Imperial Crown.

Chapter 292: Viscount's Appearance
The rainstorm just stopped, the dark clouds dispersed, and the moonlight shone.

In the dead woods, William held Margaret's stiff body in his arms in a daze.

In a trance, he suddenly heard a familiar voice: "Dear... help me..."

William closed his eyes tightly and murmured, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have concealed my incompetence. I should have focused on dealing with Gul'dan. Otherwise, you wouldn't have..."

At this point, William burst into tears.

But the voice that I thought was an illusion did not disappear. Instead, it became clearer and more real: "Honey, help me..."

Is she not dead?

With anxious anticipation, William slowly opened his eyes, and then froze there.

I saw an extra head on Margaret's neck, and a thick black aura was spreading at the connection point.

The head was not as beautiful as the one William had seen before. It was gray-brown in color, bald with a few wet algae-like hairs growing here and there. The ears were pointed and flat, the nose was unusually large, and the mouth was just a small slit.

The gap opened, revealing yellow teeth: "Honey, can you scratch my ears for me? It's a little itchy there."

A chill suddenly climbed up William's spine and shoulders, causing him to scream. He dropped Margaret in his arms and disappeared into a ball of black wind.

"Oh, man..."

Margaret grumbled in dissatisfaction, but there was nothing she could do.

Gul'dan's attack did have a fatal effect. If it weren't for the power of the curse connected to Raven's mysterious and powerful blood curse, Margaret would have died long ago.

Even so, Margaret lost Parisil's characteristics forever, which not only meant that she could never turn into Parisil again, but she could not even use necromancy.

Now Margaret can only wait patiently until the wound on her neck heals completely and she regains the ability to move before going to find Raven.

Only the essence of corrupted souls can restore her strength.

The night passed and the morning light came.

Eric came to Raven's office and placed Hyperion's Hatred on the table.

Lei Wen said nothing, but sighed softly: "Alas..."

Gul'dan was still dead.

Gul'dan must die, too.

The locust plague had just passed, and the nobles needed a peaceful Nordic province to recover and lick their wounds.

The Church of Light is facing a very good situation and does not want any trouble to disrupt their deployment at this time.

Not to mention Anthony.

Therefore, Gul'dan became the public enemy of the entire province and it was impossible for him to walk out alive.

And Raven could not let Gul'dan leave his territory unharmed, because if he did, the fact that he was harboring Gul'dan would no longer be concealed.

However, Raven still gave Gul'dan a glimmer of hope.

If they really had to make a final decision, then Margaret, William and Eric would work together to kill Gul'dan, and there would be no way he would survive.

It was Raven's deliberate arrangement to let the three of them set up checkpoints layer by layer. If Gul'dan could get through, Raven would not pursue him anymore.

Unfortunately, Gul'dan still fell at the last level.

Holding the Hyperion's Hatred in his hand, the three magic crystals on the scabbard had all shattered. He gently pulled it out, and the sword itself had been twisted into an iron bar.

"Hate of Hyperion..." Raven stroked the scabbard, a complex emotion in his eyes.

This sword was made by the legendary swordsmith Hyperion.

When it was forged, it had no name.

Hyperion made this sword for his friend in the hope that it could help him overcome difficulties and kill powerful enemies.

However, the result went against their wishes. The sword was too powerful for Hyperion's friend to control. Although he defeated the enemy, he himself died from the runaway power.

This is how the sword got its name.

Hyperion's "hatred" represents a kind of regret.

Raven put down his sword, looked away, and fell into some deep thought.

Gul'dan, the young master of the Fox family, was proud all his life, but ended up like this.

Does he have regrets, too?
An inexplicable feeling welled up in his heart, and Raven sighed:
"Gul'dan, Gul'dan..."

"But, sir." The knight standing in front of him lifted up his armor and pointed at his own eyes:

"I'm Eric."

Raven was speechless for a moment. He wanted to explain something, but the answer turned into a helpless smile: "I know. I've been busy all night. Go and rest first."

Eric took the order and left. Raven put away the Hate of Hyperion and looked out the window.

The morning glow has risen.

After the spring rain, all things begin to grow. On the originally bare mountains, saplings and grass seeds that had survived the locusts' mouths sprout out. From afar, one can see a vague patch of green.

