It was dawn, but the square of Pipe Town was still quiet and empty, and Pipe Town, which had experienced a whole night of killing, turmoil, robbery and destruction, was completely shrouded in gloom, and many people had not even really reacted to what had happened, as if it had only been overnight, and the whole peaceful and rich town had become a ruin that had been ravaged and destroyed repeatedly.

Some were glad that they had survived with the blessing of the Radiant Cross, while others wept over the loss of their loved ones, and the atmosphere of grief never drifted out of the air of Pipe Town, where spontaneously organized people, led by the town's priests, pushed wheelbarrows and flatbed carts to transport corpses from the streets to mass graves on the outskirts, splashed the blood-stained streets with water mixed with disinfectants, and sprinkled with lime.

At the end of almost every street, a priest with a glorious cross walked in front of him, praying for the souls of the dead, followed by carts piled high with corpses, and men and women weeping and grabbing the ground, stumbling along the stone pavement strewn through ruins and bloodstains.

As for the surviving officials and the mayor of Pipe Town, at this moment, in addition to thanking the Radiant Cross for protection, there is something more worrying about them, not only for the restoration of the town, but also for the accountability of the city of Turin - such a terrible thing has happened, and it is no joke to try to shirk responsibility.

Not only that, but even more terrible problems befell them - after a night of turmoil, the town was still filled with a multitude of unscrupulous robbers, looting and stealing from the exhausted townspeople, smashing merchants and looting goods, food, supplies, cloth, gold and silver...... Robbing everything, stealing everything, Pipe Town is completely in a state of powerlessness.

And that's not all, because Cortés released Gratoni in the warehouse, and the whole of Pipe Town was burned to ashes not only for the winter, but also for the army and the rations to maintain order—not many people knew about it at the moment, and it would only get worse if the news leaked out!

The unfed army will surely strike, the poor who have lost their relief food will only get worse, and the merchants will take advantage of the opportunity to raise the price of food for profiteering - and soon the whole town will be plunged into another new riot, and these officials will either be stripped of their titles and privileges and their families will be in decline, or they will be torn to pieces by the thugs who are once again enraged.

Without food, there would be no army to maintain law and order, without an army to maintain law and order, the order in towns and cities would not be able to improve, and riots, chaos and looting would only further exacerbate the current bad situation...... This almost unsolvable domino effect made the officials in the council chamber even have the intention of committing suicide. There are even quite a few people who have just laughed and laughed to survive, and immediately fell into a desperate cry again.

The only good thing is that the 100 elite sergeants of the Knights of the Sacred Tree are still stationed outside the council chamber, leaving them without a security concern, but they have also refused to maintain the law, and have declared that they will not leave the place until they are ordered to do so by Knight Commander Gaio Valens.

Pushed out by everyone, the mayor of the town, who was also in charge, very tactfully asked if the chief knight of Valence could come out to meet them, but he was still met with the most severe refusal of the accompanying standard-bearer, who was also the squire of Gaio, the young but mean-mouthed squire who had learned his master's appearance thoroughly, and was simply a weakened version of the coffin-faced knight.

At this time, Gaio Valence also had no desire to receive these "incompetent officials", and closed the door to prevent anyone from entering, and a full four sergeants and his squires stood outside, making all those who tried to have anything to do with the Sacred Tree Knight who saved Pipe Town be discouraged.

..................Should I interpret your current expression as 'You're surprised,' Master Guy Valens?" said Edward, sitting in the chair across from him, smiling a little tiredly. Such an act did not seem to be in keeping with his status as an acolyte, but Edward knew that the coffin-faced knight didn't care.

On the table was a box containing Cortés' head, though it didn't hide anything - at least a few hundred pairs of eyes had seen Edward throw it out last night, and everyone knew who had cut off the sinful head.

"Of course I'm surprised, your cousin has exceeded my expectations - the Knights of the Sacred Tree have been hunting this Cortés for a long time, and this cunning and ruthless fellow has slipped away from us again and again, but he has died at your hands. Gayor Valence couldn't tell how surprised he was: "Do you know who he is?"

"Dangerous?"

