Kwen Town,

Duke Nick summoned the Marquis of Nepdo after receiving a letter from Prince Sinda's staff, and the two old men looked at each other and smiled in their small office.

"His Royal Highness the Prince is forced to have no choice, may the Goddess bless him for a long time. The Marquis of Nepdo said with a hint of teasing.

"This is a stage that a ruler has to go through... He needs to learn to distinguish between reality and dreams. Duke Nick calmly sorted out the papers on his desk and said, "What we can do is very limited, the empire is no longer the empire that was so powerful that it could ignore all opponents before..."

The duke's voice became smaller and quieter, and just as the Marquis of Nepdo was about to answer, he changed his tone and asked, "How is the investigation of the case of His Majesty the Emperor Laubert's falling from a horse?"

The Marquis of Nepudo was stunned, thought for a moment and said: "The only thing that can be proved is that His Majesty's saddle has been tampered with, and His Majesty should not have died on the spot... Although the cliff at the place where the horse fell is very high, with the warrior physique trained by His Majesty the Emperor when he was young and the paladin in the Praetorian Guard, even if the sharp stone is replaced with a steel block, it is impossible to hurt His Majesty's skin, let alone directly insert it into the heart.

Of course, it is not ruled out that His Majesty the Emperor has a decline in physical fitness due to a lack of exercise all year round, so that he cannot temper his skin in time, but this possibility is very low, besides, His Majesty the Emperor also has defensive props specially made by magicians. ”

Duke Nick nodded and asked, "Who do you suspect?"

"The most doubtful person now is Baron Campo, who was the first to arrive at the scene under the cliff. ”

"What did Baron Camp say?"

The Marquis Nepdo said helplessly: "He insisted that His Majesty the Emperor was dead when he reached the bottom of the cliff. ”

Duke Nick frowned, "What about the confessions of the other guards?"

The Marquis Nepdo replied softly: "Basically the same as Baron Camp's confession, I sometimes even suspect that His Majesty really fell from his horse and died. ”

"No one can buy all the guards ... But two or three people are still fine. Duke Nick calmly analyzed: "Pay attention to find out who of His Majesty's guards went out of the barracks the most times before His Majesty's accident, and don't just stare at Baron Kemp and try to find other targets." ”

When the Marquis of Nepdo heard this, he immediately said: "Baron Camp, before the emperor fell from his horse, would often go to Count Devin Pombo, the commander of the First Legion. ”

"Devon Pombo?" Duke Nick shook his hands, "are you investigating him now?"

"It's just a simple secret check, and there is not much action... But I don't think it will be Count Devon, so I didn't inform you. Marquis Neptor explained, "However, there are paladins of 'radiant power' at the side of Count Devon. ”

"The 'Radiant Power' has spread throughout the empire for more than a decade. Nepdo continued, "Even before the accident of His Majesty the Emperor Laubert, some of the remnants of the 'Radiant Force' were still serving him. ”

"Is there any news from Yarman now?" Duke Nick subconsciously asked with a nonsense sentence.

"No, it was as if he had suddenly evaporated. ”

Duke Nick said: "It seems that we need to arrange a special search team to search for him. ”

"Are you serious?" said the Marquis of Nepdo.

"Don't we have a good fit?"

"Baron Camp?"

"What do you think?"

Marquis Nepdo's eyes lit up, "Exile him for dereliction of duty, and then give him a search mission!"

Duke Nick's face did not show any fluctuations, he was silent for a few seconds and said: "This case must be investigated all the time, and there is also the case of the Duke of Chester, but the guard office and the cabinet are not suitable for meddler, so I can only leave it to you, my requirements are very sharp, I will not set a time limit for you, what you need to do is to do your best to find out the truth of the matter, and then kill those murderers one by one!"

"The majesty of the royal family and the dignity of the nobility allow anyone to be defiled!" Duke Nick's expression was solemn, "You can use all methods to investigate this case, I will support you in the cabinet, and the criminals you investigate do not have to be handed over to the court, you can directly dispose of them." ”

The death of Emperor Laubert certainly cannot be characterized as an assassination, and the assassination of the Duke of Chester has already handed over the 'caught murderer' to Cullen, so the two cases cannot be investigated explicitly.

"I see. The Marquis Neptor nodded solemnly, "It's a pity that Sir Gus El died too early, otherwise he would have been able to get something out of his mouth." ”

No one can guess what happened to Sir Gus El's death, and Emperor Laubert would not allow such a person to appear alive in the interrogation room of the Cabinet, so Duke Nick did not continue the topic, he said: "The funds for your investigation have been taken from Crewe, and I have informed Pedi of this. ”

"This..."Marquis Nepdo was tempted to say that this was not in accordance with the regulations, after all, if the funds were paid by Crewe, then indirectly, the investigation team he was in charge of basically served the Reagan family... And not the Empire!

"That's it. "Duke Nick doesn't give Marquis Nepdo a chance to speak.

The Marquis of Nepdo did not refute again, he smiled, "I hope you are not too stingy. ”

The Duke shrugged, "It depends on the progress of your investigation. ”

Both of them smiled separately, but this time, their smiles were no longer as tacit as they had been at the beginning.

Then, the two fell silent.

