[Pope Paul II was assassinated! The murderer's whereabouts are currently unknown! 】
The next morning, Mavey ate bread and butter while reading the news in the newspaper.
The news of the Pope's assassination spread to a small border town like New Rus in just one day, and the speed was shockingly fast.
According to news reports, the murderer fired two shots from behind the Pope. The first shot missed, and the second shot hit the Pope's back. The exact location is unclear. However, the Pope has not yet woken up and is still seriously injured and comatose. The situation is not optimistic.
As soon as this news came out, everyone in New Ross City was in danger, not because they cared much about the Pope, but because an indescribable depressive atmosphere suddenly enveloped them.
Everyone knows...
A biting cold wind is brewing.
No one can stay away from the tide of the times.
Even Mrs. Cecil was a little absent-minded, always distracted and frowning while making breakfast.
"Mrs. Cecil, what's wrong with you?"
Yunia, who didn't understand the seriousness of the matter, noticed her strange behavior and asked with concern: "Are you sick? Dad said the quilt must be covered tightly, otherwise you will catch a cold!"
"No..."
Mrs. Cecil forced a smile and kept turning her head to look out the window: "My son said he would come back tonight, but something so big happened. I'm afraid his vacation will be cancelled..."
As a knight's squire, Cassim, the only son of Mrs. Cecil, is loyal to the knight Steele Ritter and is a wartime conscript.
In the past, once a war started, after receiving the order from the king or the city lord, the lords and knights who owned the fiefdom would organize an army and go to join the army.
However, due to the continuous changes in the military system and the rapid development of the military service system, the kingdom already has a large number of permanent armies, such as the Royal Navy and the Army, and no longer needs lords to lead troops.
Up to now, many nobles still have their own fiefdoms and raise some knights, but these knights are more used to maintain the security of their territories. With the continuous expansion of the Royal Navy and Army, the military strength in the hands of the nobles is gradually declining. , simply unable to compete with the king and parliament.
They don't need to compete. After all, the House of Lords is the House of Nobility, composed entirely of nobles. They still hold military power, so they do not resist the military service system.
On the contrary, the military service system can also reduce their economic pressure and allow the kingdom to support the soldiers.
To put it simply, the current nobility only owns territory in name. They can rent land to farmers or develop commerce and industry, but they no longer have the previous ruling and legislative rights.
but...
Having said that, once the war goes unfavorably and the army is severely depleted, the kingdom needs to recruit new soldiers to participate in the war. At this time, knights and territorial soldiers who are far better than ordinary civilians in terms of physical fitness and weapon use proficiency become the best choice. The choice is still to enlist in the army and fight for the kingdom.
"Knight Steele is an officer serving in the army..."
Mrs. Cecil said extremely worriedly: "If the war starts, he will definitely lead the troops to the front line!"
"No." Mavey put down the newspaper, finished the buttered bread in his hand, wiped his hands and said, "It is true that Knight Steele is an officer, but the army he serves belongs to the New Ross Garrison. It is not necessary unless it is an emergency. Will be sent to the front lines.”
"Really?"
Mrs. Cecil’s understanding of the military is not as good as that of Marvey, who once served in the Royal Navy: “Won’t Qasim go to the front line?”
"Normally not."
Ma Wei replied: "Please don't forget that in this land under our feet, there are many voices that oppose the Kingdom of Windsor and want independence. The army is stationed here to stabilize the situation. If they are transferred away, what will happen? What to do if there is a riot?”
Very simple logic and very realistic issues. After hearing this, Mrs. Cecil’s heart suddenly dropped.
"I would like to trouble you to take care of the church today."
After breakfast, Mawei stood up and said, "We have to go to Antoine Village. I'm afraid we won't be able to come back until evening."
"....okay, I get it."
Mrs. Cecil had become accustomed to Marvey's frequent behavior of being the hands-off shopkeeper and leaving church matters to her.
There is such a priest who likes to disappear...
What can she do?
too difficult....
............................
Facing the warm morning sunshine, the two carriages creaked out of the city and drove along the bumpy road towards Antoine Village in the north of the city.
