"Now...... Let's move on to the next topic. ”

On the night of March 1, 795 New Calendar, in the palace of the lord of Liberty City, several dark figures with the same style as this city were sitting in their seats, quietly communicating with each other: "About the peace negotiations between the two countries of the West...... Shouldn't we be doing something about it? ”

"What's the matter, old Joel, when did you become interested in this struggle for power?"

A man in the dark shadow said in a shrieked voice, and the piercing voice continued to echo in the huge stone hall: "Did the disappearance of Little Aria stimulate you?" Or has the Blackwater been suppressing you too much lately? ”

"Shut your mouth, Eduin." On the stone bench like a throne, the dark shadow who had originally made the proposal said in a gloomy tone, "Even if your Kias Alliance has ruled the three streets north of Liberty Boulevard, it doesn't mean that you can dictate to us at will......

"It's a good thing Huskar didn't come today, otherwise there would have been chaos here."

At the other end of the bright red carpet, which was completely out of tune with the old walls here, the voice from another dark shadow laughed and slowly flowed out like sticky mercury: "But...... He must be busy right now, under your dirty tricks......"

"Hey, don't slander me." The shrill voice immediately retorted, and his finger pointed to the last empty seat in the stone throne on either side of the red carpet: "What does it matter to me if he doesn't arrive?" Maybe he broke his stomach and ran to the tavern in Rust temporarily! ”

"Don't mention that disgusting guy." A woman's voice across from him rang out in a gruff voice: "I bet if I remembered that guy who wasn't a man or a woman, I'd spit out last night's food!" Let's get back to business...... What did Joel say just now? ”

"On negotiations between the two countries."

The calm voice at the beginning sounded at the right time, and at the same time there were several pairs of eyes shooting at the top of the hall corridor: "May I ask you...... Is there anything you'd like to say? ”

"This is the first time we've put such an issue on the table."

The black shadow closest to the top of the two rows of stone seats said in a deep voice, and the faint sound of armor colliding also vibrated slightly with the sound of that voice: "Since our Free City stood on the Free Continent, we have never interfered in the situation on the continent on the surface, either dealing with the conflicts between you gang bosses, or dealing with pirates in the north......

"yes, who arranged today's topic?" Another dark shadow sitting behind him played with the iron hook in his hand: "When will it start...... We've got the leisure to unleash our care for the monkeys who like to kill each other? Don't we have anything else to talk about? ”

"Of course there is, like the statement that the Kosk clan just made...... You won't live in peace, Eduin. ”

"Hmph...... A bunch of fools, if they think they can take their place here by force, I'll educate them. ”

"Come on, they might have sent someone to talk to Huskar about business, you idiot."

“…… Maybe I should talk to the adventurers gathered at the docks and get them to stop cooperating with you old ghost......"

"Ha, you've missed the best time, they're not what they used to be, and it's almost impossible to buy them with a few more simple dollars......"

"How do you know? What kind of demonic resurrection has a 'friendly' relationship with you? ”

"Hmph, do you think you're the only one with the help of adventurers? Don't forget, we also have a few large expedition groups......"

"Alright."

A low, hoarse voice sounded at the end of the stone hall, on a stone bench at the top of the red carpet, interrupting the atmosphere of the hall that was about to become noisy again, and the dark shadow who made this voice was lying in the center of it, scanning the others here with a condescending eye: "If you still have a little self-consciousness as the boss of the major gangs...... Just bring your attention back to the meeting, understand? ”

“…… Yes, Lord Castle. ”

After a period of silence, the first fully armored figure at the top whispered, "But...... The issue of how to deal with the relationship between the two countries really doesn't have much to do with us......"

"In that case, let's change the one you care about."

The Lord-like Shadow at the top waved his hand and interrupted the Armor Shadow's suspicions in a deep voice: "I heard that the Rondals and Tristans have returned, and they are ......"

"They brought news from Tania."

"What? The two of them have already returned? ”

The dark shadows in the hall immediately exploded: "Why haven't you received any news?" Could it be that the body was brought back? ”

"There has been such a big change in the capital of the principality, and they can come back alive......"

"You can't have sneaked back, right?"

"Did they make an agreement with some disgraceful people......"

"With all due respect, Lord Castle."

In the midst of the chaos of whispering, the man in armor saluted in the direction where the city lord was, "Are they officially back in the City of Freedom?" Why haven't we all gotten the news? ”

"In fact...... I didn't get it either. ”

The black shadow at the top scratched his finger with interest: "I learned about it from other sources. ”

“…… What the? ”

"They were joined by several adventuring parties belonging to the Duchy." The city lord's voice explained in a deep voice, "Some of them claim to be representatives sent by the Duchy, and they are now in the city of Freedom, but before they came here...... They were left out by Longall and Tristan. ”

"They have been able to settle down in this place with the help of someone from within the city, and they have come here to test our attitude towards the principality." Speaking of this, he smiled and pointed to the others present: "You might as well discuss this matter......

"What should we do with these little ones?"

"Hey, it's just a few adventurers, and that Pamir guy doesn't take us seriously."

Without waiting for the black shadow in full armor to answer, the shrill voice sitting behind him took the lead in spitting: "Isn't that guy in charge of the whole country and didn't take us seriously at first, right?" Or is it a sudden paranoia and wants to convince us with just a few adventurers? ”

"Over this time, adventurers have indeed done some shocking deeds." A dark shadow sitting opposite immediately retorted: "Especially in Tania, I heard that the capital of the duchy was preserved by piling up the corpses of adventurers......"

"So what? It's a free city! No matter how powerful they are, they can't afford to be arrogant here! ”

"Hey, hey, don't forget how you treated the adventurers who just arrived in our city, and now they're still a force to be reckoned with?"

