At the same time as Rody left, in the private room on the second floor of the Pig Head Bar, which was only a dozen meters away from him, the five "Viper Cross" believers dressed as adventurers were making another plan revision on parchment——

"The first group of people will attack here. If that old guy Rubens has enough manpower, they will definitely appear here..."

"...the extra manpower sent by the monastery is taken into account, so we need to participate in the second attack after the opponent shows their trump card."

The man in the robe should be the leader of the team. At this time, his words contained a little awe, and he whispered: "Mr. Gallup seems to be interested in Pastor Akasha."

"Everyone can see that they don't like each other."

The two-meter-tall bald man answered angrily, using a whetstone in his hand to carefully polish the tips of short spears.

His words made the atmosphere in this team somewhat silent. There are as many conflicts within the "Viper Cross" sect as there are in the "Rose Cross". Conflicts of interest between different bishops and family conflicts abound. A high-ranking bishop is because of a certain incident.

It is not uncommon for them to be "failed to the end" while completing a mission, so the five people were under a lot of pressure at this time, because if they messed up the mission, they would also be in trouble.

"The escape route from the square to the west gate of the city has been prepared. If the west gate is blocked, we have two other roads to leave. The tunnel on the edge of Cambay District has been dug for half a year and can be used at any time now."

"Mr. Gallup has been planning for so long, we will definitely be able to complete the mission!"

"Don't be too optimistic too early," the guy in the robe leaned back on the wooden chair, pointed at the city square on the map with squinted eyes and said: "'Rose Cross' is not a vegetarian, wait until everything starts..."

"But there's really no room for maneuver."

***

September 17th.

An unprecedented storm is brewing in Hoollier City. The strange thing is that no one is trying to stop this storm, but they all think they have an absolute advantage, and they are all thinking about how to obtain more benefits from this storm...

But this is just a small microcosm of the entire era.

In the evening, Francis in Moria Manor finished reading the parchment in his hand. At this time, his state had recovered from the previous depression. The tense nerves that had been tense were now much relieved, and he felt more in his heart.

It is a faint expectation and excitement.

The fireplace reflected the warm firelight, dispelling the premature chill in the villa outside the city. The maid walked in with her head lowered and served exquisite tea to the young earl. The latter threw the parchment into the fireplace.

Looking at the burning paper in a daze, he picked up the tea cup and took a sip, then waved his hand, and Willy walked in at the door.

"Those pagans still have no intention of further cooperation?"

"Master, they don't seem to trust us, but we found some interesting news outside the city..."

Willy reported a few words in a low voice. After hearing this, Francis raised the corners of his mouth and laughed out loud: "In that case, why not help those infidels once?"

Willy nodded in agreement, and then Francis asked softly: "Where is the monastery?"

"Miss Sally - she has two mercenaries who have entered the city. Although they were hidden cleverly, we still found the traces. If you need it, we can kill them tonight..."

Willy made a gesture of scratching his neck. Frances narrowed his eyes and snorted: "She finally knew that she was going to take a ruthless move? Oh, there's no need to take action today. I've been keeping an eye on her for the past few days. I'll wait until the day after tomorrow to take action before it's too late for her."

Make other preparations... Before that, just give her the illusion of victory. When the celebration gets underway, I will 'celebrate' her becoming a priest."

Francis clenched his fists confidently, then saw that Willy was hesitant to speak, and said, "Is there any other news?"

"One—Titus and the Knights of Wellington have arrived in Hollier City."

After saying this, Francis's originally pleasant expression became a little unnatural: "You came so fast?"

Although he has advanced to the level of "Elemental Master" and has become a magician that ordinary people cannot match, Francis understands that if he practices for more than ten years, he may not be able to go back and forth in front of these two knights.

——These two knights were truly forged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood with their father, and their strength is absolutely outrageous...

But they were so anxious to come here now... Some kind of speculation flashed through his mind, and Francis asked in a hurried tone: "They went to the Duke's Palace?"

"I visited as usual, but I just checked today. Everything is the same as before. The Duke's condition has not improved." Willy thought for a while and added: "Butler Alpha seems to be ill. I will go to the Duke's Mansion.

I didn’t see him when I was there.”

"It doesn't matter whether Alpha is sick or not. The main thing is..." It seemed that there was something wrong somewhere, but Francis couldn't figure it out. Finally he waved his hand and said: "Forget it, I always feel something is not right. Go and increase the number of people arranged."

Some, to be sure, keep watch on Titus and Wellington, of course - too close apart, or they would be sure to notice."

The originally relaxed mood became a little uneasy because of this inexplicable information. Francis paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, but in the end he did not make any changes to his plan.

