Chapter 1893: The Iron Maiden (Eleven)

At the same time, somewhere in the southwest of France.

A wild wolf weaves through the woods. Its eyes glowed orange as it raced through the forest as it sparked into the night. Its purpose is not to be the forest, the forest is just a process before it achieves its purpose. Its real purpose was a village right next to that forest, and another town further afield.

This wild wolf is incredibly fast, and can also run with agility and obstacles in dense forests with difficult terrain. It crossed the forest in a few minutes and came to the edge of the village. As the night wore on, the impoverished and backward French village was filled with mist, and the inhabitants of the village went to bed early, believing that the night was the land of demons and monsters, and that only by hiding in their small brick and stone houses could they avoid the attacks of the monsters.

These human beings may be right. This wild wolf may be a good example of the demons and monsters that people fear. Even if this wolf itself is not malicious, if humans encounter such a wolf with glowing eyes at night, I am afraid that they will be scared to the core.

The wolf must have known about this, too, so it didn't intend to alarm the humans in the village. It simply blends its figure into the night, quietly lurking in the village, asking for all kinds of information. It easily bypassed the farmer's line of sight and reached the backyard of a house. It pressed its ear to the wall, and through the slightly leaky stone wall, it could clearly hear the conversations of the humans in the room.

"This year's crop has failed again. "Someone complained.

"The drought lasted for a long time. I wish God could have long eyes and at least a few drops of rain. Another person complained.

"If this continues, life simply can't go on. ＂

"It's all a good thing from those damn Brits. If there wasn't that kind of war, we wouldn't have to live in such a small place. ＂

"Shhhhh

The farmers' complaints continued, one after the other. But all this is not the information that the wolves want to ask, they are meaningless. After hearing a few words, the wolf left the backyard of the village house and continued on his way.

In order to get more information, it is not possible to go into towns with more people.

With that in mind, the wolf continued to sneak along the edge of the village. The village is just an extension of the town, and as long as you pass through the suburbs, the wolves can enter the relatively busy streets of the town. The information that could be overheard from the town was much more meaningful than the complaints of the peasants in this village.

But, of course, the closer it is to a densely populated place, the more heavily guarded it is, and the greater the risk it takes to sneak around. Patrolling squads of knights can already be seen on the edge of town. If they were to run into these knights head-on, the wolf would have little to do and sit still. It is unable to defeat the knights with weapons in their arms, and even if they try to escape, the knights on horseback will catch up with it and pierce it with their spears. Once spotted, it's over, so it has to sneak more carefully.

Fortunately, the technological level of this world (the level of photon civilization) is very backward, and even the lighting system in the town is just the simplest torch. There are certainly no street lamps that are lit by electricity, but in the towns there are many wooden stakes that hang their plates high and add oil to them, so that they can continue to burn all night. But lamp oil, after all, was a consumable product extracted from animal fat, and it was impossible for the whole street to be lit by a dense fire plate, so that the "street lamps" of such towns were only one every thirty feet, barely illuminating the marble streets by the light that was not too bright between them.

There is still a dim interval between the lights, which gives the wolf a chance to slip back and forth in the dimly lit area. It takes advantage of the darkness of the town to dodge patrols and sneak through the streets and alleys of the town. Whenever it reached a lit area that it could not pass through, the wolf ran through it as fast as it could, with the smallest footsteps possible. Although its figure appeared in the light, it was only for a moment, and not many humans would normally recognize it. People may even think that it is just some kind of stray dog and will not care.

Risking the great risk of being killed, the wolf travels to a few bars in town. At night, the bar gathers all kinds of people, and they will also reveal information about all kinds of ** between the lines. This wild wolf can learn all kinds of strange visions that are happening in this country just by eavesdropping on information. For this wild wolf, who is desperate to find his companion, this is the most effective and fast way to achieve its purpose.

Of course, eavesdropping on the wall is obviously impossible, after all, this bar is quite large, the back door is the kitchen, and the front is exposed to the light of the street lamp, which is not easy to sneak into. The wolf took a look at his surroundings, suddenly jumped over to several wooden boxes in the back alley, and then took advantage of his strength to kick the wall again and climb onto the roof of the bar. Unlike the rudimentary thatched roofs in the countryside, the roof of the bar is supported by wooden beams and tiled surfaces to protect it from the elements. Its roof isn't perfect, but it's imperfect enough for wolves to peep and eavesdrop downstairs.

