Chapter 673 The Fall of Flanders
As the sun rose high, Art and his party had arrived outside the gate of Lavatinan City.
But the dozen or so imposing guys in armor and fighting horses did not panic the defenders. On the contrary, the merchants who were entering and leaving the city gate were frightened by this group of cavalry who looked unkind and fled in all directions.
After a brief period of chaos, calm returned to the city gate.
In fact, when this group of "uninvited guests" appeared on the southern hills, the guards outside the south city gate had already noticed their presence and secretly increased their vigilance. To be on the safe side, the captain of the guard even sent two Qingqi out of the city to find out the situation.
When the cavalry returned and informed the guard captain of the identity of the group of people on the hill, the city guards lowered their guard.
Looking at this group of elite warriors wearing black robes and swords hanging from their waists, passers-by stayed away. But the brave guys glanced at this group of black-robed soldiers from time to time, and some even sold their goods to them.
The captain of the guard guarding the city saw Art and others appearing at the gate of the city, and quickly stepped forward to greet them.
"Dick?"
At knew this young man, because not long ago he went out of the city with the guild leader Mario to meet Art and others.
"Yes, Lord Earl, my name is Dick."
The guard captain's tone was a little more surprised. For a little person like him, it is a rare thing for the Earl of the North to remember his name.
Yate glanced at the people coming and going inside and outside the city gate, and then said: "There has been some unrest in the city recently. You are responsible for checking the business travelers coming in and out of Lavati. Be sure to pay more attention to people who behave abnormally. In addition, for those who lead Nan Foreigners with Fang accents must be strictly investigated to prevent enemy spies from sneaking into the city and causing disturbances. ""Yes, yes, yes, I will obey the orders of the earl." The captain of the guard nodded repeatedly, and his expression became a little serious.
"Okay, you can return to your post, we are also going into the city." After saying this, Art turned the reins and walked towards the city gate.
The captain of the guard immediately led people to drive the pedestrians in the middle of the road to both sides, making it easier for Art and others to pass.
However, as soon as they entered the city gate, Mario, the leader of the guild who had been waiting not far away, led his people to greet them.
"My lord, you are finally back!" Before Art could react, Mario had already walked up to him.
Looking at Mario’s anxious expression, Art knew at a glance that something must have happened again last night~
…”—Lord Earl, that’s what happened. I suspect that the poisoner and the guys spreading rumors are spies sent from the south. "
In the hall of Lavati Commercial Guild's mansion, Mario, who was sitting aside, told Art his analysis.
Matt said nothing. After a moment, he slowly put down the "notice" in his hand that said Flanders was killed in action, and sighed softly.
Mario, who didn't know what was going on, was confused, but he didn't dare to ask Art Flanders face to face whether he was really dead.
As a businessman, especially a businessman in Lombardy, Mario was always well-informed. In fact, he had long known about Flanders personally leading the southern expedition, but until Art "occupied" Lavati, Mario did not see the Marquis of the North. Instead, Art was leading the southern expedition, and Flanders was not seen at all. The rumors spread last night made Mario a little uneasy, and he was afraid that the rumors would actually turn out to be true.
Of course, he would not be stupid enough to ask Art personally to verify the truth of this rumor, so he just reported the specific situation truthfully and left everything to Art.
Matt threw the "notice" on the table and looked at Mario. After thinking for a while, he said: "Mr. Mario, there is an old saying that rumors stop with the wise. Do you understand what this means?"
“Rumors stop at the wise?” Mario didn’t react for a moment.
"Yes, rumors stop with the wise." Art repeated.
"This~" Mario held his chin with his right hand, trying to figure out the meaning of this sentence——
"Ah, I understand, Lord Earl. I understand! Hehehehe." Mario Xing He said excitedly, "Yes, the rumors stop with the wise. We are all smart people, so naturally we will not believe this notice that was fabricated out of thin air."
Matt smiled and nodded, very satisfied with Mario's answer.
"Now the enemy is in the dark, and we are in the open, extremely passive. It may not be easy to dig out these rats in a short time~"
After speaking, Art got up and walked down the steps, walking back and forth in the hall, thinking about countermeasures.
"Mr. Mario, how is the investigation of the poisoning going?" At this time, Angus, who was sitting on the chair, interjected.
「呢，安格斯大人，我已经将这件事亲自交给拉瓦提守城指挥官去办了，相信过不了多久便会有发现的。」
马里奥没有直接回答事情的进展。
Although Lavati used money to hire many soldiers and officers to defend the city, their ability in this regard was obviously not as good as the task force and earl guard in Art's hands. So two days passed without any progress.
