Imperial Crown.

Chapter 218 Smart Doug

Raven's letter was mailed in the evening and arrived at the desk in Montreal early the next morning.

When Montreal saw the letter, he was even a little nervous, but after reading the contents, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Raven finally agreed to his request.

His Majesty's special envoy, Marquis Anthony Vanya Edwards, arrived in the Nord Province a month ago with the purpose of reviewing the previous battle of the Death Hand Cult.

This was nothing.

But the problem was that the envoy did not stay in the provincial capital, Hovi City, nor did he even meet with the governor Montreal. Instead, he went directly to the Slater family's Mon'en City.

This cold attitude does not bode well for the Fox family.

For a time, rumors spread everywhere.

Except for those vassals who were inseparable from the Fox family, many nobles began to cut ties with the Fox family.

He cut off business ties, rejected the Fox family's invitation, and even refused to execute decrees issued in the name of the governor.

"It seems that my last trip was not in vain." Montreal said to himself, "Otherwise, Raven might not agree if I just put pressure on him."

The timing of Raven's letter's arrival was quite clever.

Originally, it was a high-class marriage for Raven to marry Nancy. Once he agreed, everyone would say that Raven did it for fame and fortune.

But agreeing to the marriage proposal at this sensitive stage would not only be a timely help to the Fox family, but also shut everyone up and invisibly raise Raven's reputation.

He did not express his opinion when the Fox family was at its peak, but now he agreed. He can be said to be responsible. He is no longer that little bee, but a tough guy with aristocratic qualities!

Raven is simply stepping on the Fox family to make a name for himself.

Montreal saw this, but he could only accept it.

Because Raven has grown into a force that cannot be ignored in the Nord Province.

His standing on the side of the Fox family was enough to make those wavering small and medium-sized nobles more cautious.

At least, they won't completely side with the Slater family!
"Someone come here!" Thinking of this, Montreal raised his voice: "Spread the word, the Fox family is going to form an alliance with the Griffith family. From now on, prepare Miss Nancy's dowry!"

In the eyes of those who are interested, there are no secrets in the world.

Montreal received the letter in the morning, and at noon a copy of it appeared in the Earl of Tyrone's study.

But the person sitting at the desk and reading the contents of the letter was not Earl Tyrone himself, but a nobleman who looked to be around 60 years old.

Her hair was white and thick, styled in a perm that was no longer popular, and the hair quality was so good that it looked like a wig.

There were deep wrinkles on his forehead, swollen bags under his eyes, and sagging skin on his cheeks, making his mouth look like it was enclosed in a pair of brackets.

It was the Marquis Anthony.

"How interesting." Throwing the letter back on the table, Anthony said, "Earl Tyrone, Baron Raven has always been so...impulsive?"

Nominally he came to review military achievements, but the real purpose of his trip was to punish the Fox family and deprive Montreal of his title of Governor.

This matter is known to everyone in the Nord Province. Raven chose this time to stand on the side of the Fox family, which is simply a provocation to Anthony.

Earl Tyrone had already read the letter. He poured a glass of wine for the man in front of him and said, "Baron Raven is never impulsive. In fact, he is more stable and cautious than most nobles."

"Steady?" Anthony pursed his lips. "Isn't he afraid that the territory he has obtained will be taken back?"

Earl Tyrone smiled: "I think he is indeed not afraid."

Marquis Anthony's eyes were a little blurry as he recalled the news about Raven.

In his opinion, Raven was an outstanding nobleman. He was already a third-level magician at the age of 22, and he also had very good plans for the governance of the territory and the economic development.

Even among the aristocratic circles in the royal capital, he can be considered young and promising.

Anthony has seen many geniuses like this in his life. Without exception, they are all very sharp and want to show their uniqueness in every way. Arrogance is almost engraved in their bones.

cautious?

If he is cautious, why isn't he afraid?
Anthony's eyes wandered around and fell on the map of Nord Province hanging on the wall, and a sense of realization flashed across his eyes.

"This Baron Raven is really brave."

Tai Long smiled: "That's right, that's why he can get the biggest benefit, and now he's tied up..."

He didn't finish his words, but Anthony understood what he meant.

Anthony has the right to take back previous military achievements on behalf of His Majesty the King, but there are too many things involved with Raven.

First of all, Raven and Viscount John exchanged territories. To take back Raven’s credit would be a huge hassle - which territory should he take back?
If it was the piece that Raven had been allocated before, it was already the territory of Viscount John; if it was the Xuefeng Territory, Raven had exchanged it for the territory he had been allocated.

This matter could go on for a long time.

On the other hand, if we really talk about military merits, Raven is the one with the most merits - after all, he handed in the most badges of the Hand of Death.

