The doors of the Kestrel Academy are still closed, and there is already a winter break stipulated by the academy in winter, and the thin snow on the ground catches everyone off guard. The Kestrel Academy was supposed to be empty, but Avi could hear some loud conversation coming from inside the academy through the gate, and he guessed who was talking as he walked towards the side door that wouldn't close.

As Avi had guessed, those men were all members of the Capital Overseer. They stood in groups of three or five in the open space, discussing in low voices while listening to the speech of the "senior member" on the stage. Avi had already learned that the growing Capital Overseer had become the largest student organization within the Kestrel Academy, with more than half of the total number of Kestrel Academy students joining them. There are also many former students who have already graduated and become the backbone of various parts of the kingdom have applied to join, but these former students of different status have not yet been approved by the representatives.

On the one hand, their growing voice has been noticed by some important nobles, and secondly, Avi himself has not figured out what the students of the Capital Supervision Council have planned, and what the border nobles behind them have planned.

Avi, who was loyal to Bradley, silently passed by the square, and some of the inattentive members of the Capital Overseer noticed the young cadet in cadet clothes, but with the status of a knight, walking by, and they all stared at Avi and whispered.

"That pathetic Imperial man is just a pawn used by the Regent, he doesn't really take himself seriously, does he?"

"Knight, I don't think he even has the qualifications to be a knight's squire, and I don't know how he relied to get into the hands of the regent. ”

"He seems to have some personal relationships with the 'Frost Queen', which is really hard to tell from the outside..."

Avi endured the gossip and went to the room of the head of the academy, Dugol, the foreign secretary with eyes like green beans was sitting on a wide chair covered with a thick blanket, he was wearing too many clothes, he kept fanning himself with a fan, Avi opened the door The moment his expression relaxed, and a cool breeze followed.

"Avi, I came to you today but I have good news for you! You also know that you are no longer an ordinary student, so many times you have to care about not only your studies, but also some of the Kestrel Academy... Important things, the Lord Regent, he must also hope that you, who are still studying in the academy, will have more understanding and control over this academy. ”

Avi had already clearly understood what kind of person Dugor was, the other party was much more clever than Gronos and Heck, and there were not many people who could completely save themselves from that incident.

"I know my duties and responsibilities, the responsibilities of a knight. ”

"That's good, then I'll tell you now, I'll probably stop asking about the Kestrel Academy for a long time..."Dugol finally lowered his voice, Avi couldn't tell if the other party was happy or lost, "My original identity was the foreign minister of the kingdom... But as you know, during the reign of King Byron, our diplomacy was basically very smooth, but now it is different, and the Regent of Bradley has a new diplomatic strategy, and it is estimated that in two weeks I will leave for the Duchy of Delamain, and then the Duchy of Noel and the Republic of Marvier. ”

Dugol's words made Avi realize that the last time Eggsy said to him in private was true, Bradley began to set his eyes on the outside world, the entire continent, after calming down the affairs of the country in half a year.

Dugol suddenly raised his voice and continued: "But the Kestrel Academy, as the most important military academy in the Kingdom of Salins, is highly valued by the people of the whole country and the queen, and there can be no academy director here, and there can be no one who can lead the cadets forward, so the regent has decided on the candidate for the acting academy president, and I hope that Avi, as the representative of the outstanding students, can assist the acting academy president and handle all aspects of affairs." ”

"Acting Headmaster?" Avi's mind flashed a few names.

"That's right, the new Secretary of State for Intelligence who succeeded Heck, Reeves. ”

Reeves. Avi's mind immediately flashed Reeves' appearance. The tall, thin, mysterious man in the white mask had never been seen before that night, and Avi had never heard of the name, nor did he know that King Byron had been planning and calculating all along. To Avi, this man was unfathomable, for he had not been seen in public since he had been given a Minister of Intelligence, and he was also a friend or foe, the man who had provided King Byron with that terrible plan, and had never been on the side of Prince Bradley from the beginning.

"Reeves... My lord, why is he coming here to be the acting dean?"

