Clovis carefully followed Captain Roland into the grove. The Royal Guards who arrived first were ordered to guard outside.
It was probably time for that idiot Modo to finish his work, but he never saw his men come back. Clovis immediately asked the Royal Guards to search everywhere, but the result was completely unexpected.
He had already made up a seamless and reasonable story about the lost seal, and told it in the right place, at the right time and in the right way. With the prime minister's well-known temperament and virtue, anyone who listened to such a story would
It is natural to think of this dandy’s bad behavior of stealing seals and forging documents in order to avenge personal revenge. Generally speaking, it is difficult to blame for such an accident. Clovis has already learned from Duke Mrak in these little tricks.
of.
But in terms of spiritual cultivation, he is obviously still far behind. Since the establishment of the Holy Knights, the largest and most inexplicable casualties were almost at his own hands. The key to his own team is that his greatest true purpose seems to have failed.
, his current expression is frightened, angry, ashamed and uneasy.
Fortunately, Captain Roland did not notice his disciple's complicated emotions. He carefully inspected all the traces and corpses on the ground.
As the backbone of the imperial army, the Holy Knights are rarely used in peacetime, but when they are needed, it is always at the most critical moment or in the most brutal and difficult battles. But even so, there are less than a thousand people.
The troops never suffered any major casualties in battles with tens of thousands of enemy troops and pagans. Someone once made a statistic. When facing this extremely elite force, the pagans and enemy troops had to send out an average of
It takes more than 1,100 heads to buy one member's heroic life.
There were twelve corpses here, but not ten thousand enemies died here, and even the enemy didn't seem to have lost even a piece of their fingernails. Captain Roland's face looked ugly.
Probably out of respect for the Paladins, the troops who arrived first carefully gathered the mutilated and separated corpses of the swordsmen, pieced them together, and covered them with white cloths. Captain Roland looked at these neat corpses,
There were also trampled footprints on the ground. He frowned and asked: "Where was the first troop that came here?"
Clovis replied: "The Fourth Squadron of the Royal Guards."
"Removed from the position of captain." Captain Roland's tone contained no anger or dissatisfaction. He was calm and calm, as if he was just reading out a document. "After discovering such a major event, we did not protect the scene and let the troops come in to destroy all traces."
It's a complete mess. Since he likes to express his respect so much, let him guard the palace gate and salute every day."
Clovis lowered his head and replied: "Yes."
Roland looked at the corpse on the ground and asked, "Why did the person who stole your seal and forged documents only bring in twelve people?"
"Because there were only these people in our team at the headquarters at that time, so he probably didn't dare to stay longer to gather more people." Clovis replied. But the actual situation was of course caused by his secret operation, and there were too many people.
It is not convenient to participate in it. Not to mention the twelve swordsmen of the Holy Knights and one magician, it is more than enough to kill even a two-legged flying dragon.
"Fortunately." Captain Roland said coldly with the cold light of an eagle flashing in his elegant eyes. "If he takes away all your people, then you don't need to be the captain anymore.
.”
Cold sweat broke out on Clovis' forehead.
Roland looked at the forest that had begun to thaw. It was early summer, and all the frozen objects were slowly beginning to thaw. The water vapor in the air was condensed, and together with the melted ice water, it formed thin strips.
A thin trickle of water flows out, and one can still feel the slightest chill in front of the lingering power of the icy world created by this magic.
"The opponent should be a very powerful magician." Roland's voice was colder than the woods in front of him.
"Magician?." Clovis didn't believe it. Although that guy should be able to use some magic, he was definitely not rated very powerful by the top expert in the empire.
Captain Roland pointed to the ice sculpture forest. "Do you know what kind of magic can just freeze a forest without harming anything?"
Clovis also looked at the woods carefully, thought for a moment, then shook his head hesitantly and said: "It seems... there is no magic."
As the squad leader of the Holy Knights and the apprentice of the first swordsman in the empire, even though he cannot use magic, he still knows the level, casting time, attack ability and attack effect of each magic in each system. Any
No matter how strong the freezing effect in attack magic is, it is just an additional effect. The most important thing should be the damage caused by ice, and the forest in front of him is purely frozen, without any trace of damage. In his
In my memory, there seems to be no magic that can create such a strange scene.
