The rain began to heavier.

The cold airflow brought colder rain. According to the weather in previous years in this area, this may be the last rainfall before snowfall. Kantel has always been the place with the most abundant rainfall in the entire southern region, and it is no exception.

The raindrops have been connected to the rain curtain, slanted in the sky along the wind, splashed in the wilderness, and splashed in the town, splashed on the outer wall of the ancient castle of the Kant family. The rainwater gathered into a stream, flowing down the dark red spires and black exterior walls that were mottled and concave due to the erosion of time, and presented a black oil-like shiny texture in the increasingly dim sky light.

However, the heavy exterior walls of the castle blocked the sound of wind and rain outside, and also blocked the ever-increasing cold air. In the lobby of the castle, the magic crystal stone lamp illuminated all corners. In the past, even the lights would be shady, somehow disappeared. Now the entire castle has become brightly lit under the reflection of magic lights. Coupled with the burning fireplaces and braziers everywhere, the entire family castle is full of light and warmth.

The servants worked hard to wipe tables, chairs, lamp stands, statues everywhere, so that all these things with history and family glory shine in the lights. They talked about the colder weather outside, the harvest of crops and medicinal materials on the territory this year, and the distinguished guests whom the Viscount was going to entertain today had been cleaned two days ago, and everything had become new, and the identity of the guest was extraordinary.

Then they saw the old housekeeper in the castle, Mr. Carter, who was still strong in his legs and feet, ran down the stairs of the hall, and followed the maid and the stewards of the male servants. They ran through the hall like a gust of wind and ran towards the door. The maid was still shouting loudly to the clumsy maids: "Hurry up and put away the bucket! Don't leave the rag on the countertop. Silly girl, go back to the kitchen! Can't let the Duke see a low-level maid in a dirty skirt standing in the hall?! Everyone returns to their place! The guests are here!"

Viscount Victor Cond walked down the stairs on the second floor. When the butler was about to touch the gate, he stood at the center of the hall. This position allowed him to open his hands to welcome guests with his best distance. He would not let the guests wait for too long and would not let the owner of the castle be as eager as a inferior servant.

The old butler came to the front door, took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands carefully, and at the same time he silently counted the time in his heart, and estimated when the knocking sound would sound according to the time when the guards in the tower conveyed the message and his movement speed.

When he counted silently to thirty, the door was knocked.

The same is true for the second time, even if the Duke's coachman or guard is the only one responsible for knocking on the door, it cannot be opened immediately, which will be inappropriate, so Carter counted three times in his mind. Before the second knock, he ordered the soldiers on both sides of the door to pull the roulette.

The "home door" that can withstand 82 impacts of siege hammers opened under the power of hinges and roulettes. The heavy squeaking sound seemed to carry the majesty of the Kant family for three hundred years.

And a man with seven hundred years of majesty walked into the gate, and the cold wind and rain were behind him and caught in the hall.

Immediately a servant came forward to take the cloak or hat that the guest had untied, and a servant ran out to pick up the carriage parked outside. Gowen walked into the main hall of Kantburg with Amber and Knight Philip. He saw an old nobleman with hair almost white and a long black and red coat, wearing a long black and red coat, who opened his hands to welcome him. Viscount Victor Cond was older than he thought, but his legs and feet were obviously quite good.

"Ah, today this castle welcomed the most honorable guest of all time, a living legend!" Viscount Kant said loudly, "I'm sorry for letting you come in such bad weather. If only I could have the spell to control the astronomical phenomena."

"In fact, I like rainy weather very much," Gao Wen did not accept the embrace of the viscount and only shook hands with the other party. This was not indifference, but the rules for meeting the high and low titles: the low title must show a considerable degree of enthusiasm and respect, but unless the two parties have a clear affiliation, the high titles must not accept it. They should only have a certain degree of politeness. These messy traditions seem to be in terrible to Gao Wen, but they will not lose any flesh when obeying them at this time. "I had seen Kant's fertile land before the rain fell. After the rain fell, I saw a good rain scene. It's quite worth it."

"It's best if you can be satisfied," Victor Kant smiled, with a calm and calm smile, like a normal, elderly and well-educated gentleman. "I have prepared a welcome banquet for you, right in the dining room behind this hall."

Amber kept standing behind Gao Wen with her head down. She was not used to such a serious and "noble-like" occasion, so she rarely kept quiet. However, when she heard "eating", her ears still betrayed herself. The pointed ears from the elf blood immediately trembled, and they were spinning around her head like a radar, as if searching for more information related to "eating".

Gao Wen smiled and agreed while secretly looking at the appearance of the viscount in front of him.