"You're so close to Lord Regent Bradley, I'm sure you can find out for yourself," Dugol put down his fan and began to pull out the thick book that had kept an account of the Kestrel Academy's many years, "but ah, this Lord Reeves is really out of sight of the day and the night. He's only been seen twice since that incident, and I wouldn't have been able to run into him if I hadn't happened to go to the regent. This was the last thing Digor said to Avi, who had not seen Digor since he left the headmaster's room, and Digre, who had said that he would leave in two weeks, had left the Kestrel Academy that night.

The matter of Reeves the masked man made Avi very concerned, because the Kestrel Academy had a lot of influence in the succession dispute, and now the strength of the Capital Overseer and Reeves's sudden intervention seemed to imply that this kingdom secret, which was supposed to impart knowledge, could become the next place where strife arose. Avi didn't want the students of the Kestrel Academy to be caught up in chaos because of something, this was a place that Avi cherished so much, and now the Academy's ghosts and the Capital Overseer had become a hidden danger.

Avi soon meets Reeves, the masked man, again, as the regent Bradley has sent Gadia to invite Avi into the palace for an important meeting.

"What an important meeting... Wake people up at five o'clock in the morning, and don't let people sleep!?" Big Nose Fan was also woken up, he rubbed his eyes while peeking at Avi who was getting dressed and washing, and he had to close the door for Avi later.

"I don't know, I didn't give advance notice before..."Avi's heart had already flown to the palace, but he learned to calm and hide, and after a brief tidying, he followed Jiadia to the palace quickly.

At this time, Mallote was at its coldest hour, and Gadia, who was silent, made Avi feel a chill that was different from what his body felt. Avi knew that Gadia wasn't as "talkative" as Eggsy, so he didn't expect to know the purpose of the trip before he got there.

As she was about to enter the council chamber, Gadia suddenly changed direction and led Avi towards a garden. There were no stone slabs on this stretch of road, so Avi and Gadia basically walked on the grass. Not long after, two guards without torches appeared in front of Avi, and next to the guards were Bradley's subordinate William.

"Why haven't you gone in yet?" asked Gadia cautiously.

"I want to be in the company of other people. "William, a diminutive man, has risen to prominence, and he has become an important officer in charge of Mallot's supplies, both food and armaments.

"Let's go, then. ”

The three of them then walked into a wooden house built in the center of the garden, which was equipped with various weeding tools, and a half-open entrance to the tunnel immediately appeared in front of Avi's eyes, and William's expression was similar to Avi's.

"This is the secret council chamber of the palace, William and Avi are all here for the first time, be careful not to leak the situation here. ”

"Understood. ”

The three of them soon passed through the tunnel, and came to a large bronze gate guarded by Bradley's personal guards. Avi noticed that the other side of the hallway led to the depths, where oil lamps hung on either side of the wall every one meter, and it seemed to be a very mysterious place in the palace.

The guards pushed open the bronze door, and everyone in the underground chamber turned their eyes on Gadia. Avi immediately saw Bradley, Eggsey, the bald general Guillermo, the masked man Reeves, Feremon and others, as well as some of the nobles and nobles of the kingdom that Avi had seen in the palace, but the total number of people who appeared here was only about a dozen, and it was completely lacking in the usual grandeur of the court meeting.

Everyone was gathered around a long mahogany table, on which in addition to the quilt was placed a boxy map and some markers. The underground chamber is also small, and it reverberates when someone speaks or steps heavily.

"It's all here," Gardia reported as he walked over to Bradley, who was standing at the front of the chamber with his back to the group, "and the meeting can begin." ”

Avi made a note of the people who could come here for the meeting, they were definitely Bradley's trusted people, and they were also the most powerful people in the Kingdom of Salins, otherwise this meeting at five o'clock in the morning would not have made these people's expressions so solemn.

Bradley turned around, he was still as resolute and deep as ever, "There shouldn't be many people who know the purpose of today's meeting, the people who can attend this meeting tonight are the people I trust the most, you are all the pillars that support the Kingdom of Salins, I need to tie the national fortune of the Kingdom of Salins to you, if any of you are scared because of this, you can raise it now, I will not be held responsible." ”

Maybe some people are nervous, maybe some people are forced to attend, but no one dares to show uneasiness on their expressions. Everyone, including Avi, was silent.

"Very well," Bradley scanned the crowd again, "there's only one agenda for tonight's meeting, and that's... A plan was made to unify the continent. ”