"Yes." Captain Roland said calmly. "Desperate magic."
"Desperate magic?" Clovis was puzzled.
"Without any spell-casting skills or even using any spells, only a water magician who poured out all his original magic power at once could cause such consequences." Captain Roland pointed at the magician's body.
The corpse asked Clovis. "Do you know how high the magic level of this man of yours is?"
"Before he was transferred to our team, he was a senior water magic teacher at the Magic Academy. In other words... he must be among the top fifty in the empire."
"What kind of opponent can make a top fifty high-level magician in the empire give up using spells and simply use all his magic power to make a desperate move?" Captain Roland looked at the magician's corpse. The corpse's hands were still ice-cold.
The knot was on his face, and the expression on his face was still full of horror, panic, unwillingness, and despair. "It can only be a magician whose levels are so different that he doesn't even have the confidence to use spells to attack. And the last one
The opponent did not confront him head-on with his decades of cultivation, but used an easy method to let him hit himself. Although this opponent had an absolute advantage, he was not arrogant or impetuous at all, but avoided the important and took the easy.
Use the most efficient and clever method..." Captain Roland sighed. His face was very bookish, but now it showed an expression like a hunting leopard. "This is a real master."
Master. This word completely goes beyond the evaluation of being very powerful. A dragon or a Behemoth can be very powerful, but it will definitely not be a master. And this is what the first swordsman in the empire calls a master.
Clovis knew that the deaths of these dozen of his men were definitely not unjust.
"You said that person dispatched the troops because he wanted to deal with a certain person?" Captain Roland looked at Clovis and asked.
"This... is just a guess." Clovis lowered his head and replied. "Everyone knows the conflict between that man and the cousin who stole my seal, and my cousin is originally narrow-minded.
He is so willful that he led the royal guards to sneak attack him during the last hunt, so I made this guess."
Captain Roland looked at his apprentice coldly and said, "The person you are talking about is the priest under Bishop Ronis?"
"Yes." Clovis didn't dare to raise his head.
Captain Roland's eyes fell on his apprentice. They were not very sharp eyes, but Clovis felt as if he had also been frozen by the magician's desperate efforts, and even his bones were chilling.
In the end, Captain Roland just sighed and said nothing. Compared with these things, it is more important to analyze the true situation of this somewhat strange battle. What is certain is that this scene is definitely not something that the priest can do.
derived.
He knelt down and carefully observed the corpses of the swordsmen, and first noticed the strangest one. The body below the waist was still frozen and frozen in a jumping posture, but the head was gone. The muscles on the broken neck were incomplete, but the bones were intact.
It was separated from the joint, and it seemed that it was not cut by a sword but twisted off. Although one left hand was picked up and put back together with the respect of the Guards, it can still be seen that the section was also twisted off.
.But the right hand didn't look like a hand at all. It was at least half longer than before, and was twisted softly like a snake. The bones inside were undoubtedly all fragmented.
Captain Roland's eyebrows furrowed. Even with his eyes, he couldn't tell at all what kind of attack the swordsman received and how he died in such a weird way. He glanced at the other corpses.
The frown became deeper and deeper.
He stretched out his hand to turn over the corpse, but as soon as his hand touched the surface of the corpse, a large piece of muscle there completely collapsed and fell off, like rotten wood that had already rotted away all its vitality. Look.
Seeing this strange change, Captain Roland's brows knitted into a knot. He stood up, took a long breath, and said to Clovis: "There should be another body, find it."
"There are exactly twelve people here." Clovis reminded him.
"No, it should be thirteen. There are also the corpses of your cousin, the Prime Minister. Since he thinks that he can definitely kill the opponent, he must have arrived here, and since the opponent can kill all twelve of your men, so
It’s absolutely impossible to let him go.”
Clovis looked at the surrounding woods carefully in confusion. The Guards had already carefully inspected this place, and they would never leave a body waiting for him to excavate it.
