Heart of the Castle

Chapter 431 The army gathers, the chief inspector secretly visits
The army of the Reeves family, carrying the banner of "Flayed Heads", arrived outside the city of Fermeyer on a cold and windy morning. A total of 500 infantrymen, led by dozens of captains on horseback, formed an army. The black rectangular array slowly approached, and several bronze drums were beating at the front of the array. The beating of the marching drums became more and more dull as the troops approached.The equipment of the soldiers in this unit is quite unique. Even ordinary soldiers are wearing black iron ring armor, holding a large shield with the symbol of blood and tears and a heavy flail in their hands. The chain between the handle and the prickly iron ball follows them. The heavy footsteps clanged loudly.

The troops of Dreadfort, like the troops of noble lords from all over the world, chose a flat land outside the city to set up camp.The king's capital, Fermeyer, is located at the junction of the Victory River and the Oath River, so there are a lot of flat lands enough to set up a camp. After clearing away the withered yellow grass leaves, countless thin gray-white cooking smoke rose from the camp. Swaying in the air, like many extremely slender fingers touching the sky.

There are already dozens of such camps around the City of Glory, and with the passage of time, they are still increasing.The order of His Majesty Arthur XII plunged the entire Kingdom of Arthur into a state of turmoil. Kingdom envoys holding golden daggers galloped across the territories, and the sound of assembled horns echoed above every castle.During the day, groups of infantry and cavalry can be encountered everywhere on the road leading to Fermeyer, as well as a larger number of peasants and carriages transporting food and grass.Even at night, the sound of knights giving orders, the sound of horseshoes, the sound of rolling wheels, the heavy footsteps of heavy infantry and the sound of marching drums shook the originally peaceful night sky.The war machine that the Kingdom of Arthur had demonstrated its astonishing power ten years ago began to start slowly, making a thrilling roar.

A large crow flew over the high city walls of Firmeyer, then folded its wings and plunged down from the air. A familiar figure was found behind the window.

"Quack, quack, receive the letter, receive the letter!"

Hearing the rough voice unique to the big crow, Viscount Leviston, the lord of the griffon, raised his arm and let the messenger with black feathers land on it. On the paws of the great crow.Li Wei untied it lightly, and then fiddled with it a few times according to the method agreed in advance, then carefully opened the silver ball, and picked up a piece of alchemy paper as thin as a cicada's wing from inside.

"Is the coalition army from Beijing County about to arrive?" Li Wei looked at the information in his hand, and his face became a little gloomy.The distance between North Border County and Firmeyer should be the farthest, and the territory is vast, sparsely populated, and the time to gather troops is also the longest, so of course they are the last batch of troops.

Following the order of Arthur XII, the number of troops gathered around Fermeyer was already extremely large, and rows of tents surrounded the entire City of Glory.Those aristocratic lords who are qualified to enter the royal capital and their entourage have filled all the hotels and taverns in the city. Just by looking at the ruts and footprints in the alleys outside the window every day, one can imagine what is going on outside? What a crowded and overcrowded scene.

However, the panic in Li Wei's heart grew day by day.No one in Firmeyer understood the fighting power of the demon army better than him. He was extremely impressed by the terrifying Commander's Wheel Palace and the demon army surging like a muddy tide.

Although His Majesty the Dragon King Arthur XII had led an army to defeat the demon army in North Orla ten years ago, it was far inferior to the demon army that forcibly crossed the Black River in terms of scale and quality. Due to his pride and conceit, the commander was assassinated by the sky knight Osiris from the very beginning. As a result, the troops under his command did not show much of their combat effectiveness, and collapsed before the spears of the kingdom knights.

This also brought about a bad consequence, that is, although His Majesty the King didn't say anything, he had a considerable degree of contempt for the fighting power of the demon army in his heart, so that he didn't consider the possibility of failure at all.

Since even His Majesty the King, who once fought against demons, has this kind of mentality, those nobles and sons of Firmeyer who have never seen a war scene are even more arrogant. For this reason, Li Wei once tried to persuade some of them The young nobles who had some friendship with Baron Hughes should not take it lightly, but what they got was either a casual rejection, or a mockery with jealousy and contempt.They all had a similar idea, that is, the reason why Li Wei tried his best to promote the fighting power of the demon army was to make his achievements more dazzling and brilliant, and the hero's reputation for ending the evil disaster was even louder.

The extremely subtle sound of footsteps came from outside the door. If it wasn't for the sudden flapping of the crow's wings, Li Wei might have missed the sound. Inquiry.

"Stop, who are you?"

The person who came seemed to be muttering something, his voice was weird and deep, and it was even more indistinct after passing through the door panel.Li Wei was listening attentively, and the big crow's protest made all his efforts in vain.

"Doudouer, Doudouer!" The big crow tilted his head and asked for the reward dissatisfied, staring straight at Li Wei with round eyes.Li Wei sighed with a wry smile, walked to the table and opened a buttoned plate, which contained nuts such as peanuts, hazelnuts, and walnuts.The big crow jumped from Li Wei's arm to the side of the plate, eagerly pecking at it.

