Before meeting Iscario, the person Arnold knew who could hide his expression the most was himself, but when he said that and saw the unchanged smile on Iscario's face, Arnold knew that there are people in this world who can hide their emotions as if they have no feelings.

Hypocritical and empty, Iscario's smile made it clear to Arnold that this man had no ego. Under that warm face, I am afraid that there is a pair of ethereal eyebrows, and even facial features do not exist. Iscalio probably wears a mask, otherwise Arnold would not have seen traces of emotion on him.

"You say a traitor who colluded with the White Guys......" Iscario looked at Arnold with a smile, "Before I ask the name of that person, may I ask you what exactly this man did to collude with the White Guys?"

Arnold stared at Iscario's face and paused for three seconds before he said slowly, "I'll tell you, but not now, this is not a good occasion to talk about this kind of topic." ”

"You have a point. Iscario nodded in agreement, "Well, I'll visit you later." ”

"Please enjoy your evening. Arnold raised his glass and said, "You can rest assured that everything is under my control, and he can't escape." So, you can have a good rest tonight, the front line must be very hard, and the long-lost entertainment is still necessary. ”

Iscario didn't reply, but just clinked glasses with Arnold, and drank the wine down.

"Forgive me for missing me. Iscario took his leave and went to greet the other guests.

Arnold watched him leave, and it was a long time before he withdrew his gaze.

"A tricky opponent. ”

Michelia glanced at Arnold.

"His composure just now is too fake. Generally, when you hear this kind of news, you will be surprised. ”

He was not surprised, indicating that he had known for a long time, perhaps he knew about the existence of this traitor, or he had already known who this traitor was. Arnold said, his expression a little solemn, "Of course, there is a third possibility - he himself is the traitor." But now it seems that this possibility is probably the lowest. If he is the traitor, then even if it is to cover up, he should pretend to be surprised. ”

"But with the mind of His Highness Iscario, he must be able to see that the white people are involved in the internal problems of the empire this time. Michelia retorted, "If he acts like he doesn't know anything, then that's weird, isn't it?"

"I can only say......" Arnold's eyes darkened, "this guy has a good grasp of people's psychology. ”

————————————————

Although there is a big feast in the palace, the imperial capital outside the palace has a curfew in place tonight. The poor soldiers were exposed to the cold winds, the companions of the cold in the winter nights, and at the same time had to face dangers that they were completely powerless to deal with.

Of course, the people of the cold mountain collar have long been accustomed to the cold, and they don't care much about the current treatment. For Arnold, the new lord, although there is not much reverence, at least they can habitually obey orders.

For example, the order to surround the Basilica of Hadith.

Because of Arnold's instructions, the entire Hadith Cathedral has now been almost completely watched by the cold mountain army, and except for the carriage of Chief Cardinal Francis, who has been specially allowed to attend tonight's dinner, everyone else in the church must stay in the church and not go out.

This made the priests angry, but they were helpless in the face of the cold mountain army. The armed forces of the Knights of the Cathar have been sent by Arnold to garrison the edge of the imperial capital, and no one in this church can guarantee their safety.

And it was not the thieves who threatened their safety, under the gaze of hundreds of pairs of eyes of the Lengshan army outside, no stupid thief would be so blind. What threatens this church is precisely the cold mountain army that "protects" them from the outside.

It was already late at night, and as a priest, Francis naturally could not stay at the banquet for long, so he returned to the church in a carriage relatively early.

"The emperor is really confused. On the way, he muttered to himself, "I really don't understand why he is so jealous of Iscario and wants to pass the throne to Alcott." Oh, if it weren't for that, probably the current situation wouldn't be so chaotic. ”

In the dark, it seemed that some voice answered him.

"Oh, that's true, even if His Majesty the Emperor himself is not very wise, it is normal for him to have a son like Alcott, or rather, it is surprising that he can give birth to Iscario-"

Touching his chin, Francis suddenly thought of an interesting possibility.

"Well—from that point of view, it's a bit suspicious whether Iscario is the Emperor's own son. Maybe he's suspicious of this, that's why he doesn't like Iscario so much. ”

After saying that, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

And when he laughed uncontrollably, he did not realize the danger lurking in the dead of night.

Francis' laughter came to an abrupt halt when the ground shook suddenly, and the carriage shook as if it were about to shatter.

The Chief Cardinal looked furious, cursed loudly, and with some embarrassment, opened the door and jumped out of the carriage.

As soon as he landed, the carriage fell straight into the pit that appeared in the middle of the road, and the horses pulling it made a few mournful neighs, but there was no sound.

The driver of the car did not even cry for help, and was crushed by the carriage and lost his life.

Francis was on the lookout, and after the previous assassination, he also guessed that Arnold would take advantage of his absence to attack again tonight, but he did not expect such a big deal.