"It's not dangerous, but he was...... Forget it, it's all gone, and there's no need to mention it again, and it's all gone up in smoke with Cortez and his revenge. Gaio clearly didn't intend to say any more: "You just need to know that the guy you killed is quite dangerous, and that's enough." ”

And then ...... I think you know a lot of secrets about this guy, and a lot of truths. Gaiyo's tone changed, apparently to the point: "Why did he start a riot in Pipetown, who is supporting him, and ...... And what is that so-called 'weapon'?"

"Before answering this question, I suggest that you think about your future and future in the Knights of the Sacred Tree - no matter what the outcome of this matter is, you have already been branded with the Order, whether you admit it yourself or not, others will think of you as a member of the Order, both friends and enemies. ”

Edward smiled, of course he could hear what Gaio was reminding him, it was clear that it didn't matter who caused it, or who was behind it, what mattered was that the Order needed such a fact, rather that Gaio Valence or Mercer Kane needed such a fact.

But Edward couldn't say that—if the matter were to be contacted by the Marquis of Horald Minest, either Angela or Marco Tasker would be exposed, and neither of them would he be willing to abandon lightly, at least not yet.

So Edward could only smile euphemistically: "What you want to know, is it the truth, or a ...... What truth do you want to see?"

"You're knowingly asking. Gaio Valence's expression was visibly unkind.

"Then I can only regret to tell you that the evidence is insufficient—if the Knights were to attack the Marquis of Holard Minest with this incident, it would not have succeeded. Edward said in a deep voice, "From beginning to end, this Marquis has nothing to do with the Blood Banner Brotherhood at all, and even if you use that so-called 'weapon' to accuse, it will only allow him to succeed." ”

"You're still missing the point, I'd like to hear a fuller explanation. ”

"The explanation is that once the matter of the magical monster in the warehouse is known to everyone, the spearhead of the whole incident will be pointed at the Kingdom of Dominica, and the Marquis of Horad Minest will be able to profit from the war he wants - if the Grand Master takes out that gold necklace, it will be even more confirmed that the whole thing is done by the Dominic wizard, is this what you want to see?!"

"But why do you know that the Dominic wizard didn't do this?" asked Gaylot suddenly, "Apparently all the evidence points to them, isn't it?"

"But I just know that perhaps the Dominicians have something to do with it, but the Marquis de Minest must have been involved—but unfortunately we have no evidence of this. Edward's eyes flickered: "So this time there is no choice but to conceal the facts - even if we deliberately fabricate some perjury, it will be easy for the Marquis of Minest to get rid of it." ”

Gaio stopped talking, and stared at Edward's eyes with indifference - the black-haired boy actually understood his current mood very well, and the reason why he would go so desperately and sparelessly to hunt down and investigate the Blood Flag Brotherhood was to find the Marquis of Minest's horse's feet, and then ...... Revenge.

Gaio Valence, he is actually no different from Cortez, the two have different ways but the purpose is revenge, although Edward does not know why he hates the Mineste family so much, but the hatred is real.

"You're right. Although he was very unwilling, he still stood up and turned his back: "No matter what, I can't let the knights fall into passivity for this matter, and report to the Grand Master truthfully." ”

"Are you going back?"

"No, I'll stay here until Turin City sends someone - the Blood Banner Brotherhood has been exterminated, but Pipe Town's restoration still needs someone to preside over it, and that Marquis Holard Minest won't miss a good opportunity to strike at the Knights. As he spoke, Gaiyo sneered a little self-deprecatingly.

Apparently he was talking about his own order last night to kill all the thugs - it should be said that Gaio did not do anything wrong, although there was indeed a suspicion of indiscriminate killing, but it also quickly quelled the unrest in the town, otherwise the current Pipe Town would not be as simple as "unstable dìng", at least they would have been terrified, and they would not have done anything until the Knights left.

But this kind of order that is too "bloody" will naturally attract criticism from others, especially those who don't have a backache when they stand and talk, and those who have long been unaccustomed to the Knights.

"Therefore, you are the one who reports to the Grand Master. Gaio Valence looked deeply into Edward's eyes: "What to say, what to avoid, I leave it to you to choose." ”

"Don't forget Jì, now you are a member of the Knights!"