Crowis cautiously followed Captain Roland into the grove. The royal capital guards who arrived first were ordered to stay outside.

I guess Modo's idiot should be finished, but he never saw his men come back. Clauvis immediately called the royal guards to search around, but the results were completely unexpected.

He had already made up a seamless and reasonable story of the loss of the seal, telling it in the right place at the right time and in the right way. Combined with the temper and virtue of the prime minister's son, who has long been known to everyone, anyone who hears such a story will naturally think of the bad behavior of this gentleman who stole seals and forged documents in order to avenge personal revenge. For such an accident, it is indeed difficult to blame in general. Clauis has already won the true biography of Duke Mrak in these little tricks.

But in terms of spiritual cultivation, he is obviously still far behind. The Holy Knights were almost the biggest since their establishment, and the most inexplicable casualties were at their own hands, and in his own ranks, the key was that his greatest true purpose seemed to have not succeeded, and his current expression was shocked, angry, ashamed, and uneasy.

Fortunately, Captain Roland did not notice his disciple's complicated emotions, and he carefully examined all the traces on the ground and the corpses.

As the backbone of the Imperial ** team, the Holy Knights rarely come in handy on weekdays, but once they are needed, they are all at the most critical juncture or the most tragic and arduous battles. But even so, this force, which numbered less than a thousand, never suffered any major casualties in battles with enemy troops and infidels of tens of thousands of men. Someone once made a statistic that in the face of this elite unit, the infidels and enemy troops had to give away an average of more than 1,100 heads in exchange for the heroic life of a regimental member.

There were twelve corpses here, but not ten thousand of the enemy died here, and the enemy didn't seem to have lost even a single piece of his fingernails. Captain Roland's face was ugly.

Probably out of respect for the paladins, the troops who arrived here first carefully gathered the mutilated and separated corpses of the swordsmen, put them together, and covered them with white cloths. Commander Roland looked at these neat corpses, as well as the footprints on the ground that were trampled to a mess, frowned and asked, "Where was the first army to come here?"

Crowis replied, "The fourth squad of the Royal Guard." ”

"Removed from the post of captain. There was no anger or dissatisfaction in Captain Roland's tone, but rather calm, as if he were just reading the paperwork. "When such a big event was discovered, it didn't protect the scene, and let the troops come in and destroy all the traces. Since he likes to show his respect so much, let him go to the palace gate and salute every day. ”

Clauvis looked down and replied, "Yes." ”

Roland looked at the corpse on the ground and asked. "Why did the person who stole your seal and forged documents only bring in twelve people?"

"Because these people were the only ones in my team at the headquarters at that time, I guess he didn't dare to stay longer to gather more people. Crowis replied. However, the actual situation is, of course, his covert operation, and it is inconvenient for too many people to participate in it. Not to mention the twelve swordsmen of the Holy Knights and a mage, even killing a two-legged wyvern is more than enough.

"Luckily. The cold light of an eagle vulture flashed in Captain Roland's very elegant eyes, and he said coldly. "If he takes all of your men with him, then you won't need to be the captain anymore. ”

A cold sweat broke out on Clauvis's forehead.

Roland looked at the forest that had begun to thaw. It's early summer, and all the frozen objects are slowly beginning to thaw, and the water vapor in the air is condensed, and together with the melted ice water, it flows out in a thin trickle, and people can still feel the slightest chill in front of the aftermath of this cold world created by magic.

"The opponent should be a very powerful magician. Roland's voice was colder than the woods in front of him.

"Magician?." Clauvis didn't believe it, although that guy should also use some magic, but it would never be the turn of the Empire's number one master to evaluate 'very powerful'.

Captain Roland pointed to the forest of ice sculptures. "Do you know what kind of magic can be so pure as freezing a forest without harming anything?"

