Quick Wear: Random Cheats

Chapter 98: The Burned Earl Witch (10)

Father Tavis's face was also very ugly, because the current situation was too different from what he expected. The core purpose of him sending his paladins into the city to gather information was only one, that is, to see whether the guards were there and whether all the people were there. If they were there, they were all there.

He doesn't have to go into the city at all.

Head straight to the Count of Fuguang's castle.

The purpose is self-evident.

In his original opinion, the reason why Countess of Floating Light was able to annihilate Father Kalman's entire army must be because she relied on the power of the Floating Light City Guards. If it weren't for the Floating Light City Guards, he and his thirty paladins would have been able to easily destroy the entire castle, causing everyone in the castle, including Countess of Floating Light, to die of the plague.

Not a single one left!!

But now, there is obviously no need to ask whether the guards are complete or not. He seriously suspects that Countess Fuguang has secretly trained many knights in the castle. The exact number is unknown, but it is definitely more than their number.

In this case, even if they succeed, it will be a miserable victory, and the possibility of failure is not low.

So the original plan is definitely not going to work.

It's too reckless, I have to give it a try.

At least find out what's going on inside the Earl's castle.

With this in mind, Father Tavis directly said to the somewhat anxious Paladins, "No need to make any preparations. We will enter the city immediately and take over the local church first. We must proceed with our original plan step by step."

After hearing what he said, the other paladins actually breathed a sigh of relief. After all, they came here to make money, not to die, so it didn't matter to them whether the other party built it or not.

Just don't take their lives.

They don't want to be infected by the plague and burned to ashes.

Afterwards, they naturally packed up and went straight to Fuguang City. They came to the church where only three or five old, weak and sick people were left. While taking over the church smoothly, they pretended to send people out to gather information and gain a deeper understanding of the situation.

If he had previously sent a paladin in disguise into the city to gather information secretly, this time he was openly gathering information from all sides.

They wanted to use this opportunity to learn some information that was difficult to get when they were in disguise, and also to show that they were here and would never give up, or to say that they did not trust what was said in the official letter, laying the groundwork for their subsequent plans.

This went on until the middle of the night, when Father Tavis finally wrote down all the information he had learned.

Fall asleep with confidence.

The next morning, after breakfast, he took the knight captain to the City Lord's Mansion to visit the City Lord. At first, they completed some normal handovers. After the handover was completed, he directly handed the parchment recording Ding Shui's recent shopping information to the City Lord.
"Lord Chris, yesterday I sent someone to investigate the plague as a matter of routine, not because I distrusted your official letter. Please forgive me. But I discovered something very strange, and I wonder if you know about it.

In fact, you should be the one who is more concerned about this matter, not me, but I see that you seem to be completely unprepared for it.

For your own good, I really have to tell you!!”

Some things don't need to be explained too clearly. Just by looking at the data, you can clearly tell that something is wrong. Although Chris was a little confused, he still took the parchment and looked at it carefully, and then his heart sank.

Why did Earl Fuguang buy so many things?
Generally speaking, many nobles are self-sufficient in basic supplies. Barons and viscounts are fine as are minor nobles, but earls can at least be considered mid-range, and their homes definitely have small workshops producing basic supplies such as textile workers, tailors, and oil pressing equipment.

Unless a large group of people suddenly come to the castle.

Otherwise there is no need to go out and buy these.

Of course, these are secondary. What is more sensitive is that Countess Fuguang purchased thirty cows, one hundred and twenty sheep, twenty horses, and more than a thousand pounds of iron. She also ordered a lot of cattle, sheep, horses, and pig iron.

Among them, iron and horses are absolutely sensitive materials.

Just the purchases are enough to make one wary, not to mention the pre-booked ones.

Said she lived a peaceful life.

No one believes that!
At this moment, no matter how much Chris trusted Countess Floating Light, he couldn't help but have some doubts in his heart.

However, he quickly calmed down and said with a smile:
"The affairs of the royal court nobility do not require your intervention by the Holy See. The local church has been without a pastor for fifteen days, and there is a backlog of matters that need to be addressed. This is what you should be concerned about, Father."

No matter what, we must maintain our dignity first!!
Send him away and investigate.

"I was overthinking it. I think the City Lord must have already made plans and preparations. There's still a lot of things to do at the church, so I won't bother you anymore. Goodbye!"

Father Tavis hadn't expected this matter to be resolved immediately; he had come here simply to make it clear, forcing Chris to investigate. This way, he could use Chris's hand to gain a detailed understanding of the Floating Light Castle's capabilities, facilitating his next plan.

If it's a bluff, attack directly.

If you really have a lot of knights, then let Chris take action first. If Chris doesn't take action, then expose the matter and take advantage of the chaos to make a fortune.

Now that we are here, we must not return empty-handed.

After Tavis left, the city lord Chris immediately sent his confidants to investigate the situation. He then called the consul, military officer and financial officer, or tax officer, all of whom came to inform them of the news while waiting for his confidants' report.

More than an hour later.

The city lord's confidant hurried back and whispered to Chris's ear that the news was correct. Chris sighed deeply, sent him away, and said helplessly:
"The news is correct. Those things were indeed purchased by Count Fuguang and shipped to her castle."

