[Pope Paul II was assassinated! The murderer's current whereabouts are unknown! 】

The next morning, Ma Wei was eating buttery bread while reading the news in the newspaper.

The news of the Pope's assassination spread to a small border town like New Russia in just one day, and the speed was outrageous.

According to news reports, the murderer fired two shots from behind the pope, the first shot was empty, and the second shot hit the pope's heart, the specific location is not clear, but the pope has not yet woken up, is still seriously injured and unconscious, and the situation is not optimistic.

As soon as this news came out, everyone in New Ross City was in danger, not because they cared much about the Pope, but because of an indescribable oppressive atmosphere that suddenly enveloped them.

Anyone knows...

A biting cold wind is brewing.

Under the tide of the times, no one can stay away.

Even Mrs. Cecil was a little absent-minded, and was always distracted and frowning while making breakfast.

"Mrs. Cecil, what's wrong with you?"

Yunia, who didn't understand the seriousness of the matter, noticed her abnormality and asked with concern, "Are you sick?" Dad said that the quilt must be covered tightly, otherwise it will catch a cold! ”

"Nope..."

Mrs. Cecil smiled reluctantly, and kept turning her head to look out the window: "My son said that he would come back tonight, but something so big happened, I am afraid that his vacation will be cancelled..."

As a knight's squire, Cassim, the only son of Mrs. Cecil, was loyal to the knight Steele Ritter and was a wartime conscript.

In the past, once the war began, after receiving an order from the king or the lord of the castle, the lord and knight who owned the fief would organize an army and go to enlist.

However, due to the continuous change of the military system and the rapid development of the military service system, the kingdom already has a large number of permanent troops, such as the Royal Navy and the Army, and there is no longer a need for lords to lead troops to answer the call.

Today, many nobles still have their own fiefdoms, and also have some knights, but these knights are more used to maintain the security of the territory, with the continuous expansion of the Royal Navy and Army, the nobles have less and less troops in their hands, and they cannot compete with the king and parliament at all.

They don't need to contend either, after all, the House of Lords is the House of Nobles, all of which is composed of nobles, and they still hold military power, so they do not resist the military service system.

On the contrary, the military service system also reduced their financial pressure, allowing the kingdom to provide for the soldiers.

To put it simply, the current aristocracy only has a territory in name and can rent land to peasants, or develop commerce and industry, but they no longer have the previous ruling and legislative powers.

But...

Having said that, once the war is unfavorable and the loss of troops is serious, the kingdom needs to re-recruit soldiers to participate in the war, at this time, knights and territory soldiers who are far better than ordinary civilians in terms of physical fitness and weapon proficiency have become the best choice, and they still have to be called up to fight for the kingdom.

"Knight Stilld is an officer who served in the army..."

Mrs. Cecil said with great anxiety: "If the war had begun, he would have led his troops to the front!" ”

"No, it won't." Ma Wei put down the newspaper, finished eating the butter bread in his hand, wiped his hands and said: "It is true that Knight Stilld is an officer, but the army he serves belongs to the garrison of New Russia, and it is not an emergency, so it will not be sent to the front." ”

"Really?"

Mrs. Cecil's understanding of the army is not at all comparable to that of Marvey, who once served in the Royal Navy: "Won't Qasim go to the front?" ”

"Generally, no."

Ma Wei replied: "Please don't forget, in this land under our feet, there are many voices that oppose the Kingdom of Windsor and want independence, and the army is stationed here to stabilize the situation, what if they are transferred away and there is a riot?" ”

Very simple logic, very real questions, Mrs. Cecil's heart suddenly fell when she heard it.

"I'm going to trouble you to take care of the church today."

After breakfast, Ma Wei got up and said, "We are going to the village of Antois, and I am afraid we will be back in the evening." ”

“.... Okay, I got it. ”

Mrs. Cecil was accustomed to Marvey's habit of being the shopkeeper and leaving the affairs of the church to herself.

Stalls such a priest who likes to play vanished...

What can she do?

It's too hard....

................................

Greeted by the warm morning sun, the two carriages creaked out of the city, along the potholed path, towards the village of Antois, north of the city.