The serfs ignored the cold weather after the rain. They pushed the oxen and carried farm tools to plow the wet fields and sow wheat seeds.

Backpacks are usually carried by people who go into the mountains to collect herbs or grow fruits, but now they are standard equipment for all serfs.

Having learned from last year's lesson, they have become extremely precise and picky in their vision. Whenever they see locust eggs, they will immediately pick them out and throw them into their backpacks.

The children no longer had time to play around, but instead followed their parents, running around and stuffing any locust eggs or anything similar-looking they saw into their backpacks.

With their help, a backpack will be filled up in no time.

The serfs gathered the contents and poured them into a horse-drawn carriage, which was then transported to the bank of the Liujing River. They washed away the dirt with water and burned the contents.

As time went by, Raven's territory became visibly greener.

As the temperature gradually rose, traces of locusts inevitably appeared in the territory.

Moreover, locusts appeared not only in Raven's territory, but throughout the entire Nord Province. The Sky Eagle Platform was in an uproar, and many nobles were discussing how to deal with it.

Mrs. Doreen, who had just returned to the Gravel Territory, sent a secret letter to Raven, wanting to come and seek refuge.

Raven was somewhat at a loss for words, so he used his position as the head of the No. 3 Warning Zone, which had not yet been revoked, to order the nobles of the five northwestern counties to organize their people and the army to proactively kill the locusts before they became a disaster.

Shortly after this order was issued, Anthony, as governor, issued a similar call to the province of Nord.

The move proved to be very effective.

After the nobles dealt with the locust eggs after last year's locust plague, although the number of newly born locusts was large, it was not enough to cause a disaster.

Coupled with organized pest control, the Nordic province successfully nipped a new batch of potential insect pests in the bud.

The time comes to mid-September.

There was a knock on the door of Fox Castle's study.

After getting permission, Akori pushed the door open with his elbow and walked into the room, holding a wooden box in his hand.

"Governor, you are truly amazing." Akori said with surprise and admiration in his eyes: "I didn't believe it at first, but I didn't expect you to be right!"

Anthony looked up from the documents and rubbed his brows: "What did I say?"

Although the locust plague passed peacefully, Anthony's mood did not improve much.

It’s all because of Viscount John’s letter listing his “seven deadly sins”.

Under normal circumstances, the letter would be read and the King would not do anything to him. But now that the empire was defeated and the King was unhappy, the letter became a sharp sword. As long as the King wanted, any of the charges above could make Anthony lose several layers of skin.

Unfortunately, Anthony himself did not do much during his tenure.

So, at this time when all things were reviving and the nobles in the Nord province began to resume social activities and hold cocktail parties and banquets, Anthony had to close the door and lock himself at home.

This is of course just superficial.

But if you are not even willing to put in the effort to appear loyal, how can people believe that you are truly loyal?
"You said before that Gul'dan's head would be delivered to you!" Akori held up the box in his hand with a little excitement: "Now, it's really here!"

Anthony smiled slightly: "It's just that I'm standing high enough. If you were in my position one day, you would make the same judgment."

"Who sent this box?"

Akori was stunned and said, "...I don't know about this. It was brought to me by a mercenary."

"According to the mercenary, someone gave him 5 silver coins and asked him to help pass it on. I also sent people to find the payer, but no clues have been found so far."

Anthony waved his hand gently: "Then there's no need to look for it."

"You mean, you know who sent this?" Akori was even more incredulous: "Who was it?"

Anthony did not answer: "Okay, put the things down, and call Ezio to me."

"This... is a bit difficult." Akori said a little embarrassedly.

"What does this mean?" Anthony frowned.

Akori scratched his earlobe and told the whole story.

This morning, Ezio was seen.

When he was seen, he was not wearing any clothes.

The woman lying with him was also naked.

Unfortunately, the person who saw them was the woman's husband.

What's even more unfortunate is that the husband was a knight who originally belonged to the Fox family.

Ezio was chased and hacked by the knight for most of the street, and finally jumped into the sewer. His whereabouts are still unknown.

"Okay..." Anthony sighed helplessly: "Anyway, when you find Ezio, bring him to me!"

After the door was closed, Anthony took the wooden box and opened it, and saw Gul'dan's head with wide-open eyes.

