In the apartment, Mu Yan stood quietly at the table.

A scroll was spread out in the air, and a quill pen flew on it, drawing a map of Falan City on the scroll.

And on this map, dozens of points of light flickered, most of them were concentrated in Jialan Academy, only a few lingered on the periphery of the academy's enchantment, but without exception, they were all in the Cruze neighborhood closest to Wangcheng.

While he was staring at the map in a daze, Gawain came to visit.

Director Gao Wen came over with the September harvest and checked it in front of Mu Yan's mother-in-law, and Mu Yan heard those numbers for a while.

He should really send Gawain underground to check these numbers with Miss Cha Cha, but it's a pity that the little maid is still reviewing the manuscript and can't spare time for the time being.

"Just tell me the results, Mr. Gawain."

"No, the process is important, you have to do the math for me, and prove that I am not greedy for ink." Gawain is serious, and his appearance makes it clear that he is not just talking.

"Mia is on top, the man in charge of the accounts is really terrible, isn't it Miss Tessa in charge of the accounts in your family?"

"Come on, a woman is insulated from numbers, she can't even do addition and subtraction within hundreds, do you expect her to do something in bookkeeping?"

Mu Yan rolled his eyes, and could only let him finish chattering.

“…… That's all for the month. Excluding the costs—which included material costs, running costs, commissions paid to me, Mr. Armand, Dridge, Miss Judy, Mr. Eric, and others—there was a surplus of 143,200 gold coins. Next, we will follow your instructions to the palaces of the Duke of Clark, the Duke of Perez, the Duke of Garcia, and the Duke of Toure. ”

This is what was said when the Hot Spring Township Covenant was made, and Mu Yan has been implementing it.

He knew that Gain didn't care about the money, but he had to do this to paralyze his allies and flesh out his persona as a "young and vigorous" young man.

But when this purpose has been achieved, is it still needed?

Naturally, no longer necessary.

Mu Yan rubbed his temples and pointed to the map.

"Let's not talk about this for now, if you count how many points of light there are, you should count them for me."

"Fifty-one, sir."

"How many people were registered after E3, you should remember, right?"

"Fifty-two, sir. So...... One less now? ”

Mu Yan nodded.

"That's right, one less."

"Yes...... Why? ”

"Don't ask so many questions, Mr. Gawain." Mu Yan patted him on the shoulder, rolled up the map and stuffed it into his arms, and snatched the crystal card by the way.

"As for the money, I stayed. You can give this map to the identity checkpoint, and when you go, say to the air three times, 'Blue-skinned dwarf, nose race dog, come and sniff it, where are the bones', you don't care about the rest." ”

Gawain nodded as if he didn't understand.

"This means...... Is our collaboration with Duke Clark over for now? ”

Mu Yan pursed his lips, "Our fragile friendship is over, why not stop this deal......"

……

About an hour after Gawain left, a headless corpse wrapped in stinky mud was thrown straight on Mu Yan's bed, but fortunately he grabbed it by the hand of a mage with the perception of a legendary mage, otherwise this quilt would probably be scrapped.

The corpse was packed in a sack, and without perceiving it, a faint aura of divine power escaped.

There was also a small note attached to the outside:

"Where the body was found: a stinking ditch outside the slums. - Ricky"

"The tower has caused a lot of trouble...... Mu Yan muttered, and then picked up the communication stone.

"Headmaster, huh...... There may be something to trouble you......"

……

……

At the same time, the spa country of Clark Manor.

Soaked in the water were still the familiar faces, Frank Perez, Chloe Toure, Ron Garcia, and Duke Guy Clark.

Compared with more than six months ago, only Mu Yan is missing.

Clark's expression was not iron-blue, although he looked calm, but there was a layer of cold, and the other people did not dare to come out.

They know that this guy in front of them usually always looks like he is winning, and he only frowns even if he encounters any problems, but they have never seen this virtue today.