Crowis also looked at the woods carefully, thought for a moment, and then shook his head hesitantly and said, "It seems that ..... don't have any magic." ”

As the squad leader of the Paladins and the apprentice of the first swordsman of the Empire, even if he can't use magic, he knows the level, casting time, attack ability and attack effect of each magic in each system. No matter how strong the effect of ice in any attack magic is, it is only an additional effect, and the most important thing should be the damage created with ice, and the forest in front of it is simply frozen, without any trace of destruction. As far as he could remember, it seemed that no magic could have caused such a strange scene.

"Yes. Captain Roland said lightly. "Desperate magic. ”

"Desperate magic?" Clauis wondered.

"There are no spell casting skills, not even any spells, only a water mage can only pour out even the most original mana at once. Captain Roland asked Crowvis, pointing to the corpse of the magician. "Do you know how high the magic level of this one of your men is?"

"Before I was transferred to my team, I used to be a senior water magic teacher in the magic academy, which means that ..... empire must be counted among the top fifty. ”

"What kind of opponent can make a high-ranking mage in the top fifty of the empire give up using spells and simply use all their mana for a desperate gamble?" The corpse's hands were still frozen on his face, and the expression on his face was still full of horror, panic, unwillingness, and despair. "It can only be a magician whose level difference is too great, so that he doesn't even have the confidence to use spells to attack. And in the end, this opponent didn't collide with his decades of cultivation at all, but he didn't know what method to use to let him hit himself. Although this opponent has an absolute advantage, he is not arrogant or impatient at all, but avoids the important and uses the most efficient and clever method...."Captain Roland sighed. His face was bookish, but now he had the look of a hunting leopard. "This is a real master. ”

Master. The word goes beyond the 'very powerful' evaluation entirely. A dragon or a Beamon beast can be very powerful, but it will never be a 'master'. And this is the 'master' in the mouth of the first swordsman of the empire.

Clauvis knew that the death of a dozen of his men was definitely not unjust.

"You said the man was sending troops to deal with a man?" asked Captain Roland, looking at Crowvis.

"This ..... It's just speculation. Crowis replied with a bowed head. "The contradiction between that person and this cousin who stole my seal is known to everyone, and my cousin is originally narrow-minded and willful, and he once led the royal guard to attack him during the last hunt, so I made this guess. ”

Captain Roland looked at his apprentice coldly and said, "You're talking about that person being a priest under Bishop Ronice, right?"

"Yes. Crowis didn't dare to raise his head.

Captain Roland's eyes fell on his apprentice's body, not very sharp, but Clauis felt as if he had also been hit by the freeze that the magician was desperately using, and even his bone marrow was chilling.

Captain Roland only sighed in the end and said nothing. Compared to these things, it is more important to analyze the real situation of this somewhat strange battle first, and it is certain that this scene will at least not be something that the priest can do.

He crouched down to take a closer look at the corpses of the swordsmen, and first noticed the most strange one. Below the waist, it was still frozen hard in a jumping position, but the head was gone. The muscles of the broken neck were mutilated, but the bones were detached from the joints, as if they had been screwed off instead of being cut by a sword, and although the left hand had been picked up and fought back with the respect of the Guards, it was still visible that it was also unscrewed. The right hand was not at all like a hand, at least half as long as it had been, and it was softly twisted like a snake, and the bones inside were undoubtedly all fragments.

Captain Roland's eyebrows furrowed. Even with his eyes, he couldn't see what kind of attack this swordsman had received, how he had such a strange death. His eyes swept over the other corpses, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

He reached out to flip the corpse, but as soon as his hand touched the corpse's exterior, a large muscle in it completely collapsed and fell off, like rotten wood that had rotted all its life. Looking at this strange change, Captain Roland's brows were knotted. He stood up and took a long breath and said to Clauvis, "There should be a corpse, find it." ”

"There are exactly twelve people here. Crowis reminded him.

"No, it should be thirteen. And the corpse of your cousin, the Prime Minister's son. Since he thinks that he can definitely kill the other party, he must have arrived here, and since the opponent can kill all twelve of your men, it is absolutely impossible to let him go. ”

Crowvis looked at the surrounding woods in wonder, the Guards had already carefully inspected the place first, and there would never be a corpse waiting for him to unearth.

