On the southern outskirts of Hansha City, on the yellowed grassland, four horses galloped by

Wait a minute...... Wait a minute, Cassius, who was running more than ten meters at the back, shouted loudly

My brother was not used to riding a horse, and when he heard Cassius shouting, Ray immediately reined in the reins of his horse and said to Sophia, who was walking side by side with him

Joika, let's rest for a while, knowing Cassius's state, Sophia hurriedly shouted at Joika, who was running at the front

Hearing Sophia's words, Joey Kaye stopped his mount and kicked the horse's belly lightly, allowing the mount to trot all the way to Cassius, who had already come off his horse with the help of Ray, and was sitting on the grass, panting and wiping his sweat

What's the matter, the fat man didn't let you run away by yourself, and Joyka shook her head when she saw Cassius's embarrassment

You really don't think about it for others, Sophia's expression of reproach on the side, Cassius is different from us, he has no physical training, he has not learned to ride, and the feeling of bump caused by barely riding a horse is a huge drain on the body

Okay, okay, okay, but you Joika laughed, then rest for a while, anyway, I can't hurry, that moment and a half, Joika turned over, dismounted, and whistled, and after a few minutes, the tulip bee buzzed back

The four friends sat on the grass to rest and chat, which became their only way to pass the time

What do you think of last night's events, Joyka, who has always been known for her chatterbox, opened the conversation first

Sophia stopped talking

Why did Brother Owen let go of those assassins, and the outspoken Thunder directly expressed the doubts in his heart

I think Owen probably knows these people, said Cassius who gasped

But why didn't he tell us, Joyka said that since Owen came back, he felt weird, what the hell was he hiding from us

Owen will certainly have his own reasons for doing so, Sophia said

Knowing that someone was going to kill Sophia, but letting the enemy go without permission, is it normal for the identity of these people to keep a secret Joica said

None of them spoke again, and it was clear that Joyka's words hit the nail on the head of their hearts

Who would have no reason of their own, but the key is what the reason is, you shouldn't keep it a secret from your friends, don't say anything else, it's what happened in the years after he fell into the sea, and he still keeps his mouth shut about us, is it necessary to see that others don't speak, Joyka continued, and that Julian, we haven't known him for a long time, but each of us treats him as a partner, but in the end, he betrayed us and became an enemy

Joika, you will talk about Owen for a while, and then pull it to Julian, what the hell do you want to say, Sophia said

I'm right, no, people, you know, Owen has known Julian longer than any of us, how they spent their time in the paladin training camp on Key Island, or what happened, none of us know, so ...... Joyka's eyes swept over everyone, and since Julian would do such an unexpected thing, it was not surprising that Owen would do something unreasonable in the future

I know that because I ...... Speaking of this, two flushes appeared on Sophia's face, and her voice was obviously suppressed, just because I was good to Owen, you are uncomfortable, but you shouldn't slander Owen so much, you are still a partner who grew up with Owen since childhood

I'm just talking about the possibility

It's not possible, Sophia stood up with a slurp, and said loudly, Owen will definitely not betray us

I also believe that Owen's brother Ray doesn't want to say it with absolute certainty

Who doesn't have their own secrets, that's not why we should doubt our friends, Cassius said, Joeyka, I think you're too sensitive, no matter what happens, we should believe Owen

Originally, Joyka wanted to say his rational objective analysis for everyone's reference, but he didn't expect to make himself the target of public criticism, it seems that reason is often at a disadvantage in the face of feelings, Joyka shrugged helplessly: Okay, I also believe Owen, I want to ...... He'll be sure to reveal these secrets himself

A silence ensued, save for the sound of the cool breeze of late autumn and early winter blowing through the dead grass

Eventually, the awkward scene was broken by Cassius: I've had enough rest, let's keep going, Ray help me get on the horse

The four companions each mounted their mounts and headed towards their intended goal, but they didn't communicate much along the way

No one realized that a subtle, invisible crack had been created between these close friends

In the royal palace of Hansha City, as usual, the brief commotion that took place in the palace annex last night did not bring any changes, and it was only after a long time that the four right-hand men under the captain of the guard, Sakoros, had not been seen since that day

A silver-haired boy made his way through a long corridor to King Duris I's office: the Imperial Study

At this time, he met head-on with the captain of the guard, Sakolos, who led the patrol, and at the moment of passing by, the eyes of the two made contact with each other, although there was a lot of information hidden in their eyes, but there was no communication between them, and they silently passed by

Wait a minute, Sakoros, who had walked away for a dozen steps, suddenly stopped, turned around and said to Owen, Do you have nothing to say to me

The silver-haired boy also stopped, but he didn't turn around, but said indifferently: What I want to say is what the captain doesn't like to hear, so it's better not to say it

Hmph, Sakolos's face was very unpleasant, he didn't pay any more attention, Owen flicked his cloak, turned around, and walked away with his men without looking back

Although the meeting broke up unhappily this time, the two chose tacit understanding very tacitly

Soon Owen walked to the door of the imperial study, and before Owen could knock on the door, the loud voice of King Duris came from inside: Is it coming, boy

Owen didn't knock on the door anymore and just pushed the door in

I thought you had gone out with your companions, and King Duris didn't look back, standing in front of the sand table with a bunch of small flags

They have things they have to do, and I have more important things to tell His Majesty

You're actually playing a dumb riddle for me to guess what...... I guess it's a report on what happened last night

I guess I already know what happened last night, and I don't have to draw snakes

Well, what the hell are you trying to say?

