In the era of very underdeveloped communication, any nobleman who wants to keep the information he has in his hands is always up-to-date, always needs to consume a lot of manpower, and in the case of limited manpower, how to balance the investment of such resources has become a science for the superiors.

From the point of view of common sense, Francis should be called a wise superior.

In order to intercept Sally, he arranged for most of his subordinates to go to seven or eight villages and towns on the outskirts of Hollier, and at the same time he returned to the Duke's Palace as quickly as he could—because as long as he arrived first, he could swagger and "squat" for his sister's arrival, and comfortably grasp all the initiative to make all preparations...

Such a decision would be no problem in anyone's opinion. As long as you are riding a horse in the plains, you will be patrolled by Francis's men, and if you walk from the forest, where can you outrun this good-bred warm-blooded horse under your crotch?

Unless the other party can fly from the sky, Francis doesn't think there is any way for Sally to bypass her surveillance and return to Hollier City.

With so many initiatives in place, Francis was reassured. So at noon, he appeared outside the gate of Hollier, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and showed a little relaxed smile.

Imagining his sister running helplessly in the wilderness, Francis rode into the city with his head held high - because of the speed of the march in the past few days, the people who should have been responsible for gathering intelligence have not had time to report anything to him about the city of Houllier, but Francis is not in a hurry, the nobles should have the elegance of the nobles, and he is ready to return to the mansion to listen to the reports of his subordinates.

Of course, another important point is because...

Never before has a long run been this long, Francis. It's a little painful.

After riding a fast horse for three days in a row, his physical exertion was severe, and he could barely support it later, which can be said to have suffered a lot of crimes. The skin on his inner thighs was worn out, and the eggs were so painful that the corners of his mouth twitched. But for the sake of the "elegance" of the aristocracy, Francis did not dare to choose to walk as soon as he entered the city, because once he dismounted, it was estimated that the walking posture would be as ridiculous as a turtle.

So the Earl straightened his back all the way back to the Duke's Palace, and when the door of the mansion behind him was closed, and the old butler Alpha came out to greet him, he breathed a sigh of relief, and climbed off his horse with stiff movements.

"Whew..."

With a sigh of relief, Francis, who didn't dare to straighten his legs, raised his head, looked up and said to the old butler in a good mood: "Alpha, I don't want to ride a fast horse this time, it's really uncomfortable-"

"Heh, young master, you returned a lot earlier than expected."

"yes, something happened, and the border hasn't been peaceful lately. Sally and I parted ways to come back, and she's behind, so she shouldn't have arrived yet. ”

This is the reason that has been thought of for a long time, Francis's expression was very natural when he said it, and the expression of the alpha butler in front of him did not change much, he smiled, and just waved his hand to let the subordinate come and support the young earl. However, after taking a few steps, as Francis was about to return to the mansion, the butler suddenly said, "Is it... What kind of competition are the young master and young lady playing? ”

"Race?"

Francis raised his eyebrows, thinking about the past when he used to fight with Sally, I'm afraid Alpha still thinks that he and Sally are "competing", right? But thinking about such a reason, it seemed very logical, so he nodded: "It's okay, I'm afraid this time... She's going to lose. ”

The young count's smile was confident and bright. And Alpha didn't say anything else, nodded, and seemed to be the same forever, and turned to arrange for the guard knights.

Returning to the bedroom with the help of the servant, the first thing Francis did was take a hot bath - after carrying the plump maid whom he had possessed at the age of fifteen and giving a hard blow in the bath, he felt extremely happy because of the physical stimulation.

Sally is dead, and the next thing is to wait for her father to pass on the title to her.

Francis couldn't wait to laugh happily, but his crotch was pulled a little because of the excessive range of movement just now, and the pain of this "" made him very unhappy, so at this time he was lying on the bed on all fours, and the maid carefully applied the ointment to him.

All I fantasized about in my mind were the glorious scenes after I took charge of the territory.