At this time, Art walked up to Mario and suddenly said: "This matter is not difficult to handle."
After hearing this, Mario was overjoyed, stood up quickly, and asked, "Is there any good idea, Lord Count?"
Art smiled slightly and said confidently: "In this way, tonight, you arrange--"
Mario, who was listening, nodded repeatedly, praising Art's strategy.
After explaining the matter, Art returned to the mansion under the escort of the guards.
深夜，一阵敲门声将亚特惊醒··
「..—老爷～」
亚特位于拉瓦提府邸的书房之中，侍立多时的罗恩见亚特久不开口，轻声喊了一句。
Angus on the side saw this and pulled Ron's arm, winked at him, and motioned for him to let Art be quiet for a while.
With the corner of his eye, Art glanced at the two confidants standing aside, and said calmly: "Sit down and talk."
h
Matt breathed a long sigh of relief, but his eyes were fixed on the secret letter that had just been translated.
The secret message was sent via carrier pigeon from the Province of Wales by Phoenix, captain of Sapp Company of the Southern Border Guards Corps of the Welsh Army. The content is very simple, only three short sentences: King Flanders Otto passed away unfortunately early this morning. My father and I will continue our journey north as planned. Please reply as soon as possible!
After reading the contents of the secret message, Art had mixed feelings.
Even though he knew that Flanders would not survive for long, Art still couldn't believe it when the news came that this young marquis who had once galloped on the battlefield and was resolute and resolute had left, and he couldn't accept it for a while.
To a large extent, Art would not be what it is today without Flanders. Even though this overly suspicious monarch once wanted to get rid of him, Art still admired this courageous and motivated young marquis from the bottom of his heart.
But the current situation is tense, and the Lombard court has not given up the idea of recovering the territory and expelling the invaders for a moment. Therefore, Art decided to make a quick decision and capture Sauron Castle in one fell swoop before the news of Flanders' death came out, completely crushing the Duke of Lombardy's determination to continue to resist.
Att knew very well that if he could not capture Sauronburg, once the news of the death of King Flanders spread to the south, it would inevitably affect the morale of the army, which would not be conducive to continuing to fight the Lombards. Instead of doing this, it would be better to fight quickly, shatter the Lombard court's delusions, and defeat the enemy's defenses in one fell swoop.
After a while, Art took his eyes away from the secret letter, raised his head and glanced at Ron and Angus, then picked up the wine glass and drank the wine in one gulp.
Touching the stump at the corner of his mouth, Art said: "You all know the situation, remember, it must not be spread. Otherwise, military law will be dealt with!"
Looking at Art's sharp eyes, Ron and Angus nodded repeatedly.
Then, Yat continued: "You know very well that this matter is of great importance and is very likely to affect the overall situation. Therefore, I must not allow the fourth person to know about this matter!"
Yat punched the table hard, reminding the two confidants again the importance of keeping this matter secret.
"Don't worry, sir, we will keep this matter in our stomachs and never let it out." Angus said confidently.
"Never spread the word!" Ron on the side also echoed.
Matt nodded with satisfaction, and then fell into silence again. Angus, who could no longer hold himself back, glanced at Ron and raised his eyebrows, hinting to Ron to ask about his next plan.
Looking at Art's serious face, Ron didn't speak, just waited quietly.
After a while, Angus finally couldn't help but ask: "Sir, what should we do next?"
Ate slowly raised his head and said calmly: "Return to Santia City and prepare for the battle with Sauronburg."
As soon as he heard the news, the gloom on Angus's face was swept away, and he was very excited.
"Sergeant, look at how you look now. As soon as you heard about the war, you seemed to be a different person." Art couldn't help but tease him.
Ron on the side laughed honestly after hearing this, and the scars on his face were clearly visible under the candlelight.
Suddenly, Ron thought of the Lavati poisoning incident and the rumored "notice", and asked: "Master, if we leave, what will happen to the spies hiding in Lavati?"
According to Art's usual style, he naturally had no intention of letting go of those who wanted to take his life.
This morning, Art informed Mario of his plan, claiming that he would be able to catch the Lombard palace spies who spread the rumors.
At that time, Ron and Angus were standing aside, not knowing what Art whispered in Mario's ear. However, judging from Mario's expression, he admired Art's strategy very much.
Hearing Ron suddenly asked about this matter, Art just said lightly: "Just leave this matter to Mr. Mario. Within three days, he will send people to send those mice to Santia City."
Ron and Angus looked at each other, confused~