Once again, the lean wolf stuck his ear to the roof and eavesdropped on the bar's rambling conversations.

"Good news! Joan of Arc has won again. A voice said: "She is leading the French army, which is currently in a stalemate with the British in front of Fort Tullier." I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before Turel is captured. The reconquest of France is just around the corner!"

"Do you really believe in this Joan of Arc?" said another, who remained skeptical: "I don't know if God is really helping us in France." But I don't believe that an ordinary rural girl should claim to have received an oracle from God. ＂

"She swept away the hateful British with her army!"

People talk about it one by one.

"She joined the army and saved Orleans from the near fall!"

"She was sent to meet with Lord Charles VII, who deliberately disguised himself as a subordinate in order to test her, and let others pretend to be him. But she instantly recognized Lord Charles VII in disguise!"

"She is the chosen one, and if God helps, she can meet the future!"

The discussion became more and more intense, and there were many people in the crowd who praised the Joan of Arc, and there were few doubts about the saint's remarks.

However------

"The Holy See has so far not recognized this holy woman. Was she really a saint sent by God to save France, and if so, why was the Holy See never instructed by God?"

The discussion came to an abrupt end.

Of course, there must have been many people in the crowd who were willing to speak for Joan of Arc. But none of these people dared to stand up and say that the Holy See was not so.

For, in this era, anyone who dares to speak out against the Holy See will be considered heretic and will be punished by the Inquisitor.

"So...... As long as the Holy See does not recognize this Joan of Arc for a day, is she not a true saint for a day?" a voice asked in a low voice, "What does the Holy See say?"

"They didn't say anything!" the answer was ambiguous: "There are some things that even the Holy See does not dare to assert." ＂

"But the Holy See has already sent cardinals to France to investigate. Jeanne d'Arc of Orleans, whether she is a real saint or a witch who fights in the name of God, let the cardinal find out!"

The wolf crouched on the roof narrowed its eyes slightly.

Times have changed, and the situation has changed. In the near future, there will be an even greater and more brutal bloody storm between France and England, which will involve all the people of France. Now that the Holy See is making trouble, the situation is only going to become more and more complicated.

The wolf's ears moved as he thought. He was so engrossed in his mind that he didn't even notice the danger of the approaching side of him.

A sharp sound of breaking the sky suddenly sounded, and the wolf only realized to dodge at this time, but the sharp blade of the spear had already cut a shallow wound on the wolf's back.

The pain was definitely there, but it wasn't fatal enough, just skin trauma.

The wounded wolf on his back looked hostilely at another dark figure on the roof, the figure of a human man with a gun. The lights of the town were dim, and they did not shine a whole picture of the man. But the light of the stars and the moon, coupled with the wolf's own night vision, was enough for it to roughly see what kind of person he was.

The slender man was a perfect match for the spear he wielded, wearing light armor that was light and unobtrusive and provided the most basic defenses, with only two polished shoulder armors exposed. The man with the spear wore a white robe on his chest, which partially covered the armor underneath, and the robe itself had a red cross sewn on a white base.

Wild wolves, who have been in and out of various towns for a long time to gather intelligence, certainly know what this costume represents.

The slender man who wielded the gun was none other than a crusader who belonged to the Holy See. Although the heyday of the Crusaders was almost a century ago, a very small number of these elite troops were retained as loyal lackeys of the Holy See.

They're not easy to mess with.

"Oh, look what we've found?" the spear-wielding crusader spoke in a thick Roman accent but awkwardly in French: "A demon wolf?

The wolf did not answer the other, even though it was able to understand the other's words. He knew that with his current strength, he would definitely not have the slightest chance of winning in the face of such an elite Holy See crusader. The only way out it could consider now was to find a way to escape in the night.

"No, yes, but your actions have betrayed you. Going deep into the market and flying the eaves and walls is definitely not something that an ordinary beast can do. You abomination, here you will be judged by God!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the crusader had already attacked! He was so fast that he could walk on the roof. His spear slashed into the wolf's head like a meteor, and the blow was deadly.

The wolf could not sit still any longer, it saw the trajectory of the spear, jumped back, and dodged beautifully.

"Stupid, it's all a lie. But the man said.

Before the wolf realized what was going on, another wind had already struck from behind it. Another crusader swooped up from behind the wolf, striking quickly and fiercely, and before the wolf could sense the danger and start dodging, the spear pierced through the back of the wolf's neck and through the wolf's throat!