In the eastern fortress of Sorin Castle, Edmund Moen, who was wearing a black coat, sat in his high-back chair with a gloomy face. An opened letter was placed on the table in front of him. The light of the magic crystal lamp illuminated the emblem on the corner of the letter. It was a crossed sword and plough, the emblem of the Cecil family.
The Apocalypse believers had invaded and destroyed the important functions of the Sentry Tower. The earliest erosion may have happened hundreds of years ago.
Had it not been for the team led by Duke Gawain Cecil coincidentally discovering the clues in the Dark Shadow Realm, the cultists' actions might never have been discovered. They would not have been discovered until the Great Wall collapsed and the human civilization was destroyed.
The long hall of the castle was shrouded in a layer of deep pressure. The bad mood of the high-ranking Extraordinary kept the servants and guards in the hall quiet out of fear. It was not until a series of steady and powerful footsteps came from the entrance of the hall, and the fully armored Duke of the Eastern Region, Silas Loren, walked into the hall that the atmosphere in the hall gradually loosened and returned to normal.
Silas Loren went straight to the main seat in the hall and came to Edmund Moen. He bowed and said, "Your Highness, what happened?"
"A letter from the south." Edmund did not say much. He pushed the letter forward and said, "Take a look, Duke Loren."
Silas Loren curiously took the letter with the emblem of the Cecil family. After a quick glance, he frowned and asked, "Your Highness, when was this delivered?"
Edmund said in a low voice, "It arrived in Sorin Castle this morning."
Since winter had arrived, the royal army and the Eastern Region, which were already in a state of confrontation, had further shrunk their forces due to the bitter cold. Edmund had also temporarily returned from the frontline at the Great Wood Pass to Thorin Castle, which was his temporary headquarters. Therefore, the letters from the Southern Region would only reach him later than usual.
Silas Loren quickly calculated the journey of the letter and recalled the series of news from the south. He said thoughtfully, "It seems that Duke Cecil found out about this as soon as he arrived at the wasteland border."
Edmund took a deep breath and looked at Sareth. "Lauren, that's not the point."
"The focus is on the followers of the Dark Church," Silas Lorren said calmly. His eyes fell on Edmund. "Your Highness, we knew this from the beginning."
"Yes, I know. They can't be trusted in the first place …" Edmund closed his eyes slightly. When he opened them again, there was a hint of coldness in his eyes. "Loren, we should take Duke Cecil's warning seriously, shouldn't we?"
"Of course." Silas Lorren nodded expressionlessly. "Eradicating evil and maintaining peace is what nobles should do."
"Very well … Berk should be returning to Sorin Castle soon. When he comes back, leave this matter to him. I believe that the upright young man will take care of this matter."
Silas Loren lowered his head slightly. "Of course, as you wish."
With steady and powerful footsteps, the Duke of the Eastern Region left the long hall.
Edmund Moen sat quietly in the high-back chair and glanced at the warning letter from the south again.
His eyes stayed on it for a moment, and then he looked at the documents and maps on the other side.
The Royal Army adjusted its deployment after winter. A mountain regiment was stationed north of the Giant Wood Road. The winter atmosphere was even colder in that area than on the plains. The Grand Duke of the North, Victoria Wilde, had obviously come to the front line in person, and the Mountain Guards under the Grand Duke of the North were said to be fearless of the cold.
The security of some towns in the east of Sorin Castle had not improved, and the influence of the old lords had not completely dissipated.
The political reform in the Eastern Region had encountered an unexpected backlash. A large number of farmers were boycotting the land replacement bill. Obviously, this could not be their spontaneous behavior. It must be the instigation of the conservative lords behind it, but Roland could not find any evidence.
The plan to promote education was progressing slowly. The people did not take the initiative to learn to read, and almost none of the low-level scribes and small nobles who carried out the order worked seriously. In many areas, they even regarded this task as a kind of "punishment" and "demeaning" because "teaching the lowly to read was a disgraceful job."
The royal army was gaining a foothold, the conservatives were rearing their heads, and the reformists were divided. The efficiency of those who carried out the orders was so slow that it was infuriating, and the people … the people whom he was trying so hard to help and improve their situation did not understand his bill at all.
In the beginning, everything went very smoothly. The army's victories and spoils of war made everyone's morale high, and there were no difficulties in the implementation of the government orders. However, ever since the war fell into a stalemate, and ever since the new policies involved "land" and "population", countless obstacles and difficulties appeared.
A sense of irritation inevitably came to Edmund Moen. He suddenly felt upset. He reached out and picked up the glass on the table, wanting to drink to suppress the irritation in his heart.
In order to keep a cool head, he had not touched a drop of alcohol for a long time.
At this moment, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a particularly bright flame rising in the fireplace on the side of the hall. In the flame, there seemed to be an illusory shadow that wanted to condense out of the fireplace. Even the decorative candles on the nearby wall seemed to be attracted by an inexplicable force, and the flames suddenly grew bigger.
This was not a secret room or the top of a sentry tower where there were no outsiders. There were attendants and guards everywhere in the hall, and this made Edmund Moen's already bad mood even worse. He frowned and waved casually in the direction of the fireplace. "How dare you!"
The flames in the fireplace instantly returned to normal. No matter who it was that was about to be projected, it was obviously interrupted.
Edmund Moen snorted coldly and picked up the glass of water and drained it in one gulp.
