Sword of Dawn

Page 117

Chapter 0283 Changes in the situation

In the second week after the end of the defensive battle, the first batch of operatives sent by the Military Security Intelligence Agency began to return to the territory one after another, and they not only brought back the manpower that Amber requested, but also brought back the personnel requested by Gao Wen. intelligence.

Facts have proved that these people who have been at the bottom of society from the very beginning and are used to dealing with all kinds of religions and nine streams are really talents in intelligence gathering—although they do not have the extraordinary ability of the Royal Shadow Guards, they have more cunning and Small means, in some dark corners, their cunning means are even more effective than the extraordinary power of the Royal Shadow Guard.

In the study of the lord's mansion, Gao Wen listened to Amber's report to him—it was embarrassing to say that the cultural education of the first batch of operators had not yet ended, and a considerable number of operatives could not even read and write at all or could only do limited reading and writing. Read and write, so they use all kinds of weird codes, shorthand, and even oral transmission methods to transmit information. Although this kind of messy transmission method is more in line with Gao Wen's "confidentiality" requirements, it needs Amber to sort it out in advance. some.It is precisely because of this additional job content that Amber now looks more and more like a serious intelligence chief - at least she still knows to show up at the Military Intelligence Bureau to do some serious business.

"Our caravans are spreading to the entire southern border, the trade routes have been opened, and merchants themselves are good at disseminating news. This aspect is the same as your original plan," Amber solemnly relayed the stories of scar-faced Anton and others in various parts of the southern border. What I heard, "In addition, a group of merchants have recently gone to the Eastern Territory - Padraic seems to want to buy the potion to the territory of the Loren family."

"That Mr. Patrick shouldn't just be an advisor to the Viscount. His business acumen and courage are rare talents. It was also my instruction to promote alchemy potions eastward," Gawain nodded. , "Is there any other news?"

"There are two things that I think... are a bit concerning," Amber frowned, showing a rare serious look, "First, the activities of the Doom Society and the Eternal Sleeper cultists in various places in the southern region seem to be There are more and more businessmen from the central region have also brought news. There are shadows of heretics in the Holy Spirit Plain, the western part of the kingdom, and even the northern part. Now the lords from all over the kingdom are trying to strangle their territory cult forces."

"The end of all things and those who sleep forever..." Gawain blinked, "ah, they haven't shown much around Cecil Land since winter, I almost thought that group of guys had calmed down... I didn't expect them to be here. Are other places actually more active?"

"That's right, it's more active, as if it's about to do something big," Amber shook her head, "And the second thing is related to them——Because the evil deeds of cultists everywhere have intensified, the Church of the Holy Light has recently It has become extremely active, and the Church of the Holy Light in many places has increased the frequency of sending out combat priests and paladins, and more and more priests are helping local lords solve the problem of the spread of cults.”

"This seems to be their job," Gao Wen said unhurriedly, "Holy Light is the natural nemesis of all kinds of negative forces. When evil forces spread, the priests of the Holy Light Church will always be The one at the front."

"Of course it's fine if they're just running around to attack the cultists, but the key point is a saying that has been spreading in the west recently," Amber said with an expression of "the God of the Holy Light is going to make trouble", "because the Holy Spirit The power of light is always the fastest and the most effective when fighting against cultists, so dissatisfaction with other sects is becoming more and more serious everywhere-especially the blood god sect and the shadow sect are not good at fighting evil , and the church whose power attribute is slightly negative, their situation is getting more and more embarrassing. Anton and the others heard folk rumors near the west of Hosman County, saying that the gods of many sects can't deal with the fallen. Only the God of Holy Light protects mortals wholeheartedly..."

Gao Wen's brows slowly frowned: "Is this kind of saying widely spread?"

"At present, it is only spread in the Earl of Horsman, but as long as the winter is over and the number of business travel increases, the speed of the spread of the news will immediately increase. As long as the activities of the cultists remain during this period, the Church of the Holy Light and other sects will The situation has not changed much, so sooner or later this kind of argument will become the mainstream.”

Gao Wen nodded: "That's right... This kind of news always spreads the fastest... Can you find out the source of this statement?"

"It seems to have arisen spontaneously among the people. After all, the fact is that all sects except the Church of the Holy Light react a little later when faced with threats from cultists," Amber shook her head, "But as the Shadow Goddess God's Chosen, I just think the Church of the Holy Light is going to make trouble..."

"You're preconceived—" Gawain glanced at the half-elf who always claimed to be God's Chosen, "but I also think the Church of the Holy Light is going to make trouble."

Amber stared: "Aren't you just like me!"

