"Lord Earl, I have finally seen you, I ...... I came here at great risk. Marellis said, "I have no other meaning, I am glad to serve the pious king, and this is also the will of the goddess." It's just that leaving the cardinal does make me a little uneasy. Personally, I would love to listen to the teachings of the Goddess for the rest of my life and never leave the Templar. ”

The man's face was full of wrinkles, and although his teeth were badly missing and full of holes, he could still put on a flattering smile. The old man looked at the Count expectantly, but a little evasively, no different from those who tried to get close but at the same time feared majesty. He flicked his sleeve and used all his strength to wipe the only wooden chair in the sentry, and then invited the Count to sit down. The Earl shook his head: "You are older, you should sit down." ”

"Ah, thank you, Count, thank you, Count, and I will do as you command. Marellis said, "My lord, would you like some pears?" These are fragrant pears on the hill behind the Holy Three Castles, soaked for seven days with a potion to ward off diseases, and then I heated the viscous honey and syrup and wrapped it in a crispy crust, and it was in the box. Although the temperature is a little lower than before, it is easy to make people sick. My health is not good, and I have back pain when I get to this season, so I made this kind of pear to eat. ”

"I had already eaten before I came. Earl Hall had never seen such a nagging "spy", and he felt that he had to get to the point as soon as possible, otherwise he would have to start talking about autumn food supplements. The Count took out a piece of paper and a sharpened charcoal pen from his bosom and handed it to Marellis: "Come, I say you write." ”

"This is going to be ......" Marellis was stunned for a moment, but still took the pen and paper, put the box containing the pears on his knee as a cushion board, and tried to bend down and bow his head: "My lord, you say, I write." ”

"My name is—write your full name here, and follow your position in the Patriarchy. ”

"Uh......" Marellis made a nervous look, and the hand holding the charcoal pen trembled vigorously, "Lord Count, this ...... Do you want me to write a letter of accusation?, Lord Earl, after this time, Lord Mercers promised me that I could be a Baron of Blackwater Manor with peace of mind. ”

"If you want to be a baron with peace of mind, you must first let me make you a baron with peace of mind. Earl Hall said, "If you don't want to write, then I'll leave." The Templars can write a letter to the Sacred Heart to report this, you should know that, right?"

"Ah, Lord Earl, I have no intention of not writing, but I am just confirming what I want to write. Marellis licked his dry lips, then wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead, and began to write with a slightly trembling hand: "I am Horatio Marellis, Cardinal of the Holy Word, in charge of sorting documents and taking minutes. I bought the ...... in Feinberg under the name of Miles Blackwater."

"Alright, no thanks. Count Hall pulled the paper over and placed it in front of him to examine it carefully. He had asked the intelligence consultant Maxers to send some of the original messages that had been delivered by the dark line, and then memorized the handwriting on it with his extraordinary brain power. Now, compared with the "self-introduction" of Horatio Marellis in front of him, the handwriting matches, and he believes that this is the dark line for a long time.

"If you tell what you know, explain it in detail, and don't miss anything, then you can enjoy your old age in Blackwater or Whitewater Manor. Count Hall tore up the note in his hand and threw it away, patted Marellis on the shoulder, and said gently, "Time is limited, so you can start talking." ”

Marellis swallowed and nodded. "My lord, it was my mistake that I failed to prevent that stupid archbishop, Don de Mip, from coming to power. He is not self-sufficient, and wants to oppose the United Kingdom of Hoya nobles who have unified Feinberg, and the powerful Hall family, isn't this looking for death?"

The Earl frowned, waved his hand, and said, "Tell the point." ”

"Later, when I heard that the king had sent an army, I suddenly felt that it was dawn, and I thought that this time Donde had finally hit a hard nail, and it was time to come to his senses!" Marellis chattered as he wiped his saliva, and from time to time looked at the count's expression with those pale and moist eyes. From his chest, the sound of a hole pumping out of a hole accompanied each word. "I'm full of joy, I hope that guy Tang De won't cause trouble anymore, and I can retire from my physical injuries and go to retire with peace of mind. But I didn't think that he was an old man at all, so he still asked me to work......"

Count Hall's fingers lightly touched his thighs, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he didn't say a word. Marellis said a few more words, and just as he had said that "the news of the king's army led by the Count had reached the Holy See, and all the bishops and above had gathered for a meeting," he suddenly coughed lightly. He spread out his hands and made a helpless sad gesture: "Lord Earl, I was injured on the night of the Scarlet Meteor, and now I am not well, and I need some medicine......"