…
West of the Giant Wood Pass, in White Pine Town, a town under the control of the Royal Army, Viscount Hoen, who was wearing a dark red coat, was sitting in a carriage, listening to the soldier outside report the situation to him with a very displeased expression.
Damn it, this is a cold winter! A viscount actually had to run to the street where the pariahs lived in such terrible weather, supervise the "eradication of evil", and listen to the chatter of those stupid soldiers — is there still any law in this?!
Viscount Hoen cursed in his heart, but he did not dare to say what he was thinking because these things were ordered by the Duke Regent, Victoria, and the Grand Duke of the Northern Region, who controlled the power of winter, was stationed not far to the north. He felt that every word he said would immediately reach the ears of the Grand Duchess, and that was not a good thing.
The cold wind seemed to blow in through the gaps in the carriage, and Viscount Hoen could not help but tighten his already thick and warm coat. He was originally a low-level spellcaster, but the years of drinking and women had already hollowed out his body. Even with the protection of the Breeze Shield, he still felt that the weather was unbearably cold. At the same time, he heard the soldier outside still muttering:
"… Three people were found in the cellar, all dead. They were obviously doing something blasphemous. A blood-stained altar and a container of suspicious liquid were found at the scene …
"The whereabouts of the original owners of the house are unknown. The people on the street said that they disappeared after winter, which is consistent with the description of the informant …
"… The three cultists may have committed suicide, or they may have had an internal strife. It depends on your judgment, my lord …"
A trace of impatience flashed in Viscount Hoen's eyes, but he still spoke in a leisurely tone. Maintaining a specific rhythm and strictly limiting the tone of every word was a must for a qualified noble. "I already understand. In short, someone reported to Knight that they found traces of the cultists, and then you really found a blasphemous altar and three dead cultists here. It's unmistakable, right?"
The soldier's voice came from outside. "Yes, my lord. There's also a missing resident …"
"I know, I know," Viscount Hoen interrupted the soldier. "I already know about this matter. Do as you should. Burn the bodies of the cultists, purify the altar with holy water, and return the house to the lord. That's all."
After that, Viscount Hoen was about to give the order to leave the place, but the inflexible soldier was still talking. "But … but my lord, you … you should take a look … After all, this is the rule …"
'What a blockhead. I wonder who arranged for such an idiot to join the inner city guards.'
Viscount Hoen cursed under his breath. He quickly opened the cover of the carriage window and glanced outside.
He saw the dilapidated street outside. Half-melted snow had soaked the walls of the houses and the garbage piles on the roadside. A few soldiers were guarding the door of a house. Three corpses, which had begun to emit a strange smell, were thrown on a straw mat. There were also ritual daggers, clay pots, stone pieces, and other things on the mat, which were used as' heretical evidence '. Some of the cowering paupers were not far away, looking at them. Some were standing by the roadside, some were hiding behind windows or doors.
Those fearful and stupid gazes were very uncomfortable.
Viscount Hoen glanced at them and quickly closed the window cover. "Well, I have seen it with my own eyes. Do as I say. Mr. Pierre, give them the money."
Outside the carriage, the viscount's butler took out three silver coins — the money for disposing of the cultists' bodies and purifying the evil altar — and handed them to the captain of the soldiers who was waiting on the side.
Then, the viscount, his attendants, and the butler left the street.
The soldiers who stayed at the scene looked at each other, shook their heads, or murmured a few words. Then, they waved their swords and drove away the paupers who were too close to the scene. The captain called a soldier to him and gave him a silver coin. "Okay, do as the lord says. Get two people to clean up this place."
The soldier who held the silver coin shrugged as he watched his captain turn and leave.
Then he noticed that there were still many paupers who were still standing around. Those ragged, sallow, and emaciated people were driven away by the swords, but most of them did not run far. They just stood by the roadside and looked at the three corpses on the ground with a strange, numb, and empty look. They looked at the three corpses on the ground and the house that had lost its owner and was about to be taken back by the lord.
The soldier who was left behind was stunned and suddenly shivered inexplicably.
In this damned cold weather, the paupers' minds were probably frozen.
In an inexplicable uneasiness, the soldier gave up the idea of looting the ownerless house. After all, the people who lived on this street probably did not have anything valuable.
He looked up and looked past the paupers who were numb and dull. He saw two people who had been waiting for a long time outside the crowd. The dirty gray-black robes and the Death Talisman hanging around their necks were the most obvious characteristics of the corpse draggers. These guys who dealt with corpses had always had a sensitive sense of smell. Probably within half an hour after the news of the corpses spread, the two corpse draggers had been waiting nearby.
"What bad luck today …"
The soldier muttered and called the corpse draggers to the front. He gave them a few copper coins and ordered, "Drag the corpses out of town and burn them. Remember, you must burn them. This is an order from above."
After saying this, he did not wait for the corpse draggers to reply and left the place.
The reason why he left so quickly was mainly because he knew that the corpse draggers would definitely bargain. Burning the corpses required extra firewood and oil money, and the few copper coins were not enough.
But after he left, this matter had nothing to do with him.
The lord had left, the butler had left, and the soldier had also left.
Only a few paupers were left standing on the street in the cold wind, the three corpses of the cultists lying on the straw mats, the messy footprints on the ground, and the two corpse draggers were left.
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