There was a light knock on the door outside, "Master Levi, someone wants to see you." Grunwalm reported, "I asked him to take off his hood and give his name, but he said that only I can only do this after seeing you."

"Aren't you willing to announce your name?" Li Wei frowned, but considering that he had nothing to hide, he raised his voice and replied. "Then invite him in."

Then the door opened, and a tall and burly man walked in. He was wearing a hooded cloak familiar to travelers, with a dagger stuck in his waist belt, and the brim of the hood hung down, blocking the Half of the face, only showing the chin full of stubble.

"Lord Li Wei, I have to talk to you alone." Before Li Wei could ask him why he came, the man said in a deep and muddy voice, "I have absolutely no malicious intentions, you can rest assured about that."

There was a strange gleam in Li Wei's eyes, and then a surprised expression appeared on his face, "Grun Worm, you have nothing to do here, go down first." He ordered, "Otherwise, this guest may He won't say what he's here for."

When there were only two people left in the room, Li Wei pointed to another chair beside the table, "Please sit down, Lord Bamilian, now you can explain your purpose."

The man almost jumped up in fright, "Ouch, the supreme Father God..." He took off his hood, revealing a dark and rough face with long beards, no resemblance to the court steward, But the voice was undoubtedly that of a eunuch's shrill voice. "Lord Griffon, I think you are more suitable for the position of Minister of Intelligence than I am... How did you find out my identity?" He looked at himself suspiciously, as if trying to find some loopholes in the disguise.

"Your footsteps are too soft." Li Wei pointed to Bamili Yang's pair of hard leather boots covered in mud, "If you are really an adventurer, it would be strange if you didn't step on the floor."

Of course, this is not the only reason for Li Wei to affirm the identity of the court chief, in fact, the detection technique is.However, there were indeed no loopholes in this explanation. Bamilian showed annoyed expression on his face, and then sat down on the chair opposite Li Wei. "Why didn't I think of that? That's right, it's the sound of footsteps. Lord Li Wei, your mind is as sharp as your ears." He said with a complimenting smile.

"Master Bamili Yang, is it necessary for you to come here in person dressed like this?" Li Wei changed the topic, not wanting to talk too much about this matter. "The streets and alleys of Firmeyer are all within the sight of the Sleepless Eye. You don't need to be so troublesome, just send your subordinates to deliver a message."

Bamili Yang glanced at the door secretly, and then moved his body closer, "Master Li Wei, do you have any subordinates you absolutely trust, who can entrust any secrets?" He asked in a low voice, seeing that Li Wei was sure After nodding, the court steward shook his head, and let out a sigh, "I thought there was, but now it seems that I was wrong." He took out a tattered and dirty paper from the secret pocket under the cloak of parchment, placed gently on the table between the two of you. "Look at this, His Majesty the King gave me three days, and I only took two days to get it, but I'm afraid I can't satisfy His Majesty."

Li Wei's eyes fell on the parchment, and then his eyes became sharper.There were many almost black spots on this parchment, emitting a disgusting and weird stench. Li Wei soon realized that those spots were actually dried blood stains, and the cracks on the parchment were also similar to the sword's The traces are very similar.

There are only a few extremely simple and crude words on the parchment, and the handwriting is trembling and messy. Li Wei can even guess how bad the people who wrote these words were in at that time. "...Four counties, thieves union organization...rebellion, Ruhr County...Queensland is still... under siege, the moment the city is broken..." He struggled to recognize these words, and read out in his mouth.

"After the fall of Xifeng County and the four southern counties, Sleepless Eyes sent out more than a dozen groups of the most elite eyeliners and spies, but all of them fell to nothing, and only this group sent back information." Director Bamili Yang explained, "This is to use Although I didn’t have time to leave a name on the information sent back by the carrier pigeon, I’m not unfamiliar with this handwriting.” He smiled wryly and rubbed the tear on the parchment, “The person who wrote it should be the Shadow King in Blood Dagger, but I’m afraid It is also his last words."

Li Wei read the words on the parchment again, as if he wanted to reproduce the scene at that time from those unspeakable words.He had seen the sharpness of the blood dagger before. If Mengmeng and the Griffin King hadn't arrived in time, the assassination of the Beastmaster and his men would have almost succeeded. "It says that Queensland City is still holding on. Is there any other evidence?"

Bamilian shook his head, "No, not at all." His hands were clenched together, with a nervous expression on his face. "The King of Shadows is a level 12 thief and the number one spy under my command. Even if you can search all over Arthur's kingdom, there is no better candidate than him. Although I tried my best to send some eyeliners to collect information, But I am afraid it will be difficult to pass the blockade of the demon army."

Li Wei nodded in understanding, "Then what do you want from me?" He pushed the parchment back to the hand of the court chief, "Having obtained such precious information, shouldn't you go to see His Majesty the King immediately?"

