Blood Dragon

Chapter 150 The Bad News

"Don't worry," Essien said. "Cleo, you should know... the nobles of the whole country, big and small, went to the sea without paying taxes. However, the little queen ignored those small and medium nobles who were easier to deal with, but directly announced this group ...these more than 80 nobles are rebellious. Don't you think this is strange?"

"Ah... isn't it because they are big trees that attract the wind?"

"Hehe." Essien smiled. "After I heard the news, I collected the information of these noble lords and studied them carefully. As a result, I found that these people... Although they are all big nobles, some of them are not very powerful. For example, a few An earl from the west...belongs to the type without ambitions. Although their territory is not small, they spend all their financial resources on extravagance. It stands to reason that such a person should not arouse the suspicion of the little queen."

"This one……"

"Finally, I did a careful research to find out what these people have in common. At first I thought it was because their territory was located at a traffic hub...so the little queen wanted to take back control of these key locations. But then I Found that idea to be wrong. Then I thought that these lords had strong family castles or residences... Then I found that idea was not true. Finally I thought it was because all these great nobles have always been rebellious, but this is also No. Finally I found something they had in common."

"What is it?"

"All these people were canonized by King Mark Remiz when the country was founded. They are all... the nobles of the old kingdom, and even the royal family themselves, such as Byron. They," Essien said. "They all have unrestricted independent military power."

"military power?"

"Well, you can recruit and organize private soldiers without restriction." Essien said. "How many troops you have depends only on your own financial resources, and has nothing to do with other factors. In theory, you can legally have a very strong force."

"Ah... this... But the theory is the theory, and the actual limit still exists. The financial income that a territory can provide is limited after all."

"Normally. But I'm afraid it's the little queen... or Ashurfate, who sees the danger of this. This hereditary privilege can become terrible under certain circumstances, such as our current situation ...Like Duke Byron, he relied on theft of the treasury to easily organize a large army of 3 people...an army of the same size as the Guards." Essien thought. "However, from this point of view, the little queen's determination to cut down the feudal clan this time is probably very firm... We don't have to worry about the constraints behind us... By the way, Cleo, there is one more thing, we must set off as soon as possible."

"what happened?"

"The queen is going back to Falcon City soon."

"Why? What to do here?"

"The army stays under the command of our Earl Ashurfate." Essien replied. "She has to rush back to Falcon City immediately, because there is very bad news from the north. Those barbarians seem to be planning a full-scale invasion. The situation is urgent, and the Queen will go back to preside over the overall situation... If this is true, it means that the Queen We won't have much time."

……

In the city of Fornoros, Byron has received a detailed loss report on the fire.

This incident was so conspicuous that in the middle of the night, the entire warehouse turned into a pillar of fire that soared into the sky, illuminating the entire city.Fortunately, the construction of the warehouse itself considered many factors, otherwise, the fire might have turned at least half of Fornoros City into ruins.

Byron massaged his forehead vigorously. If you look closely, you can see blue veins bursting out.Although Byron kept calm on the surface, and he himself repeatedly told himself to cool down, it was really difficult to maintain emotional stability under such circumstances.Especially Byron himself is the kind of more emotional person.

This report is completely nonsense. After seeing the soaring flames last night, any fool can guess that the entire warehouse has been burned up, leaving no residue.

"What was the cause of the fire?" Byron threw away the worthless report.Ask the subordinate in charge of the investigation.He said it in a whisper, but it was more terrifying than a growl.Because everyone knew that Byron was at his most emotional and most angry when he spoke in this way.

No wonder Byron is like this.The warehouse in Fonoros City was gone, which meant that Byron lost the biggest capital he had held on to for a long time: food and grass.Of course, there are many private or chamber of commerce warehouses in the city, and ordinary residents also have a lot of food reserves in their homes.But these reserves are completely incomparable with the granary that Byron has painstakingly accumulated.For Byron, this incident was not a blow to the head, but a dagger pierced into the heart from the back, which directly had a fatal impact.

"The cause of the fire is temporarily unknown..." The subordinate replied in trepidation.

"Could it be that I'm raising a bunch of trash?!" Byron said softly. "You can't even investigate this matter! Who is in charge of the warehouse guard?"