Duke Nick was packing up his personal belongings in his office, while Marquis Nepdo watched quietly.

A few minutes later,

Duke Nick seemed to suddenly remember something and stopped his movements, he looked at the Marquis of Nepdo: "What is the attitude of Bishop Jeffrey, does he still insist on disbanding the Paladin Legion?"

"Yes, he said the Paladins would not join any of the Empire's civil wars. The Marquis of Nepdo smiled wryly.

"The Paladin's Legion and the Mage's Legion are the two pillars of the Empire, and now that the Drake Mage Tower has declared independence, the Paladin's Legion can't afford any more surprises. Duke Nick frowned, "The orc negotiations delayed me for most of the time, so I didn't have a good talk with Bishop Jeffrey, and now, I don't have time, so I'll leave this matter to you." ”

"Nick, this isn't a good job. "There is a clear lack of confidence in Nepdo.

"The Elven offensive is the best reason, and if the Elves land on the Suke Plains, Bishop Jeffred has no right to refuse. Duke Nick said.

"Do you believe Marquis Barry's speculation?"

"Of course, you'll have to convince the paladins of the news... Prince Sinda has not yet been crowned, the Paladin Legion will not obey his orders, this group of knights has no allegiance now, if there is no opponent, even if Bishop Jeffred is on our side, those who remain will only be as cohesive as those paladins in Anku Fortress!" Duke Nick had a regretful expression on his face.

This is indeed a regrettable thing,

It's been a long time since the Empire has had a figure who can truly lead the Paladins Legion, and the 'Radiant Power' barely convinced these proud knights thirteen years ago, but now 'Radiant Power' is just a synonym for filthyness.

"I'll try my best to convince them. "The Marquis of Nepdo has taken over this task, and he is the only one who can take on this task, because there is a tacit understanding among the upper nobles of the empire... The current Prime Minister and Emperor of the Empire are at the top of the ranks of the Paladin Legion and the Wizard Legion.

Now, Duke Nick has married the Wizard Legion (the independent Drake Mage Tower, renamed the Wings of Eternity), and if he is in constant contact with the upper echelons of the Paladin Legion, it will undoubtedly touch the fragile balance agreement between the upper nobles of the Empire.

"Yes, they must be convinced. Duke Nick grimaced.

"Well, if the elves do land in the military port of Yekjar, then the battle banner of the Paladin Legion will definitely appear on the battlefield!" Marquis Nepdo straightened his back and assured in an affirmative tone.

"Good. Duke Nick placed a black leather case in the candlelight of his desk, stepped out of the office area and stood face to face with the Marquis of Nepdo, "My friend, now the town of Kwyn is handed over to you. ”

The Imperial Prime Minister looked tired: "No one expected the war to be like this now, and now the Trofil of the Karen Territory and the Shikan-Silveraxe of the Crane Territory are no longer here with us, but... No one can guarantee that it will always be like this, so take advantage of this winter to strengthen the defenses around Kwen Town,

Also, Fort Norma can't be lost, I'll ask Duke Eric to contact you directly, and if there is a problem in the war in the Grand Canyon of Manwees, you can directly send reinforcements from the town of Kwyn without going through the military department.

At the same time, you also need to pay attention to the war in the Iruk region, although the Marquis of Barry has a lot of experience in commanding, but he likes to be impulsive and can't change it, you must always pay attention to his bad habits,

Best, may the Goddess bless you, my friend!"

"I remembered. Marquis Nepdo nodded solemnly, "Goddess bless you, Nick. ”

The two shook hands, then smiled at each other again.

The Marquis of Nepdo looked at Duke Nick, at the white hair between the other party's temples, and his heart was full of emotion.

Before you know it, many years have passed.

The young man who was in high spirits back then has now become an old man like him.

Nepdo knew his old friend well, and when he was a young man serving in the First Legion, Nepdo was the chief of staff of the First Legion.

At that time, the empire's steadiness and prudence were so admirable to Nepdo that he did not hesitate to join Laubert's camp when Nick chose to support Emperor Laubert's enthronement war.

And as it turned out, he made the right choice.

Now, rumors are circulating among the upper echelons of the empire that Nick wants to replace the Danediv family.

The Marquis Nepdo didn't know if his old friend had such thoughts, and if he had, he would not hesitate to stand up for him, because he felt that the newly adult prince of the empire could not be capable of leading the empire out of its predicament.

After three hundred years of baptism, the upper aristocratic families of the empire have survived to the present, and there is basically no so-called absolute loyalty... Because the end of absolute loyalty means death and destruction!

But the Marquis of Nepdo knew better in his heart that Duke Nick would not have such thoughts.

At least, not yet... When Emperor Laubert suddenly fell from his horse and died, Duke Nick made a series of decisions that speak for themselves.

"Click"

In the midst of the Marquis Nepdo's thoughts, the door to the Prime Minister's office was opened, and Kerman, the assistant to the Prime Minister, walked in briskly and took the black suitcase on the desk at the signal of Duke Nick.

Duke Nick turned his back to the open door and said to the Marquis of Nepdo: "I hope to end this war as soon as possible." ”

"I hope we can meet in the imperial capital next spring. A smile crossed Nepdo's face.