“…… Lord Viscount~" In the hall of the lord of Kodor City, Stanley led two task forces to Leond under the guidance of the guards.

Leonde then stood up from the long table and looked the group up and down. After a moment, Leonde spoke, "It's really Count Art's men."

"Lord Viscount has a good memory." Stanley spoke, honored to be remembered by an officer of great repute in the Restoration Army.

"Come, sit down first." Leonde beckoned them to sit down, and then ordered his servants to bring the drinks.

"Lord Viscount, we're here this time~" Before Stanley could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Leonde.

"Let's do this first!" Leonde said boldly, already raising his glass. Stanley couldn't refuse, and several people raised their glasses to drink with Leonde.

"Aren't your people supposed to be in the valley to the south? Why is it in the city of Kodor? Leonde asked, wiping the juice from the corner of his mouth.

Stanley glanced at the two members of the team who were with him, and then said, "That's why I came to you this time." A few days ago, we received a secret order from the Earl, saying that a group of Lombard spies disguised as merchants had infiltrated the kingdom of Burgundy. Their task was to win over the nobles and merchants who secretly opposed the Marquis, and take the opportunity to rebel. In order to stop these bastards, Lord Earl has ordered us to secretly search for the whereabouts of these creatures. Finally, a few days ago, we learned the whereabouts of this ** detail......"

Stanley told Leonde everything that had happened.

"These bastards!" Leonde's blood instantly surged, and he slapped the table angrily. "Where are they now, I'm going to have to cut off the heads of those bastards and hang them on the city walls, so that the old Duke of Lombardy can see what will happen to the Marquis."

Seeing that Leonde was so excited about this matter, Stanley also had a bottom in his heart. "Don't be angry, Lord Viscount. We're in the same mood as you, and we're eager to slaughter these bastards right away. But the Earl had specially instructed him not to kill this ** fine as soon as possible, otherwise it would cause the dissatisfaction of the Duke of Lombardy. The best way to do this is to send them to Besançon and put them at the disposal of the Marquis. ”

Leonde calmed down a little and took a sip from his glass. "Hey~ In that case, what are you still looking for me for?"

"That's right, Lord Viscount," explained Stanley, "my Lord Earl had intended to send the defenders of Bona City to our aid. But the road is far away, and I don't know when they will arrive. And we have less than ten men, and we can't stop them in any way. Yesterday, we heard the news that the mongrels were leaving for Thorne. If they are to be put in touch with the opposition in Thorne who are extremely hostile to the Marquis, I'm afraid~"

"You mean, let me send troops to help you capture those bastards and send them to Besançon."

Stanley smiled and said, "Exactly!"

Leonde pondered for a moment, then agreed to Stanley's request. It was decided to personally lead a hundred elite soldiers to take down the group of Lombard spies in one fell swoop.

…………

On the night of the second day, Leonde and more than 100 others, dressed in civilian clothes and hiding short knives at their waists, gathered with Stanley and others not far from the hotel where they had settled.

Considering that this operation may make the eyes of those noble merchants in the city discover. After consulting with Stanley, the group of soldiers were all dressed in civilian clothes. The action began after it was dark and there was a curfew on the streets.

In order to catch this fine as soon as possible and send it to Besançon, Leonde specially prepared four carriages for people to park at the gate of the north city. As soon as they were caught, they were immediately taken to the carriage, and then left the city of Kodor at night and hurried to Besançon, leaving no trace.

That night, after careful planning, the group finally started the arrest operation.

…………

In a large inn in the south of the city of Córdor Córdol, a caravan from Provence had been staying here for half a month. This group of guys is not like other businessmen. Other small caravans passing through the area either sold their goods and bought some goods from the city of Kodor to sell elsewhere. Or head north or south after a short stop. This caravan did not sell goods brought from the south, nor did it purchase goods from the region.

What's even more strange is that these people go out in several groups every day, and they go to visit the famous families in the city with the "goods" they carry. These guys all have one thing in common,—— they are dissatisfied with Flender's rule and wait for an opportunity to overthrow him. Because the Marquis not only gave the privilege of commerce to the Earl of Wales, Art, but also made the European Merchant House a royal chartered firm. Moreover, the caravans under the name of the European Merchant House did not need to pay any commercial taxes when they passed through various parts of the province of Kodor, which caused many merchant nobles to lose a lot of money.