"Don't make trouble, I'm not God's Chosen," Gao Wen waved his hand, and immediately changed the subject, "These things shouldn't affect our territory."

"It shouldn't have any effect," Amber nodded, "There is only one Holy Light priest in our territory, and he still has that style of painting—I'm not worried at all about him brainwashing everyone with Holy Light, but I'm worried that someday if someone A member of the Church of God of War came to preach, and was beaten by Wright for a disagreement..."

"Anyway, be vigilant. You have to take the changes in the outside world seriously. If the Church of the Holy Light or the cultists really want to do something, they won't just put Cecil aside... By the way, the first issue What is the performance of the members in outside activities? I remember that you seem to have set an assessment project for them..."

When Amber heard this, she immediately beamed with joy: "If you don't tell me, I forgot, those guys really deserved to be the seedlings they were optimistic about back then, and they are all good at working outside. I gave each of them eighty The silver coins are used as operating funds, and the least ones who come back have more than 90 left..."

Gao Wen heard nothing in the first half of the sentence, but when he heard the last sentence, he almost spit out the tea in his mouth: "Huh!?"

"The most powerful one is Jibri. She pretended to be a magic apprentice sent by her mentor to look for gifted children. She swindled to Carroll for several days, and if she didn't remember the mission, she might have to kill Karoll. Viscount Lore's only son was fooled over..."

"Fuck!"

"The guy 'Quick Legs' almost became the guard of the local lord. In order to get the target person out of the prison, he mingled with the soldiers guarding the prison, and then accidentally behaved too well..."

"emmmmm...is there any more?"

"Anton has contacted more than a dozen pharmacy merchants who want to join Cecil in the Earl of Hossman. If you think it is appropriate, I will transfer the matter to Patrick..."

Gao Wen: "..."

Facts have proved that the gangsters under Hu Po are really crouching tigers, hidden dragons. Although the training they received in Cecilland and the duke certificates they carried also greatly helped their actions, but as far as they are concerned The way of doing things along the way can't be trained, it's all talent...

However, while lamenting the talent of those people, Gao Wen couldn't hold back a little bit of worry in his heart: "They won't make troubles too much, but they will make too much noise to expose them, right? You should know, the operatives of the Military Intelligence Bureau The most important thing is their own secrecy, if they are too active standing in front of the stage, it will cause bad things.”

"Don't worry, those guys know this of course." Amber is really not worried about this, "First of all, they are all acting strictly according to their disguised roles, and they will not do anything that is not in line with their 'roles'. Even if someone pays attention, they will only be more convinced of the fake identities they used. Secondly, when they acted, those guys did not forget the "sweeping tail" I taught them. Leaving in a way that will never attract suspicion, in the end—do you think that every lord and their advisors and scholars are the same as you? Those guys are very dull, and they don't pay attention to what happens among civilians , in addition to caring about their own titles and property, anything the common people do is nothing more than 'negligible folly' in the eyes of the traditional nobles. How can there be a perfect household registration from top to bottom like yours? system, and strict personnel management, even if there is one more person in the territory, he can report to the government affairs office on the same day..."

When Amber said this, Gao Wen also felt that it was true—in this era, besides the Cecil Territory, where is there a so-called personnel control and registration system?The lords don't even know how many people they have under their own hands, let alone the various concepts of espionage and counter-espionage, infiltration and reverse osmosis that have been played out on the earth.Although there are spies in this era, intelligence work, and noble eyes and ears, these things are still very primitive, or they are just "same-level contests" between the noble class and the noble class. No one has ever considered going from the bottom to the top. If it weren't for this, how could all the spies sent by the nobles in the southern border to Cecil Territory be exposed so easily?

"This is very good. The first results of the Military Intelligence Bureau are quite good." Gao Wen smiled and sat comfortably on his chair. "This is your credit, so..."

"Give me an extra six or seven days' wages, and by the way, give me that bottle of Pockel wine in your wine cellar, and then give me a vacation or something..."

Gawain stared at this half-elf, always feeling that this guy's ability to climb shamelessly along poles has improved a lot by leaps and bounds. Before he could finish his words of encouragement, Amber had already listed all the rewards... …

I'm afraid it wasn't listed before coming here to report on work...

At the same time, in the ancient underground palace far away from Cecil Territory, another group of people were also paying attention to the changes in the situation.

Wearing priest robes with specific religious symbols removed, they stood in the assembly hall of the underground palace. Proliferated flesh or plant tissue can be seen everywhere in the underground palace. However, these religious believers who have long been twisted physically and mentally are accustomed to the weird and terrifying atmosphere here.