"As long as you don't delay in talking, you can do it yourself. The Count said with anger in his temper.

Slowly and solemnly, Marellis opened the box on his lap and took out the pears that had been crusted with honey. It was a green pear half the size of a fist, and it looked very delicious and tempting. Marellis swallowed his saliva and was about to eat it when Count Hall suddenly said, "If you talk while chewing, you probably won't be able to say anything until dawn." I don't see any serious injuries in you, so let's talk about it. ”

"Count Count, you have to believe me, I have been wounded in the lungs by the smoke of the monster...... But, but," Marellis saw that the count's face was getting worse and worse, so he quickly put down the pear, and said, "There is another way, I can do it if I don't eat it." ”

He put down the pear, and at the same time took out a thick cigar roll from the corner of the box, bit it on the cap with his teeth, and then rubbed his thumb vigorously on the index finger, and used a spell to create a high heat, and baked the exposed eggplant legs. At the meeting, Archbishop Don de Miep was convinced that the King's Army was carrying out a deterrent mission on the border and that it was impossible to really fight, and he was determined to find a way to pierce the disguise of the King's Army. Ah, Lord Earl, this is Donde's idea, not mine...... I'm just a small recorder in the meeting. ”

The cigar was evenly toasted and lit, and the smoke with a strong smell slowly emerged from Marellis's mouth and nostrils, and after he coughed lightly, the sound became much better. "The Thunder Army will use the help of magic to launch a surprise attack on the moonless night in a few days. All of them will gain the ability to see in the dark, and will be able to travel more than two hundred miles in one night. Therefore, this raid will attack the weak areas behind the King's camp. ”

Is there a weak area at the back of the camp?Earl Hall thinks this Don de Miep is too much to take for granted. Where there is weakness on the front, this is a conclusion that can only be reached after conducting reconnaissance and thinking on the spot, as well as continuous testing, and there is absolutely no theorem that "the back is weak" or "the flank is a loophole." Not to mention the archbishop who has never fought at all, even if it is Kanter Hall himself, he has to send his own son Feige to the front line to personally visit, and after testing, he dares to guess the weakness of the Thunder Army.

"What is the purpose of Archbishop Donde Miep, what is his purpose in attacking the fortified camp at night, and what instructions does he have for this battle?"

Marellis took a puff on his cigar, took a breath for a moment, and then slowly exhaled as he spoke: "He said that this is an opportunity to show his strength, and only if he can gain an advantage on the battlefield, then he can straighten his back when negotiating." The Goddess will bless us with victory this time. It should be clear to us that the nobles of the United Kingdom are likewise devotees of the goddess, and when they see that the two sides are equal in strength, and that the war provoked may turn into a tug-of-war, and protracted as the Duchy of Aria did to Feinberg, the pious nobles will put an end to the unrealistic illusions and greed of that young king!"

There was a lot of smoke, and Marellis seemed to have taken a lot of effort to say this, so he stopped for a long time, his eyelids drooped, and he looked drowsy and tired. However, Earl Hall noticed that the old man was not really asleep, but only covered the sly look in his eyes with his eyelids.

"You know what information is most important, say it quickly!" Earl Hall waved his hand to disperse the smoke around him: "At the meeting, many people know what Don de Miep said. But what you think you know is extremely valuable, and it is difficult for others to know, otherwise you will not think that you can become a Baron of Blackwater from now on. If you don't think about yourself, you should think about your mistress in the manor, and your son and daughter hidden in Tawu Harbor City, right?"

"Your Excellency is so discerning!" Marellis' sleepy eyes widened suddenly, and she moved uneasily in her chair, and the long ash of her cigar scattered onto her robe. He hurriedly covered up his embarrassment with a word of admiration, and only after stabilizing his mood did he say: "The meeting decided to send the Thunder Army, and after that, under the pretext of sorting out the papers, I overheard the conversation between him and the commander of the Thunder Army, Broomfield, outside the archbishop's door. ”

"You can only win the battle, you can't raise the level of the war - that's what Don de Miep said. He confessed to Broomfield, trying not to cause any deaths, especially to the true nobles, so as not to cause unnecessary hatred. Show strength to the nobility of the United Kingdom, deter them, but not the slightest bit of hatred. The newly formed kingdom is actually the same as the kingdom of the sunset, and the nobles are not of the same mind as the people on the throne. ”

Earl Hall groaned, twisting his beard, and said noncommittally, "I have heard this too, and it seems that the same story has reached the ears of the archbishop. So what about the Thunder Army's night raids, and what are they trying to achieve?"