Anthony breathed a sigh of relief.

The last bit of the Fox family's bloodline was finally cut off here.

Although Gul'dan's death was nominally confirmed before, the fact that he was alive could not escape the eyes of those who were interested.

After all, there is no parchment that cannot be burned.

After the fall of the Fox family, there have been rumors that Gul'dan is still alive, and with the arrival of the locust plague, the people of the Nord province were in panic. This rumor spread quickly and had a considerable market.

Even in Ferdor County, many secret cults that were causing trouble, under the banner of Gul'dan, proclaimed all kinds of so-called "truths" and poured pots of dirty water on Anthony's head.

Now, Gul'dan is finally dead.

With this head, His Majesty the King can start the process of finding the bloodline of the Fox family and cultivate a new Earl Fox who is close to His Majesty the King.

As for who sent the head, Anthony himself had his own conclusion.

Since Gul'dan is fleeing, he must go to the territory of nobles he trusts.

In fact, the Slater family is the perfect choice.

Anthony saw it clearly. Even though Earl Tyrone was respectful to him now, his fundamental position was still on the side of family interests.

If Gul'dan surrenders to Earl Tyrone and hides until the storm passes and Anthony leaves the Nord province, Tyrone will most likely help Gul'dan restore his title and inheritance rights, thereby gaining a firm ally and consolidating and expanding the influence of the Slater family.

But Anthony observed that neither Montreal nor Gourdan had such political wisdom.

Therefore, the only place Gul'dan could choose was Raven's territory.

From another perspective, Gul'dan had the strength of a third-level, eighth-star when he fled. After more than a year of accumulation, it is not impossible for him to reach the third-level, ninth-star, or even tenth-star level.

In the entire Nord Province, apart from Anthony himself and the Slater family, only Raven could kill a strong man like Gul'dan silently.

“Smart and decisive decision making.”

There was a hint of appreciation in Anthony's eyes.

The Nordic province cannot withstand the turmoil, and the same is true for Molinir, which has also suffered from a locust plague. Gul'dan, the source of the turmoil, will have no way to survive wherever he runs.

Raven took the initiative to hand over the head, which not only completely cleared himself of the crime of harboring Gul'dan, but also won Anthony's favor in time.

Snapped.

The box was closed, Anthony took out the parchment, held the quill pen, and began to write a letter.

The letterhead was long, but Anthony wrote it carefully and slowly, not daring to make any mistakes.

Because it was a letter to His Majesty the King.

In the letter, Anthony asked about the King's health, frankly admitted his inappropriate handling of the locust plague, and expressed deep remorse.

Then the topic changed and described how the Nordic province was recovering today.

He also said that although he had heard that some people were proposing to exempt the four western provinces of the empire that had suffered from a locust plague from taxes, Anthony would never allow the Nord province to become a burden at a time when the empire was in danger.

Nord Province does not need tax reduction or exemption!
At the end of the letter, Anthony tactfully mentioned that Baron Raven of the Griffith family had performed outstandingly in resisting the locust plague and deserved recognition.

Moreover, it is not a long-term solution for Raven to continue to serve as the county governor as a baron. In order to avoid people's unrest, I hope Your Majesty can make a decision as soon as possible.

After sealing the letter, Anthony smiled and said:
"This boy has the appearance of a viscount."

thump.

Suddenly, a piece of the ceiling collapsed and a green figure appeared in the room.

Subconsciously, Anthony's hand flashed with lightning, which turned into a long sword and stabbed forward fiercely.

The figure also condensed a ball of lightning on his body, and the two collided and exploded at the same time, making the entire study a mess.

"Governor, it's me!" A figure appeared in the smoke and dust.

"Ezio!?" Anthony restrained his fighting spirit and said, "Why are you here?"

Ezio was naked except for a blue nightgown wrapped around his waist. He smiled and changed the subject: "I told you I was repairing the floor. Do you believe me?"

The next moment, a roar came from the ceiling:

"You humiliated my wife, and you dare to defile my daughter!?"

Ezio looked even more embarrassed.

Anthony rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration.

After sending away the green-haired knight, Anthony handed the letter to Ezio:

"Go."

"It's better to switch Ajani."

……

(End of this chapter)