After a short period of silence, a woman suddenly walked into the hall. She was wearing a green priestly costume. She had a pretty face and a bumpy figure on the upper body. People feel that the weird and inexplicable roots and vines are supporting her to move forward.

The woman glanced at the gloomy scene, and said with a slight sarcasm: "Gentlemen, haven't your discussions come to fruition yet?"

A priest of the death of all things said dissatisfiedly: "Principal Bertila, you are late."

"It doesn't matter, anyway, it was just a useless discussion before you," Bertila smiled lightly, and walked towards his position indifferently, "It's just to explain...the Ansu-Typhon war that we have been working hard for so long , is about to come to naught, isn't it?

"Gentlemen, accept the facts...

"In the wasteland, there have been unexpected changes..."

Chapter 0284 The secret meeting of the death of all things

Bertila, the headmistress of the Death of All Things Society, sat in her seat, looking at the men in black robes around her with interested eyes. Her frivolous and relaxed attitude stimulated the enthusiasm of every headmaster present. Nervous, but no one came forward to accuse her of her negligence in words and deeds.

Although everyone here is the "patriarch" of the church, the same rank does not mean the same status. Everyone who has become a senior member of the Death of Everything knows that this woman named Beltera is in the church. Has a special status and... meaning, no one knows who this woman was before she became the headmaster of the Death of All Things Society, and no one knows her real surname and origin, but everyone knows one thing, that is Bertila has a direct connection with the supreme leader of the Death of All Things Society, the "Grand Priest". When the Grand Priest falls asleep, Bertila is the only one who can talk to him, wake him up or convey his will.

Just by virtue of this particularity, Beltira is enough to have some privileges here.

"Gentlemen, ah, and ladies." Bertila said unhurriedly, and took a special look at the two women in the black robe. With distinctive elf features, the two fallen elf druids nodded slightly after noticing Bertila's gaze, and they greeted them back, and said at the same time: "Bertila, what is the order of the Grand Priest?"

"The Grand Priest is still sleeping, and it will take time to recover from the wear and tear caused by the advance synchronization with the 'False God's Body', so I will listen to your opinions instead of the Grand Priest," Beltira leaned on the chair, while she A large number of roots and tentacles on the lower body are extending and growing with a chilling subtle friction sound, slowly piercing into the ground as if pricking into the ground to absorb nutrients. She squinted her eyes during the process, and her voice was full of joy , "So, who is responsible for monitoring the movement of the wasteland during this time?"

"It's me," said a thin man with a steady face like steel, "I'm in charge of monitoring."

"Master Heaton, fortunately, he is finally a capable person," Bertila said happily, "Then did you expect those aberrations to suddenly come out to attack the border of the Typhon people before that?"

"It was an accident," said the fallen druid known as the Dean of Heaton with no expression on his face, "The activities of those low-level aberrations are irregular, and the changes of the magnificent wall are unpredictable, even if Silver The empire cannot monitor the entire barrier 100%..."

"Okay, Master Heaton, you're not good at making excuses," Bertera interrupted Heaton, "It's true that we can't control the entire Great Wall, but we can control other things... those monsters were originally Was sent to attack Cecilland, right?"

After a brief silence and confrontation, Heaton finally spoke: "The Cecil Territory is a threat."

Bertila interrupted him unceremoniously: "But I reminded you that now is not the time to deal with that resurrected person! We are attracting attention, and we have exposed enough to the world!"

"So we didn't take action in person, and Cecil led the Gondor wasteland directly - letting it be destroyed by the monsters in the Gondor wasteland will not arouse anyone's suspicion."

"But those monsters ran to the border of Typhon, Hi Don Master," Bertila said almost word for word, "while asking our companions to drive those monsters to the gap in the dark mountains , have you ever thought that those brainless freaks will get lost at the foot of the mountain, and then split half to wander under the noses of the Typhon people? Have you ever thought that the borders of Ansu and Typhon were attacked by monsters at the same time, and they would have two How does the situation in the country affect it? Have you thought about what will happen to you after doing all this? My dear Dean H. Don—”

"I will go to the abyss of flesh and blood to accept the trial of the Grand Priest," Heaton looked at Bertila expressionlessly, and then said lightly after the other party finished speaking, "This is my fault, but I still don't agree." Change my opinion—the Cecil Territory is a threat, the resurrected Duke is a threat, he is not just trying to build a pioneering territory..."

"Of course he is a threat!" Bertila suddenly raised her voice, "Do you think that only you can see it?"

Heaton finally felt a little stunned. He stared into Bertila's eyes and asked slowly, "What do you mean?"

