just as a vicious glint appeared in his triangular eyes.
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.
