Victor's convoy was on its way home, and thirty wagons full of goods were added to his convoy compared to when they came, these were temporary supplies from the Yorks on credit to Victor, and when they returned to Blackcastle, they needed to pull thirty carts of purple cane in return.

Balor sat cramped in the spacious carriage, thinking worriedly, the lord had summoned him into the carriage for an hour, but he did not say a word, only closed his eyes and recuperated, while the maid beside him played with a short sword, and looked at him vigilantly and curiously, with a hint of malice.

The adults did not speak, and Barol did not dare to speak. Out of professionalism, he still silently observed some details, the floor of the carriage was covered with a wool mixed carpet, eighty percent of it was new and clean, although it was worth a lot of money but it was not precious, the nobles used this kind of carpet looked a little shabby, how could the nobles with a background also lay a whole bear skin.

There is also a strange four-wheeled carriage, the carriage is a sturdy oak carriage, but the exterior of the carriage is not wrapped in copper skin, nor is it ornately carved. And the base of the carriage was a structure that Barol had never seen, the wheels were small in front and large in the back, and they were wrapped in a kind of lizard skin, and Barol sat in the carriage for an hour without feeling any obvious bumps.

Outside the carriage were a dozen cavalrymen, these cavalry were very strong, but their movements were full of mercenaries, their weapons and shields were always in the most convenient place, and they were mostly about forty years old, and Barol was very sure that they were all mercenary-born guards.

The most important thing is that there are no knights in the convoy, and there are very few lords who do not travel with knights, which is not only unsafe, but also shameless.

Unadorned carriages, mercenary guards, no knights accompanying him, in Balor's experience, the owner of this convoy was more like a merchant than a nobleman, but Balor knew that this was an illusion, and the young lord in front of him was not only noble but also profound. Because, he is the baron of the Wimbledon family.

As a secret agent, Barol knew that the surname Wimbledon had a long history, dating back thousands of years, and although the family had long since fallen apart, there was no doubt about their heritage, otherwise, how could the young baron have a dead man to work for him?

Two days ago, when the coachman did not hesitate to kill the paladin, Balor understood that his opportunity had come. He knew that only the dead would not care about the identity of the holy warrior. This also illustrates three issues, first, that he is valuable to this nobleman. Second, this nobleman did not have manpower, otherwise he would not have sent a dead man to arrest a small person like him. Thirdly, this nobleman is very well-established, and the inhuman creature of the dead can only be cultivated by large families, and the dead soldier comparable to the apprentice knight, Barol has never heard of it, but he has seen it.

Baron Victor has no manpower, but he has an unfathomable background, and he is an excellent candidate worthy of Barrol's refuge.

Barol was determined to show his worth, and it seemed to him that the Baron had left him for an hour to test his patience, so he sat there honestly, motionless, patience was an important quality of the family's shadows.

People who want to climb up will always speculate on the thoughts of those on top, but this is only speculation, and Victor didn't bother with Barol because he was still sorting out the gains and losses of the trip to Blackcastle.

During this trip to Black Castle, Victor's purpose was basically achieved, forming an alliance of interests with the York family and maintaining the independence of the territory, which was reflected in the franchise agreement and notarized before God.

The franchise agreement states that Victor's purple cane will be sold to the York family for 18 copper soles per liter, which is equivalent to 9 copper soles a cup, which will remain unchanged for 30 years. The Yorks, on the other hand, were open to Victor's food supply, but the price had to be traded at market prices.

Victor protested, demanding that the Yorks keep the price of 3 copper soles a pound of barley for 30 years, but Sylvia firmly refused. There are two reasons for Sylvia, firstly, the population of Victor's territory will increase, and secondly, it is Victor's wife who is manipulating the price of grain in the Kingdom of Gambis, and Victor can buy cheap grain from Sophia.

Victor had nothing to say, it was obvious that Sylvia would prefer Victor to buy food from the other lords, and the purple cane wine was already under her control anyway. It was kind to her to be able to open up to Victor and sell food.

Then there are the swift birds, and Victor needs to provide two pairs of chicks to the York family for free every year for 8 years, and the York family will buy purple cane leaves from Victor for 1 copper cord and 3 pounds to feed these large birds for 30 years.

Victor was very angry, not because of the greed of his opponent, but because the Yorks had infiltrated him deeply.