Resignation

Hearing Owen say this, Duris immediately stopped what he was doing and turned to look at the young man in front of him......

The four friends followed the tulip bee and finally arrived at their destination

Although there had been unpleasant arguments before, it did not affect the cooperation between them

Tulip bees led their companions into a wooded area about 30 kilometers south of Hansar, the capital of the kingdom, which was infestation with venomous snakes

Sophia blessed everyone to prevent being bitten by poisonous snakes, and under Joyka's advice, they dismounted and searched deep into the woods on foot

The companions carefully searched the woods for half an hour, and when they opened the bushes, they were stunned by the scene that came into view

I saw a small lake as calm as a mirror in front of me, and more than a dozen tents were stationed on the shore of the lake, and horses were tied to the tents, and some men in armor and armed soldiers were walking between the tents

My dear, these are the military tents used by the regular army when they march and fight, judging by the number of tents, there are at least fifty or sixty people stationed in this camp, and Joyka is speechless

Joika, are they what you call the 'Thunder Gull Mercenary Group' Why are you lurking outside Hansar City, Sophia asked

I'm not sure why Joyka said that if this is the headquarters of the 'Thunder Gull' mercenary group, why didn't she hang the mercenary group's flag, and besides, these people are very different from the people I met the night before

Do you still need to think about it so much, Lei said that these people must be the outlying troops of the Inquisition, who are here to disrupt the order of the Pole Kingdom, just like those horse thieves we annihilated two months ago, on the way to escort Dani to Hansar City, we met too much

Don't jump to conclusions, I intuitively think that these people don't necessarily have anything to do with the Central See, besides, if it's really the minions of the Inquisition, why are they coming at me alone, Joyka alone

Just as everyone was speculating about the identity of these troops in front of them, suddenly there was a loud bang from the largest tent in the middle of the camp, and a man in a sheepskin jacket flew out of the tent and fell into the lake together, and the bastard, the man stood up from the lake with a curse, only to see that the corners of his eyes were swollen all over his body, but his face was full of anger, brandishing a saber, and struggling to drip the water towards the shore

Khunbu Ambston Joyka recognized the man at a glance, with the only difference being that he was more wolfish than the first time they met two days earlier

It's his brother, you see, it's the Khunbu Ambuston Ray we know, and hurriedly said to Cassius beside him

Just as Khumbu Ambuston was about to set foot on the shores of the lake, a dozen soldiers with spears surrounded him

Despicable, shameless, you want to kill people and kill Rumbu Ambuston said angrily

If I were you, you would no longer resist, and the cloth of the largest tent was lifted, and a man in a gray hood came out, and because his back was to the bushes where his companions were hiding, the companions could not see his true face

The man in gray gestured, and another larger tent was uncovered next to it, and 14 men who had been tied up were pushed out - then Joyka noticed that the 14 men were Rumbu Ambstone's men, most of whom still had the marks of being wounded by Joyka two days earlier, some wrapped their hands in gauze, some with plasters on their hands and feet - they were forced to kneel on the ground one by one, and then 14 soldiers with short swords came behind their backs and put short swords around their necks

I'll kill a man every time I count until you surrender and the man in gray threatens Khunbu Ambstone

You bastard Kunbu gritted his teeth

As soon as a man in gray spoke, a soldier with a short sword on the far right raised his sword in his hand, and the man in front of him had his neck sliced open, and a stream of hot blood sprayed out, splashing the two people next to him, and then fell to the ground like a wilted eggplant, dead

Stop, the tragic death of his subordinates made Kunbu grieve inexplicably

Two

The second victim was stabbed in the heart with a short sword and struggled for several times

Don't kill, I surrendered, and the killing of two of his subordinates in a row made Kunbu completely put down his arms, and the saber in his hand fell into the water with a thud, and the soldiers surrounding him took the opportunity to rush forward and press Kunbu into the naked water with their spears

What a bunch of wasted men in gray sneered, even a mere bounty hunter can't deal with it, what's the use of keeping it

You are a blatant provocation and betrayal of the 'Thunder Gull' mercenary group, our Commander Blanc knows about this, even if he chases it to the Heavenly Cliff Cape, he will kill you, and Kunbu, who was crushed in the water, shouted

No, the man in gray squatted down and shook his finger at Kunbu, your Blank Regiment Leader will never know about this, he only knows that in a joint operation, several loyal subordinates of his mercenary group were unfortunately killed, and it was we who risked life and death to transport your corpses back, and of course the cooperation between our two families will continue

You're all bastards, don't use indiscriminate tactics to fight me one-on-one in a fair duel

Fair duel, hum, don't make me laugh, don't say that you are not my opponent at all, you are not even qualified to duel me, although you have a surname rewarded by the nobles, you are not a noble at all, a commoner, and you still want to duel with me, don't daydream

With that, the man in gray turned and waved his hand at his men, giving them a cold order: kill them all

Just as the man in gray turned around, the sharp-eyed Joyka immediately recognized this face, and he couldn't help but exclaim: It's actually him.