For these reasons, the caravan went to visit these noble merchants with shiny gold coins and tried to win them over. and informed them that the Duke of Lombardy was more than happy to offer them southern goods to compete with the European merchants. He also promised that as long as they followed the Duke of Lombardy, they would receive a large amount of fertile land and an endless supply of gold coins once they overthrew Flanders' rule in the future.

Under this series of covert operations, these hopeful Kodor merchant nobles soon reached a consensus with the caravan and were willing to serve the Duke of Lombardy.

…………

"Lord Baron, then let's say okay, once you join us, you must not go back~"

"Of course, I dreamed that Flender bastard would die violently. As long as the Duke can show us the way, I will swear allegiance to him. ”

In a two-person room on the second floor of the inn, the leader of the caravan was secretly conferring with a baron in the city of Kodor.

After a few moments, the baron walked out of the room with a heavy bag of gold coins in his hand, and left the hotel briskly.

…………

"Look, sir, that bastard is coming out of there." A task force member who was monitoring the surroundings of the hotel reported to Stanley, who was beside him. Leonde, who was leaning against the wall, also rolled over and looked in the direction of the hotel.

As the man passed by, Leonde could see the man by the faint light of the moon.

“MD！ This bastard dared to collude with the Lombard spies behind my back. After the man had left, Leonde whispered to himself.

Stanley, who was next to him, looked at Leonde and asked, "Could it be that Lord Viscount knows this guy?"

"Of course I do!" Leonde was furious. "This bastard is a baron of the Inner House under the former Count of Kodor. At the beginning, I suggested that the Marquis should strip him of his title and reduce him to a commoner. But the Marquis, due to the situation at the time, let him go. Not only did I retain his title, but I also let him serve under me. Unexpectedly, this mongrel actually ate inside and out, colluded with the Lombard spies to betray the Marquis, and I will kill him sooner or later! Leonde creaked his sword and wanted to chase after it and cut off the guy's head.

"In this way, there must be many merchants and nobles in the city of Kodor who have been bought by this ** fine. Fortunately, you found out early, if you really let them unite to deal with the Marquis, there will definitely be a problem at that time~" Leonde couldn't help but sigh.

"Rest assured, Lord Viscount, all those who have dealings with these spies are already under our grasp. When the time comes, none of them will be able to run. Stanley stared fiercely at the inn not far in front of him.

In the middle of the night, when all the spies living in the hotel fell asleep, the operation to arrest the spies began.

According to the prior deployment, Leonde sent forty soldiers to guard the various intersections around the hotel to prevent fish from slipping through the net. Most of the people quietly entered the hotel and approached the guest rooms where the spies lived, and sent people to find out the situation inside, so as to avoid startling the grass and snakes, and working in vain. Once the situation inside is determined, most of the people sneak in secretly.

…………

In the hallway to the left of the staircase on the second floor of the hotel, a guy dressed as a guard leaned against the wall, glancing at the staircase from time to time. By this time it was already late at night, and the whole inn was unusually quiet. Only the innkeeper downstairs who was in charge of keeping vigil heard a yawn from time to time.

To avoid dozing off, the guards move around the aisles from time to time to stay awake. When I was really sleepy, I went downstairs, poured cold water on my face, and then went back upstairs.

"Man, do you still have a room here?"

Not long after the guards went upstairs, there was a sudden sound of conversation downstairs.

"Yes, yes, this lord, please come in~"

The guards pricked up their ears and listened to a few words, not paying attention.

A short time later, there was a sound of footsteps. The guard leaning against the wall suddenly became alert, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword, and his gaze fell on the staircase at the end of the hallway.

"Oops, I'm tired, I can finally get some rest."

"yes. I'm going to be on my way tomorrow morning, so let's take a break. ”

As they spoke, the two had already climbed upstairs.

The guard holds the hilt of the sword in his left hand, and his right hand is ready to draw the sword at any moment.