It took a long time for Clark to exhale.

The hot spring village was as hot as a scorching heat, but what he exhaled was a wisp of white air, as if with ice ballast, a circle of chill spread on the water surface, and was quickly neutralized by the warm water vapor, but Rao was like this, and the other three still felt a cold stab on the bare skin, and couldn't help but shiver.

"This morning, the Pope summoned me in the Tower." Gain said slowly, "And it wasn't until an hour ago that my internal organs began to thaw. ”

The other three looked at each other, not knowing which one he was singing.

As the closest family to the tower, Clark usually only shows off his might, when did he suffer this kind of grievance?

And it seems that he is not half dissatisfied yet?

This doesn't seem to match the arrogant Duke Clark they knew......

"You may wonder why I don't seem to be angry at all?" Gaine smiled.

"Huh......

"The reason is very simple, when I confronted the Pope, I thought for a moment that I was going to die, but in fact I was not dead, I survived, and I could see that it was useful for him to keep me. I should be glad now rather than complain than die, shouldn't I? ”

A few people remained silent, waiting for the next step.

"Don't talk about that," said Gain, pouting, "let's go back and dig through the old accounts." Just a few months – maybe six months – a young man stood in front of us and told us aloud about his 'naïve' and 'simple' dreams – which, of course, seemed to us. What about us? We agreed to him as if we were watching the excitement and offered him everything he wanted.

"Think about it, why did we say yes to him in the first place?

"It's just a lot of curiosity, and finding it interesting and feeling that it can be beneficial...... Ha, speaking of which, it's not our stupid little clever ......."

Gain smiled self-deprecatingly, looked around, and saw that no one seemed to be able to keep up with his mind except Chloe, and couldn't help but sigh.

"It seems that the gold he sent to your door did numb your vigilance. Wake up now, that young man has grown into a behemoth, he founded Seraf, teamed up with the Horn of Kane to destroy the Magic Daily, and became the man of the year in Fa Lan City......"

"But what does this have to do with the Tower, with the Pope?" Frank couldn't help but ask.

"Quite simply, his influence covered the city of France, and then he preached blasphemy in Serafri, teaching the young people that 'the Holy See is a piece of shit.'"

"What?"

"How is that possible?"

"Ridiculous!"

The reactions of the three were different, but most of them seemed unexpected.

"That's what the Pope told me. Of course, he wasn't arrogant enough to tell everyone directly - they called it 'closed beta', and only a handful of people were bewitched by it...... Unfortunately, Duke Perez, your good son Samuel also participated in that 'closed beta', and he is one of the leaders of it, why don't you ask him if he has heard this? ”

The pressure came to Chlo's side all at once.

Chloe lowered his head, he recalled that his son was in a bad mood a few days ago, and he asked him why, but he did not answer with a calm face. I guess that's it......

Seeing his complicated expression, the hearts of the others sank.

It seems to be true.

Frank couldn't help but get nervous, and he thought of Barry. He often heard his son mention the magic indoctrination list, and bragged to himself that the people who could make the list were people with excellent ability - all kinds of ability. If Samuel hadn't been in the way, he would have been able to get into it and bring him a face...... He also thought it was a good place for a while, and his son was getting more and more successful......

In contrast, someone suddenly jumped out.

Ron Garcia was the least of the people in the group - because he helped Mu Yan the least. In addition, Professor Dawn's influence alone almost overshadowed the entire Garcia family, and he had always had a bad feeling for his uncle and elder, so he hated Mu Yan and Wu.

"Actually, I doubted from the beginning that this guy named Mu Yan would come prepared, and now it seems that he is right. This is a clear provocation, a provocation between us and the Tower...... There must be someone behind him who is pointing out, can we find out this to clear our guilt? ”

When the other two heard this, they both felt justified, but Clark couldn't stop sneering.

"Do you know how stupid you are?

"What I was wary of in the first place, you only think of now?"