This time it was not a simple rat hunting task, but an investigation of the curse, and just in case, Ma Wei not only brought the cat people team, but also called Fat Tangerine.

It led dozens of experienced stray cats in the prime of life, shuttling vigorously through the jungle, closely following the carriage.

The Church of Truth...

Pouring out of the nest.

Along the way, the communication seemed a little restless, very different from the excited Yunia next to her, who was all mountaineering tourists.

"Are you nervous?" Mavi asked.

"It's not nervous..."

The source shook his head slowly: "It's that I always feel that there is something wrong with Antois Village, and my intuition tells me not to go over." ”

"The fourth prince of Arthur can't hide it for long, let's not go, the church of the three goddesses of fate will also go." Ma Wei said: "And once the Church of the Three Goddesses of Fate solves this trouble, they will have the handle of the fourth prince Arthur, and use this as a threat, which is enough to shake the status of the fourth prince Arthur as the lord of the city." ”

The matter of Antois Village has not yet been reported, and the fourth prince Arthur has concealed it well, which provides Mavi with a chance, if they can solve the curse as soon as possible, it is equivalent to doing the fourth prince a great favor, and then...

Are you still afraid that the Church of Truth will not be able to stand in New Ross?

"I'm afraid it's a trap." The communication frowned: "Have you ever thought that if the curse is man-made, then the murderer must know the situation in the village of Antois, and in this case, whoever solves the curse will not prove who has the power of the gods' gifts?" ”

"That's right."

Ma Wei nodded: "But it was the fourth prince Arthur who entrusted us to solve the curse, if he was in league with the Church of the Three Goddesses of Fate, why did he let Gentleman Sean secretly call us to Wexford City?" ”

"What's more, at the dinner held by Baron Bill, Father Satuk did not receive an invitation, and seeing him uninvited, Baron Bill's surprised eyes did not look like he was pretending."

When Father Satuk went to Baron Bill's house, the Mavi and the others did not appear, and they deliberately came one step late, in order to observe Baron Bill's reaction when he met with Father Satuk.

In other words....

If the fourth prince, Arthur, is in cahoots with the Church of the Three Goddesses of Fate, then why would they play with the Church of Truth in these twists and turns?

Both in terms of political status and the number of believers, they far surpassed the Church of Truth.

Therefore, Ma Wei concluded that Arthur, the fourth prince, did not have a cooperative relationship with the Church of the Three Goddesses of Fate, he just had his own plans.

"If the fourth prince Arthur is in a group with the Church of the Three Goddesses of Fate, he will never dare to entrust the Church of Truth to deal with the curse, as the lord of the city, he conceals the curse and does not report it, it is already a broken rule, even if he handles it well, he can't make up for his mistakes."

"If that's the case..."

The communication pondered carefully for a moment and nodded: "Maybe the situation is in our favor." ”

"Not only is it beneficial, as long as we can solve the curse, we can bind the fourth prince Arthur to the Church of Truth, and when he is collecting our information, we are also collecting information about him..."

Ma Wei turned his head to look out the window, the dead branches and trees flashed, the cold winter came, and the forest had long lost its spring color.

"Take 10,000 steps back, if things conflict with what I expected, and the Fourth Prince Arthur and the Church of the Three Goddesses of Fate have already joined forces, then we can't continue to stay in New Ross City, leaving as soon as possible and going to the Romanov Kingdom is the only way to survive."

No matter how difficult the situation was, Mavi was ready to retreat, so he dared to take over the commission of Antois Village.

War is about to break out, and no matter how slow you swallow it, I'm afraid you won't even be able to drink soup.

The rough and difficult path is not suitable for a horse-drawn carriage, and on the way, the protruding stones occasionally slump the wheels, and the carriage, which does not have any shock absorption system, sits like a pirate ship, rickety and unable to increase its speed.

Fortunately, the coachman was skillful in control, and he felt sorry for his carriage, so he did everything he could to choose a smooth and smooth road as much as possible, and through the small window, you could even see his riveted arm holding the reins.