As an old nobleman, the Rusifron family has radiated a network of power that has almost covered half of the empire, and he has a number of aunts and uncles, all of whom are nobles who are lords of other territories, thinking that if he raises his own troops, the entire kingdom will tremble under the powerful power of the family, right?

As soon as he thought of the appearance of those arrogant royal families surrendering in front of him, the corners of Francis's mouth curled up slightly-

"Young Master, what makes you so happy?"

"There are a lot of happy things, like you here... It's a little bigger. ”

Francis was in a good mood, and reached out and pinched a few words of teasing, which made the maid coquettish. He wanted to vent his anger again, but thinking that he hadn't done everything yet, he calmed down and got up to let his subordinates report the latest information.

"Young Master... Why don't you take a little rest? ”

"No, I want to see how long it will take for my sister to come back."

Francis replied casually, reaching for the collar of his white shirt, his tone returning to flatness.

"Miss Sally?"

The maid who got up from the bed put her skirt back on, and replied a little strangely, "Miss... Hasn't she already returned? ”

"She can't come back... Huh-huh? ”

Francis's expression froze suddenly, as if it took a few seconds to notice that something was wrong with the maid beside him, and the action of arranging his sleeves stopped in mid-air, "You... What did you say? She's back? ”

"Yesterday Bishop Benjamin gave a lecture and a blessing ceremony for the 'Rosicrucian' temple in the square, and Miss Sally was announced as the new 'candidate priest'! Young master, you just came back, I'm afraid you don't know what to do, right? Miss, she-young master... Master? ”

The maid who was talking suddenly noticed that Francis's expression seemed to be wrong, and her voice hesitated.

"You... Are you saying that Sally has become a 'candidate priest'? I- I mean... Was she there yesterday? ”

Although he didn't believe in this possibility, Francis had to be cautious about confirming the news—and to his relief, the maid shook her head.

That's it... Rosicrucius had a sudden convulsion, and it was impossible for Sally to come back.

He thought so in his heart.

"I didn't go to see it, but I heard that Bishop Benjamin personally did the blessing ceremony for Miss Sally, and I wanted to come to Miss Sally... I think I've come back. ”

The atmosphere in the bedroom suddenly froze for a moment.

As an elementalist, Francis's body froze in place as if it had been struck by lightning, and the air began to be filled with free magical elements in an instant, and the maid standing on the side felt that the young master in front of him seemed to be enveloped in a hot flame...

Francis turned his head, his eyes blinked, he looked at the woman in front of him, his head was slightly on one side, his mouth was open, as if he wanted to say something, but after a few seconds, he couldn't say anything...

Sally isn't dead...

Sally escaped...

Not only did he escape, but he also returned to Hollier before he did...

Now, he has become a "candidate priest"?!

What about my cavalry? What about the team that intercepted it? What about the guards that have been arranged all the way?!

As if he had been poured cold water on his head, an unprecedented sense of frustration instantly enveloped Francis, who had previously mastered the bad feeling that the wolf cavalry had brought to Sally, but now it seemed to be completely applied to himself!

Trying to integrate the information, Francis reached out and grabbed the handmaiden's wrist and asked in a low tone, "What do you mean... You just heard about these things, and she didn't return to the Duke's Palace? ”

"It's... Yes, young master. Mademoiselle seems to have been resting in the convent of the Rosicrucian for the past few days, and has not returned to the mansion. ”

The maid felt that her arm was about to be broken by him, and immediately answered Francis's question as quickly as she could.

And this answer is that Francis finally gasped for breath - because he found himself... There's still room for a fight.

Although Sally entered the temple, she was currently unable to use the power of the temple to fight against her. In other words, Sally is now more "defensive" and less "offensive".

But Francis is the opposite, because he... Still in control of the initiative!

Thinking of this, Francis breathed a sigh of relief, relaxed and retreated, and sat back on the bed - and this action made him let out a pig-killing howl...

He forgot that he had been in pain.