With a slight wave of his hand, pages of parchment emerged like snowflakes out of thin air, floating around the crowd with words written on them.

"From the first day he stepped into the hot spring country, I asked Shadow Footsteps to check the changes in the money in this kid's hands. Judging from the information given by the initial information, this kid did not have more than 2,000 gold coins on him when he arrived in Falan City. What is 2000 gold enough for? Not even enough for the material cost of his first issue of the newspaper!

So, he went to the hearing, and we were invited to the hot spring town, and after a few words, he got our help, and that was the beginning of everything.

"Since then, he hasn't been assisted by a single copper coin – I mean unknown sources – other than the help we have given him.

"The contract for the Hive comes from me, the magic materials used by Seraf come from the four of us, the workshop used by Bignius comes from Frank's son, and even every expenditure on the materials used to make the newspaper is clear, and if you check with the material dealer, you will know that all the money he earns is used to fill the hole in the material fee, except for the commission paid by the suspected writer Eric.

"Until a month ago, he also paid for Seraf's materials, and from then on he began to send money to each of our families, you should know in your hearts how much money there is...... Smanius went on sale, I found President William and asked them about the deal, if the latter didn't lie to me, then Mu Yan also gave us the money he got from Kane's Horn......

"In other words, this kid has not broken any promises, as he said in the spa country, and has only relied on the most basic 'exchange' to get to where he is today, except for the gold coins that circulate between us, the horn of Kane, the many nobles of Falan, and the students of the Jialan Academy, his only expenditure is the technology used to build Seraf.

Lucien told me that Seraf's simulated dragon might was real—even more real than a real dragon. So, use your minds and think about it, if there is someone behind him, enough to provide such technology, enough to create a coercion more real than a dragon, enough to send a young man with this ability and bearing...... With his real ability, the purpose is just to simply deal with a few of us 'insignificant little people'?

"Don't be stupid, he's been targeting the Tower from the beginning!"

Duke Clark's questioning drifted through the hot spring country, and the remaining few people had nothing to say for a while.

"That'...... Who the hell would dare to attack the Tower......"

"Here's the problem." Gain snorted, "He finally made a move on the Tower, and he's still alive and well...... Isn't the tower angry? No, the Pope was furious, but he took his anger out on me.

"Don't you think this scene sounds familiar? When you are at a loss for what to do about the change of the situation, when you are angry because of the change, when you hate the rice buckets under you, is it not the same? Often the more angry you are at this time, the more you reveal a fact...... Helpless, powerless will not stop in anger. ”

"You mean, the Tower can't do anything about that kid?"

"Or because of his 'man behind him'. That kid was just a gifted mage, and I think that makes more sense. I have one more guess, an idea that even I find incredible. Clark said slowly, his tone becoming solemn. The plains of the herding horses are about to change. ”

"Since the Morning Star's change a year ago, the Morning Star has expelled all Tower forces from the territory. More than two months ago, Morningstar suddenly showed a miracle, the first time in recent decades on the Horse Plain, and then they began to worship Garton, Duke of Ashes...... To say that there is no connection between the two, who would believe it?

"Not long ago, Lucien told me that one of the priests in the tower who had been friends with him had disappeared inexplicably, and his vacancy had been quietly filled. If the priest of Miller had died in battle or due to illness, the tower would not have behaved so indifferently, and they even erected a statue of the priest who died in battle in the square of truth! The only explanation for this is that he died in a covert operation...... As for what kind of secret operation, calculating the time, it is mostly related to what happened to Morning Star. That Lord Miller may have been used as a stone thrown into the Morning Star's pathfinder. ”

"That'...... How do we do that? Chloe frowned, "Are we going to find a way to make a move on that kid?" ”

"Shot?" Clark snorted, "Why? The Tower began to infiltrate the Council family hundreds of years ago, and at that time, the Tower was as weak as a baby. However, after all these years, has this baby grown into a robust youth? No, no, at best he has grown into a willful, unreasonable child who will only take out his anger on his servant, that is, us.