The Yorks offered to ask for the chicks directly because the adult swift birds were short-tempered and would turn around and peck at the rider at the slightest disappointment, which was fatal to the average cavalryman. If you want to tame the swift bird, you must start with the chicks, and only then will the swift bird obey its owner. This is the knowledge that Busso imparted, and not many people know about it, but the York family is well aware of it. Victor can imagine that in less than eight years, the York family will have a flock of swift birds.

Eventually, Sylvia said that the York family would not interfere in the coffee business, and Victor agreed to the unequal terms.

The York family gave up the coffee business, and Victor was puzzled, he didn't understand why the York family was soft on coffee, so he went to ask Sylvia, but the beautiful countess smiled and didn't say a word, and hooked him to the bed with only a pair of big watery eyes.

Overall, the agreement was so unfair that the Yorks didn't even explicitly say they would protect the fragile Victor Collar.

But Victor knows that the inequality of the agreement is due to the inequality of power. As long as the York family does not have its own purple cane resources, it will always protect Victor's territory, and if there is a stronger force than the York family that covets Victor's purple cane, even if the protection clause is specified in the agreement, it is useless.

But Victor doesn't care, what he really wants to rely on is cane sugar, and from another point of view, this agreement is more beneficial to him. Just as he didn't expect Purple Cane to have strategic value, Sylvia didn't expect Victor to have such a thing as Cane Sugar. Now that the value of purple cane wine exceeds that of sucrose, he has also given it up, and the sucrose has been preserved.

"No one is left to spare. Victor sighed.

"What do you mean, sir?" Lilia asked happily as Victor finally spoke.

"Nothing, just casually. Victor laughed, he had no intention of explaining.

Although Lilia is smart and a fast learner, it will take a little time to become her assistant. Thinking of this, Victor set his eyes on Barol opposite.

"You're the hyena leader who calculated me?"

"My lord, I have no choice but to resist the sheriff's order. I beg you to spare your life. Balor explained as he wiped the cold sweat from his head.

"Don't pretend, you don't have any sweat on your head at all, when you first got into the carriage, you carefully looked at the base and wheels of the carriage, your pupils shrank, after getting into the carriage, although you looked panicked, but your heartbeat was very steady, and you also observed the situation in the carriage very covertly, am I right?" Victor sneered, within two meters, Baror's every move could not be hidden from him.

Balor's face turned pale, and he said astringently: "The steward of the Velpan family preached that the lord did not awaken the knightly talent, but he didn't expect the lord to be a knight. ”

"Tell me who you really are. Victor was proud, but he looked light.

Balor wiped the cold sweat from his head again, this time it was a real cold sweat.

"Lord Baron, I am a spy trained by the Griss family since childhood, and I used to work for Duke Gris, but then the duke was hanged, and I fled to Castle Black, and became a hyena leader. ”

"Why did you take the initiative to come back with my men?" Barol not only stopped a big trouble, but also took the initiative to cooperate with Shak, which is what Victor is most curious about.

Balor glanced up at Victor and then bowed his head and said, "I think the adults might use me, and I want to eat under the hands of the adults." ”

Since Victor didn't mention the matter of the Paladins and the Dead, Barol wouldn't have taken the initiative to mention it.

Victor smiled faintly, and he said: "When I was young, I saw a gopher hole, and I was curious about what the gopher looked like, so I asked the servant to fill it with water, and when the gopher ran out, I ordered the servant to trample the gopher to death. Lilia, do you think the gopher thinks I need it?"

Lilia blinked, she didn't understand what Victor meant, so she said honestly, "My lord, I usually let old Hamm roast it." ”

Victor suddenly had a black line in his head.

Fortunately, Barol was still informed, and he said in a deep voice: "My lord, that's because you found the gopher useless to you. ”

That's how you taught monkeys, and you taught monkeys to accept their fate, and the irony is that you're running for your life. ”

Balor smiled dryly, "My lord, that's just a means to train your subordinates. If you are a human being, you will be afraid of death, and the secret agent is also a human being, and you will surrender in the face of torture, and you will only commit suicide if you really have no way to live, just to suffer less crime. ”

"That's quite sincere. Victor nodded.

Barol was telling Victor in a veiled way that he had no intention of dying for the Griess, and that he only wanted to play under Victor. If he talks to Victor about loyalty and fearlessness, he is looking for death.

Victor's biggest hidden danger now is the murderer hidden in the shadows, he has no idea who the murderer is or why the murderer killed him. But to be able to use a wizard as a killer, the power of this murderer must be very amazing.