"He is a threat, but so what? Isn't the wasteland of Gondor a threat? Aren't aberrations a threat? Aren't we still using such a threat?" Bertila said, sweeping his eyes over everyone, Obviously, her words were not only addressed to Heaton, but also to everyone present, "Threats don't necessarily have to be eradicated. A properly used threat is a sharp sword."

The two elf priestesses sitting opposite Beltira spoke at the same time: "What is the use value of Gawain Cecil?"

"It's a war machine, he's building a war machine," Bertila's eyes showed a chill, "Although we don't have very clear information, and we still can't understand what his train of thought is, but there is one thing There is no doubt - the Cecil Territory can grow up in a short period of time, and grow into a bone grinder that can produce countless flesh and blood corpses..."

The fallen druids exchanged glances one after another. Those who can sit here are not fools. They have vaguely guessed Bertila—or the "Grand Master" standing behind Bertila. true intentions.

"The change in the situation between Ansu and Typhon was indeed an accident, but it doesn't matter, we have a lot of alternatives," Bertila smiled, "Although the Grand Master is sleeping, his wise mind has already prepared for us. Deduced the next action - war, no matter what, it will always break out."

Afterwards, Bertila stood up slowly, and the roots of her lower body slowly retracted: "Leerna, Fierna, the Grand Master ordered you to activate the alternative plan in Typhon."

The two Elven Priestesses smiled at the same time: "We like alternatives."

"Master Clement, the Grand Master ordered you to start the arrangement in Ansu. Remember, don't disturb the she-wolf of the Wilder family in the north."

A man who hid his face in a black hood stood up and bowed slightly: "Follow the Grand Master's will."

"As for you, Dean Heaton," Bertila finally looked at Heaton sitting next to him, but the mockery and sarcasm at the beginning did not appear on his face, "Although we have alternatives, what you committed The mistakes you made can only be described as stupid, and the Grand Master is very dissatisfied with your unauthorized actions and blind self-confidence, so you have to go to the abyss of flesh and blood and accept the punishment of sacrifice for three days and three nights."

Heaton lowered his head slightly, not to Bertila, but to the Grand Master's will: "I have nothing to say."

Bertila hummed, and then said: "But before you accept the punishment, there is still something to do."

Heaton glanced at the woman with an inhuman body, and his tone barely fluctuated: "What's the matter?"

"Prepare the 'dark bridge', I want to get in touch with my companions on 'the other side'."

Heaton obviously hesitated for a moment when he heard this request, and Bertila frowned immediately: "Isn't the 'Dark Bridge' not available?"

"No, the 'secret bridge' is available, but recently the magisters of the Silver Empire have apparently noticed something unusual, and their inspections on the channel have become more frequent, adding additional connections may cause them to be more vigilant."

"You don't need to worry about this, I have my own way to make those elves relax their vigilance," Bertila said lightly, "According to intelligence, there are large mutant individuals among the mutants passing through the barrier this time, which has never been reported before. Someone brought up this matter, and the Grand Master ordered me to investigate clearly."

"I see, the hidden bridge will be ready in a day. Where are you going to make the connection from?"

"...Typhon," Bertila said after a short pause, "Recently, we and the Order of the Eternal Sleepers have been too active in the west, and the lords and nobles there have raised their vigilance."

……

Cecil collar, inside the Rune Research Institute, Kamel stood quietly in his laboratory, in front of him was a large test bench, which was filled with all kinds of magic tools and alchemy tools , the surface of the test bench is covered with mysterious runes carved by himself. In the middle of all the runes, on a small tray made of silver, a small piece of black and red bone fragments is emitting slight smoke and dust, in a state of complete collapse. final stage of solution.

Kamel just looked at the bone fragments quietly, without saying a word, motionless, but the devices and tools that still had a trace of magic reaction on the test bench showed that he had just finished a complicated magic. Experiments, and those arcane sparks constantly wandering on the surface of his body showed that the ancient magister's mood was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.

"It turned out to be like this... It turned out to be like this..." Finally, Kamel muttered to himself and broke the silence, "So...we did all of this...Who?!"

He suddenly sensed a sneaky aura appearing beside him. The ancient magister had no idea that someone could easily lurk so close to him—even if he was a little absent-minded, his perception ability was not enough. It should be so bad!

But just before the arcane lightning appeared beside Kamel, a figure appeared in embarrassment from the air and a familiar voice sounded at the same time interrupted his movements: "Hey, it's me! It's me! What are you doing? If you don't say a word, you will be biu..."

"Miss Amber?" Kamel hurriedly dissipated the magical energy that had just gathered, and asked casually, "What do biu people mean?"