If Raven is to be re-examined, then the examination of other nobles will be inevitable as well. This will affect the interests of everyone in the entire Nord Province!
Even someone as powerful as Marquis Anthony had to return to the capital in disgrace if he caused resentment from the entire province.

Anthony chuckled, "It seems you admire Raven, Lord Tyrone."

"Smart and sensible young people are always liked." Tyrone did not deny it.

Anthony nodded slowly: "Smart and sensible..."

Being smart means being able to see the situation clearly and not standing on the side of the weak Fox family to go against the will of His Majesty the King.

Thinking of this, Anthony was stunned for a moment, a playful smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

He suddenly realized that this young man, who had only made him curious, was actually enough to affect the balance of the scale.

If Raven insisted on standing on the side of the Fox family to fight against his scrutiny, it would be a really tricky and troublesome matter.

"It seems that I have stayed in Mon'en City for too long." Anthony seemed to be talking to himself: "Maybe it's time to go out and see the scenery of the North."

same moment.

Elder Rudolph's face faded into a room at the Lion's Pride Inn.

Doug took back the Death Altar on the ground with a serious expression.

The year he spent in Eagle Town was the happiest time for him since he joined the Death Hand Cult.

Fine wine, beautiful women, exciting gambling, and the thrilling arena, each of which made him reluctant to leave.

Therefore, even if his funds were all gone and he had to rely on gambling at the Paramount to make money, he would stay here.

But today, he had to take action.

Elder Rudolf has issued an ultimatum: if we stay any longer, we will be recalled.

Not to mention that you will lose all these enjoyments, the punishment for mission failure alone is enough to make people daunted.

Being merely confined would be fine, but being sent to serve the Lord of Death would be real torture.

"Ugh--"

Doug sighed, his face bitter as he recalled how he had evaded Elder Rudolph.

He told Elder Rudolph that Raven had left Eagle Territory and gone to Mon'en City.

During that period, the location of the holy emblem was moved from the five northwestern counties to the three central counties; and with the return of Baron Raven, the location of the holy emblem also returned to the five northwestern counties.

This is enough to show that Raven carries the holy emblem.

To prove this point, Doug even made up a story, saying that he had searched the soul of a horse thief and learned from it that Raven could indeed drive a bone dragon. This was actually completely far-fetched. In the battle last year, Raven was only level one, and the strongest of his subordinates was only level two.

But the Holy Emblem of Death is in the hands of the Soul Saint.

Although I have never seen her in person, the Soul Saint is a third-level necromancer, and is accompanied by a bone dragon.

Raven couldn't possibly be her opponent!

But Rudolf believed it. Not only that, he also ordered Doug to take immediate action to take back the holy emblem.

From Doug's perspective, Rudolph didn't just believe him, but knew he was lying and was urging him to die!

Manda the herder came over and asked, "What are you going to do? Attack Eagle Castle directly?"

He knew that Doug was talking nonsense, but he had been out for so long that he and Doug were inseparable. If Doug was punished, he would also be implicated, so he did not expose him.

But the elders' orders must be carried out.

"What the hell." Doug said unhappily, "Raven is already a third-level magician. Are we going to die?"

"Next, I have a plan..."

Just then, the door next to her opened. Margaret had just finished taking a shower. She was gathering her wet hair with her fingers, revealing a face as beautiful as a lotus in clear water.

She bit her pink lips and said, "I can't wash my back clean when I take a shower myself. Sir Doug...can you help me?"

Doug's throat twitched violently, Manda's eyes shone, and the two herders next to him squeezed their legs together.

"Of course, you go first, I'll be there soon." Doug said softly.

Margaret nodded and closed the door. Doug's face immediately turned cold: "Manda, get rid of her."

"When you're done, meet me at the East Forest." He straightened his collar and walked out. "The rest of you, follow me."

As usual, he left the room slowly, walked out of the Lion King's Pride, and soon arrived at the woods east of the city.

About half an hour later, Manda also arrived.

"Has it been dealt with?"

"It's been dealt with."

Doug sighed and felt it was a pity. After all, Margaret was the sexiest and most beautiful woman he had ever seen and enjoyed. She gave him an unprecedented pleasure experience.

But his actions must not leave any traces, so if anyone is to blame, it should be Margaret herself who is too careless!
As time went by and it got darker, Doug took the opportunity to explain his plan to others.

Attacking Eagle Castle would be tantamount to seeking death. Doug planned to summon a group of undead creatures and rush into Eagle Town to burn, kill and loot.

Make enough noise and then escape during the chaos.