This time is not a simple mouse-catching mission, but an investigation of a curse. Just in case, Ma Wei not only brought the Catman team, but also called Fat Orange.
It led dozens of cats that were in their prime and experienced wanderers to move vigorously through the jungle, closely following the carriage.
Truth Church...
Out in full force.
Along the way, Lai Wen seemed a little restless, which was completely different from Yunia who was next to her who was very excited and was totally enjoying her mountain climbing trip.
"Are you nervous?" Mawei asked.
"It's not nervous..."
Lai Wen slowly shook his head: "But I always feel that there is something wrong with Antoine Village, and my intuition tells me not to go there."
"Fourth Prince Arthur can't hide it for long. If we don't go, the Church of the Three Destinies will also go." Ma Wei said: "And once the Church of the Three Destinies is allowed to solve this trouble, they will have the handle on the Fourth Prince Arthur. Using this as a threat is enough to shake the fourth prince Arthur's position as city lord."
The incident in Antoine Village has not been spread yet, and the fourth prince Arthur has concealed it well. This provides Ma Wei with an opportunity. If they can solve the curse as soon as possible, it will be equivalent to doing the fourth prince a big favor. By then...
Are you still afraid that the Church of Truth will not be able to stand in New Ross City?
"I'm afraid this is a trap." The letter frowned: "Have you ever thought that if the curse is man-made, then the murderer must know the situation in Antoine Village. In this case, who will solve the curse? , doesn’t it prove who has the power of God’s gift?”
"That's right."
Ma Wei nodded: "But the one who entrusted us to solve the curse is the fourth prince Arthur. If he is with the Church of the Three Destinies, why did he let Mr. Sean secretly call us to Wexford? city?"
"What's more, at the dinner party hosted by Baron Bill, Father Saturk did not receive an invitation. Seeing him come uninvited, Baron Bill's surprised eyes did not look like he was pretending."
When Father Sartuk went to Baron Bill's home, the Mawei people did not show up. They deliberately came a step late. Their purpose was to observe Baron Bill's reaction when he met Father Sartuk.
In other words....
If the Fourth Prince Arthur is colluding with the Church of the Three Destinies, then why do they need to play these roundabout ways with the Church of Truth?
Whether in terms of political status or number of believers, they far exceed the Church of Truth.
Therefore, Ma Wei concluded that the fourth prince Arthur did not have a cooperative relationship with the Church of the Three Destinies. He just had his own plans.
"If the fourth prince Arthur is with the Church of the Three Destinies, he will never dare to entrust the Church of Truth to deal with the curse. As the city lord, he has broken the rules by concealing the curse and not avenging it. No matter how well he handles it, he can't Make up for your mistakes.”
"If you say so..."
Lai Wen considered it carefully for a moment and nodded: "Maybe the situation is favorable to us."
"Not only is it beneficial, as long as we can solve the curse, we can bind the fourth prince Arthur to the Church of Truth. When he is collecting our intelligence, we are also collecting information about him..."
Ma Wei turned to look out the window. Dead branches and trees flashed past. Winter was coming, and the forest had long lost its spring color.
"Taking a step back, if things conflict with what I expected, the Fourth Prince Arthur and the Church of the Three Destinies have already joined forces, then we can no longer stay in New Ross City. We must leave as soon as possible and go to the Romanov Kingdom. The only way to survive.”
No matter how bad the situation was, Ma Wei was ready to retreat, so he dared to accept the commission from Antoine Village.
The war is about to break out, and no matter how slow you are, you may not even be able to drink soup.
The rugged and difficult paths are not suitable for four-wheel carriages. As they move forward, protruding stones occasionally hit the wheels. A carriage without any suspension system sits like a pirate ship, swaying and unable to increase its speed.
Fortunately, the coachman had superb control skills and cared about his carriage. He tried his best to choose a smooth and smooth road as much as possible. Through the small window, you could even see his arms holding the reins tightly.
More than an hour later, the smell of burnt lake was in the air. After walking a few hundred meters further, several soldiers wearing tall hats, boots and eye-catching red uniforms appeared.
