The Newman family's castle is located at the northernmost point of the central axis of the city of Bena, and the building covers nearly forty acres, and the whole complex is like a castle within a city.

The whole complex is in the typical Rococo style, all the buildings are very ornate and elaborate, and the cloisters and arches have a maritime flavor in many places, and the patterns of fish scales and shells are all over almost all the buildings.

The Newman Family Castle is arguably the most ornate and exquisite building in the whole of Pena, several times more magnificent than the Mage Tower on the East Side and the Lady of Liberty Temple on the West Side.

The Newman family has been in control of Bednar Province for nearly 800 years, and the biggest problem faced by many aristocratic families is that there are no descendants with good enough blood to accept the family inheritance, and the leaders of each generation of families need to have extraordinary abilities in order to lead the huge family to continue to run on the track of history.

In the hall on the first floor of the administration building, the cast-iron throne on the main throne was still empty, it was supposed to be the seat of Duke Newman, but the Duke was currently leading the Bednar Legion on the Warsaw plane, and the last time he saw Duke Newman sitting here was three months ago.

Lady Dorothy sat in a chair under the stage, and behind her stood two handmaidens, the swordswoman Talis. Newman stood behind Lady Dorothy, and several other members of the Newman family, including the captain of the castle guard, took their seats on either side of the hall.

As the younger sister of Duke Newman, Mrs. Dorothy now holds the power of the Newman family's business management, and she will determine the direction of the Newman family's business in the next few years, and in the four years since she took over the Newman family's business, Mrs. Dorothy has opened the Newman family's trading business to several other important provinces of the Green Empire, with remarkable achievements and is deeply trusted by the Duke of Newman.

Grand Knight Glenn, the chief officer of the guard battalion, sat across from Mrs. Dorothy and told her about the whole incident that night before.

The hall was quiet, and Grand Knight Glenn wasn't loud, but everyone present could hear it.

"This has to be done with the witcher Cagle. Coward reported to the guard camp that a dark magician who was hiding very well in the Maple Leaf Fence Hotel said that the second captain of the Guard Battalion Knights, Viscount Kincaid, was on duty that night, and he immediately led his men to the Fence House Hotel after hearing about it, but they did not find Cagle at that time. The dark mage that Coward said was instead in the corridor on the third floor of the hotel's aristocratic quarters saw Baron Surdak from the Hylanza Guard Battalion. ”

"You must be thinking, what am I mentioning this Baron Surdak for, might as well hurry up and get to the point......"

Everyone in the hall listened attentively, and when they heard Grand Knight Glenn laugh at himself, they all smiled, which made the atmosphere of inquiry a little lighter, and only Lady Dorothy was slightly startled when she heard the name 'Surdak'.

Grand Knight Glenn caught this moment and casually asked, "Lady Dorothy, do you know Baron Surdak?" ”

Lady Dorothy's face was still a little haggard, she nodded slightly, and replied: "I am very impressed by this name, because it is very special, because he has no surname and is a nobleman, I met this baron on the airship flying from the city of Highlanza to the city of Bena a few months ago, he met the Count of Ite in the city of Highlandza, we also played cards together on the magic airship, he made a deep impression on me, he is a taciturn knight. ”

After such a long time, there is only one side on the magic airship, and she can still remember Surdak's name clearly, I have to say that Lady Dorothy's memory is outstanding.

"So you know Baron Surdak, so something makes sense." Grand Knight Glenn frowned and said loudly.

The other members of the Newman family in the castle hall also began to discuss the name Surdak one after another, but no one had heard of it.

The Grand Knight of Glenn put his fist to his mouth and coughed lightly twice before saying:

"Please allow me to finish the whole process of this matter, and we will have at least one day to discuss."

The hall immediately fell silent.