But when he walked a few steps, he suddenly noticed something that looked a little familiar under a tree not far away, it was a handful of hair, combed into a small braid. He walked over and found some teeth, some broken nails, some clothes that had been corroded into strips of cloth, and some small things scattered on the ground. Because it looked like it was just a pile of garbage, the guards didn't care about it. Crowis looked at the poor relics in amazement, turned to Captain Roland and said, "It seems to be here...."

Captain Roland came over and looked at it, crouched down and rubbed a little dirt from the ground with his fingers, put it on the tip of his nose and sniffed it. His brow furrowed, but his face was as ugly as the mud. He stood up and was silent for a moment, then said to Clauvis, "Go and ask Bishop Ronis...... No, don't work for the Bishop for this kind of thing, but go and ask the Archpriest Cuthbert first. ”

Archpriest Cuthbert soon came under the leadership of Crowvis. He looked at the mutated corpses and said, "This is a spell that should be a mixture of dark magic and limb magic to manipulate corpses." Let all the life force and energy in the corpse be released in a short period of time, and the corpse will have a huge combat power in this short time. This kind of fusion spell is very difficult, and even a high-level mage should have to go through a very complex spell before it can be activated. He paused, and his already clumsy face sank even more ugly. "The one who can study and use this evil spell must be a necromancer. Hmph, you dare to haunt near the royal capital. If I bump into them, they must look good. ”

It's a pity that he didn't know that the person who used this spell was like yawning when he cast the spell, otherwise his face would have been even more ugly.

Captain Roland nodded, pointed to the hair over there, and said, "It's the same as I judged." Judging from the traces of dirt there, there was another person who had been melted alive by a huge amount of corrosive magic, leaving not even a bone...... This is indeed a technique that necromancers can only do. ”

Grand Priest Cuthbert turned his head sharply to look at Captain Roland and said, "If you have news of the necromancer, you should report it to our magic academy first, how can you people of the Holy Knights act so recklessly." His words were menacing, as this reckless act completely ignored the status of the Academy of Magic, and also deprived him of the opportunity to make the necromancers look good.

"Here's the thing..... Clauis said of his 'guess'.

"It's this guy again!" Listening to Crowvis's words, the archpriest's face looked ugly like a rag in the toilet. "He played twelve out of ten gongs. This time it has something to do with the necromancer. Probably the anger and resentment that had been building up for a long time suddenly appeared on his face, and he seemed to have affirmed that Asa's bad behavior was ironclad evidence of collusion with the necromancer. He said to Captain Roland. "Let's go directly to the Bishop and report the situation. ”

Clauis did not go with him, but returned to the Duke's palace and told the Duke of the 'accident'. He knew that even if he didn't say it, the Duke would have his own way of knowing.

The duke didn't think about it after hearing this, and immediately smiled: "Your seal is really appropriate." It was also well arranged. ”

"I'm sorry. I didn't have time to inform you of this matter because of the temporary decision, so I did it myself. Crowis was a little flustered. The tricks that can deceive others are worse than children's things in front of the duke, and he doesn't dare to hide them at all. "Because I don't think it's good for us. If we really kill him, we will have eliminated a hidden danger to some extent, and my uncle's position as prime minister will definitely not be saved. And even if it fails like this, we are completely out of the way......"

"Alright. The duke raised his hand to signal his son-in-law not to panic. "You remember everything I said very well, and that's how it should be. Although the motivation is still somewhat emotional, it does work well. The more contradictions and chaos there are in the current situation, the more advantageous it will be for those of us who are standing behind. ”

The Duke's comment immediately made Clauvis's eyebrows happy, and even his voice was full of joy: "Collaborating with necromancers is a crime that should be burned at the stake, even Bishop Ronis ....."

"Don't get excited, nothing will happen. The Duke faintly drew Clauvis's excitement to death.

In the Academy of Magic, Bishop Ronis frowned after listening to the reports of the High Priest and the head of Roland. "Is there such a thing?"