At that time, they would tell Elder Rudolf that they were sure that the holy emblem was on Raven, but Raven refused to give it to them when they asked for it, so they had to retreat after a hard fight.

This is a question of ability, not attitude, and even if there is punishment, it will not be too severe.

"Do it!"

Doug took a deep breath, stroked the ring on his left hand, and then held the bone staff in his hand. He held the staff with both hands and began to chant the spell in a low voice.

Behind him, the three necromancers also began to cast spells.

The grayish-white aura of death rose like a thick fog, covering the entire forest.

Accompanied by bursts of noise, skeletons and zombies crawled out of the soil. There were no less than hundreds of them in total. Gray soul fire burned in the eyes of each undead creature.

This is not over yet, Doug continues to shake his staff, and a whirlwind suddenly blows up!
After the whirlwind, a majestic skeleton warrior appeared in front of Doug.

It wore a huge horned helmet on its head, enchanted plate armor, and held a gray-black enchanted heavy sword in both hands. Green soul fire burned in its empty eye sockets.

Second-order undead creature!

Doug's gaze passed over the shoulders of the undead creatures and fell on Eagle Town not far away.

The Wallace Hotel, the Crystal Palace, the Paramount Theatre, and the Colosseum that cannot be ignored.

He waved his staff and pointed forward: "Attack!!!"

What a nice town, what a prosperous territory!
Doug felt a sense of tyrannical pleasure at the thought of trampling it under his feet and turning the prosperity into ruins.

Since we can't enjoy this prosperity forever, let's destroy it!

The bone warrior moved.

It took a step forward, turned around, swung its heavy sword, and slammed it into Doug's face.

Doug flew backwards like a stone. There was a moment of confusion and trance in his mind. When he came to his senses, he felt that half of his face was numb. When he opened his mouth, three broken teeth appeared.

He looked at the skeleton warrior and said angrily, "I asked you to attack, not to hit me!"

But the next moment, Doug realized something was wrong.

The skeleton warrior continued to walk towards him steadily step by step.

At the same time, the awakened undead souls have overwhelmed the shepherds, and blood, limbs and screams are splattered everywhere!
"Stop, I told you to stop!" Doug waved his staff and gave slurred orders to the skeleton warrior.

But what he couldn't understand was that his orders seemed to fall on deaf ears and he didn't get any response at all!
"Tsk tsk, a husband and wife are bound by a hundred days of grace. We have been friends for decades." A soft and charming female voice sounded, getting closer and closer: "Master Doug, you are really heartless. You are willing to attack me."

Doug looked around and finally saw Margaret walking towards him in the night.

She changed into a translucent gauze dress and crystal high heels. The breeze blew, revealing her plump and seductive figure, with an indescribable charm.

But Doug couldn't think of anything: "...Manda didn't kill you."

"Haha, he's not as unkind as you." Margaret said, "It's a pity that he's too ugly. If it weren't for the Baron, I wouldn't have fallen for him."

While Margaret was talking, Doug raised his staff and was about to cast a spell, but the skeleton warrior suddenly threw out the heavy sword in his hand and cut his staff into two pieces!
Doug glanced at the Skeleton Warrior and then at Margaret, and said in disbelief: "You took control of these undead creatures? So..."

"Yes, the Holy Symbol of Death is in my hand." Margaret said, "Also, you guessed correctly before, the Bone Dragon Gregory is indeed following the orders of the Baron."

Doug's eyes went dark. "Everything I said before was just made up to deal with Rudolph!"

"If I had known that Baron Raven had this ability, I would never have said anything..."

Before he could finish his words, the Skeleton Warrior walked up to him and waved his fist, causing his vision to actually go dark.

Just when he was about to lose consciousness, he vaguely heard a sentence: "How smart! You are still struggling at this time. Go back and bring him to the Baron for a thorough interrogation..."

When Doug woke up again, he found himself in a dark dungeon with a pair of heavy magic-sealing steel handcuffs on his wrists.

"Hey, you're awake." A hoarse voice sounded: "Welcome, welcome."

Turning around, I saw a disheveled, savage-like man sitting in the cage next to me, tickling his toes.

"My name is Mark." The Savage put his fingertips to his nose and sniffed them. "What's your name?"

Doug was so disgusted by Mark that he frowned: "Stay away from me, you dirty pariah! I am a noble!"

"Noble? Who isn't a noble?" Mark sneered, and touched his nose with the finger he had just used to pick his toes. "If you're locked up for two years, you'll become like me."

Watching Mark's actions, watching the lice and bugs crawling in and out of his hair, and then smelling the disgusting odor on Mark.

Doug felt a surge of despair.

I...will become like this too! ?

……

(End of this chapter)