Chapter 499: The Prince and the Empress
“Why’d you call over? I still had to stand guard.”
“Ahem, how are things going in the Northlands? How is the support for the Holy Guard proceeding? Do you have a plan?”
“I already had one long ago. Ash should’ve already brought people over by now. It won’t take long before there are results.”
Hughes blinked, faintly sensing sothing ominous. “You didn’t send the Banshees charging straight into Sleddinburg, did you?”
Given Nini’s temperant, she absolutely could do that. As for the Banshees, they had long wanted to have a good fight.
Rushing over like that wasn’t impossible, but it would bring a great many unnecessary troubles.
First, it would expose the presence of a large number of Banshees. Although Hughes hadn’t planned to hide the Banshees who delivered death notices, having so many appear at once would definitely attract the entire Church’s attention. The Northlands would be thrown into chaos for a long while.
Second, it would likely startle the enemy. Charging over directly might save the Resistance Army, but the three Grand Dukes and Earl Bazel would be alerted in advance.
Others might worry about a difficult battle or being surrounded by the enemy. Hughes was different.
He worried they would run.
That was truly troubleso. If Earl Bazel really threw everything away and fled, Hughes would have no good counterasure.
To reach the Northlands, he had to lay rail tracks all the way. If Bazel fled straight into the Empire, was he supposed to bend the railway and keep laying it after him?
Then when would Bazel’s head ever hang on the main chapel of Castel?
Hughes’ gaze grew increasingly dangerous. If Nini had really done sothing so rash, then she could forget about writing any more news reports ever again!
Nini stepped back several steps, smiling awkwardly while wagging her tail. “No, no, of course not. How could I possibly send everyone rushing over directly? I only booked more interview schedules for everyone. I still let Granny’s side make contact first.”
“Granny… there’s no problem with that?”
The Northlands were far from peaceful. Many Transcendents lurked everywhere, and the Chrysalis of the Moths Chasing Fire wasn’t particularly good at fighting.
“There is a problem. She always likes picking fights everywhere. I suspect she might delay the schedule a bit, so I let Isaac go with her too—by the way, Isaac joined my war correspondent team. He might go to the front lines with later for interviews.”
There were only a few Transcendents in the Moths Chasing Fire. Richard specialized in research and wasn’t good at fighting. Chloe was even less suited. Before Isaac returned, Granny had been the one carrying the burden alone.
Training a Transcendent was far slower than producing equipnt on an assembly line. The Moths Chasing Fire in Castel were rely proceeding at the usual pace.
Hughes had heard that they planned to cultivate Gaia into a Transcendent recently and had been preparing materials for over half a year. The slow efficiency made Hughes extrely unaccustod.
Nini sighed. “Ever since Granny got the Dragon’s Breath Cannons, she fell in love with picking fights. She carries a pair of Dragon’s Breath Cannons alone and has already made a na for herself throughout the Northlands. Almost no Investigator dares provoke her.”
A corner of Hughes’ eye twitched. Granny always appeared gentle and kind—who would have thought her heart was this wild…
“Let’s just hope things go smoothly with the Resistance Army.”
“Don’t worry, my lord. Nothing will happen with the Resistance Army. The allied forces of the three Grand Dukes were already wiped out by us. There’s no force left in the Northlands worth ntioning.”
Hughes did not comnt. Since they already sent soone to contact the Resistance Army, everything now depended on what happened next.
If things went smoothly, they would bring the Resistance Army over directly. If they couldn’t co conveniently, extending Castel’s railway over wouldn’t take much ti anyway.
Castel’s railway had already reached the Northlands. Even the dullest nobles should notice it after the annihilation of the allied forces.
Next, there would likely be battles surrounding the railway itself. The Expeditionary Army had long been prepared.
After Nini left, Hughes looked in surprise at the person entering the room.
“Alexei, what is it?”
This forr chief secretary—now the Archbishop of the Imperial Truth—was always extrely busy. Why would he suddenly co today?
Hughes’ expression turned serious. For Alexei to co personally, it must not be a small matter.
Yet an unusual hesitation flickered in Alexei’s eyes. After entering, he didn’t approach imdiately. Instead, he turned around to close the door, then glanced at the newly repaired window.
“My lord, this place…”
“This place is perfectly safe. This is the main cathedral of Castel. The Banshees’ duty room is right next door. Did you run into trouble?”
“Mm, not trouble exactly… I suddenly rembered sothing.”
Alexei sat down, his gaze wandering.
“Is it related to Castel?”
“In a sense, yes. It was sothing from long ago—before I ca to Castel. As the top graduate of the Royal Army Academy, I was granted an audience with the Empress and received guidance from the captain of her knight order—in other words, I received the opportunity to challenge him.”
Alexei slowly recounted as he recalled.
“Don’t laugh, but I didn’t just bring my longsword at the ti. I secretly tucked a flintlock pistol at my waist. No one said firearms couldn’t be used in combat. I was a graduate of the Royal Army Academy—winning with a firearm might even earn the Empress’ favor.”
“You lost?”
“Yes. His strength was terrifying. Every one of my movents was seen through before I even made them. He always attacked second, yet could predict my attack path each ti. It looked as if I deliberately swung my sword onto his blade.”
A gleam surfaced in Alexei’s eyes.
“In the end, I didn’t use the flintlock. He had already seen through my idea but simply didn’t expose it. The impression he left on was too deep—I could never forget it.”
At this point, Alexei let out a long breath, gathering courage as he spoke: “My lord, I… feel soone is very similar to that knight captain.”
“Galahad.”
After saying the na, he visibly relaxed, as though releasing a heavy burden.
Hughes fell silent.
Naturally, he knew what this implied.
The Transcendent Path of the 【Knight】 was bound to an oath. A knight could have only one object of loyalty—whether a family, a bloodline, or a person.
If Galahad truly was the forr knight captain under the Empress, then whom did he currently serve?
The Prince belonged to Duke Tis’ lineage, with nearly no connection to the imperial family.
Then the answer was obvious.
“How confident are you?”
“I have no confidence at all, my lord. The two of them share no similarities—neither in appearance nor in bearing. But I… just faintly feel it.”
Hughes rose slowly to his feet.
Galahad.
The Prince.
The Empress.
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