"We can assure you that it was definitely the hand of a necromancer. If it weren't for the people they were waiting for, the swordsmen who were lying in ambush wouldn't have done it. The High Priest lowered his voice, emphasizing the seriousness of the matter. "All of this suggests that the priest may have colluded with the necromancer... No, not that it is not possible, but there must be a problem. ”

Bishop Ronis frowned and shook his head slowly. "No....."

Archpriest Cuthbert nodded firmly, and said, "But the facts are in front of us, and we can't help but believe it. I think we should look into it. Send someone to arrest him now....."

Bishop Ronis interrupted the archpriest and asked, "When did you say that the swordsmen and necromancers were fighting?"

"It is assumed from the corpse that it should have been ..... this morning"

Bishop Ronis looked at the archpriest and said softly, "This morning he and I were alone in the study discussing some theological issues, so it has absolutely nothing to do with him. ”

Cuthbert immediately choked. After a while, he regained his strength and said, "But aren't you alone in the study?"

"I quietly called him, you didn't pay attention. Bishop Ronis waved his hand and pressed down on what the High Priest was about to say. "It must have been a coincidence. There is a necromancer near the royal capital, don't make a noise about this matter, so as not to cause panic among everyone, Your Majesty was scared a lot last time, let's investigate privately and be vigilant. Okay, you guys go down and make arrangements. I'm tired and need to take a break. ”

Exiting the cathedral, Archpriest Cuthbert expressed his extreme displeasure at the apparent partiality of the Bishop, and said indignantly: "It is too much. Ever since that kid came out of nowhere, the Bishop has completely changed. Not only does he often interfere in political affairs, but he also promotes the completely unorthodox guy to the rank of a high priest. And this time it's an obvious cover-up, it's something else that's reasonable, and it's related to the necromancer. ”

Captain Roland was silent and thoughtful.

Cuthbert suddenly fell silent from his excitement, thought about it for a while, glanced at the head of Roland next to him, sighed tentatively and said, "What will be the future of the Academy of Magic if this continues? Lord Bishop seems to be old......"

Captain Roland's eyes flashed sharply, forcing the second half of the Grand Priest's words back.

Seeing the returning Head of Roland at the headquarters of the Holy Knights, Clauis knew that the Duke's words were indeed true.

"Twenty years ago, the turmoil in the entire eastern continent and the civil war in the Empire were all put down by Bishop Ronis, and his prestige was absolutely unshakable both in the Church and in the Empire. Since he was going to devote himself to building that guy, he would naturally be a cover. There is no real evidence, no matter what kind of thing, with his prestige and position, there is also a way to deal with the past easily. ”

"But after all, this is related to the necromancer, and the Bishop will not be able to condone him to this extent. ”

"Necromancer...," the Duke smiled slightly, remembering something from the past. "I think the Bishop knows better than anyone else what that's all about. But it's hard for me to come forward, even if this thing is poked out, I don't know what the effect will be, so it's better to stay put. The duke thought for a moment, and smiled, smiling kindly and kindly. He said to Clauvis, "Go and help your master and let him find out the truth." It would be better to find some physical evidence or something for him or to others, although even if it is proven, it will not be conclusive, but it is good to give our esteemed bishop a little trouble. After all, the more chaotic the situation, the better it is for us, as long as we don't expose ourselves, you can secretly try to make the contradiction bigger, and it can't be sorted out a little. ”

"I see. Crowis replied with a fighting spirit.

After returning from the Academy of Magic, Captain Roland found Clauvis. As the Duke had expected, he had something for Clauis to do.

"I found this on a thorn in the woods. "Captain Roland took out a few strands of silk thread from his clothes, pink and red satin threads. "It appears to be on the woman's clothes, but there was no body of the woman at the scene. You secretly investigate it. He instructed very hard: "Remember, investigate quietly, and whatever goes wrong, you don't make a noise." You can't embarrass Bishop Ronis, just come back quietly and report it to me. ”

"Yes. Clauvis took the lovely clues and nodded in agreement.