"Catch the sleeping lords and nobles, invite them back to the church, then make an agreement with the families of these lords, and let them go. Marellis rubbed his hands and said: "He made it very clear that he can't kill anyone, use the defense formed by magic to resist the possible counterattack of swords and arrows, and quickly evacuate if he catches the nobles - no destruction, no killing, no arson, no lingering." If you can take the opportunity to catch Count Hall, my lord, that's what Donde's old golden retriever said, then you can get the job straight. Also, he said the same would be true for catching that Feige. I think he must have increased his expenses and forced the withdrawal of troops in the name of ransom. ”

No, Archbishop Donde doesn't do that, Count Hall thought to himself. If you catch yourself or Feige – which is absolutely impossible, of course – then you can indeed force Andrew to back down and end the war. If he caught other nobles, he would never ask for a bounty, but would only ask for a guarantee from that noble family in front of the goddess: go back and persuade Andrew to back down. Subsequently, the captured nobles will surely be released intact, and perhaps some blessing magic will be cast by the priest to bring them back with dignity.

These "decent" aristocrats will try to make Andrew unseemly, using all kinds of pressure to induce a retreat. Earl Hall looked at Marellis and asked, "Your news is indeed very important. You weren't found out, were you?"

"No, no, of course not!" said the old man, as if suddenly rejuvenated, with a proud expression on his face, "I hid as soon as I heard the news, and absolutely no one saw it, and no one doubted it." I've never told anyone about this, and I will never say it in the future. In fact, I don't have a good memory, and I forget about it when I turn my head. ”

"The United Kingdom will not forget it, and neither will the Hall family. The Earl patted the dust that did not exist on his body and said, "In the future, whether you are in the Church or in the Blackwater Manor, you must remember that we will not forget, and the rest is to enjoy your life with peace of mind." Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"No, no, but I may have a chance to go back again, and when the King's army is victorious, I will hear what the Archbishop has to say. I'd love to see that incompetent guy fall on his heels. Marellis laughed unabashedly. "I am always waiting for good news, like every nobleman in the United Kingdom. ”

"You're right, everyone is waiting for good news. Earl Hall nodded, and turned to walk out. When he reached the door, he suddenly turned around and asked, "Where is the stable in Blackwater Manor?"

"Do you want to ask the guest stables to the south or the stables to the west where I keep my racehorses?"

"I'll give you a racehorse when I get back. The Count walked away without looking back.

Marellis stayed in the room and didn't leave, he sat in his chair, his eyes fixed on the entrance and exit of the broken sentry post. After a while, the cigar was about to burn out, and he pressed the remaining cap and ash directly into the box, then took the pear from it and put it to his mouth.

Sharp teeth emerge from the mutilated gums, and biting into the honey-laden crust is like a knife cutting into tofu. The sugar and honey melted quickly, but were greedily sucked back into his mouth before they dripped. A faint red glow came from his throat, like pent-up magma in a volcanic crater.

"It's a pity that they didn't eat my fruit. But after smoking for a while and listening to the talk, it should be enough. Marellis's voice swirled in his throat, accompanied by white smoke like smoke from a cigar. He ate the pears so much that there were no pits and stems left, they all crushed and turned into slag, and swallowed the hot stomach. He then vomits like a cat expelling a hair ball, spitting out some white and black viscous liquid on the ground.

"Marellis's brain and soul really don't burn, and they don't smell so quickly, but it's good to have deceived the earl. Look at my handwriting, and ask me where the stables are, thinking that this will test me? You're just a self-righteous human fool. He laughed twice and reached out to sweep the ground clean. "The only question is, how can Count Hall smell of the devil? Could it be that the fellows of hell are also involved in this? But there are no devils in the people around him? There can still be powerful mages in this world, this must be vigilant. ”

"When the Count is swallowed up by the whirlpool of destruction of the abyss, his mage son will surely become flustered, and that's when I should be on the scene. Friends who send charcoal in the snow are always different!" Marellis retracted his teeth, hunched over again, and walked slowly out with the empty box under his arm. If there is still the Count's eyeliner outside, you will only see an unthreatening (and flawed) old man, but you will never hear his inner monologue.

'No one can do better than we do. ’