Alien world

Chapter 1051 282. Action
"Why did Grand Duke Barbatod want to harm Princess Sayles?"

"I don't know. The housekeeper just asked me to do this one thing. So I went to find Sugra."

Annan knew everything that happened next.

"Didn't Grand Duke Barbatod ask you to corrupt Renato?"

Renato looked serious and didn't interrupt. This was about his innocence.

"He told me to do it, but I didn't."

You can say that Hunter is smart or loyal, but no matter how capable he is, he is still a dead man if he follows Barbatod.

The previous Hunter could still accept it, but he has become the chief guard of the Minister of Military Affairs. There are no more than ten nobles in the entire kingdom who are more powerful than Renato. Why should he still be a loyal dog of the Grand Duke?
The one who wanted Barbatode dead the most was his enemy, followed by Hunter.

So Hunter deliberately delayed, and when the Archduke sent someone to inquire, he said that progress was slow.

Grand Duke Barbatode's network was so vast that there were nobles who were impossible to corrupt, so he did not suspect anything and just placed other spies around Renato, both open and secret, but they were all found by Hunter and arrested just now.

From this point of view, he did a good job.

"I'm sorry, Master Renato, I lied to you..."

Renato's face didn't look good, but he still waved his hand: "It's not your fault."

After asking Hunter everything he knew, they left the dungeon and returned to the study.

"Shall we take action?" Renato asked.

"Let me think about it again."

The people he wanted to move this time were not lackeys or marginal figures, but real big shots. There were at least five if not ten members of parliament standing on his side.

Annan is not afraid of this, the question is, which side will the Speaker of Parliament stand on?
The Chairman of the Senate has a close relationship with Grand Duke Barbatode, so when he accuses Barbatode, will the Chairman of the Senate choose to expose the truth and become a legitimate guardian of the kingdom, or will he continue to cover it up and pretend that it doesn't exist as long as it isn't spread?
"Let me test the council president's attitude first."

Annan could accept this point. Although he could not solve the problem of Babatod and cut a wound to the kingdom's main artery, he helped Princess Saiers find the murderer and obtained solid evidence that could be used to accuse the kingdom of colluding with the rat people at any time.

It's a win either way.

"By the way, what are you going to do with Hunter?"

“Do you have any suggestions?”

Renato could no longer trust him. This was the fate of a spy, and Hunter knew it.

The best outcome for him would be to act out a scene with Renato again and then disappear from his sight forever.

"He is a great swordsman after all. I plan to send him back to Liberty City. After undergoing some transformation, he will be sent to the legion as an instructor."

Anyway, he wasn't the one being betrayed, so Annan didn't mind at all.

"It's his good fortune to meet you," Renato said. It's also his own.

If Annan can tolerate spies, he can also accept himself.

Annan told Renato not to go anywhere today and to continue looking for spies in the official residence, and hurried to the royal capital.

The king has been unwell these days, and the government affairs are handled by the chairman of the parliament.

This is a bit like the relationship between Annan and Olmedo. What's more, they are both from the Augusta family.

Humming a song about the loyalty and bravery of the Augusta family, Annan walked into the palace.

The Councillor was arranging something with several court mages. When he saw Annan being brought in, he asked in an old voice:

"New news?"

"bad news."

The chief councillor waved his hand, and the court mages bowed and retreated with curiosity about Annan.

"Not the bad news I thought it was, is it?"

"Yeah. I traced the real murderer."

The chairman motioned for Annan to sit down: "Tell me from the beginning." Annan started from the discovery of the unidentified body in the cemetery: he found Sugra through the Shadow Brotherhood, and got news about a butler named Ruby from Sugra.

The chairman of the parliament was also there at the time, but Sugra was very brave and lucky, and he managed to lie in front of the chairman of the parliament without being discovered.

Ruby's identity is fake, his real identity is Renato's captain of guards.

Annan said that he was sure that his uncle was not involved, so he told him the truth and quickly caught the captain of the guard, Hunter. The interrogation revealed that he was inserted into Renato's side by Grand Duke Barbatod eight years ago, and the order to keep Princess Sailes... came from Grand Duke Barbatod.

He also learned from Faru, the mascot of the King of the North given to him by Barbatod, that Director Zloyutro, the director of the Great Library, and Sir Mir Bogard were in Barbatod's circle.

"I was wondering if Grand Duke Barbatod realized something when he recruited Mage Kyle a few days ago?"

"Another question is, why didn't Grand Duke Barbatod use his own blood, but instead betrayed Princess Sayles?"

"Because Babatod is a branch of the royal family."

After hesitating for a long time, the Speaker of Parliament told the royal secret.

Barbatod was the cousin of the old king, Clo's father. He had helped a lot in the succession competition, so he was able to become the Grand Duke as a branch of the family.

That makes sense.

"Master Olme...what do you think?" The chairman's wise blue eyes fell on Annan.

"If I had any plans I wouldn't have come to see you." He kicked the balloon back.

The Councillor gave a low, old laugh: "You're doing better than I did when I was young."

Before Annan could figure out the meaning of this sentence, he stood up and said, "You stay here. No one can go out except me."

Annan realized something and stood up nervously, forgetting for a moment that the tall old man in front of him was his enemy: "Do you want to confront them? I will go with you--"

"No, this is our old guy's business."

The white-robed councillor smiled and walked out of the lounge.

Annan noticed that he had forgotten to take his staff, and hurried to chase him out, but was stopped by a barrier.

Annan could feel that the barrier was useless to him, but it was reminding him not to go out.

On the surface it is house arrest, but in fact it is protection.

But Annan was worried about his own people who were still outside, so he hesitated.

"You little brat, Old Irwin told you to stay still, why are you still trying to go out! Phew... I'm dying of suffocation."

"Who is speaking?!"

Annan turned around suddenly.

The entire lounge was empty, except for the staff left behind by the Councillor...staff?
The staff that looked like a tree root had wrinkles on it, as if it had a mouth. "Yes, it is me, the master, who is speaking! I am also the one who maintains the barrier!"

The Councillor is really reassuring. It would be even better if he stood on the side of Liberty City...

Annan no longer thought about going out, hoping that Renato could protect Maria and his men.

"Who is you?"

"You won't even call me you!"

"Oh, who are you?"

"Nonsense, can't you see I'm a staff?"

It's amazing that the staff can speak, but it's nothing that the council president's staff can speak.

At first, Annan was a little wary, but as he got to know it better, he found that apart from being a chatterbox, it had no other problems.

"You know why the Councillor said 'I'm doing better than he was when he was young'?"

(End of this chapter)