Section 5 Betrayal

Ryan rode his horse and walked around the river. The sailors on the ship were still busy with the tension, unloading batches of food supplies from the ship and loading them onto the carts bound for Drake City. And there was a constant stream of wagons and pack horses, anxious to get everything to the city as quickly as possible.

The unemptied ships did not continue to stay, but one by one hoisted their sails and headed back. There were only a few ships left here.

By the time it gets dark today, the most important food will be almost finished. Ryan thought. No, it has to be done all of them. These inconsequential little things have been dragging on for too long. When he thought of his uncle's plan, he couldn't help but tremble. A bold and risky, but feasible plan.

Of course, I'm a little sorry for Thomas. In fact, Thomas is also good to him...... If it weren't for the sudden appearance of Ashrufat, in fact......

It's been two days since they conquered Drake City. Repair walls, dig deep trenches, and clear out the few fleeing enemies. These bits and pieces have been done. As news of their victory spread, several lords of Cassilos had already joined Thomas with their troops.

Tonight, or tomorrow, Thomas will be planning the next step!

A herald appeared before him and brought the news he had been waiting for. Thomas wanted to see him after dinner.

That's right, it's all in the plan. Tonight, Thomas will decide which messenger he can go and gather the knights of Cassilos.

The identity of this messenger is very delicate. On the one hand, he can get out of this impending brutal siege, but he will receive no less honor and merit than the soldiers who fought it. On the other hand, this emissary should be accepted by the knights of Casilos, and must be familiar with the situation of the lords here.

In other words, among Thomas's men, Ryan is the best choice—maybe not the only one, but certainly the best choice. His mother also belonged to Cassilos' royal family.

Now, Ryan finally understands why his uncle had to keep the two hillbillies of William Daly and Leo as his colleagues. It's a really clever arrangement. He was glad that he had followed his uncle's advice, otherwise, he might not have been the best candidate.

He entered the city with the last wagon. When he arrived at Thomas's room, several of the other lieutenants were already there. In addition to his three colleagues, there was a prophetess and a knight of the Holy Grail.

The topic of the meeting began with the fortifications of the city, and then gradually touched on the quantity of supplies, the possible movement of enemy forces, and the terrain in the vicinity. Ryan listened patiently and attentively, trying not to put an anxious look on his face.

“...... We must immediately send an emissary to gather all the lords of southeast Casilos. Thomas looked at all his subordinates and guests solemnly. "It's very important. It must be guaranteed that they will be able to reinforce here at the end of winter. ”

Ryan's heart beat with joy, but Thomas's next sentence made his heart half cold.

"Miss Phil thinks I should send a Knight of the Holy Grail as an emissary. This will ensure the credibility of the messenger to the greatest extent and avoid unwarranted suspicion. ”

"I think it's better not to. Leo replied. "The Knights of the Holy Grail are knights who dedicate their lives and loyalty to the gods and do not owe allegiance to any human sovereign. Although their identity can give them the most trust, after all...... In some ways...... Their purity makes it inconvenient for them to serve as emissaries, especially when eloquent persuasion is required, and the Knights of the Holy Grail have no advantage. To know the Dao, what we need is to gather the army as much as possible. I suggest that it is very important to send an emissary who is familiar with the situation in various places, and that a Knight of the Holy Grail can accompany him. ”

For the first time in a long time, Ryan felt that Leo's flamboyant hillbilly didn't look all that annoying.

"I recommend Ashrufat. Leo's next words hit Ryan like a bolt of thunder. "Don't look at the fact that he has not long been the earl of St. Jean, but he is actually very proficient in heraldry, noble genealogy, and local customs and languages......"

"I'm against it!" Ryan shouted. He spoke so loudly that everyone else was taken aback. Phil looked at the nearest William Daley, and his eyes revealed doubts. William Daly shrugged his shoulders and made a meaningful gesture to the prophetess.

Thomas was also slightly surprised, and he looked at Ryan, who was loudly disagreeing. The latter's face was pale, his whole body trembled slightly, and his eyes burned with anger clearly. The fist of his left hand was clenched tightly, and his right hand rested on the hilt of his saber.

"Ryan!" Thomas scolded. Ryan reluctantly moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword.

"Ryan, do you think you're better suited for this messenger's mission?" asked Thomas.

"Of course, how could an outsider like him really know about Cassilos?!Proficient in heraldry?proficient in aristocratic genealogy?Is there still a chronicle proficient in Cassilos?proficient in aristocratic biographies?"