"And those 'representatives' haven't done anything yet, so you treat them as enemies first? It is worthy of Eduin's heart, which is like a chicken's breast......"

“…… What did you say? Do you want to fight? ”

"Ha, come on, come on, what name do you want to bet on this time?"

"Lord of the Castle."

The second black shadow holding the iron hook completely ignored the appearance of the following black shadows wanting to fight again, and just asked to himself, "What kind of attitude do you have?" ”

“…… I don't have any ideas yet. ”

The black shadow at the top hesitated for a moment: "That's why I want to take it out and let everyone talk about it together." ”

"So, how did you know that?" The deep old voice at the beginning then asked, "We don't even know about the return of the two families, let alone these adventurers, and those ridiculous purposes......

"Well...... this"

The lord hesitated for a longer time, as if he was thinking about how to answer another sharp question from old Joel, but within a few seconds, the armored man in the first place at the top took the lead in understanding the meaning of the other party's silence: "Shhhh

"It seems...... We've got a couple of uninvited guests. ”

The black shadow who was stroking the iron hook stood up with a smile, and two sharp eyes also followed the direction of the sense, staring at the window sill at the foot of the hall: "It's a pity, little ones, ......"

"You broke the ...... It was a solemn and great meeting of the city lords! ”

A murderous roar accompanied by the black shadow's angry shout blasted away in the direction of the windowsill, and then splashed into the sky above the stone windowsill with a flood of debris and bits of blood. The black shadow dancing the iron hook like a mad man let out a deafening laugh, as if he was crazy about his success, but the armored man who had been sitting beside him without moving suddenly raised his hand and blocked another reverse volley attack in front of the iron hook man: "This is ......"

"Sword Qi?"

He groaned, and then Huo Ran stood up, the heavy armor that clanged like nothing on his body, and instantly came to the front of the window sill: "What person? ”

"That's why I've stressed it to you before."

In response to him, there was a whispering moan, but it didn't sound like an answer to him: "The most important thing in playing and diving is patience, not strength and agility, you just have to lie there and be honest, you have to move around ......"

“…… Now what? ”

"What else can I do, run."

Duan Qing in the shadows guarded the front of the cloak figure for a while, and when he saw that there was no attack on the windowsill, he slowly put down the round shield in his hand: "Footsteps, breathing, body coordination, and the combination of movements and equipment...... These fanciful-sounding things are the root of stealth, not any special equipment or skills. Fortunately, this is a world of strong people, and your physical condition is much better than in reality, as long as you train hard for a while...... Being a good thief is not a difficult task. ”

“……”

"Don't be stubborn, isn't it just a gamble to lose, your sensitivity is so strong, you will definitely be able to become a master in the future."

Staring at the armored figure that gradually appeared by the window, Duan Qing's hand holding the sword clenched involuntarily: "If you don't want to be a stealth, don't do it, and no one forces you to do it, you can't just tease you casually because of Liuyu, you're going to collapse the south wall, right?" ”

“…… We'll come back next time. ”

Whispering such a sentence, the woman in the black cloak finally stood up straight, first glanced at the city lord's hall above, and then held her injured shoulder and walked in the direction she came: "I thought it was no big deal, but I didn't expect ......"

"The place is unguarded, which is a bit of a surprise to us."

A blue-haired woman, also dressed in a gray cloak, appeared to their right, followed by several men who appeared to be pursuers: "But...... It seems to be what day it is, so there are a lot of members of different gangs gathered here......"

"The bigwigs are having a meeting up there."

Turning his head and pointing to the tallest building in the castle where the City Lord's Mansion was located, Duan Qing sighed helplessly: "It seems that we are not here at the right time...... It's that simple. ”

“…… Who is swearing to the success of this operation? ”

"It's better to change than to plan."

Feeling the heavier pressure from above, Duan Qing's brows began to wrinkle gradually: "Anyway, I heard something, and this trip is not in vain...... Ning Lan, did you find anything over there? ”

"No, sir."

The voice belonging to the secret whisper Ning Lan came from the shadows in the corner, and then disappeared again, but Duan Qing, who heard this sentence, seemed to be relieved of the other party's safety, and his eyes began to drift in the direction of the retreat: "Very good, since this is the case......"

"It's time to start running!"

Rumble!

A golden iron sword qi like a substance flew out from the windowsill of the tall tower at the top of the City Lord's Mansion, and pressed towards Duan Qing and them in the direction of Duan Qing with a thunderous momentum, while crushing the surrounding grass and trees to the ground, it also frightened the few pursuers who had just chased them into scattering, screaming and fleeing out of the attack range. Duan Qing, who raised the shield as fast as he could, had to knock on the surface of the shield in a hurry, and then flew to the distance of the courtyard with a shield that was not unfolded at all, and then wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and quickly got up: "X's so fierce...... Let's go! ”

"Where are we going?"

"Go out of town...... Alas, let's go to the scheduled meeting point first. ”

"Aren't you afraid to lure the boss to Uncle Smiling?"

"You can't leave them here, can you? Listening to the tone of those people just now, they probably even found out how many cats our adventure group raised, if they left those guys behind......"

Duan Qing, who was running at the back, slowly stopped speaking, his expression became weird, and his eyes moved away from the direction of the castle that he had been staring at, and turned to the other direction of the Free City - the sound of shouting and killing crossed the distant air, and then sounded in the ears of several people, they looked at each other a few times, and finally from these chaotic shouts of killing that could stir up ripples in the river in the inner city, they could distinguish the slightest smell of their own people.

"It seems ......," Duan Qing sighed weakly again.

"It's not going to be peaceful tonight."