Philip hesitated, stretched out his trembling right hand, and gently grasped the ball of light. As he read the message, his face quickly changed from nervous to ecstatic, and he couldn't help but let out cheers.

"Thank you, my lord!"

Werther was boiling water and making tea, and when he heard the movement, he hurriedly ran in.

"Teacher, are you ...... It doesn't matter, right? ”

"I'm fine." Philip waved his hand and said to his students with joy, "Go and tell the Koras father and son that Prince Frank has asked His Majesty for forgiveness, and in reply he urged me to return to China as soon as possible to assist him in carrying out church reform!" ”

"Huh? So, you've got reuse again, teacher? Werther was also pleasantly surprised.

After receiving the amnesty of His Majesty the Emperor, coupled with the crown prince's big backer, Philip regained confidence in his career, but there was not much smugness on his face, and he shook his head to warn Werther not to expect too much.

"The situation in the Holy City is more complicated than here, there are many factions and intrigues, let's not rush to be in the limelight when we go back, there is no harm in keeping a low profile."

Seeing Witte's back in a hurry, Philip slowly sat down in his armchair, his brow furrowed. After the excitement, he still had to face the reality, and Prince Frank also mentioned one thing in his reply, entrusting him to bring the statue of the god Pero that was originally installed in the "Far Eastern Cathedral" back to the holy city of Assan.

Philip has been the Archbishop of the Far East for a long time, and of course knows that the "idol" is the symbol of the Church, the hub of the "Rite of Conversion", stationed in the Far East for hundreds of years, suppressing heresy and absorbing a lot of faith power, even if he was expelled from the altar by the divine power of fate in the Collasburg sanctification ceremony, there is still a little divinity.

Philip once served as the archbishop and governor of the Far East, and the clerical power was heavier than the secular power, and the secular power of the empire in the Far Eastern provinces could still be excused for various reasons, if even the statue of Pero could not be fully protected, and the imperial theocracy would be humiliated again, even if he returned to the holy city of Assan, only the burning rack of the Holy See would await him.

"His Royal Highness Frank has given me a problem...... Obviously, this is a test. Philip muttered softly.

After pondering Frank's reply, Philip realized that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince still had doubts about whether his "Reservoir Dog" was worth reusing, and it was likely that there was a lot of controversy in His Royal Highness the Prince's staff circles, and in order to verify his ability, and also to verify the sincerity of the Koras father and son, Frank made a seemingly understatement in the letter to escort the statue of Pero back to the Holy City.

Philip thought about the key to this, and couldn't help but wipe a cold sweat.

……

In the early morning of 19 September, in the drizzle, the train platform outside Krasbourg was surprisingly deserted, and heavily armed guards blocked the platform until a special train blew its whistle and the wheels rolled forward under the drive of a magic steam engine, and the siege was lifted for two hours. Travelers who had delayed their journey poured onto the platform, and countless curious eyes looked at the rumbling magic train, speculating about the important people on board.

The wet tracks stretch towards the end of the horizon, and the morning breeze pours into the train windows, bringing the refreshing scent of vegetation and trees.

In the box of the special train, Roland and Philip sat opposite each other, fighting on the chessboard. Pastor Witt sat next to the window, next to a gilded bronze statue. The statue was about a person tall, and it was tightly wrapped in a blanket from head to toe, and it was impossible to see what it looked like, and there was a slight fluctuation of divine power radiating through the thick blanket, as if the sun was baking, adding some warmth to the carriage in the bleak wind and cold rain.

The world's popular "war chess" in Vares, the rules of the game have many similarities with chess on the earth, Roland moved a chess piece and casually asked Philip: "It is three thousand miles from Krasburg to the holy city of Yashan, and you can directly cast a spell to teleport back, why do you insist on taking the train?" ”

"His Highness Frank has asked me to escort the Statue of Perro back to the Holy City, the power contained in the idol will interfere with the effect of the spell, and I don't want to teleport to a dangerous place." Philip smiled self-deprecatingly, looking out the window of the car with a look of nostalgia, "I have been in charge of the Far East for many years, regard this place as my second home, and have inseparable feelings for this land, this time I leave the Far East, I am afraid that I will never have the opportunity to set foot on this land again in this life, I would rather walk slower and see more of the mountains and rivers, so I choose to take the train instead of taking the faster airship." ”

Roland smiled, not entirely convinced by the old fox's sensational words. It is true that the divine power contained in the idol may interfere with the effect of spellcasting, and there is a certain risk of teleporting directly holding the idol, but Philip's claim that he is nostalgic for the land of the Far East is purely cowardly, and Roland is more inclined to think that he wants to take the opportunity to investigate the current situation in the Far East, after all, this old man has been in a black prison for three years, and he can only understand the outside world through the words in the newspaper, and if he doesn't see it with his own eyes, how can he be sure that the propaganda in the newspaper is in line with reality?

"Because of my willful request, I'm really sorry to trouble Rudolph to prepare a special train for me, and to escort you personally." Philip said gratefully.

"You're welcome, it's my responsibility." Roland had high hopes for Philip's trip, and of course wanted to make sure that he returned to the Holy City safely. In the event that Philip encounters an accident in the Far East, not only will he not be able to fulfill his diplomatic mission, but he and his father will be charged with the black cauldron of murdering Philip, and the main war faction of the empire will also use this as a pretext to invade the Far East under the banner of avenging Philip.

The sudden thought made Roland's heart sink. Since Philip's assassination would be of great benefit to the Empire's main war faction, if the other party had learned about Philip's itinerary through some intelligence channel, would they have sent assassins to secretly snipe and blame the Far Eastern government if they succeeded?

Roland is not a person who advocates conspiracy theories, and admits that the possibility of planting a blame is very small, but the stakes are high, and he is not afraid to speculate on the enemy with the greatest malice, after all, he is not afraid of ten thousand, he is afraid of what if.

The Far East and West Railway was built and opened to traffic as early as the Imperial Province and was one of the few assets left to the government of Kolas by the Assanian Empire.

The railway line runs from Krasbourg in the east and along the Villes River, crossing the Great Plains of the West to the military fortress of Oleviburg at the Ulino Pass.

If you only look at the itinerary on paper, Philip and Witt will get off at Fort Olevi and transfer to the Imperial Army Train to cross the Ulino Pass and enter the Imperial province of Komy. Next, you will transfer to Harrenhal, the capital of Komi Province, and cross the narrow land gap between the Meteorite Ocean and the Storm Ocean - the "Primorsky Corridor" - into the Holy City of Santo, and arrive at the end of the tour, the Holy City of Ashan, the capital of the Empire.