Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 419 No wonder the hypnosis failed
Grisha was just an ordinary person, and a child who was most easily fooled. His hypnosis had the effect of interfering with cognition, so even if there were some flaws, he should be able to get away with it. Could there be some huge loophole?

But the scene we just saw was extremely simple, consisting of soap, fried fish, and Nora. So what went wrong?
Isaac was sent to the North by Hughes to gather intelligence, which shows he was a very shrewd person. After a little thought, the reason was obvious.

"It's Nora. Something happened to Nora. Is Nora not at the camp?"

He muttered to himself, then shook his head when he saw that Grisha was still glaring at him.

"It seems I was wrong. Nora is seriously injured and unable to get up?"

"Won't Nora come out to patrol?"

"Nora's accent is off?"

After guessing several times without being able to discern anything from Grisha's face, Isaac simply gave up trying. He brushed the snow off his clothes, picked up the flatbread from the ground, and stuffed it back into his chest.

Perhaps it was just bad luck, but extraordinary individuals on the Investigator path always occasionally encounter unexpected events, and even Isaac, who had a dual path, was no exception.

“I am indeed a Castel, but I am not here on the Lord’s orders. I have only heard that Lady Nora is still organizing resistance, so I have come to make contact.”

He explained to Grisha, then, without waiting for the boy to believe him or not, hung him back on the tree and continued walking into the woods.

The investigator was naturally skilled at tracking; all he needed to do was confirm that Grisha was a member of the resistance and follow the trail he had taken.

In fact, Isaac's goal was achieved when the boy asked him for soap; what followed was merely a test.

It now appears that the resistance forces have some value in cooperation.

Firstly, the presence of children like Grisha in the resistance army demonstrates that order had not collapsed and that the resistance had the capacity and resources to protect the weak.

Secondly, Grisha had the will to resist. He neither fled in fear nor waited numbly for death, which is very important. If a team loses its spirit, everything else is just empty talk.

As for the others, they are all minor issues.

Although he had only seen a little boy, Isaac had already gathered a great deal of information. Soon, he bypassed the resistance's sentry posts and arrived at the camp.

After casually mentioning his intentions to a few people, Isaac stood still, coldly observing the chaos unfolding in the camp.

First, several men surrounded him nervously. They were skeptical of Isaac's story, so they sent a few men to report to him while the rest kept an eye on him.

These men carried weapons, but were not armored—and the weapons were relatively rudimentary.

Isaac carefully examined their faces—they seemed to be in good spirits, but their complexions were so-so, and they were rather thin.

Their situation doesn't seem too good, but with Nora's help, they should be able to hold on.

Soon, several squads of fully armed soldiers arrived. Their weapons were a mixed bag, but most of them had some tattered armor.

They should have a certain level of combat capability.

Children and women were quickly evacuated. There was some chaos in the camp, but it was generally under control and well organized.

Isaac nodded to himself. This resistance force did have some potential, and his special trip was worthwhile.

All we need to do now is wait for Nora to arrive, meet with her, discuss the possibility of joining forces, and find out about the situation here, as the Ash Alliance doesn't know much about this area.

But soon, Isaac frowned. He noticed that while the people had discussed the matter for a while and selected a few people to speak with him, Nora was nowhere to be seen. "Isn't Nora here?"

The people opposite did not speak, but their faces showed strange expressions.

Why is this reaction so strange?
A flurry of thoughts raced through Isaac's mind in an instant. His face remained expressionless, though he seemed somewhat dazed.

In the shadows of the trees and snow, the silhouette of a moth silently flashed by.

Nora, dressed in heavy armor, sat by the campfire.

After she returned, she never spoke to anyone—having lost her head, she naturally couldn't speak, and the resistance fighters didn't dare to approach her to ask questions.

She just sits here every day, but as long as she's here, the resistance won't collapse.

At that moment, a figure slowly emerged from the air beside her.

Isaac's eye twitched. The man, who had always kept a low profile, finally couldn't control his expression. After a moment of silence, he tentatively asked, "Nora?"

Nora slowly stood up and turned to him.

Isaac then realized that she was indeed headless. Damn it, no wonder the boy saw through his illusion so easily!

The next moment, Nora raised the flail high and swung it down fiercely!

Isaac stepped aside, and the incense burner swept past him, stirring up a gust of wind and snow.

Wow, that was quite a bit of force.
The Burialer is an extraordinary being who excels in direct combat and has an exceptional ability to withstand blows. Moreover, Nora was wearing full heavy armor, and Isaac quickly found it difficult to subdue her after a few attempts.

So he pulled a letter from his pocket and announced, "Nora, this is a letter from Count Hughes to you!"

The flail paused in mid-air, and the hammerhead swayed with inertia before landing beside her.

It seemed they could still communicate, and Isaac breathed a sigh of relief.

He has high hopes for this contact.

When the Ash Alliance first came to the North to develop its power, it intended to follow the path of the Empire. However, just as it was gaining some traction, the Queen was assassinated, and the three Grand Dukes of the North rebelled. In order to preserve its strength, Isaac chose to retreat westward with the Empire.

Then, unfortunately, they encountered wave after wave of religious purges by the empire.

Having barely managed to preserve the organization and accumulate some strength, Isaac personally came to the North to make contact with Nora's resistance and, incidentally, inquire about Castell.

Castel is located in the sea in the far east of the empire. It lost contact after the Duchy of Tis gained independence. Isaac tried to contact it through the Sea of ​​the Unknown, but to no avail.

The lord had sent him to develop the northern border, but by some twist of fate he ended up in the central lands where the empire was located. He thought the lord must have mistaken him for dead, and should have sent someone else to the northern border instead.

He searched the North for a long time but found nothing, and there was no news of Castel. He only knew that the prince had allied with the four lords of the North, so he had no choice but to look for Nora's resistance first.

If he can't find it, he might really have no choice but to travel across the entire Duchy of Tis to the seaside in person.

Isaac was actually a little puzzled. With Castel's strength, by this time, if not everyone knew about it, at least they shouldn't be completely unable to find out anything. How could the entire island seem to have disappeared?
(End of this chapter)