Grand Knight of Glenn continued: "Thanks to the Witcher Cagle. Coward's intelligence was wrong, and the guard battalion did not find any trace of the black magician in the siege hotel, so Viscount Kincaid immediately decided to lead the knights back to the guard camp, and they decided to leave through the north gate of the walled hotel, in consideration of seeing if they could find some clues about the black magician on North Street, but when the knights of the guard camp walked to North Street, they found that there was a fight in the townhouse across North Street, and even a chair flew out of the window and fell on the street. ”

The nobles in the hall let out an exclamation, and Grand Knight Glenn seemed to have led everyone to North Street that night.

Glancing around, Grand Knight Glenn continued: "It was snowing heavily in the night, and a group of Talapa hunters were standing guard on the roof of the attic in the night, and our knights rushed up at once, and before they could be questioned regularly, a street fight began. The hunters, armed with a large number of bows and arrows, overwhelmed the knights of the guard battalion on the roof, and our knights rushed into the room where the battle took place, and the four guards and maids were already dead on the first floor, and by the time we found the swordsman of Algernon on the second floor, he had already died on the spot, and the hunters had fled through the back door with Lady Dorothy, leaving only a line of footprints on the scene. ”

"Due to the heavy snow covering many traces, and it was late at night, our guard battalion knights did not chase down the group, but we also did some remedial measures, and Viscount Kincaid immediately applied for martial law at the city gate, and spread outward to investigate and arrest the Maple Leaf Walled Hotel as the central point."

Lady Dorothy knew that the Pena City Guard Battalion had gathered almost all the knights that night to conduct a city-wide search.

Grand Knight Glenn said: "Just the next morning, the 10th Brigade of the Guard Battalion located in the south of the city got a clue that there were three hunters hanging on the Giant Tree Square in the south of the city, our knights rushed over, one of the hunters had frozen to death that night, and the other two hunters also only had a faint heartbeat, and their bodies were seriously hypothermic, and after the inspection of the guards battalion knights, these three hunters were the culprits who kidnapped Mrs. Dorothy. ”

"They have been staying on the second floor of the civilian area of the Dandelion Hotel during this time, and that night, Mrs. Dorothy should have been taken to the second floor of the hotel by them, and was later rescued before being transferred to a room in the aristocratic area with a better environment."

"In fact, as far as we know, Knight Surdak left the Maple Leaf Wailou Hotel that night with a female companion, and it is even more coincidental that he also checked into the Dandelion Hotel with that female companion that night."

Lady Dorothy raised her head, looked at Grand Knight Glenn, and said with some surprise, "You mean to say that Baron Surdak has something to do with this kidnapping?" ”

"Although his name is not left in the register of the Dandelion Hotel, the investigators of our guard battalion have learned from the lobby manager of the Dandelion Hotel that night that the nobleman who stayed that night is basically the same as the Baron Surdak we described, in fact, the room you slept in that night was set by Baron Surdak, and he even hired a maid to watch the fireplace."

"So we have good reason to prove that it was Baron Surdak who saved you, and it was he who subdued and hung those hunters from the giant trees in the square, and we tortured the two hunters who did not know Baron Surdak."

Grand Knight Glenn told the information gathered by the guard battalion, and Lady Dorothy knew who was behind her, but she immediately asked puzzledly, "Then why is that Baron Surdak reluctant to show up?" ”

He stood up and walked a few steps in the hall before saying, "Regarding this, our guard battalion has also carried out a detailed investigation these days, and there are some clues at present, but since they have not been confirmed from the person concerned, these are just some speculations. ”

"This topic also goes back to Cagle the Witcher. Koward reported to the guard battalion that he had found a dark mage, and according to our understanding, the Surdak knight also had a female companion by his side, and this female companion was very likely to be a dark mage, so Surdak was reluctant to appear in public this time, after all, the Grimm Empire Magic Guild wanted dark mages from all over the country. ”

Lady Dorothy asked, "You mean Baron Surdak has a close relationship with the Dark Arts Retreat?" ”

Grand Knight Glenn said: "On the contrary, Surdak and the Dark Arts Hermit should have some grudges, as far as we know, Surdak completely eradicated the local Dark Arts Hermitage Secret Research Institute in Hylantha City with the Hylandsa Guard Battalion, and when dealing with the Red Dragon Treasure incident later, there were also members of the Dark Arts Hermitage involved, and we are sure that some of the Black Arts Retreats died at the hands of Baron Surdak's knight team." ”

"So is there any other reason?" Lady Dorothy asked curiously.

