"Whew, huh~ grunt" Stannis was woken up by his own saliva and found that he had unknowingly slept on the couch for more than two hours, and it was time for lunch.

But there were people around, but no one told him when the Duke would meet him.

Stannis wiped his saliva and was furious, "Damn, this is too much! I'm a dignified earl anyway, and I don't think of me as a lord!"

But there was still no one to tell him, and Stannis decided not to wait, but to find a place to have lunch first.

As he stood up, the maid who had received him at first walked briskly and smiled apologetically at him, "I'm sorry, Sir Justinian, for keeping you waiting, and now the master can receive you." ”

Stannis was confused, it turned out that the Duke would have time to see him at any time. However, she did not have a seizure, but followed the maid up to the third floor, and then walked towards the depths of the mansion.

Along the way, guards were used to patrol from time to time, and everyone wore the finest full-body plate armor produced by Drehem, and Stannis drooled with envy, worthy of a duke, and even the things on the body of an ordinary guard were worth more than the belongings that his lord had bought up and down.

After several more rounds, they finally stopped in front of a half-open room, which was plain in appearance, a world of difference from the splendor of the hall or hallway.

The maid knocked on the door and whispered, "Master, Sir Justinian is here." ”

A very young voice came from inside, "Come in." ”

Stannis frowned, he had heard the duke's voice, and the person inside was definitely not the duke!

The maid turned her head and smiled at him, "Please come in, Sir Justin." ”

"Isn't it Duke Garcia in there?" Stannis asked quietly.

The pretty flax-haired maid shook her head and replied to him in the same whisper, "His Royal Highness the Duke has gone to the Imperial Diet of the Empire, and now my master, Sir Pedro, is the acting Duke and manages the affairs of the Kingdom. ”

It turned out to be an acting duke!Stannis was disappointed, but amazingly, he had information about the acting duke in his head. [Pedro Don García] is the eighth son of Duke Garcia, who was originally unknown among the duke's sons, he suddenly rose half a year ago, not only led the army to win several major battles, but also used high-pressure means to make the duke's territorial income skyrocket by fifty percent, instantly became Duke Garcia's favorite son, and has a tendency to become the next duke.

After recalling, Stannis touched his chin, this guy has the value of stuttering.

The maid cautiously interrupted his recollection, "Your Excellency, please come in, the master doesn't like to wait for people." ”

Stanis pushed open the door disdainfully, and almost instantly his face changed to a flattering face full of smiles.

"Duke Garcia, let the little one congratulate here first...... What's the situation!"

The young man who had been sitting behind the desk suddenly got up and disappeared from his seat the moment Stannis pushed the door in.

When Stannis caught the man's figure again, he found that the other party had already rushed towards him with a sword, and he was shocked to find that he had fallen into a trap, and quickly reached for the sword at his waist to defend himself.

But as soon as his hand rested on the hilt of the sword, a beam of cold light had already pressed against his neck, and it was a long sword as cold as ice, and the whole body was crystal clear, but Stannis was not in the mood to praise it, because he knew that if the sword used a little more force, he would have his throat cut.

But that moment never came, but the owner of the sword began to speak.

"It's not a 'dragon terrorist' Stennis who doesn't even pull out his sword in the face of me, do you already know that I'm just testing you by doing this?"

In fact, Stannis didn't have time to draw his sword at all, but the other party thought so, so he pretended to be forced, shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's right, there is no murderous aura on your sword." ”

"Hahahaha!" the other laughed out loud and thrust the sword back into the scabbard, "You saw through it!"

Stannis breathed a sigh of relief, he was almost scared to pee. Without waiting for his master's consent, he found a place to sit down, his legs were weak. He could not observe the acting duke until the whole time, the young man looked to be the same age as himself, and in contrast to his eldest brother, Hunian, who was a knight, the whole black-haired man exuded a bookish air, more like a scholar than a warrior.

"And what are you doing here?" said Pedro straight to the point, without any politeness.

Stannis pulled out the bottle of potion containing the black liquid from his bosom and placed it on the table, "Two weeks ago, my maester wrote to His Royal Highness the Duke to report that there had been a large-scale living sacrifice in my domain. ”

Pedro nodded, he had read the letter, "I remember a farming family and more than 300 goblins being dismembered and put in a pattern. ”

"But you didn't send anyone to investigate. ”

The acting duke said disapprerovingly: "My father is busy with affairs, that little thing in your territory is really nothing, the cultists have always existed, they are constantly wandering around the principality like guerrillas, always wanting to make some big news, if all the crimes they have committed have to be investigated, I'm afraid my father will not be able to finish even if he doesn't sleep all day." ”

Knowing that he was going to shirk his responsibility, Stannis pointed his finger at the vial.

"But this time it's different, it's not the 'people' who do these things. ”

"Oh?" Pedro became interested.

"What you're seeing now is the Chaos Folk who are the culprits of this series of brutal murders, and these Blackwaters are the evidence of the monsters left behind after they died. Stennis tried to make his words sound credible.

The acting duke stared at the bottle with a solemn expression, and after a long time, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Hahaha, I'm so sorry, Sir Justinian, but I can't help it, everyone says that dragon hackers have gone crazy after that upheaval, but I didn't expect you to be so abnormal, do you want to tell me that the murderer who killed the people turned into black water after his death, and the next time it turns into green water, I'm more interested!hahaha!"

Stannis, who was ridiculed by the other side, did not have a seizure, he knew that he would not believe such a thing if he had not seen it with his own eyes.

"I know you won't believe it, but by the time you actually meet them, it's already too late. ”