Do you have a problem with necromancers?

Chapter 48 New official takes office
In recent days, Beijing residents have been surprised to find that the stench of feces and urine that permeated the streets seems to have dissipated considerably.

After inquiring about the rumors, I learned that the newly appointed captain of the capital's garrison had hired people to clean the streets every day, removing all the smelly human and animal excrement that was exposed to the elements.

The common people don't feel much about it; they've gotten used to the stench, and many of them are the kind of people who urinate and defecate anywhere, so they don't care whether there's a smell or not.

On the contrary, nobles and civil servants, who wore veils to block the stench when they went out, praised the garrison, saying, "Finally, a capable fellow has arrived."

The shops that were charged extra just chuckled. However, they were powerless to do anything about it, and since more customers were indeed willing to stroll the streets after the stench was gone, they reluctantly accepted the reality.

The news quickly spread from the circles of nobles in the capital to the ladies of the Empress's entourage. One of the noble ladies then told the Empress about it in public at a private salon of the Amazon Association, taking the opportunity to praise her for her "discerning eye."

"Hehehe." Queen Margaret was extremely pleased, but she unfolded her fan to cover her smile and said, "I didn't know he had practical talent at the time. I only gave him a try because of his sincere loyalty to the royal family..."

"Only a sage of unparalleled wisdom like yourself could discover new talents for the empire with just a casual attempt," another noble lady complimented.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Berthalia sat among the crowd, her eyes narrowed and a slight smile on her face as she sipped the red wine in her glass.

Her Majesty the Queen was not always available to attend the salon. When she was absent, Bersalia became the center of attention, and almost every noblewoman desired to have a close, confidante dark elf noble friend.

But whenever the Queen arrives, Berthalia will consciously lower her profile and let the spotlight shine on this emperor who loves the limelight—her mature mind, having been immersed in court politics for a long time, can see through the Queen's true character hidden beneath her gentle exterior at a glance.

Arrogance, ostentation, stubbornness, self-centeredness, and of course, the most crucial core:
madness.

Margarita was quite pleased with her willingness to play the role of a background figure, and even sat down with Berthalia on several occasions to whisper to each other, demonstrating that the two had formed a close friendship that transcended race, making the other noble ladies envious.

“By the way, Berthalia,” Margarita said gracefully, “I heard you’re Renn’s wife’s best friend?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Bersalia said with a smile. “We were good friends before she met Renn.”

"The Red Soil Plateau and the Gem Islands are quite far apart," a noblewoman asked, puzzled. "How did you two meet?"

“The Red Soil Plateau and the Imperial Capital aren’t very close, but I still managed to come here and meet you all,” Bersalia said with a smile. “It can only be said that the fate of each of us is cleverly arranged by the gods.”

"By the way," another noblewoman asked, "I've heard that women hold leadership positions in the Dark Elf Kingdom, is that true?"

"It's not exactly a female leader." Bersalia didn't want to say much about this, because what she knew was the Dark Elf Kingdom a thousand years ago, and there must be many differences from the actual situation. "To be precise, only the Dark Elf chosen by the Holy Spirit is qualified to lead the kingdom and the people."

“Then the Holy Spirit must be a wise goddess, otherwise she wouldn’t have chosen only dark elf women to lead the country,” the noblewoman exclaimed in sudden realization.

"Fool." Bersalia thought to herself, but said aloud:

“Perhaps. I also firmly believe that the Holy Spirit must have a special favor for women, otherwise why would he have sent this Virtuous Queen to our side?” “I dare not call myself the ‘Virtuous Queen’,” Margarita said with a wry smile. “Sitting in this position, I often feel uneasy, afraid that I have not fulfilled my responsibilities and have brought shame to the noble royal honor.”

“My goodness, Margarita,” Bersalia exclaimed dramatically. “If even a renowned ‘wise empress’ like yourself is considered to have failed in her duties as empress, then what about the other empresses of empires throughout history? Were they all incompetent?”

The ladies and young women burst into silvery laughter, eagerly echoing Berthalia's words.

Margarita was surrounded by people flattering her. At first, she wanted to continue to humbly decline, but soon she happily raised her chin and accepted all the praise.

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There's a saying in the capital: "The east is rich, the south is poor, the west is noble, and the north is forbidden." This means that wealthy merchants and patrons tend to congregate around the markets in the eastern district, while nobles prefer the upscale hotels in the western district, which are closer to the Nerva Bridge.

As for the southern district, located at the Imperial Canal Wharf, it was a place where a large number of laborers worked, moving goods to earn a living, making it a popular area for ordinary people. The security situation there was also the worst, with frequent fires, thefts, and murders.

Because it's not easy to make money in the southern district, the garrison doesn't like to patrol there. They just quickly walk around and leave each time, which objectively emboldens criminals.

Just two months ago, a series of murders occurred in the Southern District. The victims were almost all women returning home late at night, also known as prostitutes.

The murders occurred after midnight, and the bodies were often not discovered by passersby until the following morning. The victims' clothes were exposed, their scalps were peeled off, and the killer used blood to draw strange runes and magic circles around them, resembling the scene of some inexplicable occult ritual.

Rumors circulated among the onlookers that the killer was a necromancer hiding in the southern district who was murdering the victims to offer as sacrifices to an evil god. As a result, people began to impose a curfew—staying at home after dark and never going out.

Since male customers stopped going to pubs at night, the prostitutes' business also deteriorated sharply. Many simply switched to daytime business, which objectively prevented the murders from continuing, as the killers seemed to lack the courage to commit crimes during the day when there were many people around.

Raine could only go through the relevant information of the previous murder cases and found that these guards were so stupid that they hadn't drawn the magic circle runes for record-keeping, so he immediately gave them a good scolding.

"But sir, those are runes and magic circles left behind by necromancers!" the captains exclaimed innocently. "What if they automatically summon terrifying undead creatures in the dead of night after being drawn on paper?"

"Damn it! No matter how evil the necromancer is, he can't defeat our loyalty to the royal family!" Renn said firmly, his expression unwavering. "Loyalty and faith are our strongest weapons and shields!"

Ellina sat beside her, looking out the window with boredom.

You inherently evil necromancer, one day I will expose your true nature...

Just then, a guard came to report:

"Commander! Another similar murder has occurred in the Southern District!"

"This was a home invasion murder!"

(End of this chapter)