Amber opened her mouth and said, "I don't know. The old zongzi taught me the words. He said that there are two main ways to release magic. One is rubbed out and the other is biu. Your name is biu——Rebecca That's rubbing."

"You don't have enough respect for the lord...but you are the lord's guard, I can only remind you like this," Kamel's tone was a little serious, but at the same time he was a little emotional, "The lord does know a lot of unknown knowledge ..."

"God knows if his knowledge is serious or just to fool me, he always teases me," Amber waved her hand, "Let's not talk about it, old...Gao Wen said he wanted to discuss technical issues with you...but you are here What are you doing here? Just now I saw you staring at the test bench for a long time."

"I..." Kamel hesitated to speak, and then a trembling sigh came from his invisible arcane body, "It's nothing, I just have something to report to the lord. Let's go. "

Chapter 0285 Kamel and Betty

Kamel came to Gawain's study, but he didn't see Gawain's figure, only the little maid who looked dazed was waiting for him in the study.

"Mr. Kamel," Betty saw Kamel open the door and floated in, and immediately came forward with a large teapot in his hand, "The master left for a while, he said he would be back soon, and asked you to wait here for a while. "

After thinking and settling all the way, Kamel's mood has calmed down, and he was a little glad to hear Betty's words—before Gawain came back, he could spend a few more minutes to adjust his mood and sort out his thoughts. Find.

"Did he say where he went?" Kamel randomly found a place to rest in the corner of the study, and asked casually at the same time.

"Master went to the laboratory, he said that there is a place on the blueprint that is not sure yet, and he needs to test again...um..." Betty tried hard to recall what she heard from Gao Wen, "Test the 'data'! That's what the word says."

"Data? Drawings?" Carmelton suddenly became curious, "What is it about?"

Betty thought about it carefully, raised her head and raised her chest: "Forget it!"

Kamel was silent - forgot, not ignorance, which meant that Gawain must have told the little maid about other things, but she obviously didn't remember... But this is not surprising.

Kamel knew Betty. Although this little girl was only a maid, she was said to have followed the lord through life and death, and was extremely trusted and loved by the lord's family. You could always see this little girl running around in the lord's mansion. , Sometimes she would learn to write from the lord in the study. Of course such a special little girl would impress Kamel deeply.

So Kamel knows Betty, not only knows her, but also knows some things about this little girl, such as knowing that she is a bit dull, knowing that she likes to write, knowing that she always forgets things that are not easy for her to understand... ...Frankly speaking, Kamel also couldn't understand how such an unreliable maid became the head maid who took care of the entire lord's mansion, and was able to command several servants here well...

It can only be said that the approachable lord is too lenient towards the servants in the mansion - but Kamel does not intend to criticize this, he is just a researcher, and he is rarely interested in things other than academic issues. interest.

While waiting, he began to study a map hanging on the wall of his study, which seemed to be a topographic map of a rather vast area around the territory. Betty stood beside her, holding a large teapot and looking at the guest thoughtfully, seeming to be in a very tangled thought.

After thinking hard, Betty finally spoke: "Mr. Kamel, would you like some tea?"

Kamel was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at the serious little maid, and waved her hand in embarrassment: "Ah, no, thank you."

Betty blinked, and returned to the table with the teapot in her hand: "Oh."

But after a while, she came forward again: "Mr. Kamel, would you like some tea?"

Kamel: "... Really no need, thank you little girl."

"……Oh."

After a while, Betty's voice sounded behind Kamel for the third time: "Mr. Kamel, would you like some tea?"

Kamel finally felt that he couldn't continue to study the map. He turned around and tried his best to hide his embarrassment: "Little girl, didn't you realize that I don't have a mouth?"

Betty seemed to have finally figured out something, she suddenly realized "Oh", and then put the teapot on the desk in a little disappointment: "Oh..."

Looking at this dazed little girl, Kamel suddenly couldn't help but want to say something, but after hesitating for a long time, he could only say a dry sentence: "But thank you very much for... the tea."

"Master said you should remember to serve tea when entertaining guests," Betty still looked depressed, "but I always feel that I haven't done well..."

"You have worked hard... My situation is too special. I don't think any maid probably knows how to entertain a 'guest' like me." Kamel didn't know why he would talk to a little maid He said so much, but he couldn't help but say, "How long have you served Cecil's family?"

Betty calculated carefully this time—she had never been able to count the years before, but now she knew how to count, and she also wanted to understand a lot of things that she hadn't thought of before: "Six years, but the first two years were just Helping Mrs. Hansen with the dishes..."

She is only 16 years old now... In other words, she was sold to the castle as a servant when she was ten years old?Dishwashing girls?