Behind them, a wooden pile was placed, blocking the path of the carriage.
Seeing them, Mavi knew he was close to his destination.
"There's a wildfire ahead, no traffic allowed!"
The soldiers stopped the carriage and asked Ma Wei and others to turn around and return.
Lai Wen rolled down the window, took out a pass signed by the fourth prince Arthur, and handed it to the leading soldier.
"Let go!"
After seeing the pass, the soldier asked his men to lift the wooden stake without saying a word, and then reset it to its original position after Ma Wei and others passed.
"This thing is really useful."
Lai Wen picked up the pass and patted it like a treasure: "With it, we can go wherever we want!"
"Only in Wexford County, the fourth prince Arthur has no control over other places."
"I know, I know...it's better than nothing!"
Yunia was lying on the car window, staring at the woods with big eyes, curiously observing the woods. This natural scenery that was different from the city roads was very attractive to her.
It didn't take long for her to see the fire break that Mr. Sean had mentioned. It was a bare land with only tree stumps left. It was extremely depressing. This side was still a dead forest in winter, and that side was a piece of scorched earth.
The rolling flames were still burning, and many soldiers chopped down the trees into firewood and threw them into the flames to ensure that the fire was raging and that no mice would take the opportunity to escape.
it's here...
Mavi meets an acquaintance.
Sean Rickman.
He stood on the only road to Antoine Village, with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face, as if he had been waiting for a long time.
"Father, you are indeed here."
"Now that I have accepted the commission, I will not break the appointment." Ma Wei did not get out of the car and communicated with him through the car door: "Let him go quickly to save time."
"no problem."
As soon as Mr. Sean raised his hand, the soldiers shoveled away the fire blocking the road and opened up a path.
"Before you enter, I must warn you."
The smile slowly disappeared, and Mr. Sean said in a serious tone: "No one knows the current situation in Antoine Village. No one who went in has come out. All we can do is blockade it, and we can't help you much. "
"I know." Ma Wei said, "That's enough."
"This is a map of Antoine Village." Gentleman Sean took out a roll of kraft paper tied with a red rope and handed it to Mavey: "It records the distribution map of Antoine Village in detail, including the location of the manor. We drew it based on the surviving employee’s dictation, and there is no mistake.”
"good."
"When you come back safely, I'll treat you to a drink."
"Hey, don't. I suggest you dig a few holes for us now and erect a stone monument. This way our probability of survival can be greatly improved."
Gentleman Sean looked at him blankly, not knowing why.
"Metaphysics, you don't understand even if I say it..."
Shaking his head, Ma Wei knocked on the window, took over the carriage controlled by the driver, immediately waved the reins, drove the carriage, and rushed into the blazing flames.
Waves of heat and winding air rose up, distorting the back of the carriage. Only when it was completely invisible did Mr. Sean retract his gaze.
"Report...report!"
A soldier stumbled over from a distance, his eyes frightened and his hat tilted.
"Why panic! Is the sky falling?!"
Thinking of Ma Wei who calmly headed to the dangerous area without even frowning, and then looking at the panicked soldiers, Sean became more gentlemanly.
"The sky... the sky has not fallen..." The soldier swallowed: "The fire line has collapsed..."
"What?"
"There was a strange orange thing just now. When we weren't paying attention, it suddenly broke through the fire line that was set up, and then...then...a...no! It was a group! A group of wild cats rushed in!"
Gentleman Sean was about to get angry when he suddenly remembered that the Church of Truth had two cats, an orange cat and a black cat...
The shadow that just broke through the line of fire happened to be orange.
Could it be...
Surprised and uncertain, Mr. Sean made a guess, but was not sure.
Because this is too beyond the common sense of ordinary people.
"Sir, what should we do now?"
"Repair the damaged fire line and continue to ignite the fire. Don't let a mouse go!"
"yes!"
"Also," Sean called to the soldiers who were about to leave, and muttered: "Find a few more people, dig a few holes, and set up a stone monument on top."
"ah?"
"Excuting an order!"
"yes!"