After more than an hour, the smell of scorched lakes came from the air, and after walking a few hundred meters, several soldiers wearing high hats, long boots, and bright red uniforms appeared.

Behind them, a wooden stake was placed, blocking the way for the carriage to go.

When he saw them, Mavi knew he was close to his destination.

"There is a wildfire ahead, no traffic!"

The soldiers stopped the carriage and asked the Mavi men to turn around.

The communication rolled down the window, unhurriedly took out a pass signed by the fourth prince Arthur, and handed it to the soldiers at the head.

"Release!"

Seeing the pass, the soldier didn't say a word, so he asked his subordinates to lift the stake, and after Ma Wei and the others passed, they returned to their original positions.

"It's really good."

The source picked up the pass and patted it like a baby: "With it, we can go wherever we want!" ”

"Only in Wexfordshire, elsewhere, the fourth prince Arthur can't take care of it."

"I know, I know... It's better than nothing! ”

Yunia leaned on the car window, staring wide-eyed, curiously observing the woods, a natural scenery that was different from the city roads, which was very attractive to her.

It wasn't long before she saw what Gentleman Sean had called the firebreak, a bare land with only stumps left, extremely depressed, with winter dead forests on one side and scorched earth on the other.

The flames were still burning, and many soldiers cracked down trees into firewood and threw them into the flames to ensure that the fire was raging and that no rats would take advantage of it.

Over here...

Ma Wei met an acquaintance.

Sean Rickman.

He stood on the road to the village of Antois, with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

"Father, you're here."

"Since I have accepted the commission, I will not miss the appointment." Ma Wei didn't get out of the car, and communicated with him through the door: "Hurry up and let it go, save time." ”

"No problem."

As soon as Gentleman Sean raised his hand, the soldiers shoveled the fire that blocked the way, opening a path.

"I must warn you before you enter."

The smile slowly disappeared, and Sean said in a serious tone: "No one knows the current situation in Antois Village, none of the people who went in came out, all we can do is blockade, we can't help you much." ”

"I know." "That's enough," Mavi said. ”

"Here's a map of the village of Antois." Gentleman Sean took out a roll of brown paper tied with red rope and handed it to Mavi: "It contains a detailed map of the distribution of Antois Village, including the location of the manor, which we drew according to the dictation of the surviving employee, and there will be no mistake." ”

"Okay."

"When you return safely, I will invite you to drink."

"Hey, don't, I suggest you dig a few pits for us now, and then erect a stone monument, so that our chances of survival can be much higher."

Gentleman Sean looked at him blankly, not knowing why.

"Metaphysics, you can't understand it..."

Shaking his head, Mavi knocked on the window, took the message from the carriage controlled by the coachman, and immediately waved the reins, drove the carriage, and rushed into the raging flames.

The heat was rising, and the zigzag air was billowing up, twisting the back of the carriage, and it was only after it was completely out of sight that Gentleman Sean withdrew his gaze.

"Newspaper... Report! ”

A soldier stumbled in from a distance, his eyes frightened, and even his hat crooked.

"Panic what! Is the sky falling?! ”

Thinking of Ma Wei, who calmly went to the dangerous area without even frowning, and then looked at the panicked soldiers, Sean's gentleman's morale did not come to a place.

"God... The soldier swallowed: "The line of fire has collapsed..."

"What?"

"There was a strange orange thing just now, and while we weren't looking, it suddenly crashed into the line of fire, and... And then... A... No! It's a bunch! A pack of wild cats rushed in! ”

Gentleman Sean was about to get angry, when he suddenly remembered that the Church of Truth had two cats, an orange cat and a black cat...

The shadow that had just broken through the line of fire was exactly orange.

Could it be...

In his hesitation, Gentleman Sean speculated, but was not sure.

Because this is too much beyond the common sense of ordinary people.

"Sir, what are we going to do now?"

"Mend the broken line of fire, continue to start the fire, and don't let a mouse go!"

"Yes!"

"Also," Sean muttered to the soldier who turned around and was about to leave, "find a few more people, dig a few pits, and erect a stone monument on them." ”

"Huh?"

"Execute the order!"

"Yes!"