"It's only been a few days, no more accidents can happen..."

****

September 18th.

When walking to the front of the monastery, Rody looked at the towering church spire, gently pinched the dice he once gave to Sally, straightened his loose robe, touched the mustache used for disguise,

I took a deep breath and walked into the church.

Climbing up the stairs, the white stone floor exuded a cold atmosphere, and the stone pillars in the front hall still had dents from crossbow bolts. Roddy remembered that Sally was hiding behind this stone pillar. Now that he saw it, he couldn't help but sigh.

A coincidence of fate.

Temple guards wearing metal armor stood expressionlessly on both sides. The pattern of roses and crosses on their chests was gorgeous and sacred. Thin whispers came from the front, mostly from believers praying in low voices, or from priests speaking to each other.

While explaining the doctrine, you can smell the fragrance of roses that always lingers in the main hall of the church.

At this time, Roddy had a big belly, two mustaches on his lips, gleaming eyes, and a round hat. He looked like a businessman that could be seen everywhere in the city - a person who donated to the monastery.

Among them, apart from the nobles, it was these people who gave the most, so he walked along without any hindrance.

Although it was not a Sunday, more than half of the rows of seats in the church were still occupied by various believers. After entering the main hall, Rody crossed himself in front of the statue, and then found a corner

He sat down in his seat and made a gesture of praying devoutly. He muttered words while his eyes quietly scanned the surroundings.

The expected Sally did not appear.

Could it be that...she didn't see the message she left?

Roddy had previously left information about today's meeting on Martin's letter. In order to avoid any surprises, he also specifically confirmed that Martin had gone to report to Sally before he felt relieved - but now she has not shown up, right?

What went wrong?

However, the extraordinary hearing brought about by his "environmental sensitivity" still allowed him to detect some clues. After looking behind the statue, he roughly confirmed certain things and continued to wait.

…

More than ten meters away, Sally, who had been standing here for a long time, pursed her lips slightly, leaning against the cold wall, like a thief avoiding Roddy's occasional glance.

"This idiot..."

She said this, but the joy in her heart was undisguised, and it could even be said to be inexplicably sweet. At first, she gritted her teeth and wrote the letter. Although the tone of the words was plain, her heart was filled with worries about gains and losses.

——The damn bastard left with a harsh word. The feeling was so uncomfortable that she couldn't eat for several days, and even her oval face was almost slimmed down into a sharp chin.

I've suffered so much, so I'll let you wait a little longer!

Taking a sneak peek, Sally found Roddy still sitting upright and couldn't help but snicker.

"Hehe, I even put on a beard..."

The bell at the top of the church rang, proving that Roddy had been waiting for half an hour. Sally felt that this guy had almost waited, so she tried hard to keep a straight face and walked out.

Don't look at him, don't look at him, just pretend to be casual...

Sally walked to the corner of the church without looking away, with a sullen face all the way. After sitting down next to Roddy, she silently began to pray. Although she looked decent, her ears almost stood up as she listened to the words next to her.

There was movement, and my heart was beating violently.

But after a full minute, Roddy was still unable to speak!

"This wooden lump...bastard..."

Sally couldn't bear it anymore - I'm sitting next to you, at least there is some movement!

And just when she was about to say something, Roddy finally spoke up: "Um - Mr. Priest, I have something I want to confess to you..."

Before he finished speaking, Sally, who had always had a sullen face, laughed out loud. She turned her head pretendingly and replied: "Only priests and above can listen to the confessions of believers. I'm just a nun."

, not yet a priest.”

Under the blond hair, Sally looked at the guy who had always worried her recently but wanted to give her a good beating. Her pretty face tensed up again after a fleeting smile, "But

, If you don't use the 'confession room', I am willing to listen to your confession here, as long as you don't mind, devout believer."

"That couldn't be better." Rody coughed twice and pretended to make another sign of the cross.

Although he made a lot of predictions before speaking, the otaku Roddy was still a little nervous when he actually expressed his emotions - such as apologizing. This is two different things from playing a game. Being "comfortable" in a game is one thing.

It's another thing to solemnly apologize to friends... So he held it in for a long time and only came out with an inexplicable sentence:

"Thank you."

Sally raised her eyebrows, a little confused.

"I...did something I shouldn't have done, and hurt someone I shouldn't have hurt. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to...apologise." Roddy tried to put the words he wanted to say into one sentence, "Tell you.

He said something he shouldn't have said and walked away - I just hope it's not too late to say this now, because I..."

Rody swallowed, and those words that he had rehearsed many times before were finally deleted from his mind, leaving only one sentence -

"Because I don't want to lose you, this friend."
Chapter completed!