Judging from the current situation, the Marquis Sophia is the most suspicious, but the possibility is very small. Therefore, Victor knocked on the side to find out from Sylvia whether Sophia asked her to take care of herself, Sylvia avoided talking about it, she just told Victor not to have illusions about Sophia, obviously the countess wanted Victor to give up Sophia and join the camp of the York family, but she must not know about Victor's assassination, otherwise she would definitely use this matter to make Victor obedient.

Judging from some details, Victor is more inclined to believe that Sophia is trying to protect the little baron, and spends a lot of money to arrange for him to take refuge in the Centaur Hill.

If it turns out to be as Victor had guessed, this would be the worst possible outcome.

How powerful Sophia is, Victor doesn't really know, but it's definitely bottomless, she's too rich. In his memory, there were four knights known to Victor in the Marquis's Mansion, and all four of them were resident in the Marquis's Mansion. Sophia also has four chambers of commerce under her name, which trade between countries all year round, and the caravans engaged in trade are also protected by knights. If even Sophia can't protect the little baron, then how strong is this murderer's power.

However, Sophia sent the little baron to the centaur hills, indicating that she thought that as long as the little baron left her side, she would be safe, and not sending knights to protect the little baron was more like an exile, and this gesture was most likely made for the murderer to see. At the same time, she secretly asked Sylvia to take care of her little male pet, but she didn't tell Sylvia the truth, and the forces she couldn't afford to offend must be a big trouble.

Victor was very anxious, he used X-3 to comb through all his memories, and he didn't find out who the little baron had offended, or what secrets had been discovered? At present, it was only certain that Sophia must know everything, and Victor would be doomed as long as he returned to the Marquise's side.

No matter who you are, if I find out, I'll let you die!"

Barol was half frightened to death by Victor's cold eyes, he didn't know if he had said the wrong thing, and the cold sweat was really gargling down at this time.

"Barol, tell me, how did the family secrets be cultivated?" Victor calmed down and asked the old secret agent.

"My lord, the shadows don't need to be cultivated, they only need to invest, they may be a villain, they may be a cleaner, they may be a businessman, most of them don't know that they are shadows. We can get a lot of information when we invest in them, build relationships with them, and observe their actions. For example, a groom who drives a chariot for a nobleman, observing the rules of his life, can know the rules of the nobles' activities. Balor said cautiously.

"Didn't you cultivate you since childhood?" Victor was a little surprised, but he didn't expect that the shadows were all ordinary people.

"My lord, the spy is what the family has cultivated since childhood, the spy is more like a spider, constantly weaving webs, the shadows are our webs, and intelligence is our prey. ”

"Every agent has his own field, a spy who is good at business, and most of his network is merchants and peddlers, and he analyzes intelligence from transactions. Like I have been raised to be a villain since I was a child, I am good at fighting in hyenas, and those villains, wandering warblers, and small bosses may become my shadows unknowingly. ”

"Do you still have a net?" asked Victor curiously.

"My lord, the identity of the spy is changeable, and if an identity is exposed, the net will be gone, so the spy is proficient in makeup and finding a stand-in. This time I faked my death and escaped, that is, I found a free man of the same size and age as me on the way to migrate, I secretly observed his movements, the features on his body, imitated his voice, and used makeup to make my appearance similar to him little by little, and finally, I lured my pursuer to his residence, and then he became my substitute. ”

"You're despicable!" Lilia yelled.

Barol didn't argue, just smiled bitterly, he had been trained like this since he was a child.

"It's despicable indeed. Victor patted the maiden on the shoulder to show that he was in a trench with her, but it was a pity that he too had to train these vile agents.

"Balor, give you a chance to prove your worth. Victor continued, "There are also secret sons or spies of other families among my people, and I want you to dig them out." Can you do it?"

Balor whispered, "Your Excellency, you want your soldiers to fight, and you need to give them weapons. You want the farmer to plow the land, and you need to give them farming tools. ”

"What do you need?" asked Victor impatiently.

"I need time. Barol gritted his teeth and said that he wanted more manpower, but he didn't dare to mention it, he wanted to prove his worth.

"How long will it take?" Victor wouldn't let him sloppy.

"My lord, I don't know the specific situation yet, but don't worry, I will definitely be able to find out, the secret agent will not be exposed when collecting information, but as long as the information is transmitted to the outside world, it will definitely reveal flaws, and I am familiar with the various means of transmitting information. Balor hurriedly reassured.

"I'm looking forward to your performance, the results of the investigation, just tell me secretly. You can go out now. ”

When Barol stepped out of the carriage, Lilia asked Victor, "Victor, can this guy be trusted?"

"I can't be trusted, but I'm going to pull out all his means. ”