"Cat?" Arnold was stunned for a moment, Lily's question made him a little confused, but finally Arnold decided to answer truthfully, "I like it, but because Serena raised Beatrice, I never had one—cats and birds can't be raised together, they are too discordant with each other." However, although I have never had a cat, I already have two cute cats. ”

"Oh-" Lily stuck out her tongue and licked her lips slightly, revealing two small tiger teeth along the way, "Then do you want to have another one?" ”

Arnold glanced at Lily, then turned her head and brushed Beatrice's feathers.

Lily felt bored with herself, so she pursed her lips and didn't dwell on the subject any longer. "But, speaking of which, that cat is very special, doesn't it? It always feels like it's like your crow, huh...... Very close look. ”

Arnold frowned, he felt the same way, but Beatrice's owner was Serena after all, even if Beatrice listened to him now, Arnold couldn't understand why.

"Why do you think that?" Arnold still kept his head down, not looking at Lily, "from your point of view." ”

"Who knows. Lily straightened up and stretched her arms widely, "I'm not a cat." ”

Arnold couldn't help but sigh, Lily really held a grudge.

——————————————

After lunch, Arnold and Lily still didn't see Kelsusa return, and they had no intention of waiting any longer. Originally, they and Kelsusa met in Pingshui, and they had no obligation to do anything for each other.

Although the afternoon sun is very strong, the streets are almost completely shaded by trees because the city of Vortagan is full of tall plane trees, so it is not too hot to go out on the streets at this time. Taking advantage of this time, Arnold planned to take a walk in the streets and see for himself what was going on in the city.

The Silver District is mainly a bazaar, and the merchants who come to Vortagan from all over the world will buy the ore produced by Vortagan here, and at the same time, the goods they bring will also be sold in the market of the Silver District, because there is almost no decent arable land in Fortagan Territory, so it relies on imports for daily food and vegetables, and Snowlen Collar is the largest supplier of grain, so merchants from White Horse City can be seen everywhere here.

Although Arnold didn't plan to defect to his cousin in the Snren Territory, he still had to use the relationship that should be used, of course, he couldn't reveal his identity right away now, and that would make the Cold Mountain Leader aware of his affairs in the Fotagen Territory in advance.

In Arnold's opinion, as the main business partner of the Vortagan Domain, Duke Snowen must have expressed a certain degree of concern about the disappearance of the Earl of Vortagen, so when he was in the hostel before, he specifically wanted to ask Snowlen about the news, just to know what role the three surrounding dukedoms played in the sudden change of the Vortagan Territory.

As the heir of Duke Leng Shan, or the original heir, Arnold still knows a lot about Leng Shan Ling, and Duke Tegman should have been planning how to get rid of himself for the past six months, and it is unlikely that he will have the spare energy to engage in another conspiracy in Fotagen.

And the Northville family of the Eastern Territory is unlikely to participate in the change of the Vortagan Territory, their goal for generations is to annex the Askar Alliance, and the direction of the strategy has always been the east, perhaps the people in the hinterland of the empire have difficulty understanding why the Northville family has the courage to challenge an opponent who defeated the empire three times, and at the same time is many times larger than the Eastern Territory, but the treacherous and stubborn family has only one goal in the eyes of the Askar Alliance, and has always been tirelessly trying to complete the feat of swallowing the elephant.

What's even more terrifying is that, judging from the current situation, the Norsvi really have the atmosphere of swallowing the entire Askar Alliance, at least at the moment, none of the city-states in the Askar Alliance, which is almost scattered, is the opponent of the Eastern Territory.

Retracting his thoughts, Arnold reconsidered the issue of Snowlon's collar. Or the two doubts that I discussed with Lily in the hot springs before, why did Count Fortagen recruit adventurers instead of using an army to clear the dwarves on Blackstone Peak, and why the Rupert family was unwilling to send these adventurers stranded in the territory to find the Earl. By figuring out these two suspicions, Arnold can see the truth of the matter, and then he can bargain with the Rupert family.

There were still quite a few people in the market, and many of the shops were unloading from the wagons, most of which were vegetables and meat from other places, including the small dried fish that Mr. Bigswolf had just eaten, and if it had not been for the rush to the field, it would have been impossible for the Fortagan Territory, which lacked water, to catch the fish.

As for fishing in the Ridi River, not to mention how many fish can be fed in such a small river, fishing in the Ridi River alone is enough for the guards led by Vortagan to arrest the anglers as criminals.

In addition to the merchants, the market is also crowded with all kinds of adventurers and mercenaries, apparently, these are the unlucky people who have been stranded in the Vortagan Territory due to the sudden termination of the mission.

Before Arnold could find a suitable Snowren caravan for Lily to get the information, he first saw a large team of adventurers, which looked like they were heading for the Black Stone Palace, the highest part of the city. And looking at their seriousness and a little apprehensive, it seems that this is the adventurer and mercenary who have united as the mercenary in the inn said.

"Are they going to negotiate with the Rupert family?" Lily looked at this team curiously, a group of adventurers and mercenaries went to negotiate with the lord, which is a rare thing, but it is not without precedent, the city-states of the Askar Alliance often fight with mercenaries, and there are also some city-states whose consuls like to rely on the accounts of the mercenaries, so the mercenaries of the Askar Alliance spontaneously formed a mercenary union, the purpose of which is to unite everyone and protect the rights and interests of the mercenaries together when such a thing as an employer defaults on the debt.