"Think back to what we've done—are we surrendering, or convincing, this baby? No, it's the strong parents behind the baby. We believe that piety at this time will be exchanged for the blessing and gift of the goddess in the future, so we listened to this child, let him do whatever he wants, and help him grow up step by step to become what he is today.

"But now, I have doubts about whether this is the right thing to do.

"Do you have a subtle feeling about going back to the kid who played us around...... It's as if he's not doing all this to really 'get' something, but just to show ......"

"That's right, it's like a swordsman who obviously has the strength to kill with one hit, but he uses fancy swordsmanship to attract frequent applause from the ladies around him!" Kolo agreed, and he thought like this since he was impressed by Mu Yan's speech that day.

"Yes, he's just showing what, showing his abilities, showing his mind." Clark looked around, pointing to the depression at the edge of the hot spring.

"Originally, there were fourteen seats in the hot spring town, but after so many years, only the four of us remained, and the remaining ones seemed to have become the nutrients for the development and growth of the four of us, which were disintegrated and swallowed up...... But you all know in your hearts that the Council family is different from other families, except for the waste-like Carter family, no one needs this 'nourishment', and we are only showing the Tower our mind and strength, clearing the stumbling blocks in its growth, and making our 'allegiance' more valuable......

"And what is the difference between that kid's actions and what we did in the first place?"

"And who is he doing it for?" Frank asked.

"Who are we here for?" Clark smiled, "The Morning Star has changed the sky, and Charles III is stupid, but he is a sensible emperor, and he spares his life more than anyone else, so he unreservedly renounced the Word of Promise and turned to Garden." A young man who can bring miracles suddenly appears in Jialan, and shows hostility towards the tower......

"I can't tell you exactly who you are, but I dare to assert that the man behind this kid is at least god-level, or that he is trying to show his power to a god.

"Think about it, what is the god asking for? It's faith, it's believers, and to put it bluntly, it's the population. They seem to follow some kind of rule and can't shoot directly, so they can only let their respective believers fight......

"We're a step behind that kid, and we're the backdrop behind him, giving up the stage. If a war breaks out between the gods, the one who can finally win the favor of the gods and survive must be the most valuable one - guess who? Is it that kid, or is it us who are being played with by him?

"It's time to show your worth, folks, and that's why I've gathered you here. We should make a decision about whether to choose the Tower or wait and see. Whether the Council family can survive the turbulence, and whether Jialan will still stand on the plains of the horses, depends largely on our decisions today. ”

The atmosphere became solemn, and several of the most powerful people in Fa Lan City had gloomy faces and frowns.

"It doesn't taste good to have your organs frozen all morning, Gain." Frank grinned, "I remember you were a guy who had to take revenge, and when you were a kid, you were scolded for being a 'dead man', and you had to chase that guy and tie him up and throw him into the lake." ”

Gaine smiled noncommittally.

"I'm too lazy to use my brain." Frank spread his hands and said, "So I'll listen to you." He looked at Chlo, and the old rival looked at him with some admiration.

"I envy you for being so honest, Frank." Chloe sighed, "But I still have a question, does 'wait and see' necessarily make another choice?" Isn't this the most taboo wait-and-see and wavering? ”

"No, we were wrong from the start." Ron Garcia spoke before Gayn: "Now that I think about it, most of the things that prompted William and Dawn to make up their minds in the first place were the forces behind this kid, in other words, 'someone' chose them, not them chose that kid. But it was because we guessed wrong that we came to his aid – which seems to be true now, so why not stay on the sidelines and 'get it right'? ”

"That'...... What if the tower did something to that kid? Chloe asked again.

Ron couldn't answer the question, and the three of them focused on Duke Clark's face.

"There will be an answer soon." He said softly, "Soon, I promise." ”