He was old, but still healthy, with a calm smile, a gentle temperament with a little relaxation, and he could not see any breath related to cultists at all.

But this is not a basis for judgment.

He smiled and accepted the invitation from Lao Viscount's banquet, and took Amber and Knight Philip to the depths of Kant's Castle.

...

At the same time, in the silver fort in the city of San Sunil, the old king Francis II was frowning and looking at the sealed letter in front of him.

These secret letters are all from "royal nobles" directly enthroned by the king in various parts of the kingdom. Such figures also exist around the territory of the three border dukes. In other words, they are "eye-liners". This system inherited from the founding king has been continuously extended for seven hundred years. It is an important reliance on the Ansu royal family's control over the entire country. The civil strife of Wuyue and the "illegitimate child weakness" of the Second Dynasty once made this system useless, but after a hundred years of reconstruction, especially under the compromises made by several dukes for the stability of the kingdom, this intelligence network belonging to the king is still operating effectively today as it was in the First Dynasty.

Most of the nobles directly enthroned by the king are located in the south, and a small part is distributed in other parts of the kingdom. On weekdays, these secret letters sent back by the eyeliner report on the situation on their respective lands. The situations are very different and there is basically nothing in common. However, the secret letters sent by recent times have shown a trend that makes Francis II faintly uneasy.

There are increasing reports about the active activity of various dark sects, and the number is increasing everywhere across the country.

Although these increased reports account for less than 10% of the country until today, their distribution is so wide that it is enough to make the old king worried.

Ansu does have a corrupt system, but the king is basically smart.

Now, what he saw was a secret letter from Viscount Andrew Leslie in the southern border, which was more important than what other nobles reported:

All things died in Tanzan Town. The cultists once sneaked into the castle and used magic to control some people. Fortunately, with the support of Duke Gowan Cecil, the duke eliminated the cultists entrenched on this land.

The old king would not know that Viscount Andrew Leslie had hidden a lot of truth in this secret letter, such as the eternal stone slab that had fallen into Gauwen's hands, and the details of his own control by cultists, and he also consciously reduced the urgency of the whole thing a lot. But even so, the information revealed in the secret letter was still enough to shock the old king.

The cultist who originally only dared to move in the dark actually invaded the mansion of a nobleman on the ground this time!

They used to hold ceremonies with living people or dead bodies to hold ceremonies, but they would not make the real nobles nervous, because those actions were happening in "untouchables". The cultists seemed to be very good at following the bottom line of the game and never reached into the aristocratic system, but now... the wind has changed.

It happened at this time, when the relationship between Ansu and the Tifeng Empire was at its most tense. Originally, Francis II breathed a little relieved when he knew that the Tifeng Empire would not start a war this winter, and believed that he could take this opportunity to further strengthen the border military and lay a solid foundation for the war. But now he suddenly felt that the cultists probably didn't want him to have this amount of room for it.

Just as the old king was frowning, a warm and warm feeling suddenly filled the room.

He raised his head a little unexpectedly and saw Veronica wearing a white priest robe walking into the room.

The "saint princess" walked towards her father with a smile and a little coquettish look: "Father, I asked Lord Aiden, and he said you are still in the study."

"Veronica, my daughter... why are you here today?" Francis II looked at Veronica with a little surprise. Although his daughter still retains her identity as a princess, she is already a formal convert to the God of Holy Light. She spends most of her time in the Cathedral of the Holy Light and rarely returns to the Silver Castle.

"Did you forget? Today is the day when I leave the cathedral and come to see you in the castle," Veronica said with a smile, drawing the emblem of the God of Holy Light on her chest, "Word to serve the Lord, you must not forget to serve your parents. This is the doctrine of Holy Light."

"Look at my brain," the old king couldn't help but pat his forehead, "I remember the wrong day!"

"It's okay, the burden of the kingdom is on you. You should put the responsibility of the king first," Veronica said, while noticing the tired look on Francis II's face. She raised her hand and summoned a holy light, using divine art to relieve her father's mental pressure. "Father, what happened?"

Francis II sighed: "Cultists, all things will die, the sect of the Eternal Sleepers, and small sects like the Black Stone Sect and the Abyss followers, I don't know what kind of nerves are coming, and they all start to make trouble in this winter day."

Hearing the three words "cultivist", Veronica, a devout believer of Holy Light, could not help frowning: "May the Holy Light save those poor people who were attacked by thugs... Cultists always spread everywhere, but unfortunately, except for the Holy Light Sect and the God of War Sect, the divine arts of other sects are too powerless to face the evil arts of those cultists."

Francis sighed: "Don't worry, those evil people dare not make trouble in the royal city."
Chapter completed!