The road was dark, almost pitch black, and in such a deep night, no one still had lights on, only the faint moonlight provided the light.

But fortunately, the bodyguards found by Francis are also good at fighting in the dark, so he is relatively at ease for the time being.

Glancing at the big crater on the road, a cold sweat broke out on Francis' back.

"Mage...... It doesn't seem that the level is low, is there such a person in the Cold Mountain army?"

As he thought, he listened with bated breath to the sound of fighting in the darkness, and the unknown killer surrounded Francis after he escaped from the carriage, but was entangled by Francis' guards, and it seemed that for a moment there was no victory.

He frowned, this batch of killers seemed to be much higher than the level of the last time.

"Not from the Cold Mountain Army. A dark shadow appeared behind Francis and whispered to him, "It's someone else, it's not bad, my people can't take advantage of it for the time being." ”

"We need to get out of here quickly. Francis remained calm, not flustered by the suddenness of the assassination, "The other mage may continue to strike, and if he continues to stay here, he will become a living target." ”

The shadow flickered a few times, as if nodding.

"Figraf should still be at the palace, he is not in command here, so there is no way to catch him. Forget it, go back to church first. ”

The dark shadow guarded Francis, skirting the crater and heading in the direction of the Basilica of Hadith.

However, he didn't get far before he was blocked.

By the faint light of the moon, Francis could barely see the man's outfit. Unlike his usual Imperial people, this roadblock was draped in a shawl made of feathers and tied with an animal skin underneath, and even though it was winter, this man was half-naked without fear of the cold.

Francis could not make out his face, the man wore a headdress in the shape of an owl's head, half of his face was obscured, and even his eyes glowed with an unsettling light like those of a night owl.

"Barbarian?" Francis immediately reacted, this kind of dress, this may be a white man on the snowfield.

"Watch your wording, Bishop of the Serodib. The man's voice was high-pitched, as if it were a stalk, "We ruled the snowfields before your country was founded. Our civilization is not as faulty as yours, and it is far older than yours, and if you want to speak of barbarians, you are the one who is backward. ”

Francis sneered, not interested in continuing to talk to the man.

"Solve him. He commanded the shadow behind him.

"This guy isn't easy to deal with, and I won't necessarily be able to protect you when fighting him. The dark shadow's voice was a little solemn, "You have to find a way to protect yourself, Your Excellency the Cardinal. ”

"You just have to deal with him. Francis didn't care, he turned his face sideways and glanced at the man contemptuously, "There is no need for a barbarian who is not blessed by my lord to exist. ”

The shadow seemed to sigh, and then stepped forward.

"Look at your outfit, it's from the Shadow Owl Clan. ”

"I'm the Shadow Owl. The man raised his head, his tone a little arrogant, "I didn't expect you to know our clan, which surprised me a little. Unfortunately, I don't know your name, but I think it's not a simple character. ”

As he spoke, he glanced at Francis, who was about to leave.

"Do you think that your bishop, who has no one to protect you, can escape the pursuit of our clan?"

"He's not a rat and should be able to hide from owls. ”

"Really?" Shadowlord shrugged, "but in my opinion, he's not even a mouse." ”

"That's because you couldn't see him. The shadow was calm, "Your bias is too heavy, so the way you look at people is not so accurate." ”

The Shadow Owl was silent for a moment.

"Anyway, if he dies, then it doesn't matter what kind of person he is. It's a shame that I can't hunt down the Bishop of the Syrodibs with my own hands, but you're definitely in my way, right?"

"Yes, this is also the first time I have fought with the White Dimen. ”

"Me too. Shadowlord flashed his weapon, a pair of feather-shaped daggers, "You said I was biased, but I still have respect for you, and this will be a battle to remember." ”

"Yes? ”

An invisible whirlwind rolled up in the night, and the battle took place without the knowledge of the inhabitants of the Empire. Although it was tragic and cost dozens of lives on both sides, no one knew what was going on here until the next morning.

The ignorant citizens could only see the pit in the ground, and the carriage and the corpses in the pit were gone, and they could not speculate what was going on.

Unlike the foolish people, Arnold knew what was going on before he received the report.

The cold mountain army that monitored the Basilica of Hadith last night did not see Francis return to the church, and Francis was missing, but Arnold thought that the people of White had taken Francis, and whether they were alive or dead, the chief cardinal of the Church was a good card for them.

Arnold can be confident that with this card, the White Ground will soon be able to open up the situation in the Mirror Lake Territory.

"It's time to leave, too. Arnold put down the report and muttered to himself.

Although he was a little uneasy about the fate of Francis, Arnold also knew that if he delayed any longer, the army of the White Dins would really come over.

"Now, let's deal with Iscario's business. ”