In the Empire, although this kind of thing is relatively rare, it is not impossible, but there is no such organization as the mercenary union.

Right now, this team is marching all the way from the Silver District to the Black Stone Palace, such a large team, it is impossible for the garrison in the city to be invisible, but they did not stop it, but just let these mercenaries advance.

In the eyes of some mercenaries, the actions of the garrison were a sign that the city of Vortagen had retreated to them, but in the eyes of someone like Arnold, who could see things clearly, it was more likely that the Rupert family had been prepared, and they were not afraid of the mercenaries coming to make trouble. If the garrison stops the procession, it shows that the Rupert family is not prepared to face these adventurers and mercenaries head-on.

Arnold followed the crowd all the way to the mercenary team, of course, he didn't forget to grab Lily, if he didn't grasp it, the girl who was intermittently off the line would definitely get lost. Arnold wasn't worried about Lily's safety, he was still more worried about himself, without Lily by his side, Arnold himself didn't have any combat effectiveness......

All the way to the Black Rock Palace, the castle where the Ruperta family lived for generations is said to have been the original appearance of the city of Vortagen, and later with the discovery of rich minerals in the territory, more and more people settled in the city, and the city continued to expand into the surrounding area until it became what it is today. However, the original castle and city walls have been preserved and become the current Black Stone Palace.

The Black Rock Palace is not grandiose, it is much more shabby than this prosperous city, and the style of a military fortress is not in keeping with the current city of Vortagen. However, although the Blackstone Palace looks a little shabby, its walls are extraordinarily imposing, after all, these walls were built to defend against enemies, unlike the current walls of Fortagen, which also had some purpose for planning the city. These walls were built very tall, as were the city gates, and after the development of the Vortagan territory, the Rupert family deliberately built a palace gate with obsidian produced in the collar, which is a bit of a show of wealth.

Right now, adventurers and mercenaries gathered in front of the obsidian gates to put pressure on the Rupert family.

And the Rupert family seemed to be prepared, and an old man in a gray robe who looked like a butler waited directly at the gate with a small number of guards guarding the Black Stone Palace.

Arnold noticed that the sleeves of the old man's gray robe were embroidered with a goat's head instead of the Rupert family crest, which Arnold remembered was the symbol of the Furtagan collar, the Blackstone Peak.

"Remember that symbol. While Arnold was pondering what the goat's head meant, Lily suddenly leaned into his ear and whispered in a voice that only he could hear.

"What do you mean?" Arnold hurriedly asked, "Do you know what that is?"

"I don't know. Lily pursed her lips, then looked away.

Arnold couldn't help but frown, Lily must know something. Along the way, Lily has behaved like this several times, deliberately saying that she doesn't know, knowing that she doesn't know, and making no secret of the fact that she actually knows, that kind of gesture, as if deliberately reminding Arnold, both telling Arnold what to pay attention to, and at the same time hinting at Arnold one thing - she can't tell him this information directly.

Thinking of Lily's identity, it seems that there is something hidden behind it.

In front of the Obsidian City Gate, looking at the large number of adventurers and mercenaries, the old butler was not nervous at all, and said to the mercenaries very calmly and directly: "I know your intention, it is nothing more than to ask for an explanation for the losses you have suffered due to the suspension of the mission. Once again, on behalf of the first in line to the throne of Count Fertagen, Lord Ackerman Rupert, I declare that since the sudden disappearance of Lord Count is a force majeure, the Rupert family will not be held responsible for it, and will not provide any compensation for the losses suffered by the mercenaries as a result of the suspension of the mission. ”

The old man's words immediately aroused the indignation of the adventurers and mercenaries, and a large number of mercenaries shouted loudly, angrily scolding the Rupert family for their selfishness and arrogance. The mercenaries' foul language attacked the old man, but he did not move, as if the people in front of him were not scolding him.

However, although the old butler could turn a deaf ear to the insults, he reacted immediately when he saw some of the overly angry mercenaries showing signs of drawing their weapons.

A row of archers immediately appeared on the city walls, and more guards poured out of the city gates, and it seemed that the Rupert family was well prepared with force, and they were not afraid of a sudden uprising by these mercenaries.

"The Rupert family accepts negotiations, but not violence. The old man stared coldly at the few mercenaries in the front row, and at the same time, the bows and arrows on the city wall were also aimed at them, which frightened the guys to retreat again and again, "You can send representatives to negotiate, but if you think that a large number of people can make the Rupert family submit, then the Rupert family is also obliged to fight to defend their glory." ”

The mercenary team quickly faltered, and judging from their performance, it seemed that there was no leader in this team, or rather, no one wanted to come out and be the first bird.

Arnold has no intention of continuing to watch, the ending of this farce is obvious, there is no doubt that the Rupert family easily frightened these mercenaries, after all, it is just a rabble, and they can't be expected to force the Rupert family into a mess.

"Let's go. Arnold pulled Lily and walked back towards the Silver District, "There's nothing to see, in comparison, let's look for Kelsusa, I hope he doesn't ......"

Arnold was stunned, he seemed to understand Kelsusa's purpose a little.