"How could this happen? What does she want to do?"

It is really hard for military officers to understand.

However, the financial officer said thoughtfully:

"Have we misunderstood? If Earl Fuguang really wanted to do something, he should have purchased it secretly, or even from other earldoms or marquisates. He should have bought these things openly under our noses and wanted to rebel.

Isn't this a bit too outrageous?

Is it possible that she isn't so stupid? "

"She acted like she wasn't afraid of us investigating at all. That's the way it should be..."

Upon hearing this, City Lord Chris suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "I understand. When the old Earl of Fuguang died, he was accompanied by forty knights, and all forty of them died. The king previously conscripted eighteen more knights, so the number of knights under Earl of Fuguang's command was already pitifully small.

When dealing with Kalman and the others before, it was definitely impossible for us to emerge unscathed, and we might even have suffered heavy losses.

It’s just not easy to announce the truth to the public.

Revealing the weakness of the castle's internal defenses.

So she might need to recruit fifty, or even sixty, or even seventy knights. After all, the eighteen knights conscripted by the king, if they could survive, would most likely receive the lowest rank of lord, which could not be inherited.

If you can't survive, there's no way you can come back.

So the eighteen knights are also vacant."

There is actually another title below the Baron, which is the Lord, but this title cannot be passed on to future generations and is essentially an honorary title.

Therefore, it is generally not recognized by the nobility.

But a knight with this title is no longer considered a knight. At least he can participate in politics and if he is lucky, he can easily become a minor official in the town official system.

"Oh, yes, there are many vacancies for knights under the Count of Fuguang, and training them again does require buying a lot of things.

Moreover, the weapons and armor worn by the forty knights taken away by her father were undoubtedly all lost, and the weapons and armor worn by the eighteen knights conscripted by the king were also no different from being lost.

It does require a lot of iron to be reforged.

But even so, the number of items she bought was still a bit too much, especially when including those that were pre-ordered.

Unless she wants to train heavy knights."

The financial officer also spoke thoughtfully.

The military officer's expression and spirit were obviously relaxed at this time: "Forget about the heavy knights. As long as the number does not exceed the standard, even if she trains the trial knights of the Holy See, it will not be against the rules. Moreover, if I were Earl of Floating Light...

They are definitely willing to invest in this area.

Especially after what happened with Kalman.

And if she already knew the real cause of her father's death, or guessed it, she would be even more willing to spend money.

After all, gold coins are far less important than life."

"That's true. Although we helped cover up her previous actions, it's obvious that the Vatican would never believe that Kalman and his group died of the plague.

So it is a bit of an exaggeration to say that she offended the Vatican.

But it definitely offended the church in the Marquisate.

The new priest brought this matter up right away, and it's obvious that he has bad intentions. Why don't we send someone to the Earl's Castle again to inform her of the news and ask her to come over and make a filing application.

Although it is possible to wait until the knights are trained before filing, it is safer to file in advance!"

At this moment, several people present had basically concluded that Ding Shui purchased a large amount of supplies just to make up for the shortage of knights under his name and to ensure the safety of his own property.

Therefore, the overall atmosphere seems much more relaxed.

After all, if the other party really prepared supplies for rebellion under their noses, it would definitely be a huge dereliction of duty.

Now that that's not happening, everyone is relieved.

The next person, of course, was the city lord Chris. He naturally sent his steward out to the castle to inform Count Fuguang of the situation and ask her to come over to file the application for the vacant knight. At the same time, he also had to observe carefully to see if there was anything unusual in Fuguang Castle.

Even though I know it's unlikely.

It didn't affect his ability to be on guard.

……

Nearly two hours later, Ti Enshi, the steward of the City Lord's Mansion, came back to report with a slightly dazed look on his face.

His condition made Chris feel nervous:
"What's wrong? Is something wrong?"

Tiensch paused for a moment, then carefully recalled the scene he had seen before saying:
"My Lord, the Floating Light Castle is completely different now. It's like it's been completely renovated. The entire castle looks brand new. Even the air is exceptionally fresh and clean. There's no feces on the road. It's quite different just by looking at it.

There are two more buildings outside the castle. I don’t know what one of them is used for, but it is divided into male and female ones. The other one is very tall and big. I heard that it is a place to live.

It seems that all the people living there are women.

At least I didn’t see any men.”

"Also, Count Fuguang said that she hasn't trained any new knights yet. She also asked her steward, Hansen, to take me to see where the things she bought are being used.

All the iron was made into a bunch of farm tools, including curved plows, hoes, and sickles. There were so many things that I couldn't remember them all, but they were definitely not weapons like swords.

Sheep and pigs are said to be used to improve the food.

Cows and horses were used to plow the fields.

I've taken a look, and the horses Earl Fuguang bought aren't particularly fast, but they're large enough and have a certain level of endurance, so they're usually used for farming. As for the cows, I haven't seen any, but there's no point in lying. After all, there aren't any bull riders riding cows. She probably really wants to use them for farming.

Also, there are more than a hundred women in Fuguang Castle. I don’t know where Earl Fuguang found them from.

