Chapter 666 Secret Investigation
".—Your Majesty, Count, what should we do now? Duke Witote has already begun to attack us, we can't wait any longer!"
In the large office room where the head of the Lavati Business Guild was, Mario was filled with worry.
A moment ago, the tragic scene of the stray dog that died of poison in the backyard made him shudder.
Although he had long made up his mind to lead Lavati away from the rule of the Principality of Lombardy, the Duke's ruthless revenge methods caught him by surprise. As soon as the autonomous city-states entered Lavati, the Duke of Lombardy sent people to secretly eliminate important figures in the autonomous city-states.
Thinking of this, Mario was extremely uneasy. Although he was lucky enough to escape this time, there was no guarantee that the people sent by the Duke of Lombardy would attack again.
Yat stood by the window facing the street in the office room, watching the pedestrians and traders coming and going in the city, rubbing his temples from time to time, thinking about the next countermeasures.
The joining of the autonomous city-states to the First Party of Bolian has greatly increased Art's strength, but the assassination attempt last night really touched his sensitive nerves.
Obviously, the Duke of Lombardy intends to fight to the death. As long as he can end his opponent's life, he will do whatever it takes. Art originally thought that the Duke of Lombardy would not make any big moves in the near future after experiencing the tragic defeat outside Santia. He did not expect that his revenge would come so quickly.
He was almost eliminated. If it hadn't happened that the wine used in the banquet had been replaced by Welsh beer recommended to the merchants and nobles of the autonomous city-states last night, this autonomous city meeting aimed at uniting the autonomous city-states against the Duke of Lombardy would have become everyone's grave.
At the thought of this, Art took a breath of cold air.
"Sir Mario," Art turned around with his back to the window, "I'm sorry that I frightened you. If my soldiers were smarter, they would not have let the Lombard spies from the south sneak into the city of Lavati, and they would not take this opportunity to get rid of all of us..."
There was something in Art's words.
"This~" Mario wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his fat and pale face slightly uneasy.
To take a step back, those poisonous drinks were purchased by the trading company itself, and as the head of the trading guild, Mario was naturally involved in this matter. Although the guild's butler and several servants did die tragically in the backyard, this is not enough to prove that the matter had nothing to do with Mario or other important figures in the guild.
If there is poison in it, should you also send someone to find out which guy is so anxious to want us to "die!"
Matt said the word "death" very seriously, and stared straight at Mario who was bending his head to listen.
At this time, Mario didn't even dare to take a breath. He understood what Art meant by what he said.
“Yes, yes, Lord Count, I know what to do!” Mario kept nodding and saying.
"In addition, this matter must not be made public, so as not to alarm guests from other city-states. I will send a few guards around me to help you investigate this poisoning incident. I believe that within two days, this matter will be found out——"
"Thank you, Lord Count!" Mario bowed to thank Art and helped Mario up. "Okay, Master Mario, it won't be long before we sign alliances with other city-states. Remember to restrain the people below you and don't let them wander around. If you move or talk nonsense, we can't afford any trouble~"
"Don't worry, Earl, I'll do it right away!"
After that, Mario walked out of the door and ran to the backyard, "Ron!"
After seeing Mario leave, Art said to Ron: "Immediately send someone to inform the patrol officers stationed at various checkpoints north of Solonborg to strengthen their vigilance, increase the number of patrols, and keep an eye on all suspicious persons. Once the spies sent from the south are discovered, hand them over to the task force for questioning!"
"Yes, sir!" Ron turned and left.
"Wait!" Art stopped Ron. "Tell Stanley to get rid of all the people in the task force. I want to know all the movements of the southerners! If I let those bastards sneak behind me again and do things like poisoning and assassination, tell them to come to see me!"
"I understand, sir." Ron slowly retreated.
Matt turned to look at Angus, who was standing aside.
“My lord!” Angus took a step forward.
You follow me to Sir Lodge's residence. He is more familiar with Lavati and the surrounding towns than we are. With his help, we can save a lot of energy in solving this matter. ‖
― "Yes!"
― "Let's go!"
― "...—You bastard, hurry up and follow me!"
― "Brother Yoren, where are we going?" The man following behind gasped for air and looked at the leader in confusion.
It was still dark today, and the man who had just laid down was woken up by the guy named Yolen. Immediately, the two escaped from Lavati in the dark and went to sleep for a few hours under a hill not far outside the city.