"It's Essien...captain." The subordinate replied tremblingly. "But last night...he had other business."

"He has other priorities..." Byron sneered. "That's right, he did have other duties last night, but are all the soldiers guarding there dead? Oh, yes, I can't find them. This kind of fire... basically burned them to death. But those who were not on duty The people should still be..."

"This... site... did not find any human bones." The subordinate replied.

"What, can't you find it?" Byron was shocked.Such a fire... Could it be that they all fled when they saw that there was no time to put out the fire?Wait, how could there be such a big fire in the grain warehouse?

"We also went to find the soldiers who guarded the warehouse...but...they are all gone. No one can tell where they went..."

"What?!" This time, what Byron felt was not anger, but something else.

"The whole detachment in charge of guarding the warehouse... the people from the independent detachment are gone. We checked carefully in the army, and there were two teams that disappeared last night. There is also a detachment in charge of city defense."

"How is it possible...you mean missing?" The city defense team?Could it be that he escaped by night and went to the queen?

"This... No trace of human bones was found at the scene. Since the fire broke out in the middle of the night, no witnesses could be found. We can only guess that there were not only grains in the warehouse at that time, but other flammable things may have been placed in the warehouse."

"What..." Byron's mind was spinning rapidly, and a terrible idea appeared in his mind.Although he tried his best not to think in that direction, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his hands and feet.

"Let me ask, when Captain Essien left last night...did he leave from the city wall that the missing city defense unit was in charge of?"

"Indeed." The subordinate replied.

"Essien..." Byron repeated the name repeatedly.He should be a loyal and reliable subordinate.If it were someone else, Byron might still have some doubts, but Essien...

He had served Byron faithfully in Falcon City for several years, and he was often able to offer some good things, give some good ideas, or successfully complete various private tasks assigned by Byron.When retreating from Falcon City, he even took the initiative to ask for a break, and he was more loyal.When he was in Fonoros City, although Essien had brushed Byron's favor several times, after all, it was motivated by loyalty. Recently, he took the initiative to ask for a dangerous scout mission and showed his ability.

In addition, since Essien was the queen's bodyguard but carried out the task of arresting the queen, Byron always believed that Essien was the kind of person who was least likely to betray.He and Byron are grasshoppers bound by the same rope!Maybe one day when Byron is at the end of his rope, others will betray him, but Essien certainly won't.Because it is impossible for the little queen to forgive Essien, it should be like this.

how can that be possible?Why Essien?What went wrong?

"Wait, go and see, is Cleo here?" Byron said after pondering for a while.He knew that Cleo had a close relationship with Essien, which he only found out after returning to Fornoros City.In fact, that's what Beilheim had told him.

"Cleo?"

"Cleo the Treasurer," Byron said.

"Ah, Your Excellency the Duke," said another subordinate beside him. "I heard from people in the financial department in the morning that Cleo suddenly disappeared."

"Gone?"

"According to a neighbor next door. Cleo suddenly went out with his luggage last night, as if he was about to go on a long journey, and then he didn't come back." The person who spoke was actually a little strange.Cleo is just a lower-level financial officer, so why is it Byron's turn to ask questions in person?

"How...it's possible..." Byron muttered to himself in a voice he could only hear.how so?

The door of the meeting room was pushed open from the outside.According to Byron's latest order, the urgent military situation needs to be compiled and sent to him immediately. Although a messenger came in, this one was empty-handed.

"My lord, something is wrong!" The messenger who spoke ignored the gazes of other people around him, and rushed all the way to Byron with a look of panic.

"What's the matter?!" Byron actually wanted to stand up, but found that his knees were weak and he couldn't stand up.

"Emergency..." The messenger may have been too flustered, or maybe he ran over in a hurry just now, looking out of breath. "Our spies have sent an urgent message... Lord Baerheim has been captured by Wang Jun..."

"And then?" Byron was shocked and angry, and he didn't even have the heart to investigate why the messenger didn't have a written report.

"The Queen staked...Master Belheim...in public...executed!"

"Stake..." Byron felt dizzy for a while. "Belheim, he..."

"My condolences, he is now... placed in the middle of the camp...for public display..."