But it does require consuming a lot more food.

Moreover, Earl Fuguang has also improved the treatment of all the servants and maids in the castle. They seem to be able to eat their fill at every meal, and occasionally even have meat, and they look very happy.

Because it was difficult for Tienshi to understand everything Ding Shui did, his speech was naturally not very organized, and he could only talk about whatever he thought of first.

After hearing this, Chris was also a little confused.

What on earth does this Count Fuguang want to do?
He had lost so many knights, and instead of thinking about replenishing the knights quickly to ensure his own safety, he got more than a hundred women from somewhere to support him.

Then the treatment of servants and maids was improved.

Iron tools were used to make farm tools.

It cannot be said to be wrong, but at this moment, no nobles would do so, which seems quite strange!
I can’t understand it, and I can’t understand it!

"Uh... could it be that she wants to train a group of female knights?" At this moment, Chris felt that the matter had a little bit of rationality only when he thought so.

As for whether those who love cleanliness are witches?

How could he not know whether the witch was real or fake?

He had lived for more than forty years, and in the past forty years, he had seen countless witches being burned to death, but he had never seen a witch who was really powerful and could not be burned to death, and he had never seen a witch escape after being put on the stake!

The witch's theory...

Haha, he doesn’t believe it anyway.

So at this time he could only think that Ding Shui did this most likely to train some female knights, and the difficulty for women to become qualified knights was undoubtedly much greater than that for men. Even if more than a hundred good seedlings were found for training, it would be very good if half of them could finally pass.

As for why he thought so.

Of course, there were female nobles who did this in the past.

Based on this consideration, the city lord Chris finally said nothing more, but asked the butler to remember to collect what Earl Fuguang bought in Fuguang City at any time.

As for where those more than one hundred women came from.

Nowadays, whether it is a male or female slave, it is easy to buy, and there are many informal channels.

Why would he pursue this matter if there is nothing to do?

Thus, the matter came to a temporary end in the City Lord's Mansion. After returning, Father Tavis, who had sent people to keep an eye on the City Lord's Mansion, was really confused at this time: "What do you think Chris meant? He just asked his butler to go to the castle."

"So, Earl Fuguang didn't plan a rebellion?"

The Knight Commander could only come to this conclusion, because in his opinion, it was impossible for the city lord Chris to join forces with a mere earl to rebel. That was not rebellion, but seeking death.

Therefore, it is likely that they are overthinking it.

"That shouldn't be the case. If she didn't secretly train more knights, why would she buy so many things? She bought so many things, and at the same time, the city lord Chris sent people to investigate, but there was no commotion. Instead, she accepted it calmly.

Is it possible that it is still legal and compliant?"

“Legal and compliant…

Yes, Father, we have overlooked one thing. If Earl Fuguang really wanted to secretly train knights and plot a rebellion, he would have to do it in secret.

There is no way she would be able to find any evidence against us who have just arrived. She is not a fool. Her actions are legal and compliant, so she can do so unscrupulously.

There’s no need to be sneaky.”

"Legal and compliant, etc..."

It can be said that at this moment, Father Tavis and the Knight Commander both instantly remembered something they had previously overlooked, that is, the number of knights under the name of Earl Fuguang at this time was far below the prescribed limit.

There is only one possibility for her to buy these things in large quantities legally and compliantly, and that is that she is making up for the shortage of her knights.

No matter who knows, no one can say anything!
"Damn it! I didn't notice such an obvious problem right away. I told you earlier in the Marquisate that her father and forty knights were annihilated, and then the king recruited and transferred eighteen knights. She should have very few knights left.

The previous victory over Kalman could not be without loss.

So the Floating Light Castle should be at its weakest now. Even if there are knights, most of them are reserve knights who have just started training and are not a threat at all.

Damn it, I should have just done it yesterday.

There shouldn’t be such hesitation.”

Tavis was really a little frustrated at this time, because he had mentioned these things before, so why did his brain suddenly have problems and he didn't think of this?
If I had thought of it earlier, I would have achieved it by now.

"Then when do we start?" The Knight Commander had undoubtedly figured it out, and he also felt that the castle was at its weakest right now, and could be easily breached at any time.

"Let me think about it. I'm a little worried now that Chris knows all this. He sent the butler over not to inspect the situation as we thought, but to tip off Countess Fuguang and tell her that we are in danger.

This way, they might be on guard.

They even set traps!"

Father Tavis was still struggling and thinking:

"But we can't delay any longer. The longer we delay, the greater the chance that Earl Fuguang will be fully prepared.

It’s better to cut the Gordian knot quickly!!!”

Finally, Father Tavis finally made up his mind: "Hurry up and send someone to see if the guards are still in the city and whether there are enough people. If the guards are still in the city and there are enough people, we will sneak to the castle tonight."

"Thunder strikes, destroying the Floating Light Castle."

“Then they’ll say that Count Fuguang secretly concealed the fact that the patients were infected with the plague and didn’t burn them to death, causing the plague to spread in Fuguang Castle and infect everyone.

If in the end they all die and must be burned.

It’s reasonable.”