Shortly after dawn, the two of them climbed along the mountain path covered with weeds towards the top of the mountain.
Because this trail was cut down by nearby shepherds when they were grazing sheep and cattle. Since the war started, the surrounding herdsmen had already fled elsewhere with their families. The trail was overgrown with weeds and shrubs, making it inconvenient to walk.
Watching the man behind him keep pounding, the guy named Yoren picked up a piece of gravel at his feet and threw it at his companion.
The pain caused by the simmering sound of the broken stone and the meat made the man couldn't help but scream "Ah!"
At this moment, the sudden sound of horse hooves at the corner under the hill scared the two of them and fell to the ground with a plop.
“Dude, what’s wrong?” The companion behind the leading cavalry stopped suddenly and stepped forward to ask.
"I seem to hear someone screaming nearby~" the leading black-robed cavalry said while looking towards the winding path leading to the top of the hill, his sharp eyes like eagles constantly searching for the target.
The companion behind him looked along the top of the mountain and saw only a patch of withered yellow bushes and not a single person.
h "I said, man, who would come to a place where such a bird doesn't poop this early in the morning~"
h "Hahaha"
h The other two people following behind couldn't help laughing.
"In this wilderness, maybe the sound you hear is just a grouse in heat." The companion joked. "Let's go, we have a mission, so we can't stay here for a long time." "Did I really hear it wrong?" he asked, then lightly kicked the horse's belly and headed south along the road at the foot of the mountain·
"...It's really dangerous!" Watching several black-robed soldiers drive away on horseback, Yoren slowly stood up and looked towards the direction of the cavalry through the gaps between the bushes for a while.
After confirming safety, Yoren said to his companions following him: "Why do I think this group of cavalry looks so familiar?
"They are the guards around the Earl of Northland!" The companion insisted.
"Guard? Is it possible~" Yoren felt nervous.
"They're not dead!" the companion blurted out.
"Damn it!" Yoren kicked the gravel on the ground, and the flying gravel kept rolling down to the foot of the mountain. Last night, the two sneaked into the backyard of the Lavati Merchant Guild's mansion, mixed the potent poison they carried with them into the wine for the banquet, and then hid in the dark to observe.
When the guild's steward led people to move all the drinks to the banquet hall, the two of them left with peace of mind.
To be on the safe side and prevent the identity of the group from being exposed, Yoren asked the others to leave the city overnight and hide in the areas around Lavati, waiting for opportunities. And he stayed with one of his subordinates to wait for news. Because once the city defenders discovered that the guests who came to attend the banquet were poisoned,
There will inevitably be a massive search in the city. By then, even if they want to escape, it will not be that easy.
After waiting in the city for several hours, there was still no movement from the soldiers guarding the city. The soldiers patrolling the city were patrolling back and forth on several main streets as usual.
Seeing this, Yoren was extremely uneasy.
Hence, he and his subordinates sneaked out of the city before dawn, intending to hide outside the city to avoid the wind. If last night's assassination was successful, the soldiers guarding the city would definitely block Lavati and set up checkpoints at various intersections around it. In this way, Yoren, who is outside the city, can deduce the situation inside the city.
But the current situation made him very worried that Lavati had not strengthened the city's defenses and had not sent anyone out to search. In this way, the group of people staying outside the city would not know whether the assassination operation last night was successful.
After thinking for a moment, Yoren decided to return to Lavati, intending to find out what was going on inside before making any plans. If he returns to the Lombard court empty-handed like this, his life may not be saved.
"Let's go back!"
With that said, the two people who had just climbed halfway up the slope began to walk down the mountain again. "Sir Rocky, this is the current situation. That old guy, the Duke of Lombardy, wants to do his old trick again and plans to use poison to get rid of us. I speculate that there must be some informants in the city. And I don’t know Lavati’s situation as well as you do, so I’ll leave the task of digging out these nails to you~”
“Don’t worry, Lord Count, this matter has been left to me, and I will make sure those bastards never come back!”
After saying that, Rocky punched the table hard, furious.
Att sighed heavily, and then he planned to pick up the glass cup on the table and take a sip. But as soon as he brought it to his mouth, he saw the bright red liquid in the cup and remembered what happened last night, which immediately made him lose interest.
After putting down the wine glass, Art stood up, walked to Rocky, and whispered: "Take me to see the secret passage outside Solonborg tonight, it's time to take action!"
At gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, with a trace of sinisterness in his eyes.