But he took a few steps and suddenly found something that looked familiar under a tree not far away. It was a handful of hair, combed into a small braid. He walked over and found something on the ground.
There were also scattered some teeth, some broken nails, some clothes that had been corroded into strips of cloth, and some small things. Because these looked like just a pile of garbage, the Guardsmen didn't pay attention at all. Clovis was stunned.
Looking at these pitiful relics, he turned to Captain Roland and said, "It seems to be here..."
Captain Roland came over and took a look. He squatted down and rubbed up a bit of dirt on the ground with his fingers, put it to his nose and smelled it. His brows stretched, but his face became as ugly as the mud. He stood
He got up and was silent for a while, and then said to Clovis: "Go and ask Bishop Ronis... No, don't bother the bishop with this kind of thing, let's go and ask the high priest Cuthbert first."
High Priest Cuthbert quickly came down under the leadership of Clovis. After looking at the mutated corpses, he said: "This is a corpse manipulation spell that is a mixture of dark magic and body magic. In a short time,
All the vitality and energy in the corpse are released, and the corpse will have huge combat power in this short period of time. This fusion spell is very difficult, and even a senior magician should have to go through a very complicated spell to activate it." He paused.
Suddenly, his clumsy face turned even more ugly. "The one who can study and use such evil spells must be necromancers. Humph, you actually dare to appear near the royal capital. If I encounter you, I must make them look good."
.”
It's a pity that he didn't know that the person who used this spell cast it as casually as if he was yawning, otherwise his face would have looked even more ugly.
Captain Roland nodded, pointed to the hair over there and said: "It's as I judged. Judging from the traces of soil there, there was another person who was melted alive by the huge corrosive magic, and even no bones were left.
Stay...this should really be a technique only used by necromancers."
High Priest Cuthbert suddenly turned his head to look at Captain Roland and said: "The news about the Necromancer should be reported to our Magic Academy first. How can you members of the Holy Knights act so recklessly?" He said.
He was aggressive, because this reckless action completely ignored the status of the Magic Academy and also cost him the opportunity to make the necromancers look good.
"The thing is like this..." Clovis said his guess.
"It's this guy again!" After listening to Clovis's words, the high priest's face was as ugly as a toilet rag. "He was there in twelve out of ten places. This time he actually had something to do with the Necromancer.
"Yes." The anger and dissatisfaction that had been accumulated for a long time suddenly appeared on his face. He seemed to be sure that Asa's bad conduct was the ironclad evidence of collusion with the Necromancer. He said to Captain Roland.
"Let's go directly to the bishop to report this situation."
Clovis did not go with him. He returned to the Duke's Palace and told the Duke about the accident. He knew that even if he didn't tell the Duke, the Duke would find out in his own way.
After hearing this, the Duke didn't even think about it. He immediately smiled and said: "Your seal dropped really well. The arrangement is also good."
"I'm sorry. I didn't have time to inform you because I made a last-minute decision, so I did it on my own without permission." Clovis was a little flustered. Tricks that can deceive others are inferior to children's toys in front of the Duke, and
He didn't dare to hide it at all. "Because I think this matter will benefit us without any harm. If we really kill him, we will have eliminated a hidden danger to some extent, and my uncle's position as prime minister will definitely not be preserved. And even if he is
If it fails like this, we are completely out of it...".
"Okay." The Duke raised his hand to signal his son-in-law not to panic. "You remember everything I said clearly, and this is how things should be done. Although the motivation is still a bit emotional, it was indeed done well.
The more contradictions there are and the more chaotic the situation is now, the more opportunities and benefits it will have for those of us who are standing behind."
The Duke's comment immediately made Clovis happy, and even his voice was filled with joy: "Colluding with the Necromancer is a crime worthy of being burned at the stake. Even Bishop Ronis..."
"Don't get excited, nothing will happen." The Duke concluded with a calm conclusion that killed Clovis' excitement.
In the Magic Academy, Bishop Ronis frowned after listening to the reports of the high priest and Captain Roland. "Is there such a thing?"
