rune hunter

Chapter 296 Three Questions
Tiana put her palm on the table and pressed it, the light on the table suddenly twisted, and a three-dimensional virtual image slowly appeared under the control of her palm.Everyone present could tell at a glance that this was a topographical map around Sword Castle.The Sword Castle area is a valley with mountains on both sides, and the city of Sword Castle is located in the narrowest part of the valley.

The mountains on both sides extend from the brown earth hills, just here as the focus.When the Sword Master of the North Wind built his castle here, he was also prepared to prevent the resurgence of the demon army.However, after 1000 years, the function of this pass is only to prevent robbers from going south.Istaron exiles had to pass near the city if they wanted to reach Churkin's fief.But now the roads and farmland near the city have all been blocked by the gathered refugees.

It is now certain that behind these seemingly motley refugees lies a large and ambitious mysterious organization, and this organization obviously shows no kindness to the people of Istaren.Judging from their methods of doing things, it seems that the next road will not be so easy.

Tiana flicked her fingers quickly, weaving colorful character models and placing them on the terrain map. You can see a warrior holding a sword standing at the head of Sword Castle, and there are countless refugee camps scattered in all directions below the city. In the middle of the refugee camp marked in gray, there are black signs symbolizing the Masonry Brotherhood everywhere. A black magician and a black warrior stand at the two ends of the castle.

On the road extending north from Sword Castle, a group of blue character models appeared. Although their faces were not clear, the blue area was also quite large, which represented the power of the exile team.In the area around Sword Castle, there are many red spots scattered like sesame seeds, which represent small noble manor owners like Baron Farah. Although they don't seem to be a threat, they are a force that cannot be ignored when united. .After the events of last night, both El and Tiana noticed the existence of these little people.

"The results we can get based on the information we have collected so far—" Tiana drew a circle in midair with her finger, and chess pieces of different colors landed in the areas controlled by all parties.

"The strength of the sword castle, the highest combat strength known so far is that young lady. Judging from the Baron's information and General El's observations, this lady should not have stepped into the Golden Gate, but at least she has surpassed the Golden Gate." At the level of the silver rank, she alone guarding the sword castle is enough to deter all ghosts and snakes. In addition, the sword castle has at least three to five silver-rank swordsmanship masters. The situation of the people is not clear, but it is a fact that everyone recognizes that although the Beifeng family is rich in swordsmanship, they have not made any achievements in military affairs."

"Indeed, there are less than 500 garrison troops in Sword Castle." Baron Farah nodded.

"The number of these refugees in front of us exceeds 300, and there are many members of the Masonry Brotherhood hidden among them. In the bloody case last night, they dispatched at least 3 people. According to conservative estimates, the armed forces they really mastered The strength will probably be four to five times that number." Tiana shook her finger, and several black pawns landed in the refugee camp: "According to the most pessimistic estimate, the [-] people in front of us may all be separated from them. It doesn't matter."

"We now need at least 5000 regular army soldiers to maintain the order and safety of the exile team. According to this ratio, their armed forces must reach [-] people to maintain the status quo-and this is obviously impossible. So I also think that these refugees themselves are related to this organization. From the perspective of normal people, if I have the ability to organize a group of people to escape from the epidemic area, it must be my relatives and friends first. If you have the energy, maybe you will consider the neighbors... This is human nature." El said with a curled lip.

"The other part is the small manor owners represented by Mr. Baron. According to the information provided by Mr. Thomas, the Beifeng family used to like to grant land to outstanding swordsmen, so the small manor owners in this area have gathered over the years. A force that should not be underestimated." Tiana controlled the red chess piece to fall, and said to Baron Farah: "Mr. Baron, as far as I know, after the tragedy happened last night, you received [-] manor guards later."

"Because of the crimes committed by those damn robbers, these poor people are already homeless. It was General El who allowed me to take them in." Baron Farah said in panic.