"See you right away? Just rely on these vague and incoherent things?" Bamili Yang carefully folded the parchment and put it in his pocket, his tone became sharper. "Your Majesty the Dragon King won't listen to such and such reasons. If I send this thing up to ask for credit, he will be furious, and maybe he will call Marquis Reeves to chop off my head." The eunuch shrank Shrinking his neck, "I'm afraid no one will speak for me at that time, right?"

Li Wei could only answer him with silence, the court chief was right, more than one of the kingdom's important ministers expressed disgust towards him, and the others were not much better.What's more serious is that the disaster the kingdom is facing this time is extremely serious. Those important ministers are like every smart person in trouble, refusing to believe that the problem lies with themselves, but looking for scapegoats with wide eyes .Obviously, if Bamili Yang is unfortunately consumed by the Dragon King's anger, then everyone will blame him for their own faults.

"Master Bamilian, do you mean that you want to hide this information?" Li Wei suddenly thought of this possibility, and his tone suddenly became cold and hard. "This is the information your subordinates bought with their blood. It is very important for the Kingdom's army to march, and more importantly..."

"...Queensland City is still holding on, waiting for reinforcements, right?" Bamili Yang finished for him. "Master Li Wei, as I said just now, apart from this vague information, I have no evidence to prove that Queensland City is still under the control of our army, and Ruhr County belongs to a basin surrounded by mountains. It is the most easily defended and difficult to attack among the four southern counties. If Queensland has already fallen, or if this information is simply forged by demons, then the army of the Kingdom will definitely encounter a bitter battle."

"Can't you guarantee the authenticity of this information?" Li Wei asked.

"I can guarantee it, but who would believe it? If this information is presented, there will definitely be a fierce dispute at the court meeting, but the final result can be known without much thought." The eunuch spread his hands, his voice mournful but Sharp tone. "The poor chief of the palace and minister of intelligence, Bamili Yang, will become a scapegoat for the fall of the counties because of his negligence, and will be punished by Ming Zheng; or His Majesty will treat me as an extrajudicial favor for the sake of serving two kings successively, and put me in prison." In the dungeons beneath the Dreadfort, gods be damned, it would be better to cut off my head."

Li Wei felt a tightness in his chest. Bamilian was right. In the past two days, he had learned about [-]% or [-]% of the personalities of Arthur XII and the important ministers of the kingdom from Baron Hughes. It is conceivable that It is not uncommon to get this result once the court meeting is held for discussion. "Then what about Queensland? Under the siege of the demon army, I'm afraid they won't last long!"

"I know, so after getting the information, I immediately prepared a disguise and came to you." Bamili Yang said in a low voice, "Except for you, no one in Firmeyer can do this."

"Me? What can I do?" Li Wei showed a surprised expression on his face, "I'd like to speak to His Majesty the King, but I'm afraid His Majesty Arthur XII won't listen to you? Lord Bamilian, if you If you really want to find an ally to relieve your cheeks, isn't Star Mentor Sats Enhell the best choice?"

"Master Satsienhell is undoubtedly eloquent, but he only loves the hard-won position of chief master and himself." Bamili Yang's sneer was as sharp as a knife's edge, and when Li Wei opened his mouth, he was about to make the next question. One candidate, he shrugged his shoulders, and replied in advance, "The same is true for Archduke Raul, and if he is asked to persuade His Majesty the King, I am afraid it will be counterproductive. As for Bishop Enoch Sebasta, his My heart is so bright that I can't tolerate any dirt, I can even guess his answer..." The eunuch stood up, with an exaggerated pious expression on his face, "My lord...by God, the light will drive away Evil, sing the name of our Lord and you will be saved."

Li Wei grinned and wanted to show a smile of approval, but his heavy heart made him unable to smile.

"I do not ask you to speak for me, Lord Levy," continued Bamilian, "but to use your power to save Queensland, in the honor of the gods and true knights of the sky." Kingdom people."

"Save... what?" Li Wei felt that his brain was not enough, he frowned and looked at the court chief, "Lord Bamilian, you may be mistaken, I am just one of the lords of the northern border county, only Only His Majesty the King can..."

"Yesterday, His Majesty the King summoned the important ministers of the kingdom to participate in the combat meeting, and established a plan to divide the troops into three groups and attack at the same time. Among them, the coalition forces of the northern border counties were placed on the left side, and the attack route happened to be not far from Queensland." Bamili Yang told Li Wei, "Whether to help these poor people, Mr. Li Wei, depends on your decision." He stood up and put on his hood again, and when he was about to walk out, he suddenly turned around hesitantly. "Master Li Wei, I have another merciless request."

Distraught by the shocking news just now, Li Wei raised his head, "Master Bamilian, please tell me."

"The network set up by the Sleepless Eye in the south has been severely damaged, to the point that most of the news has been blocked." Bamilian said while pointing his stubby finger at the big crow that was feasting on the table. "If possible, can I borrow a batch of cute little angels with black wings from you to deliver news and spy on the enemy?"

(End of this chapter)