Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 576 Letter from Blood Harbor

The letter was written by Hughes, who hoped that Gwen could come and help check on the priests at the Silent Church.

This statement puzzled Gwen. The people of the Silent Sanctuary were confused by the White Mist, so why were they looking for her?

Hughes couldn't explain the reason—since they couldn't find Little Gwen, they could only find Big Gwen to replace her; maybe that would be useful?

No one knows why the priests in the Silent Sanctuary haven't woken up yet. Hughes knows the reason, but little Gwen didn't tell him how to cure them!

It makes perfect sense that Little Gwen owes debts while Big Gwen pays them back.

Moreover, Gwen has never returned by train from the North, and Hughes is quite curious about her expression when she sees Bloodharbor and Castells. He wonders if she will be so frightened that she goes crazy and does all sorts of embarrassing things.

It's said that the banshees even opened betting odds on this.
"Looking forward to your visit. Enclosed is this letter; please check it upon receipt."

Gwen struggled to read the sentences in the letter. She had learned to spell from Nora, but she didn't use it much and her spelling was rather average. Hughes, on the other hand, was of noble birth and habitually wrote in a very literary style.

“That word isn’t ‘subsidiary,’ it’s ‘attachment,’ Gwen,” Grisha said tentatively.

Gwen glared at him, then suddenly paused, "You, you've learned to spell?"

“I can not only read, but I can also write, though my level is only a little bit, I haven’t been learning for long.” Grisha smiled foolishly.

"How much can you read? Can you read this whole letter?"

"Well, almost."

Gwen's face twitched.

She studied with Nora for almost a year and only reached her current level. How long did Grisha study with Castell? A week?
"You're learning pretty fast."

"It's not fast. Miss Betty, who taught us to read, said that the person she had to count money for a week had to start learning calculus, and that's fast," Grisha said somewhat shyly. "By the way, Miss Betty's fried fish is especially delicious!"

"Wait a minute, why is the person who taught you selling fried fish?"

“Miss Betty was originally a fish and chips vendor, and teaching us to read was just a side thing. Sister Gwen, the people of Castel are all very capable; it seems like everyone over there can read!”

Gwen glanced at Grisha, then at the letter in her hand, and suddenly began to have second thoughts.

She was just a peasant girl, with no special skills other than being strong. What could she possibly do if she really went to Castel?

Farming? Does farming require so much strength? You don't have to fight with rye or fruits and vegetables.

"Grisha, maybe I shouldn't go to Castel yet?"

"Gwen, an attachment was sent with the letter. Would you like to take a look?"

"Ok?"

Gwen then noticed that Grisha was carrying a square box on his back, which was suspiciously large and not too big. Grisha took the box off his back and carefully handed it to Gwen.

Gwen hesitated for a moment, then opened the box and stared at Nora.

Bang! She slammed the box shut again.

Gwen took a deep breath, slowly opened the box again, and looked at Nora, whose face was growing darker and darker inside.

"Lady Nora!"

Nora glared fiercely at Gwen.

"Um, Lady Nora, I... I didn't mean to. Opening the box and seeing a head was really too frightening." Gwen's voice gradually faded.

Grisha's eyes began to dart around, and he silently took a few steps back. Taking advantage of the two's inattention, he quickly ran away.

The next moment, Nora's angry rebuke echoed throughout the entire Cataclysmic Prison.

Alexei picked up a pen, signed the document, stamped it with his seal, and neatly stacked it aside. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, rub his temples, and lean back in his armchair.

The North has a lot of trouble to deal with. If it were just construction, that would be fine, but the local political ecology is also very complicated. The lords and nobles in various places are deeply entrenched and collude with each other to oppose Castel openly and secretly.

Alexei was cornered. Negotiations were stalled, and projects were stalled. So he simply brought Hunter back from Blood Harbor, made a list, and sent the expeditionary force to negotiate with them.

Alexei was actually quite politically astute, having risen from a penniless orphan to become the principal of the Royal Military Academy, and was no stranger to fighting against others.

But he was too lazy to use his skills against these hopeless cases.

That's ridiculous. The expeditionary force had guns pointed at their heads, and they were still thinking about playing games of power struggles. The truly smart people had already taken action.

The fact that Grand Prince Alvarez surrendered faster than Alexei was what really gave him a headache.

The expeditionary force wholeheartedly supported Alexei's orders and wiped out the local forces in the North in less than a week. Now, the Scourge Prison has gained another batch of prisoners, waiting to be sent to the Tribunal to begin their second lives.

Alexei couldn't help but smile. The sound of the nobles crying and begging for mercy still made him feel happy. Maybe he should go to the prison later and listen to it for a while to relax.
Suddenly, a small head peeking in through the door caught his attention.

Gwen was holding a piece of paper and peeking in.

"what happened?"

Gwen forced a smile and walked in with a rather unnatural expression.

She was just a peasant girl, and the most important person she had ever met was an ordinary priest like Nora from the Silent Sanctuary.

The man before me is none other than the Archbishop of Truth of the Empire, the de facto ruler of the North, the executioner who slaughtered noble lords, and the compiler of the Holy Scriptures!

Although Gwen didn't quite understand the power structure of Imperial Truth, she knew that the person in front of her was roughly equivalent to the Pope, and that there was a difference in status between them that of Nora by countless numbers.

"Archbishop"

"Oh, Gwen, what's up? You've decided to go to Castells?"

Gwen shuddered at the mention of the word "Castel," but forced herself to say, "Yes, yes, you know about that too?"

"Of course I know. The lord is quite concerned about this matter, otherwise he wouldn't have written to you personally. Of course, it seems the Banshee is even more concerned."

That's genuine concern; they've even opened betting odds.

Gwen looked flattered, like a kitten that had suddenly been stuffed with a whole fish.

She quickly handed over the application form, and Alexei glanced at it before signing his name.

"Take it and go. There will be a train heading south in a little while. You can catch it, and if everything goes smoothly, you can even have dinner in Blood Harbor."

It's only noon now, and the train to Blood Harbor will only take a few hours.

Alexei smiled as he watched Gwen leave.

No one who goes to Castel for the first time ever has a smooth trip.

(End of this chapter)