"We can guarantee that it was definitely the work of a necromancer. If the person who came was not the person they were waiting for, those ambush swordsmen would never take action." The high priest lowered his voice, emphasizing the seriousness of the matter.
"This all shows that the priest may have some collusion with the Necromancer... No, it's not that it's possible, but there must be something wrong."
Bishop Ronis frowned and slowly shook his head. "No..."
High Priest Cuthbert nodded firmly and said: "But the facts are before our eyes, and we can't help but believe it. I think we should investigate. Let's send someone to capture him now..."
Bishop Ronis interrupted the high priest and asked: "When are you talking about the time when the swordsmen and the necromancers fought?"
"Judging from the body, it should have been this morning..."
Bishop Ronis looked at the high priest and said softly: "This morning he and I were alone in the study room discussing some theological issues, so it definitely has nothing to do with him."
Cuthbert choked immediately. It took him a while to regain his composure and said, "But aren't you alone in the study?"
"I called him quietly, you just didn't pay attention." Bishop Ronis waved his hand and suppressed what the high priest wanted to say. "This thing must be just a coincidence. There is a necromancer near the royal capital. This
Don't make this matter public, so as not to cause panic to everyone. His Majesty was very frightened last time, so we can investigate privately and be more alert. Okay, you go down and make arrangements. I'm tired and need to take a rest."
After exiting the cathedral, Archpriest Cuthbert expressed his extreme dissatisfaction with the Bishop's obvious favoritism. He said angrily: "It's too much. Since that kid appeared out of nowhere, the Bishop has
It has completely changed. Not only does he often interfere in political affairs, but he also promotes that completely dishonorable guy to a high priest. But this time it is very obvious that he is covering up. It would be reasonable if it were other things, but this is related to the Necromancer.
.”
Captain Roland remained silent, thoughtful.
Cuthbert suddenly fell silent from his excitement. After thinking for a while, he glanced at Captain Roland next to him and sighed in a tentative tone: "What will happen to the future of the Magic Academy if this continues? Bishop
Your Excellency looks old..."
Captain Roland's eyes flashed sharply, forcing the second half of the high priest's words back.
When he saw Captain Roland returning at the headquarters of the Holy Knights, Clovis knew that the Duke's words were indeed correct.
"Twenty years ago, the turmoil in the entire eastern continent and the civil war in the empire were all quelled by Bishop Ronis. His reputation and status are absolutely unshakable in both the church and the empire. Since he is committed to cultivating that guy, naturally
He will provide him with cover. Without any real evidence, no matter what the matter is, he can easily handle it with his prestige and status."
"But this is related to the Necromancer after all. No matter how much the bishop protects him, he will not condone it to this extent."
"Necromancer..." The Duke smiled slightly, remembering something from the past. "I think the bishop should know what is going on better than anyone else. But it's hard for me to come forward. Even if this matter is exposed,
I don’t know what kind of effect it will have if I go out, so it’s better to stay put for the time being.” The Duke thought for a while, then smiled, a friendly and kind smile. He said to Clovis: “Go and help your master.
Let him find out the truth. It would be best if we could find some personal or material evidence to give to him or others. Although it won't have any decisive effect even if it is proved, it is still a little trouble for our respected bishop.
Okay. After all, the more chaotic the situation, the better it is for us. As long as we don’t expose ourselves, you can secretly make the conflict as big as possible and out of control."
"I understand." Clovis replied with a lot of fighting spirit.
After returning from the Magic Academy, Captain Roland found Clovis. As the Duke expected, he had something for Clovis to do.
"I found this on a thorn in the woods." Captain Roland took out a few strands of silk thread from clothes, pink and red satin thread. "This seems to be on a woman's clothes, but there was no woman at the scene.
"You should investigate the body in secret." He urged: "Remember, you must investigate quietly, and no matter what happens during the investigation, don't make it public. You can't embarrass Bishop Ronis. You can report back quietly."
Just give it to me."
"Yes." Clovis took the cute clues and nodded in agreement.