"That's right!" Leo furrowed his eyebrows. Lane's attitude greatly aroused the young knight's disgust. In fact, he's always been disgusted with Ryan. He was slightly older than Ryan, and had earned his knighthood and domain in a battle against bandits. He was not used to the fact that Ryan relied on connections and backdoors to obtain the title of knight.

Ever since Ryan tried his best to make himself a disciple of Thomas, Leo hated each other even more. Thankfully, though, it's mutual—Ryan doesn't look down on the "country buns" of this remote province at all.

"What do you think, Ishrufat?" asked Thomas, who had been silent. In fact, Ashrufat really didn't care about the messenger's mission at all. If he had to choose, he would choose to stay by Thomas's side and fight for him. However, Lane's attitude also disgusted him very much.

"If Knight Ryan doesn't trust me, you might as well give it a try. Ashrufat replied.

"That's fair. Thomas looked at his two men. He sighed to himself, Ryan was too young after all. "We don't have much time, though. So let's do a simple test. Lane, you ask three questions, which are answered by Ashrufat. Then Ashruphat asks three questions, which you will answer. There's a Knight of the Grail here, and he'll make a fair judgment to see who is better suited for the mission. ”

"First question, what is the nickname of Casillos the third king?"

"'Paranoid' Francisco. Ashrufat replied. In fact, this game is meaningless, it should be said that it is an unfair cheating game. He had Carrie in his head. Any book, not even the dazzling coats of arms, the headache linguistics, or anything like that would take the average person a long time to master, once read it, Carrie will always remember it.

“...... The three questions were over, and now it was Sir Ashrufat's turn to ask questions. The Knight of the Holy Grail, who was in charge of the judgment of the match, said. Ryan's face was full of reluctance and anger, but he had to admit that Ashrufat had answered all three of his questions correctly.

“...... There was a knight of Casilos, whose coat of arms was adorned with antlers, but his realm had little to do with the forest. This knight didn't hunt deer in the hunt either, so who was this knight?" asked Aeshurufat. Actually, this is not Eshurufat's problem, but Carrie's problem. In response to Ryan's question, Carrie preliminarily deduced the range of knowledge points that Ryan mastered, and calculated and analyzed the questions that Ryan was most unlikely to answer.

Ryan stammered, unable to answer for a long time. Leo looked at Ryan with a sneering look on his face. The smug look on his face was much thicker than that of Ashrufat.

"There's no such thing at all......" After quite some more time, Ryan struggled to answer.

"The knight's name is Alan. The king gave him the booty of a hunt as a reward for his service. Ashrufat replied. So he adorned his coat of arms with antlers to commemorate the reward. Cassilos' 'Noble Biography' records this small incident. ”

The Knight of the Grail made a universal gesture to Thomas, indicating that there was no need for the game to continue. The winner is already clear at a glance.

"Very well, then there is no need to argue about the choice of our emissary. "Thomas made the last decision. "Ashrufat, you must remember that after you have gathered your troops, you must ...... in time"

The door to the room slammed shut, making a loud noise. It was Ryan angrily slamming the door away.

Ryan ran a short distance in the cold winter wind, and his brain cleared up a little. No, it can't just end like this, how can it end like this?!" He immediately turned around and ran towards the other side of the castle. He remembered very well that Luke lived there.

"Uncle!" he pushed open the door to Luke's room, who was perusing a book at the moment. Seeing Ryan's expression, Rook put down the book.

"Ryan, what's wrong? Things have changed beyond our expectations?" Ryan was anxious, but Rook had a smile on his face. "Let me guess, isn't it you who Thomas chose to be the messenger of the last choice?"

Maybe it was Rook's smile that gave Ryan a little confidence for a while, maybe Ryan realized that he looked ridiculous, but when he came to Rook's table, his demeanor calmed down a little.

"Did Thomas choose the Knight of the Grail?" asked Rooke. "Actually, it's not wrong. ”

"No, Thomas chose Ashruphat as his emissary. ”

"Oh, that's unexpected. But it doesn't matter, in fact, I have long considered the possibility of such an accident happening. Thomas shouldn't be able to see what we're really up to, but there are always so many surprises in the world. If you extrapolate purely logically, no matter how you calculate, there will be at least three accidents that you never expected, and at least one of them is something you don't want to see. ”

"Uncle, what should we do?"

"It's actually very simple. The smile on Rook's face slowly faded, and there was a rare intriguing look on his pale and thin face. "And you know exactly what to do?"

"I ...... But ......"

"Thomas did this to you...... The choice is yours. It's to continue to be a good baby, or to rely on your own strength to hold Irina in your arms. ”