Grand Knight Glenn nodded, and said, "That's right, the reason for Surdak's reluctance to show his face was confirmed by many high-ranking officers of our guard battalion the next night, and Baron Surdak was seen at the ball held at the Marquis Luthor's house. ”

It wasn't uncommon to attend the ball of the upper nobles, so everyone around them waited for Grand Knight Glen to continue.

"And as far as we know from the knights who attended the ball at the Marquis Luther's palace at the time, Baron Surdak came to Bednar this time to propose to Miss Hathaway, the beloved daughter of the Marquis of Luther, and it is estimated that he did not want to make a fuss the night before...... Besides, he had a female companion by his side at the time, and if the matter was made public, Miss Hathaway's proposal would probably be affected. Grand Knight Glenn said

Tallis, the swordswoman standing behind Lady Dorothy, asked, "So the results of your investigation are ......?" ”

"The mysterious man who helped Lady Dorothy out of her predicament, but did not want to identify herself, is Baron Surdak." Grand Knight of Glenn said.

Lady Dorothy heard Grand Knight Glenn say this, the haze on her face for many days was swept away, and even the corners of her mouth rose slightly, and she said with great interest: "It's actually him, but I didn't expect it to be from Marquis Luthor's side." ”

The death of the swordsman of Algernon has dealt a great blow to Mrs. Dorothy, and she is planning a more fierce counterattack in recent days, but a large number of the main army of the Newman family are now on the battlefield in Warsaw, and some people in the Newman family do not agree with Mrs. Dorothy to stir up trouble in Bena Province at this time.

There is a lot of controversy within the family, but this matter cannot be put on hold, which involves the face of the Newman family.

And there was no way to appease Lady Dorothy's anger, and God knows what excesses the sentimental countess would do.

Grand Knight Glenn's visit to the castle of the Marquis of Newman this time is mainly to illustrate the subsequent progress of this matter.

Lady Dorothy did not show any signs, she got up from her chair and walked out of the government hall on the first floor of the castle with her two maids......

……

At this time, Surdak was sitting in a magic caravan, the curtains of the caravan were lowered, and he looked through the gap between the curtains at the shops across the street.

The most conspicuous position of the plaque outside the door of this shop is the coat of arms of the Gophilo family, and on the back of the plaque is written Rossi Leather Store, the door of this leather shop is very deserted, and there are almost no customers in the morning, who let such a sluggish shop abound in the city of Bena, but for the Gophilo family, at least for the time being, when various family businesses have closed down, this leather shop can at least remain functioning for the time being.

However, due to the inflated prices of hides and skins by leather dealers in other dimensions, the leather shop is currently unprofitable.

The Gophilo family does not have its own hunting party, and all the leather is purchased from various adventure groups, so many times the market fluctuations have a great impact on the sound of the Gophilo family's leather.

Sophia's information to Surdak describes this leather shop in detail, and the Gophilo family is currently interested in letting the Southern Lord take a stake in the Rossi Leather Shop, and Baron Harvey, the son of Count Gopphilo, is actively communicating with Baron Jack, the representative of the Southern Lord, intending to facilitate this matter in the near future.

Surdak felt someone from the business house come out and quickly lowered the curtains.

Walking in front is a noble son, with long golden hair that reaches to his ears, and he is very thin but very energetic.

He was followed by a slightly fat young nobleman, and the two seemed to be discussing something.

Surdak opened the window of the car and vaguely listened to the noble boy Jack on the other side. Kennelly said: "In fact, I need to have a stable supply, the family's slave camps need to consume a lot of leather every year for productive work, saddle covers for horses and other agricultural tools, which used to come from the Pai Plateau, and we buy them through the trading houses of the imperial capital, and even if there are middlemen, the price of those one-horned bison hides is quite low......