"It's okay, it's not a problem." Tiana shook her head and said, "The problem is that it made me notice that even a small manor owner like you can maintain such a large-scale armed force. Plan carefully. Judging from what they meant last night, I am afraid that they have already made an action plan, but they just planned because of our arrival. Since they blamed us, it shows that they are still afraid of the local lords. "

The ethos of Sword Castle and Istaron are slightly similar but completely different.Istaren is a tough folk in the northern border. The White Lion family started as an army, so all the people are soldiers. Randomly grab a bunch of strong men from the street, and equip them with weapons to be qualified soldiers.The Juggernaut who founded the sword castle used the sword as his name, advocating personal bravery.The number of garrison troops in Sword Fort itself is not large, and they can only serve the purpose of maintaining law and order at ordinary times, and they are not even comparable to the private soldiers of the local lords.Because the location of the sword castle is very good, apart from the bandits in the brown earth hills, there are almost no real military threats around.

The method of the Beifeng family is very simple. They put all their energy into cultivating sword masters.If there is any trouble, directly dispatch the masters of the family. The combination of several silver-ranked sword masters is enough to decapitate any incoming enemy army.

It is also because of this that the Beifeng family is very lenient to these small manor owners when they are entrusting the land. They don't mind how many private soldiers they raise. Anyway, no matter how many armed forces of that level, they can solve the problem with a single sword. Son.

All the chess pieces in Tiana's hand have been dropped, and apart from the hole cards of the exile team itself, the situation of other forces is shown on this map.Judging from this picture alone, no one side can occupy a particularly obvious advantage. The situation in this area is obviously in a stalemate.

"No, there are many things that don't make sense." Laurana said suddenly.

"You mean the masonry fraternity's motives?" Tiana asked over her shoulder.

"Not only motives, but also many problems." Laurana looked at the three-dimensional map in front of her with a worried face, and said in a deep voice: "Leaving aside those small details, we must now face three most important problems. One, why are they doing this? Two, why are they here? And three, can we go there?"

The questions Laurana raised at this time seem simple, but if you think about it carefully, you will find that there are too many doubts and confusion hidden in them.

The motives of the Masonry Brotherhood are still unknown, and no one in the room believes that they killed and set fire last night just for mere property.Or in other words, they are also refugees. Why should they not grab food and grab gold when everyone is starved of food?According to Tiana's deduction, the plan for such a big move last night could never be a temporary idea. Even without El's step in, these small manor owners would also suffer the same fate of being wiped out.

However, no matter how unbelievable the result is, it has become an established fact after all, and the information that can be confirmed from this is that what the Masonry Brotherhood urgently needs is not food but money.So the question that extends from this is-where did they get the food supplies, and what is the use of plundering money?
The second question follows closely. Since the Brotherhood of Stoneworkers is not short of food, the reason for them to gather outside Sword Castle to beg for food is also not valid.Judging from the fact that the lady went out to visit various manor owners in person, Sword Castle should have reached a temporary agreement with the Masonry Brotherhood. Now it seems that there are ulterior motives in this agreement, so we can It can be seen that the real purpose of the Masonry Brotherhood may involve Sword Fort. Referring to the news that the current Patriarch of the Beifeng family is critically ill, the water here is bottomless.

The remaining third question is also the one that everyone is most concerned about-whether the Masonry Brotherhood can make way for the Istaron exile team.No matter what plans these guys have, it should have nothing to do with the passing Istaren exiles.From a rational point of view, the most appropriate way to deal with this time is to make way for the exiles, so as not to cause complications.However, the most lacking thing in this world is rational people. It is hard to guarantee that there will be no psychopaths who suddenly overestimate their appetite and have unreasonable thoughts about this passer-by.

To be honest, there are too many cases of this kind of psychosis, so El and Tiana have no hope for it.

"So far, they have no intention of contacting us. Does this also explain their attitude?" El moved the knuckles of his fingers and looked at Laurana. At this time, he would usually choose to trust the eldest lady. Judgment, for Laurana is gifted at reading people's hearts and deducing truth.

"It's hard to say, we don't have enough information now." For the first time, the expression on Laurana's face seemed serious. If she already had the answer in her heart, she would never throw out these three questions to waste everyone brain cells, but so far she is also at a loss.

"Mr. Thomas, I wonder if you have a way to get in touch with the Masonry Brotherhood?" Seeing Laurana's hesitation, Tiana thought for a while and turned to the golden hand and asked.Until now, the Brotherhood of Stoneworkers had been hidden among the refugee population, making it impossible to find them.However, as a smuggling businessman, Thomas must have some unique means in this regard.

"Please forgive my lady, I can only try my best." Thomas smiled wryly.

(End of this chapter)