"Hey, over here." The guy who walked in front beckoned the other to walk down the aisle where the guard stood, looking at the number on the door. "This one, no. This one, it's not ~"

Seeing that the two were getting closer and closer, the guards were one foot backwards and the other feet forward, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.

"Found it, this is it." Then the two pushed the door and entered.

"It's dangerous!" The guard said silently in his heart.

Chirping~

Suddenly, the door was closed and opened again, and the guard's heart tightened, and his brow furrowed.

"Hey, where's my purse?" The guy who pushed the door and walked out and looked around muttered.

Looking at the guard at the end of the aisle, the guy who was looking for the money bag stepped forward and said, "Man, did you see the money bag I just dropped?"

"No~"

"None? Where's the loss, I've got a couple of gold coins in here. Immediately after that, another guy also went out to help find it.

"I ask you, did you pick up my money bag?" The guy who had been looking for a long time without results came to question the guards. Another man followed.

"I didn't!" The guards were adamant.

"You were alone in the aisle just now, who else could you have? Could it be that my purse bag was stolen by the rats? Let's go, follow me to the officer. Immediately, the guy who lost the money bag began to blush, and pulled the guard outside.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Another person who was with him hurried up to dissuade him. "I said you kid was red-eyed. This indiscriminately pulls people to see officials. The guy who lost the money bag glanced at his companion, felt that he was wrong, and then let go.

"Man, why don't you help us find it. There were a few gold coins in it, and we counted on the money to go to the north to buy a batch of goods and sell them to the south. ”

Seeing that the two were entangled, the guard agreed to help them find them. Then, the three of them searched around upstairs. Suddenly, the guy who threw the money bag glanced at the other while the guard looked down. The man who followed the guard then walked up quickly and strangled the guard's neck, and the other snatched the sword from the guard's waist.

Nation~

The guard received a blow to the neck, and he felt dizzy in front of his eyes, and then fell to the ground.

"Quick, inform Chief Stanley of them!"

…………

"Sir, those bastards live in the innermost rooms."

Stanley glanced at Leonde beside him, and the two of them immediately approached the guest room with about fifty soldiers behind them.

"Lord Viscount, you take someone to control the two rooms on the east side, and I take someone to control the two rooms on the west side."

"Okay, no problem."

In the aisle to the left of the staircase on the second floor of the hotel, more than fifty sharp blades that shimmered with cold light emitted a dazzling golden light under the illumination of candlelight. The Lombard spies who were sleeping inside would never have imagined that their mission would end in the city of Kodor. Next, prison sentences await them.

"Do it!"

With Leonde's order, four wooden doors were kicked open at the same time. Immediately afterward, soldiers armed with short swords rushed into the house one by one......

…………

"Sir Stanley, is our mission complete?"

Stanley, who was riding a horse, looked back at the four carriages and the fifty or so guards that followed him. "Send them to Besançon and hand them over to the Marquis."

"Then will we be able to return to the valley?" The task force asked excitedly.

"Not necessarily! At that time, the adults may have other arrangements, and we will return to Besançon first to wait for news. Besides, report to your Excellency the news that the Lombard spies have been seized by us, and ask him for further instructions. ”

"Yes, sir."

"The people in the back hurry up and follow up, and then rest when they get to the manor in front~"

In this way, the group walked along the trade road towards the north. Once in the Saône, head east to Besançon.

…………

"Sir, what are we going to do now?"

A Lombard with his hands tied behind his back curled up in the carriage and asked softly.

"What to do? You ask me, I ask who to go! The leading spy was full of helplessness. He couldn't understand why he was still discovered when he was so cautious. Now I only hope that the Duke of Lombardy, who is far away in the south, can know the situation as soon as possible and send someone to negotiate, so that there may be a chance to live~

…………

A few days later, Art, far south in the valley realm, received a letter from Stanley. Knowing that another group of Lombard spies had been taken to Besançon, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell.

Now, the Duke of Lombardy has lost two pieces at once, which will change his attitude to a certain extent. This incident was enough for him to understand that the nascent Marquis of Burgundy was not weak, and that the newly promoted Earl of Wales was not an idle person.

In this way, now Yate has changed from passive to active and has taken the lead. You can take the lead in the next game and take the initiative.